"Pete" Peter Yurkowski was eliminated from Survivor: Philippines' merged Dangrayne tribe during Wednesday night's tenth episode of the CBS reality series' 25th edition.

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Pete, a 24-year-old engineering graduate from Holmdel, NJ, was voted out of his tribe at the season's tenth Tribal Council -- which was also the fourth elimination vote for Dangrayne -- after one member of his former Tandang alliance, Michael Skupin, flipped on him and therefore ruined his plans of having the numbers and power going forward.

In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Monday, Pete talked about his Survivor: Philippines experience.
 
Below is the concluding portion of Pete's interview. Click here to read the first half. 

Reality TV World: It seemed like you hadn't anticipated that Lisa Whelchel and Michael Skupin could break from you guys at some point -- that that situation was a possibility.

"Pete" Peter Yurkowski: Oh no, I saw it as a possibility. I didn't know that it was going to be Skupin and then Lisa would kind of have to force her hand and then flip, because I think Lisa genuinely wanted to stay loyal the entire time. That was like her gameplan before she ever came out to the island.

But I mean, if I obviously survived that last Tribal Council, I would've aligned with possibly [Jonathan Penner] and [Carter Williams] and [Abi-Maria Gomes] maybe.

Reality TV World: When I talked to Artis Silvester recently, he said he had been expecting one of either Carter, Penner or Malcolm Freberg to vote with you guys and that he wouldn't have been going home. That's why he was a little surprised that he got voted off. Was that kind of what your expectation had been going into that same Tribal Council, and if so, who were you thinking was going to vote with you to prevent Artis from going home?

"Pete" Peter Yurkowski: Actually Carter. Carter was a big part and I thought we had him. When we voted off [Jeff Kent], we saw that, "Hey, Carter doesn't have anyone to follow anymore, so maybe we can get him to follow us."

Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way and he went with Penner, which I didn't really see coming, because him and Jeff had been trying to get Penner out of the game since Day 1. So we kind of thought maybe even if he attaches to Skupin, Skupin is still voting with us. But then they voted for Artis, and I mean, Carter was just a big swing vote in all of it.

Reality TV World: You thought Artis had been very vocal about how he didn't like Skupin. When I talked to Artis, he said he had "personal problems" with Skupin, and Skupin had exhibited some behavior that showed he "wasn't a nice human being." What's your take on all that? And what was your own take on Skupin as well?

"Pete" Peter Yurkowski: They had a little feud. It was very apparent that they weren't getting along. Skupin really, I guess, didn't understand why. But I mean, Artis made it pretty clear. I think they had a conversation and it was pretty clear about what happened.

Reality TV World: What's your take on what it was about?

"Pete" Peter Yurkowski: Um, I don't know. He didn't like the way that he was, I don't know. It's their little issue.

Reality TV World: Okay, because when I spoke to Artis, he did everything BUT make it very clear as to what the issue was. (Laughs) So it's ironic to say he made it very clear to Skupin.

"Pete" Peter Yurkowski: Yeah.

Reality TV World: I've seen some things on Twitter where Skupin seems a little surprised about the conflict.

"Pete" Peter Yurkowski: Artis will tell you about -- Artis is very straight forward, but Artis can also, I don't know, he kind of keeps -- you can tell he's angry but he's not going to talk about it. But when he does, he'll tell you exactly what was wrong.

Reality TV World: He also said he couldn't "understand the fascination with Skupin." Could you just tell me what your own perception was and thoughts were about Skupin while you were on the show?

"Pete" Peter Yurkowski: Well, Skupin's kind of like a legend, the guy who killed the pig and falls in the fire. And it was a little bit different than the story -- maybe that was his strategy. But, I don't know, around camp, when he was building shelter and stuff, it seemed like he was new to the entire thing.

And a veteran coming back, you expect them to like kind of have some grasp on what's going on. I mean, us not having fire for how many days? I think it was around seven? So, I don't know.

Reality TV World: So basically because he was a returning player, you expected more, right?

"Pete" Peter Yurkowski: Yeah, like some of the simple stuff -- making fire and shelter and all that kind of stuff. The simple part of Survivor, which is not as big a part of Survivor as it used to be, is the whole experience of being outdoors and all that kind of stuff, surviving off the land. And he didn't really know what was going on.

Reality TV World: Lisa said she actually had wanted to go to the end with Abi and yourself because the two of you were so disliked you wouldn't get any jury votes. What are your thoughts about that? Did you realize that was the perception?

"Pete" Peter Yurkowski: I don't think that would've been the case. I think I could've made a pretty good case about how I hadn't been necessarily "evil" the entire time, because I really never did anything to upset anybody.

Except, maybe the definite vote I wouldn't have had, would probably have been ["RC" Roberta Saint-Amour]. But I don't know, maybe I could've changed what she thought with Lisa and with Abi.

Reality TV World: When I talked to RC a couple weeks ago, she had said she actually had wanted to work with you until you kind of broke that alliance there. But she said she felt the issue was that you couldn't deal with a strong woman who blindly wouldn't do what you wanted her to do. What's your response to that?

"Pete" Peter Yurkowski: That was definitely not the case. It was just, she was going to be -- she was too much of a wild card. She's definitely making the big moves just for the sake of making big moves. Because when I think of her gameplay, I don't know. I feel like she was there for the wrong reasons and I didn't want to work with anybody like that.

Reality TV World: How were you cast on Survivor: Philippines? How did you end up on the show?

"Pete" Peter Yurkowski: I sent in an application... and right after college, my mom said, "Get a job." Unfortunately, that meant me going on Survivor. (Laughs) But yeah, that's kind of how it all happened.

Above is the concluding portion of Pete's interview. Click here to read the first half. 


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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