Read on for my interview with JD, and make sure to check in with Parade.com every day for interviews with this season’s contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 41 premieres on September 22 with a special two-hour premiere on CBS. What’s your history with watching Survivor? So Survivor obviously aired in 2000. And I was born in 2001. My parents watched the show before I was born, and I’ve just been watching it ever since. I’m a super fan; I’ve never missed a season. You know, I listen to podcasts, like Rob Has a Podcast and like the Survivor Specialists. I’m a huge fan. Give me one Survivor winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most. For winner, I will say Parvati. I think Parvati is just amazing; she’s my favorite. She’s flirty, and she’s cool. She’s really strategic and smart. That’s how I hope to play the game. As far as non-winners, I would say Malcolm. Malcolm is my other favorite player. He’s obviously a bro, and I’m a bro! He’s just somebody I looked up to since I was really little. What’s one life experience you feel has prepared you most for the game? Moving around a lot growing up. My dad spent 20 years in the military. We never lived in the same place for more than three years. So I had to integrate into school after school after school. And having to learn and get to know people from different backgrounds over and over again as a young kid, I think has prepared me so well to be able to play this game and connect with different types of people from all over the United States. What do you think people will perceive you as? I think that people will perceive me as young. Not dumb, per se, but a little bit naive, a little bit influential. And I think that’s actually going to be my greatest strategy coming into the game. When people underestimate you, they’ll take you further. And if they take me far enough, then I’ll be able to cut their throats and put an “M” in my bank account. What do you desire in an alliance partner? I just want somebody who I can bounce strategic ideas off of and somebody who’s not afraid to make a move with me. We see in seasons all the time, where somebody goes to their alliance member like, “We should blindside this person.” And then that alliance member goes and tells everybody, and then that person whose idea it was gets cut right at that Tribal. And so I want somebody who’s willing to play with me, willing to make moves with me. What’s your current game plan for when you touch down on the beach? When I hit the beach, my game plan is just to work hard on building the shelter and not go so heavily on strategy. Don’t approach people and be like, “Let’s do this alliance.” Really genuinely try to get to know people. We’ve been around each other for so long that I’m actually excited to connect with some of these people. So hitting the beach, focus on building those relationships, and don’t focus too hard on the strategy and trying to blindside everybody right off the bat. What will people underestimate in you the most on Survivor? People will definitely underestimate how smart I am. I’m part of the Oklahoma Student Government, so I’ve passed legislation in front of large bodies of other students from all over Oklahoma. I’ve also done Toastmasters, which is practicing giving speeches, since I was in fifth grade. So I know how to talk. I know how to articulate my thoughts and feelings. And I’m a lot smarter than people might believe at the beginning. So I’m just gonna play up, “Yeah, I’m just the bro. And yeah, let’s talk to girls and stuff.” And behind the scenes, I want to be a cold, calculating strategist. How much authenticity do you plan on bringing into the game? I mean, this right here is me. And I don’t think you should go out into Survivor and be somebody you’re not. However, I want to push a specific aspect of my personality to the forefront. I want people to see that I’m just a bro, and I’m chilling. But I want to play that really strategic smart game. So I want to go out there and be authentic. But at the same time, I have no problem lying and cutting people’s throats in this game. Which is more important to your game: Strategy or social? So they kind of go hand in hand. But I feel like the social game is more important. You can have a strategy that works 100% of the time. But if you don’t have that social ability to move people to your ideas, then that strategy will never work. That strategy has to have perfect execution, and that execution is your social game. We’ve seen winners who have terrible strategies and great social games, and they won. But if you have great strategy–Russell Hantz–and not that great a social game, you’re going to lose every single time you make it to the end. When you’re at your lowest moment in the game, what’s one happy memory you’ll pull from in your time of need? The last hug that I had from my eight siblings and my two parents right before I got on the plane to leave to play this game. Whenever I feel like I need to dig deep and I have nothing left, I will absolutely think about my family, because that’s a big reason why I’m playing. What celebrity or fictional character would you want to come out for a Loved Ones visit? I would want Goku from Dragon Ball Z Yeah. Because if we do a loved ones challenge, who’s beating Goku? Nobody! You get the opportunity to use magic once while playing the game of Survivor. What do you use it for? (Laughs.) That is an amazing question. I would use my magic to make it so I could use it more than one time! I would give myself the ability to use more magic. And then I would automatically make myself win the million dollars. Boom. Next, check out our interview with Survivor 41 contestant Sara Wilson.
