by Thinus Ferreira
After yet another tribe shuffle the live-escape game owner Dino Paulo (30) eventually couldn't unlock a way to keep his torch lit in Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island on M-Net (DStv 101) when his tribemates decided his exit.
You entered several previous times for Survivor SA. Can you talk a bit about the process of trying several times over years and how you felt when you were told that you've been chosen?
Dino Paulo: I'm so glad that you've actually started with that because it's something that I feel so strongly about. It's such a huge part of the journey and it's such a fun part of the journey.
I started back at season 5 of Survivor SA: Champions auditioning. I actually auditioned twice that season and then auditioned for season 6 and 7 and I didn't progress very far but something in me knew that I was cut out for this game at some point. That my time would come. I wasn't right then but eventually I would fit the mould.
I was never deterred and I always enjoyed every single audition process and even when you get the rejection and go "Arg" and you've got this weight upon you and think "My world's come to an end, I'm rejected" and then you have to wait another 365 days until they open applications for the next season and you thought so much about how you're going to do things differently.
I think for season 8 I finally cracked it and it was everything I hoped it to be. The process is quite a long one but it's so much fun. It's a huge part of the journey as well and it's one I'm super grateful for.
And when Covid-19 derailed it this time, what did you think when they said it's coronavirus we can't proceed, and they said we will do during Covid but it's going to be somewhere in South Africa? Were you scared or was it not an issue?
Dino Paulo: When they postponed it indefinitely, we didn't know that it was going to be at any stage during the year even and we definitely did not know where.
But when they postponed it, it was sad but I was quite relieved because it's the responsible thing to do. The last thing you want to do is going to an island when there's this pandemic back home and you don't know how your friends and family are doing.
I know the production and the hands that it's in and where there's a will there's a way and if anybody could do it, it was them, so it was just a matter of time.
It was actually quite great because I had so much time to prepare and to get into shape and get ripped - and that just didn't turn out how I had hoped in my head. Ha ha ha. I just sat at home and ate pie. But it was bittersweet where it was a good responsible decision but we just had to wait.
You said at the end of the last episode when you left that you didn't feel that you had played as well as you wanted to and I was wondering what you meant by that? What did you feel you didn't do well enough?
Dino Paulo: It's interesting. I'm generally a cool, calm, collected person. My friends and family would be the first ones to say I'm not someone who gets bothered by things.
But I was put on the backfoot so early on in the game when people realised that I was a superfan, they recognised me from videos and things I've done. I had this massive target on my back that never went away during the whole game.
And that put me on a bit of a backfoot where I ended up scrambling, whereas I would have like to be more of that cool, calm, collected centre that could make and build relationships freely.
So I really felt a little bit let down by my social game.
Not to say that I was bad socially, I mean I got on really well with everyone; we had a good time.
It was always a good laugh around camp and I good friends today with lots of the castaways but the social game part is a little bit different - it's about building mega trust and building alliances that you can use long term and I just didn't quite get that, you know.
People approach Survivor almost as a competitive sport. Where did your love of this start?
Dino Paulo: I watched the first season when it aired when Richard Hatch won and I was about 11 years old and then I watched a couple of seasons after that.
I was always obsessed with the challenges at that stage when I was younger. I always said to myself "If there's one thing that I would want to do it's Survivor." It just looked like so much fun. I'm always been an active person; a sporty person; a competitive person.
So the challenges really spoke to me and then, as the game develops and I got a bit older, and I started understanding social dynamics and the strategic dynamics, I thought "Oh my word, this is just, like, incredibly mind-blowing." It's got all these elements - you've got to be strategically strong, you've got to be socially strong, you've been physically quite capable.
And I thought: What a combination. I've always just felt so strongly about how great a game it is because of that. And my love for Survivor has just grown stronger and stronger with every subsequent season.
With the rain and the lack of food, once the real reality of it kicks in - did you have second thoughts and thought what did you get yourself into or was it still fun?
Dino Paulo: Not for a second was there ever a doubt that I was in the right place.
All of those things were part of what I had signed up for and part of what I've wanted to experience. I think mentally I was well prepared to take it on and I was very fortunate because I think it gave me an edge.
While a lot of people were really struggling with the elements I was thriving because I thought: "This is why I came, this is why I'm here". This is part of the fun and the experience. Those wet, cold, freezing nights - as challenging as they were - I look back and I think "Wow, what a privilege to be a part of that and being able to go through that and get through it."
For me, there was never a doubt in my mind that I was in the right place.
I didn't see you tell anyone you do escape rooms or puzzle rooms because they did seem to select you then every time to solve the puzzles? Did you feel pressure then to take that role, and did you think that now you have to solve challenges where there are puzzles and get it right first?
Dino Paulo: So early on I came out about what I did and because I realised that some people had recognised me so I couldn't lie about my profession.
I would have been like this skydiving instructor that's there for adventure but I couldn't carry that lie, so early on I said "guys, I do own a live-escape game" and people know what that is and said "Oh cool, you're our puzzle dude" and I said I'm happy to be that.
I was actually relieved to do the puzzles because the puzzles form such an important part of the challenge that they're often the make or break. I've always felt that at least that part of my game would be in my hands where I could go out and determine whether we'll win or lose this.
If we lost a challenge on somebody else's inability to win it and I went home that night, I'd feel very aggrieved. I always felt that my fate was in my own hands.
In the first episode, and I still don't know what to make of it but you can elaborate, when you whispered to I think Mike or Shaun from the other tribe during a challenge "Help me", but some of your own tribe saw you, and you also volunteered to tell them all. Do you think that was a mistake or did you think it would build trust?
Dino Paulo: I'll answer this in two parts - the decision to reach out to Paul and the subsequent decision thereafter.
I recognised Paul from rowing days, I used to row against him and I recognised him. And that's why I tried to help him get the immunity necklace in the first challenge. I've also been thrown immensely under the bus by superfan-dom and I had this massive target on my back where I was told that if I didn't have the necklace I'd be going home.
At that stage, the challenge was going so poorly for us that I thought we're going to tribal council and I would be safe but if we go to the next one I'm going home, but I know this guy on the other side, let me try and connect and that's when I tried to ask Paul for help to send me to immunity island to get an advantage or to prolong my life in the game.
I don't regret that decision at all because I was playing and I was fighting for my life in the game.
The decision to tell the tribe was because Shaun saw me reaching out for help to Paul and before the end of the challenge he had already spread word around to the tribe members that I had reached out. I thought, well, I might as well open up about it and say I messed up and I'm sorry about it.
I thought that was a better approach than just letting Shaun continue to tell everybody and put his spin on the story as to why. So I don't regret those decisions at all.
yes, it did impact my game negatively, but I'll never regret playing hard and fighting for my life in the game, ever.
What would you say you enjoyed a lot about this whole experience?
Dino Paulo: It's so crazy, so I told you about the journey of my fandom and starting to enjoy the challenge aspect and then appreciating the strategic and social part of it. It's so amazing.
I went into this game thinking to myself that I'm going to have the strategic and social side waxed. But I instantly went back to the old 12-year old Dino in those challenges and I just really just loved the challenges and the build-up and the anticipation and participation in the challenges were awesome.
I'd get myself into the zone like a competitive sportsman and like those provincial school sports days that you don't get to experience and that challenge anymore and that competitiveness anymore.
It was just such a great opportunity to rekindle that. I just went back to being a kid and loving those. They were the highlights, absolutely.
I'm wondering if you feel that that you were blindsided. Looking back, did you realize that you might be a target? In the episode where you left, was there a moment at tribal where you perhaps thought "Oh, people are actually trying to get me out" before the votes were revealed?
Dino Paulo: So, I knew the tribeswop hadn't worked out particularly well for me.
But I've been working with Tyson and Kieran at Vuna 2.0 for some time to the point where - you even saw Tyson going "I've got the idol and you can put my name down" and we've already discussed those things before tribal.
I felt very much I was working with them and particularly building a relationship with Kiran.
I did know that Tyson was a bit emotional but I didn't think he'd have it in for me, so when they said to me "Hey Dino, look, it's Santoni" I knew the backstory about why Wardah wanted Santoni out, I knew there was bad blood. It was very genuine and you can see it on screen. I thought, okay, I might just escape going home this tribal council.
The one thing I've asked Tyson was to split the vote on Qieän and Santoni in case Santoni had an idol and I think that raised a few red flags for them.
I felt pretty comfortable the first day and then just before tribal council I started feeling uneasy but I figured that it wasn't worth my while scrambling, I needed to build trust.
During tribal council, right before we went into the vote, that's when it really sunk in and I thought it's going to be me. I could just sense it.
I was looking around, my head was in a swivel, looking for a potential place where an idol would be because in season 6 and 7 there was an idol at tribal council. I just had this weird feeling - I was looking all around frantically and looking and looking and looking.
That's part of the reason why Santoni actually ended up playing the idol because she thought that I knew that there was an idol there. Meanwhile, I was just grasping at straws. So there was a part of me that knew that it would be me, but I hoped that it wouldn't be me.
Some of your tribemates said Dino "pivots" too quickly. Do you think you gave that impression?
Dino Paulo: Although I got on well with my original Zamba tribe, I was always number 6 or 7 in the original alliance, you know.
Even being separated from some of the original tribe members I knew that I was still further down in the pecking order. It didn't always come across like that at camp.
Thoriso said to Tyson that I was the kingpin of Zamba; she had misread that and that raised questions in their minds as to, if I've got such good relations with and such a good alliance, why would I try to work with Kiran?
I felt very much on the outs with Zamba and I was looking for a home. I was looking for an alliance that I could commit to and I was hoping Tyson and Kiran could be that alliance.
They just misread that approach from me. I don't blame them for it because I gave them so many things to consider that it could appear like a flip-flop play when in actual fact I was really looking for a home.
You came across as a very likeable guy. Obviously, some tribemates have open verbal fights with each other. You would have expected that going in but did you think that sooner or later you might also get to a place of exchanging harsh words?
Dino Paulo: I'm definitely a people person, I love people and I make friends and I have a variety of friends and my friend group reflects that with so many different interests and from so many different walks of life.
Really adapting to people has never been a challenge for me. There are certain personalities that rub even me the wrong way, patient as I am. I've never been the alpha-male beat-your-chest guy and when somebody loves banter I love poking that bear and riling those kinds of personalities up. Ha Ha. That's kind of what I did in my own way.
I think there was this possibility that I might not have gotten on with everyone and there might have been conflict with one or more castaways had I progressed a bit further and played with them but I don't think it would have been in an unhealthy or a personal way but just in the way of the game - like on the sports field where you're going hard and play this incredible game and you go to the pub afterwards and you have a beer.
That's how I view it and I really enjoyed that aspect actually.
How did it then feel for you sitting at tribal and Wardah becomes angry and tribemates lash out at each other because you never did that?
Dino Paulo: I did get into some heated debates at tribal council, I'm definitely not one who's shy to voice my opinion. I speak up, I'm a talkative guy. I love speaking, so bringing up my opinion was never an issue.
I never took anything personally and nothing about the game for me was personal - I never made anything personal.
Other people, and I can understand why - there are so many emotions in the game - you do form your bonds with people very, very personally. That's why it gets so heated.
When it was heated from a game perspective it was quite enjoyable to watch live as a fan. I was thinking: This is cool! You also like it that the heat's there and not here. But when things get personal it's not pleasant and as somebody who loves the game and wants to play the game in the spirit in which it is intended, it's not to nice to see it get personal. I feel it's a bit unnecessary but it's inevitable.
So, Wardah getting angry and frustrated with Anela - that was great! Yet all I wanted to do was to rip that necklace off Anela's neck and go "Haaa! You take all the blame. They really want you gone! You're so lucky you've got that necklace around your neck!"
While it was great to have the tension that side, it was a bit useless to me at the time.
You'll see them all again at the reunion show. What is there that you're maybe wondering about or would like to ask and of whom?
Dino Paulo: The one question since the game was, was I naive in thinking that Kiran really wanted to work with me?
I still believe that Kiran did want to work with me. He didn't want to vote me out, he preferred to take a Santoni or Qieän out because he saw some sort of potential with me and he wanted to give me a run.
I do still feel that and I think he just tried to play the game and he didn't want to lose his number one ally by trying to play the game for him and that's why he made the decision to go with the Dino vote.
I suppose I'd love to unpack that with Kiran over a beer and see what's what. Not that it makes a difference but it would be interesting to know whether I had a good read on the situation or a completely wrong read.
Survivor SA: Immunity Island is on M-Net (DStv 101) on Thursdays at 19:30
