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Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains - Amanda Kimmel

In addition to helping Survivor celebrate 10 years and 20 seasons on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, China and Micronesia finalist Amanda Kimmel celebrated an important personal feat during her time on Samoa: She became the first player to reach 100 days of the game. Unfortunately, the third time was not the charm for Amanda, who fell short of making it to her third tribal council. Looking back at her reality TV career, Amanda says she’s proud of what she’s accomplished, but has zero plans to return for round four. “My Survivor career is over,” she says. The 25-year-old Kimmel spoke with TVGuide.com about her biggest mistakes, why she felt the game “got too crazy” and why she won’t put herself through another season.

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TVGuide.com: As you entered that tribal council, what did you think your chances were of going home?
Amanda Kimmel: I knew they were good because a lot of talk happened before the tribal council, like Russell pulled Candice aside, and then I pulled her aside after that, and then he’d pull her back and it was like a tug of war between me and Russell with Candice. I knew there were good odds that I was going to home. But I really did think that Candice was going to vote with us, just because I really tried to explain the benefit of her voting that way instead of just saying she had to save me.

TVGuide.com: Why do you think Candice flipped to Russell’s side?
Amanda: I think Russell got in her head, to be honest. I think he told her he wanted to be in the final two with her or something and she bought it. Candice and I had a rough relationship at the beginning of the game. We didn’t like each other, we didn’t trust each other and then we kind of fought everything out and I thought we had a really solid bond, so I was surprised that she, even with Sandra wanting to vote with us, wanted to go with the Villains … Candice had a plan and I didn’t want to do the plan and that was another reason why that happened … I think she was nervous with all the power Russell had over people. I think she wanted to be the first one to switch over.

TVGuide.com: Why did the Villains decide to vote for you rather than another Hero?
Amanda: I was aggressive. I stole the thing from Danielle. Of course, they want to pick out the one that’s causing the most trouble and I was definitely doing that … After the reward when I didn’t get the idol, I knew it was my bad. I was looking for it the whole entire time. Colby was there but he didn’t help me a bit and I hand the bowl of popcorn [with the idol] to Danielle. So I totally took responsibility for it, for going home, because I’ve made so many mistakes. You can’t make mistakes in this game. If you make mistakes, you’re pretty much going home.

Survivor’s JT: I wouldn’t give Russell the idol again

TVGuide.com: Obviously one of the big moments was the fight between you and Danielle for the clue. What was going through your mind at that time?
Amanda: I knew that my team was going to be toast if I didn’t find that. I’ve never heard any rules over the clues, because this is really the first time they’ve done this, so I seriously thought that whoever had it, had it. Like anyone can see it, anyone can have it. I don’t know what the exact rule is, so I didn’t know that the first person is that one that has it. I thought anyone could have it. So I was like, why not just take it? If I don’t, we’re toast, and Colby’s here, so it’s two against one, so we might as well just try it. I grabbed it and I should have just ran. I wanted to run to the bathroom, lock the door, read it and get rid of it, but that didn’t happen. Colby obviously didn’t help me. He made me feel so bad about it.

TVGuide.com: You also said that the game was getting to be too crazy for you, what did you mean by that?
Amanda: It was just really messy. It was exhausting because at any second, Russell was trying to turn every single person on your tribe and getting into everyone’s heads … I don’t even know how the guy slept a single wink the whole entire time because it was just chaos. It was complete chaos. Anytime we had to vote or do anything or who won the reward, we had to think so far ahead. Playing this twice already, I was seriously exhausted.

One thing too is that on my tribe, I really didn’t have someone that I trusted that I could play with … You can’t really play it by yourself. … I kind of felt like a lot of things were all on me and I think that messed me up a little bit. I felt like I had way too much pressure on myself in my tribe.

TVGuide.com: How does it feel to be the first person to reach 100 days on? If they asked, would you play Survivor again?
Amanda: No, my Survivor career is over. I’m really proud that I went over 100 days. I never thought I would do anything like this in my whole life … but I mean I wouldn’t come back. It takes a long time to get over. It’s hard to explain it, but it’s mentally and physically really hard on your body and I don’t want to put myself through it again.

• Mar 25, 2010 10:38 PM ET
• by
  Kate Stanhope

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains - Tyson Apostol

After a week off, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains returned with ousters on both the Villains and the Heroes tribe. On the Villains team, Russell Hantz returned to his Samoa glory days when he pulled out a hidden immunity idol after getting a warning from “Boston Rob” Mariano. However, Russell floored his tribe mates when he opted against using the idol to save himself, instead saving ally Parvati Shallow. The move could have cost Russell his spot on the island, but the big move sent rival Tyson Apostol home instead. The 30-year-old spoke with TVGuide.com about why he blames himself for being blind-sided, who he wishes he had voted for instead, and how far he thinks his teammates will make it.

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TVGuide.com: What was the vibe at tribal council when Russell gave the immunity idol to Parvati?
Tyson Apostol: I knew I was screwed at that point. I was like, “Ah crap. Play it cool, Tyson. Play it cool.” … I knew had it. Coach told me he had it and he had told Coach so it wasn’t a surprise. It was 100 percent sure. The surprise was that he stood up, panicked and then gave it to Parvati.

TVGuide.com: Is it hard to leave the game in a blind side like that?
Tyson: I guess I get credit for taking out the smartest and strongest player in Survivor history: myself. I am the only one smart enough or strong enough to do that. In that respect, it is kind of a bummer that I did that to myself but in the same respect, I can’t be mad at anybody so I’m not going to be bitter and write a blog about it for the rest of my life, which is what many Survivors have done.

TVGuide.com: What do you mean you did it to yourself? What was the one thing you could have changed?
Tyson: I should have just stuck with the original plan instead of switching my vote … I was supposed to vote for Russell but I switched to Parvati because I wanted Parvati gone more than Russell. I had actually told Russell, “We’re voting three-three on you. So you need to either play the idol or vote Parvati yourself so that she’s gone.” Because I knew with Russell’s alliance gone, he would have nowhere to go but to me. At the last moment I thought, well, if Danielle and Parvati are smart, they’re going to vote Russell to save themselves and then Russell [will play the idol] … I felt like I had more of a connection with Russell maybe than with Parvati or Danielle. I didn’t tell anybody I was voting that way. There wasn’t a single person in the world who knew I was going to switch my vote.

Survivor’s Tom: “It’s a tough way to go out of the game”

TVGuide.com: Was there anything else you wish you would have changed or you could have changed that would have allowed you to stay?
Tyson: The other thing is that we could have done was gotten four people and voted against Danielle because nobody would have assumed that we’d go for Danielle like that. All I would have to do is vote the way I told everyone I was going to vote and that would have been enough.

TVGuide.com: You said this play will make help Russell get respect in the tribe but is there a chance this will put a bigger target on his back?
Tyson: It could work both ways. I think him giving the whole speech about being honorable and learning it from Coach would probably win Coach over a little bit, but everyone else might want him gone more now.

TVGuide.com: You’re a very strong player so how will the tribe feel your absence?
Tyson: I think pretty much at each challenge, it was me or Rob that was winning it for them. To put everything on Rob is a big chore. Rob and I are definitely the stand-out performers so for them to lose something like that is definitely going to take its toll, I imagine.

TVGuide.com: Which teammate surprised you the most on the Villains’ tribe?
Tyson: I was most surprised about Rob and I think most people would probably say that, except Russell, who obviously hates Rob to the core and madly jealous of him. When I watched Rob’s seasons, I really thought this guy needs to go early, he and I are going to clash and it’s not going to be good. Meeting him in person, I was like, this guy’s actually really cool. I think he shocked a lot of people … I know that all he wants to do here is win, whether it’s the challenge or the money and I can support that.

TVGuide.com: Which of your teammates do you think has the best chance of winning?
Tyson: The alliance that I was in still has the numbers, but I was kind of the glue that was holding it all together. So if they can hold it together, I think they’ll go far because there’s still five of them as opposed to three [in Russell's alliance]. I was holding two portions of it together and if it falls apart, anything can happen. If Rob can get to the finals, I think that nobody left in the game can beat him in a tribal council. I think he’s got the numbers and he has people that like him enough and even people that aren’t in his alliance probably would vote for him in a final tribal council … The game is so unpredictable that you never know. I can tell you who can’t win the game. I would say Rupert would have a very hard time winning the game and Russell would be virtually impossible. Danielle and Parvati would have a very tough time winning the game in a tribal council.