Tomorrow night is the much anticipated finale of Survivor: China. Up until this past Thursday, there was still one original Zhan Hu tribe member in the game. Peih-Gee fought valiantly to stay in the game but ultimately, the Fei Long tribe members decided to stay loyal to one another and voted her out. She made it to Day 36, winning two individual immunities post-merge. Today, she spoke to BuddyTV, admitting that she didn’t always come out looking so good. Her passion for the game drove her just shy of the final four and she dished on everyone from James to Denise.
Below, you will find the complete transcript and mp3 of the interview.
Hi, this is Gina from BuddyTV and today, I’m talking to Peih-Gee from Survivor: China.
Hey Gina.
Hi Peih-Gee, how are you doing?
Good.
In the beginning I wasn’t sure how I felt about you, because everybody on Zhan Hu was fighting all over the place. But you know, as the season went on I really came to like you and respect you. I’m just wondering when you got to the merge, how you ended up staying in as long as you did. I have to give you nothing but respect for it.
I really appreciate that. I know I came off really abrasive, and bossy and bitchy at first. I think honestly just having the passion for the game is what made me able to stay in for so long, but it’s also what made me kind of really emotional and upset sometimes. Afterwards, being able to stay for as long as I did, I won a couple of immunities, so that definitely guaranteed me at least two more councils to get through. Beyond that they had bigger fish to fry.
Are you one of those people who have watched Survivor religiously, or are you someone who got into it after you found out you were going to be on the show?
Honestly, I wasn’t one of those people. I’ve always been an adventurous person though. An old acquaintance of mine was in casting, and he was looking for I guess an Asian female, and I guess I fit what they were looking for. The minute I started applying for Survivor, I went crazy with preparing. I started working out twice a day, reading strategy books, then I watched seven or eight different seasons of Survivor like twice. I love the game. After, I couldn’t believe that I had never watched it before, I think it’s just so interesting and really exciting.
Survivor’s done such a good job of representing different cultural backgrounds. Did you feel any pressure as the only Asian female this season?
Oh gosh, yeah. Especially being in China, I’m like how can I be in China and not speak Mandarin? I speak Cantonese, and I’m like, Jean Robert can communicate better than I could out there. There’s pressure that way in feeling like oh my gosh, I’m gonna have to try to do my best and hopefully be a good representative for the Asian community. Beyond that too, I was just proud to do as well as I did. Being in China, that meant a lot.
Everybody was talking about James being this huge physical threat, but it almost looks like you were doing better in these physical challenges than he was. What is that about?
The thing is that all my challenges, post merge, didn’t play to brute strength. Before the merge they really did, and that’s where he shined. He really shined in those team challenges, because they were wrestling, they were like slamming logs against a wall. He did really well there. I think by the time the merge comes about, everybody is so hungry, exhausted, and tired, it kind of levels the playing field a little bit. Once you’re that hungry, your body is so weak that I think a lot of it is about having willpower to go on.
In that immunity challenge last night, when you guys have to eat the balutes and Denise can’t even finish it, does that make you wonder? For a million dollars, won’t you just get that thing down your throat?
Oh, absolutely. I would have done it in a heartbeat, and I did. That’s the thing that kind of bothered me sometimes. Denise would make a huge deal about how she always gave everything 110 percent, and it’s twice now that she couldn’t. I do understand that, if physically she just kept throwing it up and her body just wasn’t taking it very well, she just couldn’t handle it. But man, just close your eyes. To me, honestly, it tasted like a cross between a chicken and a hard-boiled egg. If you don’t look at it, it tasted fine.
How upset were you when Denise didn’t end up taking you to the Great Wall? I felt really bad for you, because you did look out for her, and you did show her kindness.
You know, I got really upset and I know I probably said some things that came across as really bitter and whiny. At that point I was just so hungry and tired all the time that I just really wanted to go. The thing is, I almost would have expected Denise to understand, because before when she didn’t get picked for that one reward challenge she talked about having been left out and that it didn’t feel very good. I kind of thought that, knowing that, she might have taken me, but really all of that begging or whatever was just a long shot. I really wanted to eat so I could do well at challenges, but Denise picked people that she probably should have taken, so good for her.
Did you feel any stress or any pressure being on the jury and being on the other side of the game?
No, once you’re on the jury your home free. You’re fed, you’re well rested, and I was lucky enough that I got to spend time with whoever is going to be in the final three. I felt like I would be able to make a pretty well informed decision, as opposed to somebody like Jaime, who really only had a couple days with them.
Well we can’t wait to see what happens on Sunday, and I just wanted to thank you so much for your time Peih-Gee. We’re so glad we got to talk to you.
No problem, thanks for having me.
– Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
