“I’d rather be myself.
I’d rather run wide open, take risks, and learn from my mistakes.”
When it comes toSurvivor41, Brad Reese was kind of likeSpinal Tap he went all the way to 11.
Brad Reese on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
Does he regret telling everyone everything?
How come he messed up his broccoli line?
And were there any other spy sessions we missed out on?
Shantel, Ricard, Brad, and Genie on the third episode of ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
BRAD REESE:Yes, totally.
You know, “Me, Shan, and Genie okay, we got this figured out.”
I think they’re doing good."
But then things get quiet and you look at JD and he’s not nervous.
He’s not a wreck.
I’m like, “Oh, JD, he’s not feeling too bad.”
And so my trouble was, my powers were gone.
I had no vote.
So I couldn’t get actively involved and really get to strategize.
I knew there was trouble on the horizon.
So what happened when you completely flubbed your broccoli line at the challenge?
So when you’re up there, you have this plan in your head.
And I practiced that line a hundred times.
I had nothing else to do.
“I didn’t know it till now, but broccoli’s just a bunch of small trees.”
I got to talk about being a twig."
And when it actually came time to recite it, it was gone!
And I’m like, “Oh, ba-ba-broccoli is trees with small limbs and branches.”
And I knew I had to just stop it.
And I don’t know if I was.
I think they would have ‘cause I put myself out there.
I made the statement.
We talked about the ridiculous broccoli.
We will never know for sure.
Xander, of course, just nailed his perfectly.
Dude, you nailed that.
But if Luvu would’ve come up with it, I’d have been full bore ahead.
Now that was fantastic.
And so it’s like, well, somebody got up to stoke that fire.
And so when I was gone on the trip, Tiffany and Sidney were nervous.
Like, “Hey, we gotta get back, man!”
And I remember just thinking, “Dude, I don’t got to get back.
I got this handled!
They get up, they’re going to see that.
And I’m fine.”
So it helps just knowing, “I think I can stay here a while.”
So why tell Shan about both the idol note you found and your advantage?
At my watch party last night, my friends were like, “What are you doing?
Don’t do it!”
And then I pulled out the steal-a-vote and they were like “Noooooooo!”
Because I had Genie, and I knew Genie was with me.
We need more people.
We can’t do this alone."
Because it didn’t have any power.
Or Brad has a lot of power.
We need to cut his throat.'"
So it was a calculated risk.
Maybe my only regret is not telling Shan that I was helpless.
I would’ve just said, “I found this idol.
Look, Shan, I got the idol, man.
It’s for all of us.
And I’m not going home tonight because I got an idol.”
Maybe that would have turned her to say, “Oh, maybe Brad has enough power.
I’ve got to just go with him.”
You were really close with Genie.
And that’s something we didn’t realize as viewers until this episode.
How did that bond happen?
Yes, it started early.
And she was just a workhorse, man.
And I’m like, “Genie, you’re amazing.”
We just grew together quick.
Maybe we grew together a littletooquick and strong and almost became a little bit of a power couple.
I said, “Genie, they’re trying to turn it on me.
Let’s just drop the hammer on Ricard right now.
Let’s just get Ricard.
And that’s when JD jumped up and ran over to Shan and Ricard.
And I’m like, “Oh, Genie, we’re in trouble.”
We saw you sprint down the beach to go spy on JD and Ricard.
Were there any other spy sessions?
That was the only one.
And I shared this with Ricard.
I was trying to pull Ricard over to my side.
I said, “Where’s Ricard?
I think JD is after this idol.”
And I kind of spilled my plan with him, and it was kind of a sincere plan.
And Ricard’s like, “Yeah, yeah, maybe so.”
We know what you’re doing.”
And they start walking.
So it just hit me.
It was kinda like Tony Vlachos.
But I wasn’t thinking about Tony.
I thought Shan was with me.
And so everybody got rid of killing me, like, “Shan saw the whole thing!”
Yes, she did.
That was my mistake, but I thought Shan was on my side.
So I just dove into it and hunkered.
It was so close that I was nervous.
That’s when I was looking away.
‘Cause there’s cameras everywhere.
That is a very unorthodox strategy.
So I’m catching heck for that.
Because I mean, that’s rule number one.
It’s like year 2000Survivor.
Sara nailed me on that great line.
But what they didn’t show [is that] I spent four hours dodging that question.
“Who are you voting for tonight?”
I’m like, “Oh, yeah, we’ll see wherever it goes.”
And so I come around the corner, and they’re all there, and they get me.
I wanted to hammer Ricard, so I didn’t want Ricard.
So they already had me scrambled a little bit.
And then when they’re like, “Well, who do want out”?
And I could not lie to her.
I just couldn’t.
I could say, “I think we’ll go with JD,” or just divert again.
So I’ve replayed that a lot.
I made some mistakes, and that one almost caught me.
I think I almost went home because of that one.
I gave Sara the firepower to turn it against me, but I didn’t.
And I don’t think that hurt my overall game because Shan was with me.
I was just offering, to help her feel better.
It could be the two people who messed up in the challenge.
That made you really relatable as a player.
He’s out there doing all this stuff," and they love watching that energy on the show.
What’s the reaction you’ve been getting from people?
They’re like, “You’re playing the game!
We get tired of seeing people doing the, ‘Anybody but me.
I’m just kinda feel it out, not throw out a name and play conservative.'”
And if all 18 players were playing like that, it would water down the show.
But it’s also not who I am.
If I played like that, I could still get eliminated, right?
you could play a perfect game and get eliminated.
And so it’s like, I’d rather be myself.
I’d rather run wide open, take risks, and learn from my mistakes.
One of my mottos is: It’s easier to go from failure to success than excuses to success.
So let’s play, let’s make a mistake, let’s adapt.
Let’s go, “Oh, that wasn’t the smartest thing.
But I’m going to change that.”
And people see that weakness and go, “You know, Brad is pretty predictable.
He’s going to tell the truth.”
And I was hoping that people could say, “Hey, he is who he is.
And I think I can use that on my tribe.”
So much doesn’t make the show.
And I mean, literally, he was not swimming good at all.
And I lifted him onto the ramp.
It was a great moment for me, but they’ve got a million things to show.
If you could go back and change one thing about your game, what would it be?
I thought about that a million times.
I would be a little more flexible.
I think I was a little bit inflexible.
But maybe I could have been a little more fluid.
