Courtesy of: TV GUIDE, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES
Survivor's Mookie: "I Wanted to Raise Some Hell!" by Angel Cohn
Mookie Lee, Survivor: Fiji
Some guys have all the luck, and some guys just have none. That was the sitch for
Survivor: Fiji's Mookie Lee. The 25-year-old Chicagoan who got stuck with the losing tribe from the get-go did his best to change his fate by aligning with a group of strong guys, but then they went and betrayed him. Mookie at one point had the hidden immunity idol, but gave it up to save his "Four Horsemen" alliance, where it went to waste. What's more, he was the only Bula Bula tribe mate that never got to live on the luxury beach. TVGuide.com caught up with Mookie after his ouster to get his take on his bad luck.
TVGuide.com: Did you know before watching it that your alliance mate Alex had voted for you?
Mookie Lee: At that time at tribal council, no, I did not know. Afterwards I figured it out.
TVGuide.com: What was your reaction?
Mookie: Initially I was kind of surprised, but [on] the show [last week] he mentioned that he was going to make his vote count, so I kind of understood.
TVGuide.com: Did you have an inkling that the rest of the tribe was going to split their votes between you and Alex?
Mookie: I had no idea. I don't know if Alex had an idea or not and that's why he chose to [vote for me]. Had I been thinking, I probably would have voted against him as well.
TVGuide.com: You unfortunately did not fall in with the right guys for an alliance. They all seemed to turn on you.
Mookie: I know. Is it just me? I lose every immunity challenge, people just turn on me....
TVGuide.com: You never got to live at the nice camp.... No wonder you were looking so exhausted by the end.
Mookie: Exactly. I had lost like 25 to 30 pounds.
TVGuide.com: Do you feel like you were at a disadvantage because you never got to live at the "nice camp"?
Mookie: I definitely feel like I was at a disadvantage. I think if I was on Moto or at least had a couple of days there to eat and get a couple nights' good sleep, I probably would have lasted longer —more so if I had won immunity challenges. Then a lot of people who are there right now, people who just freeloaded, would be off, and I think I would still be there.
TVGuide.com: Really? Who do you think was a feeloader?
Mookie: Cassandra would have been one of the first people off. And Stacy.
TVGuide.com: Stacy did win that individual immunity challenge last week, though.
Mookie: That was pure luck.
TVGuide.com: The challenge was basically the old game Battleship.
Mookie: Yeah, except there was a little more at stake — either you are on the show or you are off the show!
TVGuide.com: You seemed like you wanted to go home. Were you just tired, or did you really want to leave?
Mookie: I was just feeling tired. Even at Ravu, I vocalized my frustration. But when you watch me in challenges and in the game, I am actually playing the game and still thinking. My heart was always there. I would just say things out of frustration, but I definitely wanted to be there.
TVGuide.com: How much did you want to keep that immunity idol for yourself, instead of giving it to Alex?
Mookie: I wish I could have hung onto it longer. But at a certain point I had to trust my alliance. That was my livelihood in the game and I gave it up, and the next tribal council I was out.
TVGuide.com: And it got wasted. Was that upsetting?
Mookie: I knew at tribal council, when Yau-Man spoke, that it was Edgardo that was going to go. But at that point I couldn't do anything about it. I think that would have been the biggest turn in the game, if I still had it in my hand and gave it to Edgardo.
TVGuide.com: Was Dreamz's betrayal a big shock to you?
Mookie: Initially I was iffy about him, but when it came down to Dreamz, Edgardo, myself and Alex, I knew I had to trust Dreamz, because Alex and Edgardo were obviously the closer pair within the four. I had to trust Dreamz. I had no choice because I didn't know what was going on with everyone in the other camp. But my instincts were wrong, and I chose the wrong person.
TVGuide.com: Your Four Horsemen pals were upset that you told Dreamz about the immunity idol.
Mookie: At that point I had to because I had to gain his trust and that was the only way I could do it. I felt like [Alex and Edgardo] were basically using me to get a little further because they wanted to share the idol in the end.
TVGuide.com: I did like the "Go down swinging" mentality.
Mookie: Exactly. I wanted to raise some hell before I went, instead of walking out silent.
TVGuide.com: Do you think Jeff Probst was a little harsh when he basically accused you of invading Yau-Man's privacy?
Mookie: You should expect that there is no privacy. People have looked through bags before. Yau-Man basically looked through Sylvia's bag, so he should expect the same, especially from people who had their back against the wall. We had to get a little creative and basically find any information that we could to keep ourselves in the game.
TVGuide.com: Did the girls hiding in the bushes spoil your plan?
Mookie: That was sneaky! Now that I've watched the show, I learned that they didn't hear everything. The reason why we went and told Yau-Man was because we felt like they would spoil it before us, and it was definitely sneaky and surprising. One second you are on top of the world with this great game plan and the next you are like, "Oh, crap."
TVGuide.com: Did you achieve your goal of stirring up trouble?
Mookie: Definitely. Every bit of information in this game counts. For some people, knowing that Yau-Man never told them about the idol could change the game. I don't know, but hopefully it does.
TVGuide.com: What did you think of Dreamz's explanation of why he turned on you?
Mookie: That was complete BS. Alex and I knew he was completely lying. Had he been a little smarter he would have tried to milk it and gain our trust in a different way rather than lying to our faces again. But he betrayed us. He's the one who said there were going to be snakes and rats in the game, and there he is.
TVGuide.com: Are you on speaking terms with the Four Horsemen?
Mookie: I haven't spoken to them yet, but I leave things in the game. The game is a game; in real life, we're friends — hopefully.
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