Exclusive: Phillip Sheppard talks 'Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites' (Part 2)

Phillip Sheppard, a 54-year-old in software sales from Santa Monica, CA, was voted out of his Enil Edam tribe during Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites' Wednesday night episode of the CBS reality series' 26th edition.
 
Phillip was voted out of the game at the season's tenth Tribal Council, the third time the new Enil Edam tribe had an elimination vote, after the minority alliance he was not a part of all utilized individual immunity. 


In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Phillip talked about his experience on the show and the chaotic Tribal Council session that played out during Wednesday night's broadcast. Below is the concluding portion of Phillip's interview. Click here to read the first half.

Reality TV World: Were you surprised that everybody but Erik Reichenbach followed through with the original plan to split your votes between Malcolm Freberg and Edward "Eddie" Fox?

Phillip Sheppard: No, because it goes to show that all these people who thought "Stealth R Us" was like a -- sure it's a little game. It's a story within the story of Survivor, but in fact, people who thought I was delusional and "Does Phillip really think he's got any control over the game?" -- you heard comments like that in terms of the press, what's been written up to this point by people like [websites] and Eliza Orlins. In fact, they did vote exactly the way I told them to vote.

Reality TV World: But do you think they voted the way they voted because you told them to or because, in the worst case scenario, you would be the one going home?


Phillip Sheppard: No, because they could've still did what they wanted to do. Worst case, I was still going home.

Reality TV World: Well I guess that's what I'm saying. There was no downside to them following you because if it worked, they solved the problem of the triple idol. And if it didn't work, they were getting rid of you.

Phillip Sheppard: Again, they're losing a "Favorite" and that's decreasing their chances. So I don't think, I mean, you could say what you just said, but I think that's more of a stretch on your part.

Reality TV World: Well I'm not saying it. That's just the school of thought out there that I'm asking you to comment on.

Phillip Sheppard: Well, the school of thought is to try to make me look like I'm not in control of the game. But I would say, here's a school of thought that might not be out there that you might have an opportunity to put out there since you have an opportunity to speak with me...


If you can give me an example where someone's got two idols in their pocket [and] they use them to get rid of a guy who you would think potentially, based on what you've seen and read up to date, would be the guy that you could easily beat at the end of the game. Who, when there's nine other people left in the game, uses both idols at that point?

Reality TV World: I can't think of an example off the top of my head, but that brings up the point that I did want to ask you about.

Phillip Sheppard: Spend a little time there. You guys tend to dismiss that. Think about that a second. Malcolm went to Dartmouth, right? He's a very strategic player. He's just coming back from two seasons. He finished fourth the last time he played, right? Why would he give up two idols? Boston Rob [Rob Mariano] went home with an idol in his pocket.

Reality TV World: I understand that, but I guess what I'm saying is, you're suggesting then that you are confident had you made it to the end, you would've won the jury vote. Is that right?

Phillip Sheppard: I'm saying -- no, I'm not saying anything. I'm saying he must have thought that because he wasted two idols on me last night.


Reality TV World: Sure, and I guess I can ask Malcolm that when I talk to him, but given I'm talking to you now, what do you think would've happened if you had made it to the end? Do you think you would've won the jury vote?

Phillip Sheppard: I think it depended on who I went there with, because basically, I would've been in the position that I could've argued, "Here I sit again. You guys thought I was bizarre, crazy and over-the-top last time. Well, here I sit."

And even now I still maintain that position in terms of, "Did you look up the number of votes that I had coming into that Tribal Council?" How many votes did I have cast against me so far in the game? Do you know?

Reality TV World: I don't keep track of those things, no.

Phillip Sheppard: That's okay. I'll tell you. I only had one vote up to that point. Think about that. Only one. If I was so annoying, if I was so crazy, if I was so bizarre -- I only had one vote and that was from [Brandon Hantz]. Why? Because I wasn't that guy.


Reality TV World: So in your Final 3 scenario, who did you envision wanting to go to the end with out of all, I'm assuming, the "Favorites?"

Phillip Sheppard: I would've loved to have been sitting next to -- in terms of winning Survivor...

Reality TV World: Absolutely, in terms of winning.

Phillip Sheppard: I would've loved to have been sitting next to [Sherri Biethman] and [Dawn Meehan]. That's optimal -- maybe [Andrea Boehlke] -- but definitely right there.

Reality TV World: In final words, said you felt you had played a great game but you felt you weren't respected or appreciated and that hurt you. Could you just elaborate on that a little bit more?


Phillip Sheppard: Well, yeah, people like [Corinne Kaplan] and Brandon. Basically, in the case of Brandon, he basically gave up part of my strategy to the "Fans" as soon as he got ejected. He was a sore loser, and therefore, he gave up my strategy by standing there and saying, "Phillip is in control of the game. Phillip is giving people names. Phillip -- blah, blah, blah."

That hurt, because at that point, I hadn't really done anything to Brandon. Brandon had done it to himself. He came out there not prepared to play. He was a quitter and he wanted to get back home to his family, and that's the story of Brandon.

And then you've got Corinne, who's speaking about me -- even now -- in ways that, frankly, don't warrant what you saw. What you see does not warrant the venom in which she speaks, because she was such a vulgar person when she was playing the game.

Reality TV World: Obviously you made the decision to sit out this week's Immunity Challenge because of the childhood experience you had explained. I was just wondering, do you think you still would have made the exact same decision if you had felt you were in any danger of being the one voted out, or no?

Phillip Sheppard: Again, the two don't even compute with each other, because frankly, it just proves again that, "Okay, this guy is not going to be a threat. He's so whatever." You'd think that you'd want to go to the end with a guy who sits out, because if you're going for an Individual Immunity Challenge, right, he might sit out again. "He threw a challenge earlier. He threw a challenge earlier."

Reality TV World: Would you have made the same decision though if you had known that was the difference between you going home or staying?


Phillip Sheppard: Well, I don't make that analogy, so the answer -- the analogy you're pointing out, I think I was going home in that scenario no matter what whether I did the challenge or not. Because Malcolm knew that I was the threat and I was the one who was eliminating people that he was trying to build a coalition with. Corinne went home. That was his No. 1 ace in the hole.

At some point he'd have to get rid of [Reynold Toepfer]. He knew for a fact he'd have to get rid of Eddie and he knew he'd have to get rid of [John Cochran] and others. But you know, he was voting me out because he felt I was a threat. He said it's because he wanted to have fun to go play Survivor. Well, I don't go play Survivor to have fun; I go to win a million dollars if I can.

Above is the concluding portion of Phillip's exclusive interview with Reality TV World. Click here to read the first half.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski