Each weekday, EW will post the answers from a different player.
IT’S HIS ISLAND!
What an epic emotional adventure!
Troy Robertson on ‘Survivor: Game Changers’.Timothy Kuratek/CBS via Getty Images
No crew, no cameramen, no producers… it was a weird feeling.
We had tears in our eyes reminiscing about our wild experience onGame Changers.
Michele Fitzgerald came along with us since I had an extra free airline ticket from Fiji Airlines.
Troy Robertson on ‘Survivor: Game Changers’.Robert Voets/CBS via Getty Images
Tai’s husband, Mark, came along as well.
We all had an absolute blast revisiting all the places where we played… including Tribal Council.
I FaceTimed with Culpepper from one of the islands we did a challenge on.
Troyzan Robertson, Zeke Smith, and Brad Culpepper on ‘Survivor: Game Changers’.CBS
I had super-clear reception, which was a miracle on a little remote Fijian island.
I made a 15-minute YouTube video about the entire trip back.
You canwatch it right here, it’s called “Fiji… A Journey Back.”
Durning COVID, I pretty much just hunkered down at home for a year solid.
I didn’t mind, though, I’m kind of a loner.
I live on a lush 10-acre jungle, so it suited me just fine being the recluse I am.
I live like a Survivor of one.
What is your proudest moment ever from playingSurvivor?
Gosh, there are so many moments that mean a lot to me.
It’s hard to get it down to just one.
I can’t just give you one, so I’ll name my top few moments.
Finding my first hidden immunity idol was a huge deal to me.
Just because I thought that not many people who get to play find these things.
It’s a lot harder than it looks!
It felt pretty special to actually find one on each season.
Yelling, “THIS IS MY ISLAND!”
was pretty crazy… but it’s how most people know me.
I’d say that my last speech of the final Tribal Council onGame Changerswas pretty proud moment for me.
You guys, the viewing audience, didn’t get to see and hear everything I actually said.
I think everybody appreciated it because they stood up and applauded me when I was done.
I was really surprised and grateful at the same time.
Seeing him come running out of the mangroves was beyond words.
I lost my s—!
It was beyond emotional for me.
I waited almost five years to get that experience again, and it was a real tearjerker for me.
Something I will always cherish.
What is your biggest regret from yourSurvivorexperiences?
I don’t have really any regrets.
Absolutely LOVE being out there!
I might have won," The coulda, woulda, shouldas.
It drives me crazy.
Or made myself more understood by some of the fans out there.
This is whattheywere saying… not me.
I wasn’t at all thinking that I was playing like Richard or Russel in the slightest.
That’s crazy talk.
I was just was giving Jeff an honest answer.
I just was repeating what I had heard.
I think it put a sour taste in people’s minds about me.
Like, “Oh this Troyzan guy is a real douche weasel!”
But sadly, I found out you really can’t make everybody happy.
Some fans love ya, some fans just like to hate.
I don’t really get it, but no worries.
And now that I’m thinking about it…
I wish I didn’t wear such bright green undies on season 34!
Although Malcom and Sarah loved them!
There were a lot of moments with Tai that I wish people would’ve seen.
We were a lot closer on the island then it actually showed.
We had a lot of fantastic times laughing, joking, and having just a good old time.
I really enjoy Tai, and we had a few hilarious moments that I remember quite well.
One was where I made a chicken trap with a box and he helped me catch a chicken.
Here, chicken, chicken, chicken."
It was hilarious watching him lure the chicken into the trap with coconut chunks.
The chicken went in and I pulled the rope… and BOOM!
We caught it and we were ecstatic.
No one believed that we caught it that way.
I spotted a huge eel in an area of the rocks between the coral and tide.
Smash his head!"
I was like, “Geez, Tai, you’re nuts!”
I hugged him and said, “Tai, it’s okay.
He gave us his life for food.
Come here, buddy.”
He give me a hug and kissed me on the cheek.
We hugged there in the ocean, all bloody with a dangling eel.
We realized that the whole thing must have looked pretty crazy to the camera guy filming us.
Then we started laughing our heads off!
It was quite the moment.
One that I’ll never forget.
Oh, and Kim’s scheming/chatting on lockdown duringOne Worldwill always stick in my memory banks forever!
(Wink, wink.)
How doyou feel about the edit you got on the show?
I’m always happy for any edit, honestly.
I thought my edit pretty much showed the real me.
Things happen out there where some people get credit for something that they actually didn’t do or say.
It’s always fun to watch the season back on TV and say “What?!
That’s not really how it happened!”
It’s tough to show everything we do out there, so I get it.
Plus, onGame Changersthey felt like they needed to show all the returnees as much as possible.
So all of our edits get cut to the max.
Oh well, it’s all good.
I’m always honored to play!
What was it like coming back to regular society after being out there?
Was there culture shock or an adjustment coming back?
It’s always a very weird feeling coming back.
I don’t like it at all.
I’d rather stay out on the island for another month or two.
When they give us back our cell phones at the airport, that’s when it hits me.Damn!
I’m back to the crazy real world again.
I stare down at my phone and actually debate whether I want to turn it on or not.
The simple island life is tough for me to leave.
I do a major pig-out for a solid week!
Tons of chocolate anything!
Looking at my skinny-ass body in the mirror is always amusing a well.
Never regretted one moment during the game at all.
The only time I really felt bummed out and disappointed was after the live finale ofOne World.
I kind of sat there after it was all finished and realized my dream hadn’t come true.
I don’t know if you guys realize it took me 11 years to get on the show.
Year after year after year waiting for a dream.
It was quite the journey to just make it on the show.
So I thought well that would be a great consolation prize.
I was bummed out, I didn’t want to talk to anybody.
Kim came up to me and asked me if I was okay.
I lied to her and said yes.
But I wasn’t okay.
Honestly, I was just sad.
Whom do you still talk, text, or email with the most from your seasons?
I honestly take a stab at keep in contact with almost everybody from both of my seasons.
I’m just that kinda guy.
I’ll always be super-close with Brad and Monica Culpepper.
I go and visit them in Tampa quite a bit.
What a great couple.
Their Wi-Fi is “troyzan troyzan.”
Sarah Lacina and I have talked probably once a week for the last four years now.
We’re really close.
She’s funny as hell, and I was super-proud to watch her playWinners at War.
I FaceTime a lot with Sandra.
We talk about life and other s— besidesSurvivor, like her dogs.
We have a good laugh or two reminiscing.
I just talked with Hali a week ago and had a great conversation.
I loved her energy out there.
Tai and I still talk every month or so.
You’ll be surprised that I talk to Dr. Greg Smith (Tarzan) the most!
I probably talk to Tarzan more than anybody else from my first season.
I’ve been to his house like three times.
He lives in kind of this wild mansion.
It’s like a combination of Disneyland, Jurassic Park, and Universal Studios all wrapped into one.
It’s an amazing house and he’s an amazing guy.
We laugh about it.
He is a realSurvivorfan to this day as well.
I still talk withCrazy Kat, she’s like a little sister to me.
And also Jonas, Chelsea, Kim, andJay.
Oh, of course I do!
I’ve binge-watched the hell out of a lot of seasons during COVID.
I’m still in awe of how it looked that first season.
Jeff in camp just walking around having conversations with everyone.
Richard Hatch started it all, and it would be amazing to play with that guy.
I’ve met a lot of people from that first season as well.
My favorite place to actually live on would’ve been the Cook Islands.
Those islands, the water, the trees it looked stunningly beautiful!
I can’t even imagine how tropical it actually is.
Who’s one player from anotherSurvivorseason you wish you could have played with or against and why?
I’ve already played with maybe the best players to ever playedSurvivor.
How can you beat that?
I mean, come on…
I played with the best that ever played.Andreais immensely popular as well.
I think Amanda and I would get along very well.
We grew up in the same kind of area.
I already mentioned Richard Hatch.
Just because he’s the guy that startedSurvivoron its epic run.
I’m not sure ifSurvivorwould’ve beenSurvivorand lasted as long without Richard starting it all.
I would like to play with a guy 100%.
I was asked to play onFans vs. Favorites2, soCochranwould’ve been very interesting.
I was up forBlood vs Water1, so playing with Tyson would’ve been nutso to say the least.
And then I was also up forSecond Chance.
I imagine playing with people like Jeremy, Wentworth, Joe, andFishbachwould have been great.
And then can you imagine me and Keith Nale on the same season?
How crazy would that be?
Can’t leave out Boston Rob, Parvati, and maybe, just maybe, Russell Hantz.
Last but not least…Lauren Ashley Beck, and she knows why!
I know that’s a loooong answer.
If you could make one change to any aspect of Survivor, what would it be and why?
What the hell happened to Tree Mail?
That’s one of the best parts.
And in upcoming seasons, how about just cutting it down to just two hidden immunity idols per season?
Twenty years and going strong.
So hats off to those guys.
They know what the hell they’re doing, period.
Finally, would you play again if asked?
That’s kind of a duh.
Do you even need to ask?
My bags are always packed.
1000% I’ll play!
I’m way too competitive.
It’s pretty much been my life for 20 years now.
I’m dying to finally win already!
And thanks to theSurvivorworld.
It’s been a great time!
