The ousted player also explains why he stopped watching the show and if he regrets going on it.
So that didn’t exactly go as planned.
Daniel Strunk dreamed for years of getting on his favorite TV show.
Daniel Strunk on ‘Survivor 42’.Robert Voets/CBS
But just minutes after stepping onto the beach forSurvivor42, things started to go south.
(Maybe it also got injured in the fall?)
What does Daniel have to say about his Tribal Council performance?
Hai Giang and Daniel Strunk on ‘Survivor 42’.Robert Voets/CBS
Why did he turn on Chanelle so decisively?
And how does that shoulder feel?
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So, what happened out there?
Daniel Strunk on ‘Survivor 42’.Robert Voets/CBS
And that’s basically it.
I think that’s the summary of my game.
But I didn’t adapt well to the new era of the game.
Let’s talk about the incident at Tribal Council back in episode 3.
Yeah, go ahead.
You’re already starting, I think, a bit too late.
The analysis should not start there.
I screwed up on multiple occasions.
The number one example of this is, I told her Mike lost his vote.
So I showed total faith in her.
So she gets off the boat and says, “Look, I lost my vote.”
It’s like: What should Daniel do in that moment?
And I decided in that moment to stay loyal to Chanelle and go along with the plan.
Chanelle had lost her vote.
I interpreted that as a betrayal of the alliance.
But I didn’t.
We’ll get to the Tribal in a second.
She went and she risked her vote and told me she lost it.
In my view, that was just a total betrayal of the alliance, because we had an agreement.
But I did not see it as a game of chicken.
I never, at any point, saw it as a game of chicken.
So I remain loyal to Chanelle.
I shouldn’t put this all in Chanelle.
I vote Lydia because it’s in my best interest.
I remain loyal in the revote.
So I’m showing loyalty at every point here that I possibly can.
Then when it comes time, I’m thinking to myself, “This isnota game of chicken.
This is a game of three-on-one.
Mike is with me.
Chanelle is with me.
It’s the three of us.
Hai is on his own.”
And if you go back and watch the video again…
I’m gonna put you on the spot, Dalton.
How closely did you pay attention?
Do you remember what I asked Jeff [Probst] right before the discussion opened?
What did I clarify with Jeff?
Whether Mike and Chanelle had to pick rocks.
That’s when you go strong in a game of chicken.
I thought it was a three-versus-one.
I will put them in danger if I go to rocks.
I wanted to communicate right off the bat to them, “You don’t need to worry.
I’ve got your back.
I am not gonna force you to go to rocks.
You’re safe with me.
Let’s the three of us get Hai to flip, basically, and change his vote.”
So, I thought it was a three-versus-one situation.
No, I was catastrophically wrong.
That’s probably the biggest mistake of a read I ever made inSurvivor.
I can go back and watch the tape.
I’m sure I made other terrible reads.
That was catastrophically wrong.
‘Cause the very first thing that happened when I tried to go to Chanelle and Mike?
They both run for the hills.
I wanted to save Jenny.
And she’s running for the hills rather than supporting me in that moment…
Hold on for a second.
What do you mean when you say they were running for the hills?
I thought they would help me by basically saying, “Look, let’s have a discussion.
Look, we think Lydia should go home.”
Mike could have said that.
Chanelle could have said that: “We would’ve voted for Lydia.”
That’s best-case scenario.
Middle-case scenario: They could have tried to manipulate the discussion in some way, right?
And there was a facade of an open discussion when really there was not.
That’s middle-case scenario.
I got worst-case scenario, which is zip.
“We’re not involved.
Don’t talk to us.
We don’t have this.
Isn’t our problem.”
Mike, supposedly a great ally of Jenny, said nothing.
He just said, “Look, this is not my problem.”
Chanelle said, “Look, this is not my problem.”
I was, in that moment, totally alone.
I felt totally and utterly alone after already being betrayed because Chanelle lost her vote.
I’ve shown utter loyalty to her up to this point."
And at that moment, I just lost my cool.
That was a bad thing for me to do.
And that’s what makesSurvivora great show.
By the way, if I was a robot,Survivorwould be a worse show.
So people can hate on the reaction I had all they want.
It wasn’t great, and I’m not gonna defend the fact that it was great gameplay.
But it’s also what makesSurvivora great show.
Also, can I defend Chanelle here?
Chanelle has gotten way too much hate.
She’s in a golden position.
In 40 out of 42 seasons ofSurvivor, people don’t lose their votes.
Chanelle’s a very goodSurvivorplayer and deserves way more respect than she’s getting.
But it doesn’t matter when people lose their votes.
So stop hating on Chanelle.
Chanelle deserves some respect for being a great social gamer.
Let’s get back to you.
How painful was the shoulder both before and after it was popped back into place?
Before, it was unbelievably painful.
And it was outtwice.
It was actually out for the entire immunity challenge, for over an hour.
That was the most painful thing.
I did that puzzle with my arm hanging out.
That was unbelievably, jarringly painful.
Popping it back in did not hurt because you have such an immediate relief.
So what could you do and not do physically after that happened?
So let’s be clear about this.
Before every challenge, you meet with the doctor.
I would ask the doctor every time, “Can I do this challenge?”
And every time, the doctor would say, “You ought not do this challenge.
I listen to the doctor.
I am engaged now to a doctor.
I could still swim.
So their reaction was very confusing.
What did you make of it?
Yeah, I didn’t watch the episode.
I’ll watch eventually.
It’s a painful thing right now.
The reason I went fishing is complicated.
It means so much for me to be here.
I want to represent cancer kids playing.
It’s important to me.”
And I had what I thought was a very human moment with him.
And I think it was actually.
I only have good things to say about Hai as a human being.
So in that moment, I thought, “I’m safe.
I’m totally safe.
I shared this thing with Hai.
I shared why I’m here with Hai.
Hai’s got my back.”
We literally hugged after.
I’m like, “I am gold.
Hai knows why I’m here.
I am totally freaking safe.
I do not need to work.”
That’s number one.
So I felt safe enough to go fish.
Number two is my strategy.
Her strategy was slow like, run around and scheme and say mean things about me again.
I love Chanelle, but I think that’s kind of what she did.
She was more active like a running-around, “let’s trash Daniel” sort of mentality.
My strategy was: Hang back and be chill.
“The number one thing you’ve lost is that people don’t trust you.
And what is morenotscheme-y than literally not scheming?
I’m out fishing.
Like, you don’t need to worry about me.
I’m not scheming.
So I went all in on the “you don’t need to worry about me.
you’ve got the option to trust me.
I’ll be cool at the merge.
I’m with Vati.
I’m not trying to scheme.”
That’s what I had to do after that Tribal.
I didn’t do it well enough.
And one last thing I gotta say is….
This is kind of how I approach life.
There’s a bit of a parable in this fishing thing.
People who are in the legal profession told me not to doSurvivor.
They’re like, “Don’t do it.
It’s a waste of time.
It’s bad for your career.
It will harm you long-term.”
I said, “No, this is a dream and I want to do this.
And it’s very important to me.
I watched it when I was a sick kid in the hospital.”
That’s how I approach life.
I’m not gonna say no to adventures like that when they present themselves.
Now fast-forward and I’m onSurvivor.
All right, everyone’s gonna die at some point.
I hate to say it.
I’m gonna die.
You’re gonna die.
We’re all gonna die.
And inSurvivor, there’s the metaphorical death of getting voted out.
It’s just a matter of: What are you gonna do while you’re there?
And how do you approach life?
I thought to myself, “Look at what you’re doing now.
Be really freaking proud to be alive.
Just live life.”
That’s kind of how I thought about it in the moment.
It was strategic, but it was also a human moment for me.
I know you’re a massiveSurvivorfan.
You just told me your entire story.
Your dream comes true.
You get on the show.
And as you just mentioned, you haven’t watched it the last two weeks.
So tell me what this post-playing experience has been like for you.
Has it been difficult, or have you come to terms with it?
Yeah, it’s been brutal.
But I don’t wanna focus on that.
Because I have decades ahead of me.
And I play Words With Friends with Zach’s grandma and I’ve met Mike Turner’s kids.
And I love Jenny and Swati Swati’s visiting me in like a week.
So all the pain and mean things you read on the internet, it’s a lot.
But I will plentifully make up for it by the friends I’ve made.
That’s kind of how I view it.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
