Daniel Strunk explains his 'catastrophically wrong' Survivor Tribal Council meltdown
So that didn't exactly go as planned. Daniel Strunk dreamed for years of getting on his favorite TV show. But just minutes after stepping onto the beach for Survivor 42, things started to go south.
In the very first leg of the very first challenge on day 1, Daniel tripped on the sand and dislocated his shoulder. Later, insult was added to literal injury when Daniel gave up all negotiating leverage during a Tribal Council tie vote by announcing he would not be going to rocks, allowing Hai Giang to take control of the vote and later comment that his adversary "has literally no backbone." (Maybe it also got injured in the fall?)
By the time Daniel left that Tribal, nobody on his tribe trusted him or wanted to work with him — not a great position to be in the game. And so when his Vati tribe lost an immunity challenge, it was Daniel who ultimately paid the price and got booted from the game.
What does Daniel have to say about his Tribal Council performance? Why did he turn on Chanelle so decisively? What does he make of the complaints that he could not swim in water challenges but went on an extended spearfishing trip? And how does that shoulder feel? We asked Daniel all that and more the morning after his televised ouster, as the contestant spoke out about his experience and the "brutal" aftermath.
Robert Voets/CBS Daniel Strunk on 'Survivor 42'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So, what happened out there?
DANIEL STRUNK: Well, I think I was doing pretty well for two episodes, and then I faced a curveball, and it didn't go well, and I didn't play it particularly well. And then from there, I was on the bottom, and I didn't play well from the bottom. And that's basically it. I think that's the summary of my game. I think in, unfortunately, 40 out of 42 seasons of Survivor, you don't have people lose their votes and sail into the merge. But I didn't adapt well to the new era of the game.
Let's talk about the incident at Tribal Council back in episode 3. You started right off at the tie vote saying you didn't want to go to rocks, and even if that was true…
Can I interrupt you?
Yeah, go ahead.
You're already starting, I think, a bit too late. The analysis should not start there. If you want to give a full analysis of all the ways in which I screwed up, you gotta start earlier than that. I screwed up on multiple occasions. So let's start earlier when Chanelle gets off the boat and says, "Daniel, I lost my vote." And what I would add to this discussion is you have to understand the context going into that moment where Chanelle tells me she lost her vote. For seven days up until that point, I've been utterly and totally loyal to Chanelle, sharing everything I could with her.
The number one example of this is, I told her Mike lost his vote. And that matters because that gave Chanelle power to vote me out because she could have joined Hai and Lydia to vote me out. So I showed total faith in her. So she gets off the boat and says, "Look, I lost my vote." And what you also need to know is before she left for the immunity, she and I had a convo, the two of us, one on one. And we both agreed that under no circumstances whatsoever would either of us risk our vote if we went to the summit. So she gets off the boat and she says that, and this is where I think the analysis should be given. It's like: What should Daniel do in that moment? And I decided in that moment to stay loyal to Chanelle and go along with the plan.
I think, in hindsight, that's the moment where, frankly, I probably should have changed up my game. Chanelle had lost her vote. I interpreted that as a betrayal of the alliance. And at that moment, I probably should have approached Hai and Lydia and said, "Look, Chanelle's playing us and we should vote her out." But I didn't. I decided to remain loyal to that alliance I had because she was my number one and I was very much all in on it. So now you want to get to the Tribal, though, so let's…
Well, if you're bringing up Chanelle in that context, let's stay there. We'll get to the Tribal in a second. Because then we did see you say throughout, after that, that Chanelle had betrayed and left you hanging out to dry, but we didn't necessarily see what you were referring to. So were you referring to the fact that you had a plan to not lose a vote, and then she did?
I was referring in that moment to two specific things, and I think it's best to handle this chronologically. The first thing I was referring to is the fact that we'd agreed that neither of us would risk our vote. She went and she risked her vote and told me she lost it. In my view, that was just a total betrayal of the alliance, because we had an agreement.
The second thing I was referring to is in your wonderful article — you described it as a game of chicken, which is fair because that's what it was. But I did not see it as a game of chicken. I never, at any point, saw it as a game of chicken. In hindsight, of course it was a game of chicken, but leading up to it, I did not see it that way. So I remain loyal to Chanelle. I vote Lydia. I shouldn't put this all in Chanelle. I vote Lydia because it's in my best interest. I remain loyal in the revote. So I'm showing loyalty at every point here that I possibly can.
Then when it comes time, I'm thinking to myself, "This is not a game of chicken. This is a game of three-on-one. Mike is with me. Chanelle is with me. It's the three of us. Hai is on his own." And if you go back and watch the video again… I'm gonna put you on the spot, Dalton. How closely did you pay attention? Do you remember what I asked Jeff [Probst] right before the discussion opened? What did I clarify with Jeff?
Whether Mike and Chanelle had to pick rocks.
I clarified who would have to draw rocks, which is crucial — because I thought to myself, "If I'm drawing a rock and Hai's the only other one, if it's only the two of us, then I go in strong and say, 'I will go to rocks.'" That's when you go strong in a game of chicken. I thought it was a three-versus-one. I wanted to clarify with Jeff that if I go to rocks, I will force my allies, Mike and Chanelle, to draw rocks. I will put them in danger if I go to rocks. I wanted to communicate right off the bat to them, "You don't need to worry. I've got your back. I am not gonna force you to go to rocks. You're safe with me. Let's the three of us get Hai to flip, basically, and change his vote."
So, I thought it was a three-versus-one situation. Was I right? No, I was catastrophically wrong. That's probably the biggest mistake of a read I ever made in Survivor. I can go back and watch the tape. I'm sure I made other terrible reads. That was catastrophically wrong. 'Cause the very first thing that happened when I tried to go to Chanelle and Mike? They both run for the hills.
I took a lot of heat for Jenny going home, but the reality is, I was the only one that made any effort whatsoever to try to save her. I love Jenny. I wanted to save Jenny. I made at least some attempt to speak up for Jenny, and Mike and Chan just totally ran for the Hills. So then at that moment, you have Chanelle, who's already lost her vote, even though we agreed that she would not. And she's running for the hills rather than supporting me in that moment…
Hold on for a second. You keep saying they were running for the hills, and obviously we only see so much of that Tribal. What do you mean when you say they were running for the hills?
I thought they would help me by basically saying, "Look, let's have a discussion. Look, we think Lydia should go home." Mike could have said that. Chanelle could have said that: "We would've voted for Lydia." That's best-case scenario. Middle-case scenario: They could have tried to manipulate the discussion in some way, right? It could have been like an actual discussion amongst the four of us, and they tried to manipulate it as if they have interest. And there was a facade of an open discussion when really there was not. That's middle-case scenario. I got worst-case scenario, which is zip. "We're not involved. Don't talk to us. We don't have this. Isn't our problem."
Mike, supposedly a great ally of Jenny, said nothing. He just said, "Look, this is not my problem." Chanelle said, "Look, this is not my problem." I was, in that moment, totally alone. I felt totally and utterly alone after already being betrayed because Chanelle lost her vote. And look, Survivor is a game of strategy, but what makes Survivor a beautiful game is it's also a game of human beings who are not robots. And in that moment, I had a human moment where I was just angry and upset and I'm like, "I have gone all in on Chanelle as an ally. I've shown utter loyalty to her up to this point." And at that moment, I just lost my cool. That was a bad thing for me to do.
It was also maybe a little strategic, because at that point it was gonna be her or I at the next Tribal. And you could kind of sense that — but it was more like, when I feel as if someone I really like and respect has betrayed me, I'm gonna have an emotional response to that. And that's what makes Survivor a great show.
By the way, if I was a robot, Survivor would be a worse show. So people can hate on the reaction I had all they want. It wasn't great, and I'm not gonna defend the fact that it was great gameplay. But it's also what makes Survivor a great show. Also, can I defend Chanelle here?
By all means.
Chanelle has gotten way too much hate. She made a really dumb decision, but in 40 out of 42 seasons of Survivor, Chanelle sails past that Tribal. She's in a golden position. In 40 out of 42 seasons of Survivor, people don't lose their votes. Chanelle's a very good Survivor player and deserves way more respect than she's getting. Jenny, Hai, and Lydia didn't get along with each other, but guess who got along with everyone? Chanelle and I. But it doesn't matter when people lose their votes. So stop hating on Chanelle. Chanelle deserves some respect for being a great social gamer.
Robert Voets/CBS Hai Giang and Daniel Strunk on 'Survivor 42'
Let's get back to you. How painful was the shoulder both before and after it was popped back into place?
Before, it was unbelievably painful. And it was out twice. It was actually out for the entire immunity challenge, for over an hour. That was the most painful thing. I did that puzzle with my arm hanging out. That was unbelievably, jarringly painful. Popping it back in did not hurt because you have such an immediate relief. And then after that point, it's sore and it hurts, but it's not as jarring as it was before.
So what could you do and not do physically after that happened?
So let's be clear about this. Before every challenge, you meet with the doctor. I would ask the doctor every time, "Can I do this challenge?" And every time, the doctor would say, "You ought not do this challenge. If you do this challenge, you potentially face long-term problems if you screw up your shoulder in this challenge." I listen to the doctor. I am engaged now to a doctor. I love doctors.
So I could not do the challenges other than the blindfold challenge, but my voice is not like Lydia's, and I prefer to win, and we might not have won if Lydia didn't do that because Lydia was great at that. I could still swim. That I could do, but I couldn't do the challenges that might have sudden movements and things hitting me and all of that stuff that it comes with a Survivor challenge. It's all about range of motion, and I couldn't control my range of motion in the ocean during a challenge.
What did you make of your tribe seeming so confused about you going out and spearfishing while not being in the challenges? To me, you're trying to provide for the tribe, and do they really want you competing that badly anyway? So their reaction was very confusing. What did you make of it?
Yeah, I didn't watch the episode. I'll watch eventually. It's a painful thing right now. The reason I went fishing is complicated. The first thing you gotta know is I had a convo with Hai, and during the conversation with Hai — I remember it like yesterday — we were on the beach, and I expressed to him, "Look, I know I'm on the outs. It means so much for me to be here. I want to represent cancer kids playing. It's important to me."
And I had what I thought was a very human moment with him. And I think it was actually. I only have good things to say about Hai as a human being. I understand he said some mean things about me on the show that I haven't seen, because I haven't watched the last two episodes, but he's a good guy. So in that moment, I thought, "I'm safe. I'm totally safe. I shared this thing with Hai. I shared why I'm here with Hai. Hai's got my back." We literally hugged after. I'm like, "I am gold. Hai knows why I'm here. I am totally freaking safe. I do not need to work." That's number one. So I felt safe enough to go fish.
Number two is my strategy. After the cluster of a Tribal, Chanelle and I played very different strategies, and I did that on purpose. Her strategy was slow — like, run around and scheme and say mean things about me again. I love Chanelle, but I think that's kind of what she did. She was more active — like a running-around, "let's trash Daniel" sort of mentality.
My strategy was: Hang back and be chill. "The number one thing you've lost is that people don't trust you. If you wanna stay around, you have to ensure that those people trust you, and the best way to get them to trust you again is to not be a schemer." And what is more not scheme-y than literally not scheming? I'm out fishing. Like, you don't need to worry about me. I'm not scheming. So I went all in on the "you don't need to worry about me. You can trust me. I'm safe. I'm chill. I'll be cool at the merge. I'm with Vati. I'm not trying to scheme." That's what I had to do after that Tribal. I didn't do it well enough.
And one last thing I gotta say is…. This is kind of how I approach life. There's a bit of a parable in this fishing thing. People who are in the legal profession told me not to do Survivor. They're like, "Don't do it. It's a waste of time. It's bad for your career. It will harm you long-term." I said, "No, this is a dream and I want to do this. And it's very important to me. I watched it when I was a sick kid in the hospital." That's how I approach life. I'm not gonna say no to adventures like that when they present themselves.
Now fast-forward and I'm on Survivor. All right, everyone's gonna die at some point. I hate to say it. I'm gonna die. You're gonna die. We're all gonna die. And in Survivor, there's the metaphorical death of getting voted out. Or you make it to the very end and you win the million and you still die because the show's over. It's just a matter of: What are you gonna do while you're there? And how do you approach life?
Look, I was sick in a hospital bed as a kid, and I could hardly walk and I couldn't run for months, and I watched Survivor, and people were doing crazy s--- on Survivor. And in that moment when I went swimming, that was important to me because I remembered when I was out there basically being sick in a hospital bed. I thought to myself, "Look at what you're doing now. Be really freaking proud to be alive. Just live life." That's kind of how I thought about it in the moment. It was strategic, but it was also a human moment for me.
Robert Voets/CBS Daniel Strunk on 'Survivor 42'
I know you're a massive Survivor fan. You just told me your entire story. Your dream comes true. You get on the show. And as you just mentioned, you haven't watched it the last two weeks. So tell me what this post-playing experience has been like for you. Has it been difficult, or have you come to terms with it?
Yeah, it's been brutal. But I don't wanna focus on that. What I'll just say is, even if Survivor has introduced certain forms of pain into my life that I never would've otherwise experienced, I think it's too early for me to answer the question if I regret going on. Because I have decades ahead of me. Like, I just got engaged last week and I'm probably gonna invite Zach Wurtenberger and Mike Turner to my bachelor weekend. And I play Words With Friends with Zach's grandma and I've met Mike Turner's kids. And I love Jenny and Swati — Swati's visiting me in like a week. So all the pain and mean things you read on the internet, it's a lot. But I will plentifully make up for it by the friends I've made. That's kind of how I view it. Even if I'm at a deficit right now, I'm gonna make up for it over the coming decades.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
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