Rob C's Opening Statement

Good evening jury members, KJ, and visitors, to the Final Tribal Council.

I am honored to be here tonight. I have watched this series for a long time and this season has been an absolute whirlwind for me! To be honest, I'm still in shock I've made it all the way to the end.

I played this game as hard as I possibly could since Day One. There was never a moment when I wasn't strategizing or trying to win a challenge. Everything I did in this game was for the sole purpose of getting to where I am now.

I started off by forming a strong alliance with Jenna, Colby, and Tom. We worked well together physically and strategically and when Richard joined Chapera, he became our fifth ally. I am proud to have worked with these people for as long as I did.

While the Chapera 5 did work well together, I was still looking out for myself in this game. During this game I found two hidden immunity idols, won three individual immunity challenges, won two auction prizes that saved me in this game, and I was only ever really vulnerable at two tribal councils post-merge. I have never received a legitimate vote against me at Tribal Council either.

I ask you all to please look at the cold hard facts of this game and realize that I played a better game than Colby did. There were multiple times where I saved Colby from elimination- he honestly would not be here if it were not for me. I was a stronger competitor than Colby was and I made much better moves than he did.

Whereas Colby relied on other people to get to the end, I took it upon myself and my own personal strength to make it to the end. I didn't rely on anyone to carry me to the end since I knew I was viewed as a serious threat. That being said, I had multiple people tell me how big of a threat I was in this game and what do you know? I defied the odds and I am here in the Final Two. That should say a lot about how hard I fought to stay in this game.

I won't go into any more detail now since this is just my opening statement, but I encourage everyone to please ask me anything you want. I will answer truthfully and in a timely matter.

I am very proud of the game I played in this All-Star game and I hope you all understand that I did what was necessary to get to the end.

Thank you all for listening!

Rob, first off, congrats on getting to the final! If I didn't get to the final, I sure wanted you here and you achieved that.  I want a flat out honest answer to this, ok?  If I even think you have embellished this just to satisfy me, my vote will be for Colby.

We made a final 2 pact about halfway through the game.  I accepted because nobody else had offered me one up until that point.  My question is this... From that point forward, did you think of me as an equal ally to you? Someone you could see winning this game against you, or did you see me as not much of a threat and an easy win for yourself.. like your reasoning for keeping Colby over Richard. 

Again, thanks for a great game, Rob.  You deserve to be here and again congrats!

Congrats on Getting to final 2! great Accomplishment!

btw I wasn't ignoring you when we were talking. I had figured out pretty much that you 5 were solid and that us mogo mogo were going to be picked off.

What was your impression of the 4 Mogo Mogo members going into the merge. Jenna Lewis, Amber, Shii and Tina.

Would there be anyway that you would work with us?

Hey Richard! Thanks for the question!

While I stand by the way that I played the game, I will say I admire Colby's honesty and I wish I could have been more honest with several people in this game- mainly the Mogo Mogo girls. The reason that I was not always honest was because I was worried about hidden immunity idols and prizes in that might be in the hands of the Mogo Mogo girls. My thinking was that should any of the girls have a hidden power and I told them that I was going to be voting against them, that they would use it against me and I would be eliminated from the game. In addition, I felt that if I told people straight up I was voting them out that I would then be cut off from any further communication and would then be out of the loop.

I feel that this game many people played very honestly and expected others to be as honest as they were. Unfortunately I was not as honest but that was because I needed to make sure I could get information from all different people so I could always be in the loop and aware of what was happening.

I applaud Colby for being honest with everyone and I definitely think I could have used a bit more honesty to increase my chance at winning.

Thanks for the question, Richard!

Hey Jenna, thanks for your questions!

Shii-Ann:

Shii-Ann helped me get to the end of this game because from the moment we came into the merge, she had a target on her back and being in a minority alliance allowed her target to get bigger while mine got smaller.

Shii-Ann also helped me get to the end because she reignited the fire in me after the Final 6 Tribal Council. If the rules about the "DICTATOR" prize had been better explained, I would not be here right now and I would be asking these questions. I escaped that TC through a fluke and that reminded me to never get comfortable in this game. With the way that the votes fell that Tribal, I learned that it was no longer "Chapera till the end!" and that I had to fight harder than I had ever fought before if I wanted to make it to the end.

Shii-Ann also helped me realize that the Chapera members were not as tight as I had thought. Even though she never mentioned names to me, she hinted at people wanted to branch out of the Chapera 5 alliance. This put me back on my toes and I owe it all to Shii-Ann.

I consider Shii-Ann to be a lion. I chose a lion for Shii-Ann because lions are loyal to their pride and I know that Shii-Ann was loyal to the people she gave her word to in this game. I also said that Shii-Ann was a lion because lion's not only protect their own, but they are fierce fighters as well and Shii-Ann proved to be a fighter in this game. She was the last Mogo Mogo member standing and never gave up until she was voted out. Shii-Ann was always coming up with different plans and always seemed to have an idea of what was going on and she was extremely tough.

Amber:

Much like Shii-Ann, Amber helped me achieve my dreams of getting to the Final 2 in this game by being a part of the minority Mogo Mogo tribe. If Chapera had lost that last immunity challenge before the merge, we would be the ones down in numbers and chances are Amber and Shii-Ann would be in the finals right now instead of me and Colby.

Amber also helped me get to the end because she always pushed me to make big moves and even though I didn't betray my original alliance like she wanted me to, her words always stuck with me and helped me later on in the game.

Heeding Amber's advice to make big moves allowed me to put personal feelings aside and vote out Jenna, someone I trusted more than the other two in the final four but who I know would stand in my way of winning the Final Three immunity challenge. Listening to Amber's advice to make a big move helped me to keep the secret that I had for the majority of the game- the fact that I had two idols. I considered telling people to get them to trust me, but I realized that I needed to play the game for myself and couldn't worry about my tribe mates all the time. Listening to Amber's advice to make a big move helped me to eliminate Richard at the Final Three. Amber did a lot for me in this game and I really am appreciative of that.

I consider Amber to be a shark in this game. The reason that I chose Amber to be a shark is because, in my eyes, sharks are fascinating creatures. Sharks are mysterious, dangerous, but very intriguing and a good animal to have on your side in a fight. Those same adjectives describe Amber's game play and I fully believe that if Amber was on Chapera or if I was on Mogo Mogo, she and I would be very close allies in this game.

Tom:

Tom helped me a lot in this game and he definitely helped me make it to the end. Tom helped me by always being there if I needed to let out an idea about the game. He was there to help me make decisions about who to trust. He was there to keep me grounded when Amber had me convinced that voting out Colby was a smart decision and I messaged KJ saying I was switching my vote from Amber to Colby, which would have sealed his fate in this game. Tom helped me in this game by being the number one ally to me. He was always honest with me and I was always honest with him. I never felt that he would betray me and I never was afraid that he would repeat what I told him to anyone else.

Tom is a black lab. I chose a black lab for Tom because that was my first dog I ever had and I loved it dearly. The puppy and I were very close and I felt safe around him and that he would protect me from anything that tried to come after me.

Jenna:

Girl, you helped me a lot in this game. You and I talked more than anyone else in this game and we have the message threads to prove it. You always were down to talk, whether it was about game or about your day. You were a close friend and I really did value our friendship in this game. In addition, you helped me reach the Final Two because you always helped me see the bigger picture and what was the best move for myself in the game and that helped me clear my head and think about how I could reach the end.

I would have to say that you would be an eagle- fierce and slightly dangerous, you were a mighty competitor and a symbol of what a real Survivor should be.

Richard:

Richard helped me achieve my goals of getting to the end by being nothing more than flat out dangerous to my game. I tried so many times to get Richard out of this game and the longer he stayed in, the more determined I was to eliminate him. Richard had a great story line- he mutinied from his old tribe to a new tribe where he was an outsider. He quickly became close with the members of Chapera and made it to the merge where he won a major prize in this game and was holding on to an idol the entire time. Having Richard make it to the end would be the death of my own game and so I was determined to eliminate him so I could stand a better chance of making it to the end. Richard, by posing as a huge threat, pushed me to dig deeper and fight harder.

Richard was a cockroach and that wasn't because he was dirty or nasty or anything like that. I chose Richard to be a cockroach because those things never, ever, die and Richard would never roll over and die in this game. As many times as I tried to eliminate him, he always escaped and managed to survive.




What was my best move in this game? I would say my best move would be my strength in challenges. Many times when I play in online games, I try to hold back when it comes to challenges but this game was different- I always gave the challenges 100% and I was extremely successful in doing so. I won three three individual challenges, came in first place in one of the mini-challenges, and I never gave less than my best in the challenges. Many people will say that you don't have to win challenges in order to win the game, but I beg to differ. "Outplay" doesn't mean just play a better strategic game than your opponent, it means play a better physical game too and I know I was better than Colby in the physical department.

As for my weakest move, I would have to say my lack of honesty with Amber and Shii-Ann definitely hurt me in this game as well as openly campaigning for Richard to leave in the later stages of the game. Both of those moves could have been finessed and I wouldn't feel as bad as I do but what's in the past is in the past. I am still here in the Finals and that's more than 16 other people can say.




Hopefully that answers all of your questions, Jenna! If you need me to elaborate on anything, please let me know. Thank you!

Amber, I will answer your question in a bit- I have to go to class!

Amber,

Addressing your statement about me thinking I have a sure win- I never once said that, nor do I believe I have a sure win. I fully anticipate losing several people's jury votes. I understand that but I never once said I was guaranteed a win.

I'm sorry you are disappointed in the fact that I brought Colby to the end. The reason I brought Colby here was because I felt I stood a better chance against him than I did with Rich. I think if Rich was here, he would beat me. Jenna would definitely beat me in a jury vote. I felt that with Colby next to me, I would at least stand a chance at winning because Colby played a much weaker game and was carried to the end. However, I never said it was a guaranteed win. I am not that cocky.

As for why I voted you out, in all honesty, I was scared of you. You were extremely strong and fiercely loyal and a tough competitor. Not only that, you were aligned with Shii-Ann and I was worried about playing for third with you.

I'm sorry you were hurt by my lies in this game. I didn't intentionally go around lying to you. The reason I was deceitful with you was because I knew there was an extra idol lying around there and I knew that I had the Chapera idol and even though Rich said he had one, I didn't know if it was legit and I was worried that you or Shii Ann had an idol. I assumed that if I told you straight up you were going, you would pull out an auction prize or an idol and would use it on me. That is why I was deceitful and that's the honest to God truth.

I apologize for upsetting you in this game. That was not my intention and I am sorry for doing that. I hope you still look at how I played this game and see that I made bigger, better, stronger moves than Colby and that I made it to the end by my own accord and not because I was carried to the end by the Chapera tribe.