Rob Cesternino brings us another exit interview after last night’s whiteboard-worthy episode of Survivor: Philippines. Rob starts the interview by addressing how Artis never looked like he was having a good time on the island. Artis Silvester says the editing painting him as a sourpuss was one of the most frustrating things about watching the episodes back. He claims he was actually enjoying himself out there on a spiritual level more than most in the cast due to his long time desire to play the game. Artis teases that he has a natural look on his face when he’s not talking that generally intimidates people which might have had something to do with his perception of always being in a bad mood.
Rob asks Artis if he was surprised Mike Skupin flipped on his original Tandang tribe, and Artis claims he wasn’t surprised at all and says he saw it coming since before the merge. Artis says he wasn’t bitter with Malcolm Freeberg for flipping from Tandang after Lisa Welchell tried to get him out last episode. He chalks joining back up with fellow Matsing member Denise Stapley as simple common sense. Artis thinks him being voted out was 100% a product of him being guilty by association with Tandang bullies Pete Yurkowski and Abi Maria Gomes. He says it boiled down to the fact that he felt tied down to that pair and if he flipped no one would vote for him in the end.
Artis says that he was vying for Mike Skupin’s elimination long before the merge because he knew he’d flip at the first opportunity, contrary to Abi Maria and Pete’s beliefs at the time. Rob asks Artis the pressing question of why he had so much animosity for Skupin in the first place. Artis says he and Skupin simply didn’t get along out there and doesn’t want to give examples behind his back. In response to Rob asking if he knew of Lisa Welchell’s celebrity background Artis jokingly responds that he grew up learning facts of life of an entirely different kind on the streets of DC. He says he has nothing against Lisa and only wishes she’d been a little more open with him on her plans in the game.
Rob brings up the infamous sandwich trading incident much to Artis’s delight. He says his anger over Skupin’s decision was simply that he’s an extremely competitive person and he hated the idea of giving the other tribe any kind of advantage. Finally Artis gets in to his opinions on fellow alliance member Pete Yurkowski. While Artis says he personally liked Pete, he thinks a lot of the moves he made on the island were laughable, specifically asking Malcolm Freeberg directly about the hidden immunity idol.
