Marisa exit interview-Survivor Samoa (S19E01)

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The Deadbolt Exclusive - Confronting a Survivor Villain with Marisa Calihan of Survivor: Samoa

The nineteenth season of Survivor got underway with 20 cast-offs landing on the beautiful shores of Samoa for Survivor: Samoa and it didn't take long for the outwitting and outplaying to kick in from the moment Jeff Probst tossed the newly formed tribes their buffs. As the new survivors got acquainted with each other on the beaches of Samoa, the premiere of Survivor saw Texas oil company owner, Russell Hantz, separate himself from his tribe by willingly stepping into the role of villain to stir up tensions among tribe mates to his own advantage.

Although Russell began to work strategy on everyone, even lying about being a survivor of Hurricane Katrina to drawn sympathy from his tribe, 26 year old Cincinnati student, Marisa Calihan saw right through the devious strategy Russell was attempting to work early in the game. Despite losing trust in Russell, Marisa wasn't aware that Russell had all but sealed her fate in the game behind her back. When Marisa and her tribe mates were forced to Tribal Council after losing the first Survivor: Samoa immunity challenge, Russell twisted the words of Marisa to make her appear like a villain and soon Marisa Calihan became the first person voted out of Survivor: Samoa.

The next day we hopped on the phone for a Survivor: Samoa cast-off chat with Marisa Calihan to get the goods on how Marisa felt about the way Russell played Survivor, if she would have played the game differently, and the fallout she experienced from the fake Hurricane Katrina story Russell cooked up to get the tribe on his side.

THE DEADBOLT: How much do you regret trusting Russell?

MARISA CALIHAN: I mean, I didn't trust Russell. I trusted him only insofar as three hours. After that I didn't trust Russell. So I don't have any regrets.

THE DEADBOLT: Looking back now, what would have done differently?

MARISA: You know, I've asked myself that question. But to have done anything differently would be to have compromised who I am. And I feel like I walked away being one of the only people who stood up to this person who is supposedly the biggest Survivor villain in history. So honestly, there's no good place to be voted off unless it's the final two and I would rather be first with dignity and truth than to be fourth and to play this game.

THE DEADBOLT: Even though you were only out there for three days, what was Samoa like?

MARISA: Samoa was a beautiful climate. I mean, the rock formations were visually stunning. It's a complete contrast to anything I live with in Cincinnati, Ohio. So it was really a shock to the senses and it was an honor to be able to see that part of our world.

THE DEADBOLT: Cincinnati to Samoa, that's a big difference.

MARISA: A big difference.

THE DEADBOLT: What was going through your head last night when we all saw just how devious Russell really was, especially with the Katrina story?


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Exclusive Interview with 'Survivor: Samoa' Castoff Marisa Calihan

Last night on the premiere of Survivor: Samoa, Marisa Calihan, the college student from Cincinnati, Ohio competed with a rare combination of fiery passion and icy poise. But she made a critical mistake when she questioned why her supposed ally, Russell Hantz, was running around talking privately with each member of the tribe.

Marisa had become my preseason favorite based on her eclectic bio and interviews and I was galled to see Ben, who had called her an offensive name earlier in the show, gain some sense of satisfaction from voting her off. I was fortunate enough to talk with Marisa earlier today, and she told me whether she saw a strategy to Ben's cruelty, why no one heard Russell emptying the canteens, whether she thought Natalie or Ashley had more going for them and where she got her signature hair piece.

Hi Marisa! The important stuff first. You've described yourself several times as a proud first generation Appalachian. What do you love most about the local culture?

What I love the most about Appalachian culture is its deep roots in music and storytelling. Bluegrass is so moving and comes directly from the Settlers in the Appalachian mountains.

I know it led to your downfall, but I was impressed byhow composed you were in contradicting Russell. Where did you learn to cross-examine a giant man twice your age like that?

Well, I'm 27 and he's 36... not quite "twice my age," but I'll take it as a compliment. We are all equals. I treat everyone I meet with the same amount of respect. Conversely, I will question you should you deserve it. No matter who you are. It's pretty hard to play the "tough guy card with me."

Is one of the two blondes, either Ashley or Natalie, a savvier game player than the other? How are they different?

I feel that Natalie has more life experience than Ashley. I think that Ashley has a great head on her shoulders, but is a little more naive. I could be wrong though because... they BOTH outlasted me!

I was disturbed by Ben's behavior towards you. How do you think your other tribemates reacted to his vicious tone? And in hindsight, do you think he was a strategic bully or emotionally out of control?


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Reality News Online - Survivor Interview With Marisa

“The Way He Treated Us Was Abusive” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: Samoa’s Marisa

Looking at Marisa’s background, she appeared to be likely to stick around for a while. Indeed, she tells us she helped a lot at camp. But she got onto Russell’s radar and that was that. Did she have any inkling just how nasty he was? Who else in her tribe was so bad she describes him as a “weaselly scumbucket”? Read on to find out all of this and more!

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Marisa, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at RealityNewsOnline! Let me start by saying that I looked at your background and actually picked you to be in the final two!

Marisa: A lot of people said that, I’m sorry to let you down.

RNO: Why do you think your experience didn’t come more into play on Survivor?

Marisa: It did come into play. There was a lot of stuff I did around camp that was directly linked from my growing up on a farm and having built stuff before. I worked on an amazing shelter for those people – they had an amazing place to sleep. You just didn’t see it as the viewer.

RNO: Did you have a particular strategy coming into the game?

Marisa: I guess it was to my disadvantage not to have a really evil strategy. I thought it would be foolish to have an ironclad something to do because I didn’t know who I was going to be with.

I guess if you’re going on the show to sabotage people and take pleasure in their suffering, then that’s a strategy you can maintain no matter who you’re with, but that’s not who I am.

RNO: So do you think it’s fair to have somebody like that on the show?

Marisa: I think it’s fair because you sign up for whatever you throw in your direction. Even though it was really bad, maybe one of the worst guys ever, I still agreed to it. I can’t say it wasn’t fair, because it was. I signed up to get lied to, basically. I didn’t know I was going to be bullied. And really the way he treated us was abusive. To torment our minds like that was abusive. It’s getting really cutthroat.

RNO: You obviously picked up on Russell’s shadiness. But why come out and tell him instead of talking to the others on your tribe?

Marisa: I did try to talk to the others on my tribe. But they didn’t listen to me and they didn’t want to hear me because they all thought they had a secret alliance with him. He was using a key word, “secret.” It was a secret alliance and he said not to tell anyone. So nobody got together and cross-pollinated information. It was just me saying to watch Russell because he was talking to everybody. I had somebody tell me he’s just Southern, he likes to talk a lot.

RNO: Did you have any inking into just how nasty Russell H. truly was?

Marisa: I didn’t know all of that horrible stuff that was going on behind the scenes until I watched the show. He was like upset because I threatened him. That was his own projection, because I never threatened him. He was projecting that.

RNO: Well, in a way you did threaten him by finding out what he was doing.

Marisa: I threatened him like I was a threat, but I never verbally threatened the man.

RNO: Did you have any idea you were being targeted before you got to Tribal Council?

Marisa: I had an idea that there was some negativity around me because of my issue with Ben, who I can assure you, he wasn’t highlighted this much this episode, but everybody will see he’s awful too. After that incident with him in the morning, I knew I had opened my big mouth and stood up to him, I knew that had caused a problem. But I didn’t think I was going home.


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