‘Survivor 50’: Coach Reveals Who He Wished He Picked Instead of Chrissy

The Dragon Slayer and Dragon Slayer Whisperer were slain in Survivor 50 Episode 8. Benjamin “Coach” Wade (who asked that we refer to him as “Tidewalker” in our exit interview) and Chrissy Hofbeck were voted out in a paired elimination in the April 15 episode, marking another first for the CBS competition series.

Coach had a target on his back after he orchestrated Dee Valladares‘ elimination in Episode 7, not because of who he wanted out, but because of the way he commanded the votes. In Episode 8, 12 contestants were paired up, and one player, Cirie Fields, was left out; they didn’t know why they were making these six teams for the upcoming challenge. Jeff Probst revealed that the pairs would compete for immunity together and be eliminated together. Any advantage one contestant gained could protect the pair.

Coach teamed up with Chrissy, a member of his alliance. Here, the Tocantins, Heroes vs. Villains, and South Pacific alum reveals who he would have picked had he known all the details of the elimination twist up front, plus what really happened with Tiffany Ervin in that one-on-one talk, how he feels about his “brother,” Ozzy Lusth, campaigning against him and Rick Devens‘ idol trick, and how a call from Colby Donaldson hours before last night’s episode aired helped him feel better about what might be his final episode of Survivor ever.

I want to get started with you and the hammock in this episode. You spent a lot of time there, but I wonder if you had more strategy talks at the camps than what we saw in the episode.

Coach Wade: Yeah, I mean, I love being in the hammock. Breaking the fourth wall. There are three cameras on Coach and one for the rest of the tribe. I’m a very creative person. When there’s chaos, I tend to make happy little memories. My oldest son said that when he was 8 years old. He said, “Dad, you take the chaotic moments in the house, stressful moments, and you turn them into happy little memories.” So that’s my M.O. But I was sitting in the hammock and singing songs and just doing my thing and just creating happy memories in a very stressful environment. I did talk to people, and I did have some heart-to-heart conversations, but I did take Rizo [Velovic] and Chrissy’s advice [to] lay low. I thought that was going to be the best play. In hindsight, I probably should have gone out there more, but I did confirm with my alliance.

People were coming up to me. I made a decision to just be in the hammock until people were coming up to me, and it was kind of like my office. And so people were checking in with me. I did go and have some conversations with other people. In hindsight, I should have done it a lot more.

Did you sense a vibe shift after Cirie returned? Because in the episode, that certainly was the experience.

Well, yeah, I mean, actually, I did feel a shift, but it was in the positive direction. It speaks to Cirie in that moment. I don’t think that she has not done that much in this season to this date. She’s gotten Rizo and Ozzy, and she’s subtly doing things behind the scenes. But in this scene and in this episode, we see Cirie really rise up to what she is capable of: Deep emotional deception.

We sat on a hammock. We talked about my kids. We had a great moment. I said, “You’re just like the cavalry coming in to save the day.” Because I was looking at the numbers and I was thinking, “Yeah, it’s kind of like six-six,” or whatever it was. And I said, “Cirie’s back. It’s tipped in our favor.” I didn’t know about Stephenie [LaGrossa Kendrick] having an extra vote, which would’ve further tipped the scales in our favor. But Cirie is great when she wants to be. And so I thought it tipped it in my favor. That’s the level of artistic deception that she was able to have in that moment.

She can really mist everybody. When it comes to the conversation with Tiff, did you really have no answer when she asked you point-blank who orchestrated the votes against her, or was that just an edit? What really happened there?

I don’t remember [laughs]. There’s so many things that happened out there. My wife last night, when we were watching it, she was like, “Did you not… That’s a terrible pause. That makes you look so bad.” I would say that there was definitely a pause. I’m sure that I threw some name out there, but look, people, I’m not good at lying! It’s why last night was a stupid decision. You literally are taking the known quantity. I’ve never gone into a vote and done differently than what I said that I was going to do. Ozzy knew he was going home in South Pacific. Sierra [Reed, from Tocantins] knew she was going home. I’ve never deviated from my vote. To vote out a known quantity is idiotic. And maybe it’ll be to everybody’s downfall. Maybe it won’t be, but it was really a poor strategic vote to send me and Chrissy home.

Speaking of the double elimination, this new twist has a lot of fans divided after watching the episode. Would you have chosen a different player to pair up with if you knew that you could be eliminated together?

Yeah. Here’s a message for all the fans: Zip it. OK? I mean, seriously, don’t say boot dittly. Survivor‘s been on air for 50 seasons. Do you agree with everything that they do? Of course you don’t. But who cares? The show’s still going. They’re keeping it spicy. They’re keeping it unpredictable. Hats off to Jeff and the producers for slaying the ultimate dragon. And that is staying relevant and being on TV. So the fans can zip it because if we didn’t have it, then they’d be like, “Well, there should have been more twists in this season.” I didn’t know. We didn’t know, which is the beauty of it. Of course, I would’ve picked somebody different. You’d be foolish to pick somebody from your own alliance; you’d pick somebody from the other alliance to make it happen. So that was part of the magic of it all, keeping everything in cloak-and-dagger secrecy until the last moment. And then it was like, wow.

Who would you have picked if you could pick differently?

I probably would’ve picked Devens because I knew that as I put my foot in my mouth … Devens, Christian, some of the middle people, hell, those middle people wanted to work with me at the merge! They all came to me saying, “Coach, Coach, Coach, Coach.” And I got mad in the episode before because we’re all returning players. There should be a level of savviness around us, and nobody wanted to split the votes. They wanted to go 12 votes on Dee. It blew my mind. It was such an easy vote. “You want to go 12? Twelve on Dee?” “Yes.” “You want to go 12 on Dee?” “Yes.” Chrissy, Stephenie, Ozzy, everybody. Yep. I’m like, “You guys should have a higher IQ than this. ” So that’s why I got really mad in that moment. But I think I would’ve picked Devens.

Why would you pick Devens? Because, of course, he wasn’t in your alliance, but was he a strategic threat because of his idol savviness?

Yeah, and I just think he’s a likable guy. And I think that he’s receiving information. I called him the noble bard after the game was over, and I said, “You’re receiving information, and you’re laughing, and everybody thinks that you’re kind of like the court jester, but inside you’re getting all the cards and manipulating them in your mind.” So that’s why.

In tribal council, what did you think about his idol move? And then what do you think about it now that you’ve seen the season and know the full context of that trick?

I mean, if they had not shown that, then it would’ve been like, “Yeah, well, Coach sucks, and he’s out. ” I mean, at least there’s that element of mystique. So when they showed it early on, I was like, “Oh yeah, it’s going to come into play.” I knew exactly what they were foreshadowing. And so it was a great move. I think that it skewed things about 10%. So let’s say we’re going into the vote and it’s 50-50. Well, him doing that idol now makes it 60-40. If we came into the vote 60-40, percentages that I’m going home, well, that made it 70-30. It became a slam dunk. So I definitely think that it altered the factor of the vote enough so that [it was] see you later, Coach.

Were you going to play your Shot in the Dark before that anyway?

No, I was not.

So [Devens’ move] shifted it?

Definitely did. It did. And also Jonathan [Young] and Stephenie saying, “Play your Shot in the Dark.”

That’ll do it, too.

I took it out of my bag. After the idol, I took it out of my bag, and then Jonathan was like, “Good.” And then I put it back in the bag, and then he said, “Uh uh,” and then I put it back out again. Jonathan and I are really good friends. He’s such a champ. I really have an enormous amount of respect for him.

Could you and Chrissy both have played your Shot in the Dark, or was the rule that only one from the pair could?

No, that was vague, right? I don’t know. And maybe they explained it to us. In hindsight, I wish [Probst] would’ve because it would’ve been 33% chance that our odds would’ve been increased, but we didn’t really know. What was presented to us was, if one of you plays your Shot in the Dark, then you’re both safe. But again, we’re thinking about the votes, and if it’s a close vote, if it’s like a seven-six vote, we don’t want to both lose our Shot in the Dark. So I can’t fault her for not playing it. It would’ve increased our chances, but I can’t fault her.

The cost is losing your vote, so I do understand it’s a gamble for sure. Did you ever suspect that Ozzy was against you in this episode? Because we saw a clip where you said, “I don’t need to worry about anything, man.” And then what was it like for you watching the scene with Tiff where he said, “I want to offer Coach to you on a silver platter”?

Yeah. I mean, Ozzy and I have never really had a chance to start on the same beach together. We’re like brothers. We love each other at times. We hate each other at times. Ozzy said the first day, “Hey, you should have won South Pacific.” It was a huge, magnanimous gesture for him to say that because he was the tipping point in that vote. And so I really did think that we could work together.

I’m surprised at how strategic he’s playing. I didn’t think he played a strategic game at all, but now looking at it, it’s like, all right, you know what? Hats off to you. There’s not a lot of people that have changed. There’s not a lot of people that have this progression. You can see Coach 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0. They’re very distinct. Of course, this one, I relapsed back to the Dragon Slayer of old, but yeah, I think that Ozzy, look at him, he’s doing it.

He’s being strategic, something that he’s never done before, and 100% he duped me. Yeah, for sure. But I mean, we do have this bond. We have this special bond, and we’ve even said it to ourselves. It’s like we never had the chance to start on the same beach together and fall in love kind of thing, and have that bromance. And maybe it would’ve been in the cards if we’d started on the same beach, even this season.

Did you feel like you were really in danger heading into tribal, or did something happen in tribal that made it shift for you?

I mean, I thought that because of the ass I had made amongst myself the previous vote, I was definitely a target. And so I was thinking it could be me, but we have the numbers. It could be me, but we have the numbers. And so when Rick jumped up, and then everybody started whispering, I was like, “Oh man, this is not good.”

Do you think this will be your final season of Survivor? And if so, how do you feel about this being your sendoff?

Yeah. I mean, if you look at me now, I’m 54. Maybe I’m not handsome. I don’t look old and haggard. I mean, I looked at myself on the episode last night, and I said to my family, “That guy looks 65!” I mean, it’s a hell of a lot harder at 54 than it was at 37 or 38, like I did the first time. So I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s the last time.

I’m not one of these people. I’ve turned down a lot of shows. I turned down two shows in the last week. I would go on Traitors, I think, if they asked. I’d have to cross that bridge when I come to it. But with Survivor, I think this is my last time. And did I love it? Amazing. It was destiny. It was destiny for me to say yes, destiny for me to go out like I did. And I had a great time. It was joyous. It was real. I made mistakes. I own those mistakes, and it was just a great time. I’m so glad I went back.

I think a lot of fans are as well. I’m glad you came back, too. And the tribal council with Colby and Cirie, the really emotional moment that you had, did that feel like a goodbye for you? I know for Colby, it of course did.

Yeah, I mean, it did for Colby, and he should never come back actually, because in Heroes Villains, everybody hated him. They were like, “Colby’s a wet noodle out there.” I mean, Tyson [Apostol] said, “Take away his man card by beating him.” I mean, I would hate to be Ozzy losing to Coach, who’s not a good challenge player. Colby losing to Coach, that’s a tough pill to swallow, but he really did not have a good run, and people loved him this time. They really received what he was buying. And Colby’s a great guy.

Listen, Colby called me yesterday morning at five o’clock my time. I was sitting on my front porch reading my Bible. He knows that, with my heater on 40 degrees, and having my coffee. And he called me, and he said, “Coach, I just want to know how you’re doing.” Actually, it’s a little bit emotional for me because I had a lot of people checking on me yesterday.

I make real relationships out there. It’s not just a game to me. And so many people called me yesterday, Joe [Hunter] and Jonathan and Colby and Stephenie. They all reached out to just said, “It’s a big day for you. It’s a heavy day. We’re here for you.” And actually, just to be transparent with you, yesterday morning, I was feeling it. It’s like maybe I could have done something different, and they are starting to make me look a little bit like an ass. They didn’t do that all season. Now, they’re starting to make fun of me, and people are eye-rolling and everything. And so I started getting caught up in that and the negativity online. Colby’s call really straightened me out. I told him I’m really grateful that he was my rock in saying, “Coach, man, there’s nobody like you, huge legacy that you’re leaving on the game.” And it was cool. It got me straight, got my mind straight.

Survivor 50, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS