“It wasn’t a good one, I’ll say that.”
That would beRome Cooney, the sixth player voted out ofSurvivor 47.
What does Rome have to say now about his epic exit?
Rome Cooney on ‘Survivor 47’.Robert Voets/CBS
Was he tempted to throw some bombs on his way off the Tribal Council set?
And what was it like to watch it all play back on TV?
We asked the Aqua-Mamba all that and more the morning after his televised ouster.
Rome Cooney on ‘Survivor 47’.Robert Voets/CBS
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First question: Who am I talking to: Michael Jordan or Kirk Hinrich?
ROME COONEY:Hey, apparently Kirk Hinrich, man.
Things didn’t work out for me last night, so I guess Kirk Heinrich.
Caroline Vidmar and Rome Cooney on ‘Survivor 47’.CBS
Honestly, I wasn’t all that shocked.
And I had my Shot in the Dark in my pocket.
I wasn’t all that surprised that it ended up being me.
Rome Cooney in ‘Survivor 47’ deleted scene.CBS
I was more shocked that the people that voted me out wanted to vote me out.
Well, let’s talk about your old tribemates.
Did it surprise you that Genevieve turned on you so quickly?
Rome Cooney and Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 47’.Robert Voets/CBS
I feel like pretty much everyone got in that same mindset where it nobody wanted to rock the boat.
And then the second after that, it was a mad scramble.
And in all actuality, everything I said was true!
Rome Cooney on ‘Survivor 47’.CBS
He wanted to target those people.
They were his number one and number two targets.
And I was fine with that.
Rome Cooney on ‘Survivor 47’.Robert Voets/CBS
But all that stuff wasn’t shown, so I’m not even going to get into it.
What did he say?
He just said something about Caroline and Sue that was a little bit outside of the game.
Rome Cooney and the Lavo tribe on ‘Survivor 47’.Robert Voets/CBS
If I would’ve repeated that, I’d get canceled.
I’d never say any of those things ever again and never host anything ever again.
And I told Sue and Caroline what he said.
So it was personal stuff, not game stuff.
Everyone knows, Sue and Caroline know.
So it’s just between Kyle and him figuring out how he wanted to play the game.
I want the fireworks, baby!
Did part of you think about dropping some bombs on your way out?
No, I mean, pretty much the bomb that I dropped was writing down Sam’s name.
It’s a game.
I feel like a lot of people forget that I’m a gamer.
I didn’t know what the show was 18 months ago.
I’d never heard ofSurvivor18 months ago.
So honestly, I couldn’t be happier just for the opportunity.
Going into the game, you know that you have a one in 18 chance of winning the million.
You also have a one in 18 chance of being the first boot.
So anything can happen inSurvivor.
Those 12 days were absolutely jam packed for me.
So I had a blast.
I had a ton of fun.
I got no regrets, man.
It was a great time.
Listen, its clear you are a competitive guy, and an emotional guy.
We saw those emotions when you lost that one reward challenge and how upset you were.
Are you telling me it didn’t?
Oh, yeah, it definitely stinks.
Nobody wants to go home.
Nobody wants to not make the jury and things like that.
Did I have as much fun as I could?
And did I leave it all out there on the floor?
And I like to say, if you didn’t play hard, you didn’t play at all.
First off, as far as I’m concerned, you made the merge.
There’s really no difference.
It’s essentially an old school merge at 13, so I appreciate you for saying that.
I’m glad a lot of people feel it’s making the merge too, how things went down.
What was it like watching it all play back on TV last night?
It was honestly pretty cool.
That was obviously an absolutely incredible experience.
So that was an incredible moment.
I lost 27 pounds at that point.
So it was definitely tough.
We saw all these super cocky confessional interview quotes from you last night.
How did that all work?
Yeah, that confessional was really interesting.
It was all one confessional, just me sitting there leaning against the rocks and stuff.
But it was right before Tribal.
So it was just really unfortunate timing that I didn’t want to be away from.
But, at the end of the day, the writing was on the wall.
I knew that even if I felt like it was a 25% chance, it was me.
We saw what happened toKaleb, you’re going out next.
So a Shot in the Dark at that point doesn’t really save you.
That’s how I saw it.
It was honestly just me playing as hard as possible and having fun.
And then on the island cut, Man, this guy is just talking about himself the whole time!
People have to remember, an edit is an edit.
Let’s do Rome.
But that alliance was very, very, very strong and very solidified.
So what was it like meeting up withKishanandAyshaat Ponderosa?
Tell me about that situation.
It wasn’t a good one, I’ll say that.
And I’m like, Wow, I’m going through this super emotional time.
That’s what you’re going to say to me first?
I was just like, Wow, salute to you.
It is what it is.
So she was pretty salty to see me, I guess.
But she was, I guess, happy that I got out of the game.
What was your post-merge plan?
Did you want to stay Lavo strong or were there other folks you wanted to roll with?
In my head, that’s how it would go.
So I was like: Okay, there’s only a few physical and social threats left.
This is an easy one for me.
And they all said, Yeah, that’s smart.
So boom, I’m hitting the jungle.
And everyone was on the lookout for me.
And there’s always Teeny like, Oh, for real?
But edit-wise, it looks like Teeny is suspicious of me as well.
But they knew I was out there looking for it.
What were your best and worst moves out there?
I don’t know, I made a lot of pretty bad moves, honestly, out there.
But my best move I would probably say is being helpful in challenges.
The only thing people are worried about is getting the win at the end of the day.
I’m excited with how I performed in the physical portions of the team challenges.
And then Kyle won immunity.
Who is your biggest competition to co-host theOn Fire with Jeff Probstpodcast next season?
Ooh, that’s a tough question.
If it’s not me, I thinkGenevievewould give some really interesting insight.
I think that Sol as well would be a nice touch as well.
But yeah, I’m hoping that I get the job.
I’m hoping that I’m able to land it.
We’ll see what happens.
There were so many rocks, man!
So everyone’s sitting here, Why didn’t he just use the ladle?
And it was literally underneath all these gigantic rocks.
Everything from here up was wet, my whole shoulder was drenched.
It was deep in there.
So yeah, I had to fully descend into the well, man.
But that’s definitely a moment I’m never going to forget.
