Each weekday, EW will post the answers from a different player.
A special time in anyone’s life.
But Will Wahl had a high school experience truly unlike anyone else in the entire world.
Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images
“One day I’m starving on an island with cameras shoved in my face, and the next…
I’m at senior prom taking pictures and pretending like everything was normal,” says Will.
Only, as Will explains, “It wasn’t normal, not at all.
I was practically crawling out of my skin for months upon my return.
At one point I wanted to defer my college acceptance, grab a plane ticket, and run away.
I didn’t know where, but I just had to travel.”
And before quarantine, I had my dream internship working in state government in Ohio.
I even got an Alaskan Klee Kai puppy!
And, so far, it has been just as rewarding and memorable as my time onSurvivor.
What is your proudest moment ever from playingSurvivor?
I have two, the first was making it to the merge.
I remember that morning so vividly.
And then we spotted it.
We saw the boat pulling onto shore and we all knew what that meant.
And the second moment was winning the first individual immunity challenge.
I’m still not sure if I actually would have been voted out if I lost.
But regardless, that was definitely the first time my name was even brought up as a possibility.
What is your biggest regret from yourSurvivorexperience?
I played the game in fear.
Fear prevented me from making bigger moves, looking for idols, and playing more aggressively.
To be fair, I would have been an easy target.
As the eighteen-year-old kid, I stuck out like a sore thumb.
However, the way I let fear rule my game is a consistent regret of mine.
When you playSurvivor,you have to play without fear, without regret.
I wrote down “Z-E-K-E” but then I wrote “A-H” above the ballot.
That way anyone who was looking at me would think I was voting out Hannah.
And from what Hannah and Adam told me, it worked.
He ended up not playing his idol believing that I definitely voted for Hannah.
How do you feel about the edit you got on the show?
Of course, a part of me wishes that I was more present on the show.
The story told is either the winner’s, or someone who makes it deep in the game.
And, honestly, Adam and I were not working together much throughout the game.
It was Adam’s story and I thinkSurvivordid a fantastic job telling it.
I think it shows exactly who I was at that point in my life.
I was a kid who wanted nothing more than to be accepted and respected.
I was simultaneously very confident and very insecure, and I think that was reflected on the show.
What was it like coming back to regular society after being out there?
Was there culture shock or an adjustment coming back?
Oh, let me tell you, it was a trip!
One day I’m starving on an island with cameras shoved in my face, and the next…
I’m at senior prom taking pictures and pretending like everything was normal.
But it wasn’t normal, not at all.
I was practically crawling out of my skin for months upon my return.
At one point I wanted to defer my college acceptance, grab a plane ticket, and run away.
I didn’t know where, but I just had to travel.
But as the days passed,Survivorbecame more and more of my reality.
So when I finally returned home, that was the dream.
My family, my friends, my teachers, none of them felt real to me.
It took me several weeks to realize that wasn’t going to happen.
And then it probably took me about a year and a half before I was fully myself again.
Absolutely not, it was my dream and I never regretted it during or after.
But if there was ever a time I was closest, it would have been on Ikabula.
But honestly, rebuilding the shelter was not that difficult.
The challenge was the bugs.
They were just non-stop.
They would buzz in your ears so you couldn’t sleep.
Our buffs offered no protection.
And I was wearing shorts, so there was nothing covering my legs.
By the end of the week, I had bug bites up and down my legs.
But Ikabula was certainly the exception.
Whom do you still talk, text, or email with the most from your season?
I sort of faded away from theSurvivorcommunity after my season.
A lot of this was for mental health reasons, but now I’m just so busy.
I do love everyone from my season though.
They are all amazing people who had a great impact on me.
I would not be the same without knowing each one of them.
So, between seasons 33 to 39, I only watched episodes here and there.
However, season 40 reinvigorated my passion forSurvivor.
I loved seeing all the winners I grew up watching.
And, in that same vein, my favorite season is an old-school season.
That final 7 is, in my opinion, the most interesting final 7 in the history ofSurvivor.
Who’s one player from anotherSurvivorseason you wish you could have played with or against and why?
Honestly, there’s a lot!
I would also love to play against Greg Buis fromBorneo.
I know he’s such a wild card, but the superfan in me just can’t help myself.
I feel at the very least we would bond over our coconut phones.
If you could make one change to any aspect ofSurvivor,what would it be and why?
There should be a single season with no idols, no twist, and no swaps.
It would be a back to basics season, but Jeff wouldn’t inform the cast of this.
Finally, would you play again if asked?
I would have said yes if they asked me 20 minutes after I got voted off the last time.
