Troy "Troyzan" Robertson finished Survivor: Game Changers in third place, losing the $1 million grand prize during the live portion of Wednesday night's finale broadcast on CBS.

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Troyzan, a 55-year-old photographer from Miami, FL, made the Final 3 but he finished behind the season's runner-up Brad Culpepper, a 47-year-old retired NFL player from Tampa, FL, and the Season 34 winner Sarah Lacina, a 32-year-old police officer from Marion, IA.

Although Troyzan received zero votes at the Final Tribal, he managed to defeat Tai Trang, Aubry Bracco and Cirie Fields in the Survivor: Game Changers finale.

During an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Troyzan talked about his Survivor: Game Changers experience. Below is what he had to say.

Reality TV World: Going into that Final Tribal Council, whom were you expected to get votes from to win, and at the end of it all, were you surprised you didn't get at least one vote?

Troyzan Robertson: Going in I thought I could get a couple or a few [votes]. I thought Sierra Dawn Thomas, I could get a vote from her, and [Debbie Wanner], Tai, perhaps Aubry. I thought that [Andrea Boehlke] was pretty angry at Sarah. So I was kind of banking on the likeability factor, really.

I played an old-school game where it's like, you know, I think maybe 10 seasons ago or 20 seasons ago, my game could have won a few seasons. So I rolled the dice and I played that way, and I have no regrets. But in Survivor, sometimes you roll the dice on what you think is going to happen because if it works, great, you're a winner! If it doesn't, hey, no worries.

Reality TV World: You were shown saying in last night's finale that you thought you could beat everyone in the end that was left in the game, and you were the only person who said that. Why were you so confident or were you lying about that for some reason? (Laughs)

Troyzan Robertson: "Lie" is the wrong word, it was more of a bluff. If someone asks you a question like that in front of the jury, you're not going to say, "Oh, no, I think I'm going to lose." I wanted show confidence but in a likeable manner as well. I thought, "If I'm going to say I'll win, from a jury standpoint, they'll think, 'Wow, he has a lot of confidence.'"

Plus they all liked me. I had great relationships with so many of them. So I thought that would give me brownie points, like, "Wow, Troyzan has got a lot of confidence; I like that." That could've resulted in a little bit of a swing in their thoughts, like, "Wow, I really like that guy. I like his attitude."

Reality TV World: What would you say to critics who claim that you rode Brad and/or Sierra's coattails this season? I mean, were you surprised to hear some of the jury members saying that Sierra was the "brains of the operation?"

Troyzan Robertson: I don't really have a comment on that to tell you the truth.

Reality TV World: Okay. Sounds like you definitely disagree with that sentiment. (Laughs)
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Troyzan Robertson: If someone wants to judge me on a 45-minute version or an hour each episode, then like I said, I really don't have a comment.

Reality TV World: You did have a fairly quiet edit this season. Do you think it's accurate to say you played a pretty under-the-radar game, or do you feel like you haven't received the credit you probably deserve for moves you made or your strategy?

Troyzan Robertson: I mean, I feel like I did play -- it's kind of like when they say, "You're sitting around doing nothing," they don't see that you're doing anything. But there are 39 days of taping condensed into 45 minutes or less of the show.

So believe me, to get to the last day, I wasn't just sitting around eating coconuts, you know what I mean? So it's one of those things where I feel like I was strategizing and talking with people every single day, and I was doing it in a way so that I would not come across as a threat.

I played the "old guy" card, saying that I was just out here having fun and doing nothing. You could just see that I wasn't a threat to anyone and my name was barely ever written down -- ever, not until the very end. No one had anything bad to say about me, so I played that card. No [regrets]. Not at all.

Check Reality TV World's Survivor: Game Changers webpage in order to read more of our exclusive interviews with the season's Final 6 castaways.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.