“I’m devastated,” he tells us over the phone, with a wry laugh. “I’ve re-lived some past nightmares.”
Despite the betrayal that sent him packing, David had an incredibly well-rounded experience on the show, which has left him with a strong group of friends from the season.
We caught up with David to ask what it was like to lose Brianna so early in the game, who he thinks might win Survivor, and where on earth he got the nickname ‘Juice’.
Were there any good parts to watching last night’s episode back?
It put some pieces of the puzzle together. You’ve got your single experience out there, so to actually see the conversations going … the fact that my name was getting thrown around so much, that was mind-blowing.
You were great at slipping under the radar while also being a fierce competitor. Was that your strategy going in?
Yes, one of the strategies was to ‘let the alphas alpha’ [laughs]. From the beginning, I sort of became target number one with Sandra, the queen of Survivor, so that was a bit hardcore. Once we maneuvered through that, and there were enough personalities that you could throw the scent off, and you sort of rely on the fact that they will blow themselves up.
You were one of the first players to lose their ‘blood’ in the game when Brianna went home. How did that impact your game?
Survivor was Brianna's dream, and actually my nightmare. To get on the show was my nightmare, like honestly, what a dad does for his daughter! [laughs]. The fact that this was her dream and those scoundrels had voted against her … I couldn't believe it, because she's a social kid, she gets on well, but the fact that they voted her out so early … I needed to get revenge. It triggered the game in me – I'm going to go as hard as I can and make this worthwhile.
You have garnered a lot of fans on social media! How has it been receiving that support?
Yeah! On Instagram I’m getting a bunch of people who just love The Juice [laughs]. They’re giving me support and everything, and my social network that I had before, everyone's backing me. You always have the haters too, but you know, you just take it on board.
We have to ask, did the nickname ‘Juice’ originate on Survivor?
Oh, a hundred percent [laughs]. That was classic where, that first tribal, we’re throwing grenades around everywhere, and Jonathan La Paglia asked me ‘do you think you could be up for a vote?’ And I said, ‘a juicy Dave blindside would have a nice ring to it, wouldn’t it?’ … and then Jonathan actually called me Juice, and that cemented the name.
At the point you left, who did you hope would win Survivor?
By that time, I didn’t want any of them to win [laughs]. I would have gone Chrissy, but she betrayed me, and that was that. Look, I would love to see KJ win it, that’s for sure… but if you look at the situation … Josh played it a bit safe and left it too long. Jordie is chaotic, he never had really the trust of the alliance … and Chrissy left it way too late to make a move. And then you look at Mark, who's been a threat from day one, second time on the show, now he's got potentially two idols, and he’s still pulling Josh and Chrissy along for the ride. Unbelievable!
Would you ever play Survivor again?
I’d be crazy to say yes, I want to go on it again, but I’ve got a bit of crazy in me [laughs].
You can catch Australian Survivor: Blood V Water Sunday-Monday at 7:30pm on 10 and 10Play.
