Blanche Exit Interview | Australian Survivor: Redemption | Ep 16 | Beyond Tribal

In this episode of Beyond Reality: Beyond Tribal, long-time Australian Survivor producer Hayley Ferguson sits down with the latest player to be eliminated from Australian Survivor: Redemption and the second member of the jury - Blanche.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Hi, I'm Hayley Ferguson and this is Beyond Reality. I've spent the past decade working as a producer on Australian Survivor. And now I'm taking you Beyond Tribal. I'll be chatting with the players from Australian Survivor Redemption as they leave the game unpacking their strategy, their downfall, and their story beyond the vote. This is beyond reality. Hi Blanche. Hi Haley, how are you? I'm very good, thank you. What a night last night. Woo! It was a doozy. Yeah. It was a huge move from Brooke and Keighley. And it feels like you were collateral damage in this war against the returnees. How are you feeling now that you've had a chance to watch it all back?

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Super sad. Absolutely super sad because it really wasn't my night to go. You know, I had so much more and I had a tight alliance out there. And my alliance got rattled, and you know, Ben was the mastermind of it. And you know, it was actually beautiful to see Jackson when his really nice words when he wrote my name down. That was like, oh, that was a big moment for me seeing him do that. Um it was it was it's just sad. It's sad.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Yeah, I mean, going into that night, I don't think anyone thought that you were gonna be on the receiving ends of votes. So I think it was a it was a huge blind side for everyone, I think.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Yes, I have been told that. Yeah, it was huge. No one was expecting it at all.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

And in that moment, what did you think had happened? Do you mean when I got voted out?

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Yeah. I was like, who the hell voted for me? I was like on a war path. I just had to know who voted for me. Because it was just, I knew Brooke's idol was fake. I'm like, it's fake. And we're all getting up and we're all talking, and I kept saying to Ben, Ben, the idol is fake. Do not get rattled, stick to the plan, and Brooke or Keely are going home tonight. So for me to be voted out on a three, I was like, who the hell? You know, you instantly think it's Brooke, Keeley, and Simon, the the three would get me out. Not your own alliance. I was hoping to God it wasn't my own alliance, but anyway.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Yeah, I mean, was there any part of you that thought that the vote on you was premeditated, or did you think that the idols had rattled people?

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Absolutely rattled. I did not think that I was the vote going in. I just think it was I, yeah, as soon as that came my name came out, I look at Sal and I'm like, it's me. I knew it. As soon as my first name came out, I knew it was me, and I knew that Ben had been rattled.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Why do you think Ben chose to target you in that moment?

SPEAKER_00 2:59

Uh Ben and I have we had like a very brother and sister relationship out there. We had some really good times, but we also had some really big fights. And I, this one particular one, I think Ben just had it in for me after it. Um, and also he couldn't manipulate me and tell me what to do. I was a little bit too strong for him, where other people he could he told me I found it easier to manipulate these people, and that's why he chose me because yeah, we had a disagreement, I wouldn't do what I was told, so he just wanted to get rid of me as quick as possible.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Obviously, this night the plan was to go for Brooke and Keeley. Obviously, Simon had the necklace. Um, was there any part of you that would have turned on Ben in the future?

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Absolutely. 100%. He got me before I got him. Definitely.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Before we get into all the swap and the, you know, the chaos with the idol, I'd love you to take me back to those early tribe dynamics. You know, how did you feel about your position in the tribe in the beginning and and what relationships did you have in that early stage?

SPEAKER_00 4:12

So, right back at the beginning, as soon as Mark did that first big kapoof in the tribal council, it really pushed us newbies together. So I was already very close with um Caleb and then Johnson straight after that, Tez. Tez and I had a great relationship, and you never saw us once have a conversation on TV. But he and I were very definitely super tight. So it was the newbie really rallying together early on because of Mark's behavior in that first tribal. So I was feeling really good. We had this solid six coming through. Uh, Johnson was close with Ben, so he was included. And over the next couple of days, I got closer to Sal. She became a BFF girl. So we had this really good newbie group, but then we kept winning immunity challenge after immunity challenge after immunity challenge, which is good because then we all got to stay in the game, but it allowed Mark to stay in the game longer and weave his little web. He is just so good at making people doubt themselves and doubt their other alliances. He would honestly, he really started like playing people off each other, and you start to fall for it. We didn't eat for seven days. Like we had what three meals in seven days, we couldn't get the fire started. So we're starving, we're sleep deprived, and your brain starts to go a bit funny on you. That happens in Survivor. Yeah, it does.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

We get to the tribe swap, and we see that it's yourself, Brooke, and Ben from your original tribe, and immediately you are drawn to Arsha. Can you talk me through that relationship and how that came to be?

SPEAKER_00 5:52

So, as soon as I met Ash, she is just exactly like me, very authentic, very straight up, and that was exactly my personality. So we were just two little peas in the pod. We were like a matchmate in heaven, and she is so fun. And she had this confidence about her because they weren't scared of the returnees. They'd already got one out, so they're over there having the best time of their life, you know, and just so authentic. And I just I absolutely loved her. We just hit it off straight away. Me, Cam, Lottie, and Arsh all were just really tight.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

What was your relationship like with Ben and Brooke at that point?

SPEAKER_00 6:33

Nice. Like, you know, you're talking to them. I actually really confined in Brooke personally a lot on that island. So I had a really nice relationship with her. I actually really liked Brooke, but I just never played the game with her because I was just so loyal to the newbies. And that is definitely a regret. It was one of the things that I actually was I did on the day that I got voted out was I went to Brooke and Keely and had a chat with them about flipping. Pity I didn't. I probably would have been still in the game. But Ben, Ben and I had that brother-sister relationship where we were had fun, but I would try and talk to Ben about the game. He never wanted to talk about it. He'd say, I'm not talking about it yet, Blanche. I'm like, dude, it's day 12 and you're still not having a game chat. It wasn't until day 18 that he had his first game chat with me.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Do you think that was because he didn't trust you personally or because he wasn't um wanting to have game chats with anyone at that point?

SPEAKER_00 7:29

So I went and asked other people. I'm like, is Ben having game chats with you? And people were like, no, he's not, he's not having game chats. But now I've looked at it, and when he went straight over, he definitely started having game chats with Jackson because they just hit it off. It's just that personality, you know, that they're close. But he really didn't have many game chats with anyone else. And then when he went into the beauty and the beast, that's when Ben finally, like, oh, I've got some power here. And he finally started to actually play the game and talk about it. So it was definitely interesting. My relationship with Ben, it was, yeah, it was up and down like a yo-yo.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

You had some incredible moments in this game. I want to talk about that 48 hours where you found a scroll in the peanut butter, a clue to an idol. You let Asher in on it to help you find it. Uh, and then yeah, within that 48 hours, your idol was leaving the game in Asher's pocket. So can you tell me about that? Because that must have been such a roller coaster.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

It's more like 24 hours, it didn't even last two days. So I find the scroll, and then I'm ridiculously short and blind. And so I look all around the shelter and I just couldn't find it anywhere. And there was it's high, the shells are so high, and I'm like, I've got to get and Arsha is so tall. And because she was I was so close with it, I knew that I had to go to her, and then she found it literally within 30 seconds. 30 seconds she found it. I'm like, my god, I love this woman so much. And then we talked about swapping it into my bag and her bag, but I'm pretty sure we had to leave for a challenge. Then we come back and everyone's running around because we lost, and it's tribal chat. Look, I just didn't take control of that situation. Rookie mistake. If I was a returnee, I would have gone and got it straight off her within three seconds, put it in my bag, and it would have been done. It was just stupidity. I was an idiot. And then I didn't know the rule. After I didn't know, I literally don't know the rule. Is can I ask for an idol after someone's been voted out? So I'm sitting there, my brain's going a million miles now. I didn't know what to do. So I was just, she was already gone before I even had time to think about it. When Arsha left the game, how did that impact on your game? Oh my god, I was devastated, and it really impacted Cameron and Lottie. So the next morning we have a massive chat about what we're gonna do pushing forward, how we're gonna stick together. We had a little alliance called Bottoms Up, and we knew I said to them, we have to get to merge because I've got Sal and Caleb on the other side that I know that we're all gonna link in together. So it was definitely like you went from a high to a real super low, knowing that these people had all joined together and you're left out of it. I was also having uh conversations with Loz at this stage, you know, we're the same age and messy divorces, and I was really trying to work with her and build a tight alliance with her, but she just was we're having chats, but I I don't know, she said to me, Blanche, because I said to her, Why aren't you why weren't you talking to me about what they were doing? I'm trying to build this relationship with you, I want to work with you. And she was like, I am working with you. I told you you were safe. And I said, You told me I was safe, but you didn't tell me what was happening. And she's like, Well, telling you you're safe is working with you. And I was like, I see what you're saying, but for me, that doesn't work for me. Do you know what I mean? Like, I've I felt like we were good, but we're not good, good. Is that for the Lottie move you're talking about?

SPEAKER_01 11:12

This was after Arsh, right? Okay, so in the beauty and the beast, Loz felt like she was protecting you. That's what she told you, but yeah, she didn't tell you the plan. Correct.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Okay. I'm like, to build a relationship here, you need to bring me into the loop. Like, I want to work with you, and she's like, I want to work with you too, Blanche. And I'm like, that's when you have a discussion, you let me in that this is what they're doing. And I understand why she did it because clearly Arsh is my best friend, but I said to her, moving forward, you know, can we have these open kind of conversations so that we can work together? So there were lots of other conversations happening, you know, you don't even see it. I was having conversations with Sai too all the time.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Yeah, I mean, but you're right in that because if you had been let in on the Beauty and the Beast plan to blindside Asha, you would have told her, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:05

100%. I would have told her. So I totally get why I wasn't included in that one. But Loz was saying to me, Blanche, you're safe, don't worry about it, it's all good. So, but but moving forward, I wanted to express to Loz that I really want to work with you. Please don't leave me out. Like, let's get together, and then we can get over here and get back to Caleb and and Sal and all work together. Like, come with us, come with Cameron, come with Lottie with me, you know, joining with us.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Yeah, I guess that's the point. I guess you you both had different interests at that time. So you were trying to pull her over to your side, whereas she was saying, I'll keep you safe from my side. Yeah, exactly right. Exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

It's true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

Another relationship you had in the game, it seemed like you were very close with Caleb. Can you tell me about that dynamic?

SPEAKER_00 12:56

We were super close, extremely close. We became um like nighttime buddies, you know, it's freezing cold out there. We were called the pretzels, so you know, we just linked up really early on, and yeah, we just formed a really beautiful relationship. He was definitely my BFF boy out there. You know, we had some really good game strategies, we had some massive love of lovers' tiffs as well because he was doing the whole double agent. I I knew he was playing a double agent, but I always just felt really close with Caleb. And what was it about Caleb that drew you to him? Um, we we have such similar personalities outside the game, you know. If he and I lived in the same state, we would be really good friends and hang out, and we just have the same likes about life. I just Caleb is just so much fun. Like I just wanted to be around a really fun person. But then I also had some really quite deep conversations with Caleb. I got to see the really genuine, authentic side of Caleb. Caleb and I whispered sweet nothings into each our ears at night. You know, not everything's on camera, but I got to see both sides of him, which that forms a really nice friendship, you know, because you get to see that. So he and I were definitely really close. And what you didn't see either is um after tribal swap, when we get separated, we continue our relationship over the mat. You know, we would check in, we'd give each other a hug, and um, he'd be like, you know, how are you going? You good? And I'm like, mate, I'm having the best time of my life. I'm like, how are you? And he's like, I'm dying.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

I guess the one thing though is that you can take comfort in the fact that Caleb didn't turn on you when you went out last night.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Oh my god, I was literally gonna kill him. But I look back now and he was he was so shocked. His face was like, he couldn't believe it. So that's why he hugged me awkwardly. Because I'm like, he was weird. He like did this one arm hug. I'm like, why are you double arm hugging me? Like, I'm leaving. I don't know when I'm gonna see you again. But he was just in shock. You could see it on his face last night.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

And what surprised you the most in terms of watching the series back? What have you seen that you I guess didn't know when you were there?

SPEAKER_00 15:24

I was definitely very shocked at the some of the words that Cy used about me, I have to say. I was a little upset um at just about the specific words that he was using. I would have rather him use different words. Um I'm not surprised at Ben, but I am surprised at Ben at the same time, you know, the things that he's been saying about me. Um, the biggest thing for me is that I actually found the flint on the beach and they didn't show that. So I was devastated on that edit. I'm like, they gave it to Ben, and I'm like, Ben didn't find it, I did. What do you mean, finding the flint? You know, at the reward when we were on the beach, and Ben and I had to pick the three. Oh, right, yes, yes, yeah. Yeah, so I actually found the flint on the beach and we celebrate, but you didn't see that in the edit. What you saw was you get Ben's confessional. I didn't even get a confessional, and then you see Ben pull it out of his bag.

unknown 16:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

I'm like, he didn't find it. I didn't. I'm sure you let the tribe know that. Yeah, I did let the tribe know, but I'm like, the fans don't know that. People at home watching the show have no idea that I found that flint. Yeah, but I guess that was the audience getting the surprise that you actually got the flint.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

I know, Haley, but I wanted to claim it was a big, big thing for me. I don't think it was meant to be hard to find, though.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Do you know it was like tucked under the yeah, it was right down the bottom. And because the shelf was like that, when you're looking at it, you had to actually look down to find it because it was like hidden from the shelf. And I'm blind. You know, Ben should have found it because he can see.

SPEAKER_01 17:11

Looking back on your game as a whole, do you have any regrets?

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Absolutely, 110%. I was way too obvious, I was way too honest, I was way too authentic, I was way too emotionally invested in people. I just, yeah, I was just an open book, and that was detrimental to my game. Absolutely. Did you learn anything about yourself? Play? Well, definitely with the whole experience that I was true to myself, that I am a very honest person in real life and very, very loyal and authentic. You know, I I kind of knew that. I'm I can't lie to save myself. I take people for face value, but the biggest thing also is that you can survive in not overindulging in everything. You know, it you strip back, you don't have a phone, you've got no alcohol, you know, you've got no chocolate. You know, you can get through tough times with not having all these comforts in life. You know, the simplicity of life, you can survive. It's good, it's great for you. I just, yeah, I loved it. I love that for you.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Before you go, I would love to get to some quick fire questions. Yep. Who was your favorite person in the game? Sally. Who had the most annoying habit, and what was it?

SPEAKER_00 18:35

Ben. And he was a man child. He just it was really hard to actually have a serious conversation with Ben. I found it really draining. I yeah, he just was a goofy. He just wants to play all the time, which is cute. I get it. Like, no offense, Ben. You're you're a great human, and we're friends outside the game, but I found it really hard to get any kind of seriousness from Ben. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Until he voted you out.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

What was your proudest moment of the game?

SPEAKER_00 19:15

Uh, the water challenge. I absolutely annihilated that first water challenge. I did it like four times. Took all the girls out.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

The most embarrassing moment of the game. Losing the idol. What's a worst feeling? Seeing your idol walk out the door with Asha or being idled out of the game? Idled out of the game.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

A hundred percent. Absolutely. For no stupid reason of Ben. What song sums up your time on Survivor? Bring me to life, Evanescence. It goes, wake me up, wake me up, been sad. I can't wake up. You know, it's like I got woken up inside, and it and she says, breathe into me, bring me back to life. So I'd just gone through a really um, I'd just broke up from a long-term relationship before I went in. So I was a little broken and just needed to get away from reality. And Survivor brought me back to life. It woke me up internally, you know, showed me I am strong, you know, I'm a good human, you know. Everyone was always like Blanche, you're just so honest and all that kind of stuff. So Survivor brought me back to life.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

I love that. I feel like that's one of the best answers I've had to that question. Oh, bless.

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Thank you. It's true. It's true. Would you ever play Survivor again? Absolutely, I would do it because I would just be so calm in this shit show. Like, it's it's such an advantage going back. It's such an advantage. You play it so differently, it'd be more enjoyable. Be way more enjoyable. If you could be on any other reality show, what would you be on? SAS, baby. I'm applying for it. I want to be on SAS. I want to jump out of airplanes, I want to get drowned, I want to get pepper spray in the eyes, I want to see how physically strong I am. Like I'm pretty fit, and I just think you really want to step it up, Lance? Let's do SAS.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

That is a hardcore answer. What celebrity would you want to see play Australian Survivor? Billie Eilish.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

She is a massive Australian Survivor fan. Is she? Huge. In the tribal council, the one before I get voted out, I made sure I quoted her song, hoping they would put it in the edit so then I could tag her in it and she would then get it. I said, I'm that David says something about the vote, and I go, David, tonight I don't have to guess the colour of anyone's underwear. I know where the vote's going. And then he goes to Richard. Richard, do you know the colour of everyone's underwear? Dave was cracking up. It was so funny, but I was, yeah, it didn't make the edit, but I wanted to tag Billy in it.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

We'll tag her in this one. We'll tag her in this one, yes. Oh my god, yes. Describe your survivor legacy in three words authentic. Honest. Caring. Amazing. Thank you so much, Blanche. I really appreciate your time. And I'm I'm sorry you went out the way you did. I can see that it's still, you know, it's affected you. But you're on the jury, so you get your say in who wins this game. So I can't wait to see what you bring to the final travel council.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Thank you. Thanks so much, Pally, for having me. It's been fun.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

See you later.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

Bye. Bye. This is beyond reality.