If Pirate Master has taught us anything, it’s that pirates hold grudges. Just one episode after Sean Twomey voted in a way that rubbed some fellow pirates the wrong way, he found himself cut adrift. Can’t say it wasn’t completely unexpected. To his credit, Sean seemed to do his best to play the game of Pirate Master, making deals to attempt and preserve his stay on the ship. He became known as the ship’s cook; it’ll be interesting to see how the food goes down after Sean’s abscence. Sean graciously took some time recently to discuss his tenure as a pirate.
Below you will find both the written transcript and full mp3 audio of the interview.
How did you find yourself on Pirate Master?
It was kind of a whim actually, I came home one night after working, I was just cruising over the internet and I kind of bumped into the application and decided, “Hell with it, I’ll give it a shot.” Really no expectations that it would amount to anything. Sent out my interview packet and one thing came after another and I just kept, dominoes kind of fell…I kept going further and further until I got the show.
What did you expect going into the show?
I expected… I wasn’t and still am not a big fan of reality TV so I really I had an idea it might be akin to Survivor so I studied Survivor seasons just to kind of get an idea of what it might be like. I was expecting backstabbing, conniving, cajoling, pacts, the breaking of pacts, blah, blah, blah. Just a grand adventure pretty much, a physically grueling and mentally challenging adventure.
Going into the show, did you always have the plan to be the resident cook?
No, no, actually that’s ironic. It’s kind of weird, a friend of mine before I left gave me the advice that if I got a chance, because I used to cook for a living, if I get a chance, get in there and cook, you can impress people with your cooking. Unbeknownst to me, Captain Joe Don decided to make me head cook, I still have no idea why they did that. But it was a job that I enjoyed, I thought it was a good position, it was kind of like a flower delivery guy, you’ve got food, you’ve got flowers, no ones going to frown.
Well, there was definitely a lot of conflict with you and your shipmates on last night’s show, what was it like for you watching all of that on TV?
You know to tell you truth, I missed it last night. So I haven’t seen last nights episode, but in my own recollection I know the bulk of what I’m sure they covered in last night’s episode. It’s just one of those things, I guess I’m in the same boat as Christian, it seems to be patterns, they’re getting rid of the stronger competitors first, which I guess is a good strategy unless you’re like me, one of the stronger competitors.
Was there anything that you saw was edited out from the show, whether it be last night’s episode, or from earlier in the season, that you wish they had shown?
I kind of wish they would have shown more of my cooking, to tell you the truth. I was cooking about, depending on how many people left the ship, was cooking up to 30 to 34 meals a day. I was trying to spice it up a bit, we were given certain rations, certain foods for the crew and for the standing officer and his mates. I kind of did what I could, like I said we had very little ingredients, but it was hard work cooking 30, 35 meals a day or whatever it was. And they kind of only show me just being made head cook, and they don’t really show the work Jupiter and I did in the kitchen I would have liked to have seen that. Actually, there was an editing problem, I don’t know if they did it on purpose, I’m not too sure, I doubt they did it on purpose, it was a great crew, production-wise. I have nothing but respect for everything from the casting to the to the guy who holds the dolly grip, just an amazing crew that Mark Burnett put together. Long story short, they made it look like I was paid 1000 dollars to vote a certain way for Cheryl, when that’s not true. I was paid 1000 dollars because Jay and I had a deal that, we kept losing, we were on the losing team, so we made a deal that if one of us loses or if one of us is on the losing team, one is on the winning team we’ll kick back some of the booty to the loser just because we had a little bit of a pact. So that 1000 dollars was because he won and I lost that day, but it was edited to make it look like I was paid to vote which is not true.
What was your confidence level going into Pirates Court?
Well, to tell you the truth, I kind of knew I was done for. When it comes to black spots, that was the one and only black spot I got, I gave out three myself and basically people get black spotted within half an hour to 45 minutes after you get a black spot the decision is kind of made. There’s a settling time where people are allowed to go around and voice their opinion and voice their defense for staying on the ship. So, I think that Pirates Court is, to tell you the truth, kind of decided before we go in. So I kind of knew that I was in a bad spot prior to Pirate’s Court. Initially I thought that I was just going up there as kind of a scapegoat, like somebody that people wouldn’t vote against. But Jay, and I guess Nessa, finagled the votes and I was kind of in the same boat as Cheryl, as Christian. Just, you got to get rid of stronger people, but I recalled it was because I stole bread, which is a complete fallacy, I was cut loose because I was a strong competitor.
So that’s what you think was really the deciding factor as far as you being cast adrift?
I believe it was that and the fact that I fought for Cheryl. To refer to your question of editing I didn’t so much lie about voting, I was a swing vote for Cheryl and I didn’t want to be that so I left it in the hands of the Captain. I had the power to vote one way or another, I could have set Cheryl adrift or I could have voted for Alexa which would have mad it a tie, which would have left that decision on the captain’s shoulders, which is what I wanted. I didn’t’ want to be responsible for that decision, but I didn’t want Cheryl to go either. I mean, Cheryl’s a great female competitor. She’s a rock, she’s incredibly intelligent and stronger than most of the guys on the ship, so I didn’t see the strategy in getting rid of her. And by doing that, I guess I rubbed Jay wrong, and by siding with Jupiter I rubbed Nessa wrong. I got to tip my hat to them, they got the votes together to get rid of me, and I was a little upset at some of the people I had helped. Like Joy, who I carried up mountains, voted against me. It was a game, so I got cut adrift because of my strength, but the underlying reason because I rubbed a few people wrong and they kind of swayed the power.
So, Sean, what’s in store for you now?
I’m back on the beach, in Venice right on the water. Surfing, bartending, going back to school to get a business degree. Other than that I’m just kind of relishing the experience. I mean, these are fun shows. I’m sorry I missed last night’s show but I didn’t have a great drive to see knowing what would happen. I’m just the same, but overall it’s a life changing experience. It was a great honor and great privilege, just to go to the Caribbean for 30 odd days and have all of your expenses paid, just a gift, and being able to be on that ship and “sail” it, was just a real honor. Just a blast, definitely one of the top tier moments of my life.
(Interview Conducted by Royce Yuen)
(Image Courtesy of CBS)
Interviewer, BuddyTV
