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I can bring you the VERY FIRST independent exit interview with Survivor SA Santa Carolina celebitant Okkert Brits who became the next one voted off the island in episode nine tonight with four votes, after Izak Davel won the immunity challenge.
I spoke with Okkert Brits to find out what he thinks of Izak Davel now, and see why he says he haven't been as tired in years as he was on the island. Okkert reveals whether he knew he was getting voted out next, who he thinks the strongest remaining celebitant is now, and see who he calls a rat . . . and why! Be surprised by his answer when I asked him if he felt betrayed by anyone . . .
For my full interview with Okkert Brits, click on READ MORE below!
Hi Okkert, what was the most difficult and hardest for you in Survivor SA Santa Carolina?
Wow, Thinus there was such a lot. The first thing of course was your new family there on the island. The second thing is that I wish I had enough pain killers because I don't think anybody has any idea of how stiff and sore you got every single day. Then of course the most difficult thing for me was the lack of sleep. Everyone complained about the lack of food but we had food. I knew we wouldn't die but the hardest thing was that I hardly ever slept at all. I slept right next to the fire and every twenty minutes I woke up to look after the fire. And so it went every single day. I was . . . I think viewers don't really get a sense of that, but I haven't been that tired in a long time. But then a new day dawns and you carry on.
Did you think or expect that behind your back they were making plans to send you packing next?
Well, the thing is that I knew that I had a target on my back since I was hoping that we'd lose some of the challenges so that we could be more under the radar. Less of the challenges were physical, so I was happy about that. Then when we won yet another challenge again with food as a reward, then I knew I couldn't continue with my normal plan because now I'm going to be on the chopping block. In this episode I thought I still had a chance because i heard Gys de Villiers' name, I heard GiGi's name mentioned, and I knew my own name was in there too. I was hoping that Izak might throw a curveball in there. That would have been a clever thing to do for him, so I was really, really hoping that I still had a chance. Although I had a nagging feeling that my head was on the chopping block.
What did you think at tribal council when your name started coming up?
Well, I knew that this was it. I had the previous votes with Louw against me, and I knew that if that happened again that I would be a gonner. I thought: This is it. Its time.
What did you enjoy the most about the island experience?
The experience isn't something that you can really relate to someone. A simple thing like you're bed, or a fridge that you pull open and there is everything right there . . . Of course there's the people you meet but I think its mostly about being able to do something that not a lot of people would ever get the chance to do. Something that a lot of people would really love to do. The whole experience of Survivor SA is something I can't describe in terms of how nice it was to experience. You also can't prepare yourself for it and that is what makes it so difficult. I'm so used to prepare for everything I'm going to do and here I had no idea of how I was going to react under those circumstances. Everyone - all the guys who are a pain in the behind - the hunger, the lack of sleep, the people getting upset - it was all a good experience.
What was your strategy? How did you think you'd play the game?
Louw and I for instance had an alliance early on which didn't pan out. I knew that when I saw Garth and then had Garth in my team I thought that Garth would be the big guy who would be doing all the power work and will be doing all the physical fighting and the heavy stuff because he's so big and strong and that I can remain under the radar, since you don't want to show what you're really capable of.
When Garth left, I realized it was going to be a problem. When I saw that we were down to only five tribe members and we have to face eight on the other tribe, I realized I'll have to start working very hard or we'll be going into a merge with a serious disadvantage. But every day or second day you're strategy changes. As soon as you think everything is going this way, something else happens. Then you have to adapt your strategy to what is happening in the game. Now that I've watched Survivor SA Santa Carolina its so easy to know what you should have done differently and who you should have talked to . . . but no regrets. It was a blast.
Who did you like the least?
Louw and I didn't . . .we had such fights with each other. We're off the island now and we're big friends - we left everything that happened on the island. But I have to tell you he and I tried our outmost to get each other off that island as fast as possible.
Who did you become friends with?
I'm a big Gys de Villiers fan. Wow. The guy is almost 50 and he works harder that any of the young guns there. I still think he's one of the strongest guys on the island and he impressed me so much with how much he had to keep his emotions in check with everyone's moods and tantrums. In this last episode you could just see Gys starting to get irritated with everyone's nonsense. He's just really an old school, tough as nails, rat. He can tackle and adapt to any situation very quickly and I'm just a big fan.
You were the strongest guy left on the island mentally and physically. Who do you now think is the strongest?
I think the big thing about the game is to be mentally strong. I think Ashley is showing that she's mentally strong. Kaseran as well. I'm a big Kaseran fan as well. I haven't laughed as much for a guy in a long time as I've laughed at Kaseran. I would like to see that guy still make it far. Currently I would say the two of them are great. You can see that they want to play the game; they want to stay there. The others are a bit . . . in a way half deflated tyres. They don't know what's going on and their strategy isn't always there. But with those two you can see they want to play the game and really want to win this thing.
Do you think someone betrayed you?
Ha ha. Ag, listen dude, that island is a schizophrenic island, I'm telling you. Anyone can betray you. Old Izak and I are great friend but I'm telling you, when I get my hands on him I'm going to give him a proper hiding. A proper hiding. He's the guy who got me this time. I think he realized that it was either going to be him or me because such a lot of things changed in this last episode. If it was me who've won the immunity challenge, it might have been Izak going home, so I think he did what he felt he had to do.
Why did you agree to do Survivor SA?
Ha ha. I don't know. Ha ha. I can tell you it was a lot of fun . . there's things in life that you just have to do when you get the chance. I was a bit apprehensive because of all the cameras and stuff. I know that when I'm hungry and tired you mustn't mess with me because that's when I lose my cool - so that was my big problem. Yet I knew that when I got to be 50, I would regret not having done it. It's just a once in a lifetime opportunity so I'm very glad that I did it.
Who do you think will still make it far in the game?
I think ol' Kaseran and GiGi. GiGi is totally flying under the radar and it looks as if they can control her but quietly she's playing her own came and she's playing her game through theirs - and that strategy is working for her. Kaseran is really a guy who you can see that he wants to play this game. So I think we'll still see that he'll make it far.
What did you learn out of the experience of Survivor SA?
I think I thought that if you give enough, and do enough, you're okay. Since you have such a lot of time to ponder things and you're tired and you're struggling, it gave me a new perspective on life and how often you complain that you don't have enough in life. Meanwhile we all have so much to be grateful and thankful for. I just got a bigger sense of what it really means to be suffering. We were just struggling for a few days but there's people who go through their whole lives suffering a lot. That was one of the big shockers for me. You think you know what's going on and happening in the world and it's easy to throw money at a problem - but you need to realize what it is that people are really going through. I'm sure there's a lot of people suffering so much, that, if they had the chance to be on the island with us, they would have thought that it was a holiday compared to how their own lives really are.
Survivor SA Santa Carolina, Wednesdays, M-Net, 19:30
