Joe Anglim, known on Survivor for his man bun, moustache and outgoing, friendly demeanour, is a fan favourite.
He’s appeared two times previously on the reality show — Survivor: Worlds Apart (he came in 10th) and Survivor: Cambodia (he came in eighth) — and is now ready and raring to return for the show’s 38th season.
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In the past, Anglim has admitted that one of his primary motivations in life is to become Sole Survivor and win the whole thing, and it sounds like that desire hasn’t gone away.
Global News spoke with Anglim about returning to Survivor for a third time, and if there’s anything he’s going to do differently this time around.
So why now? Why are you coming back to ‘Survivor’? Third time’s a charm?
Joe Anglim: There’s a part of me that feels like there’s some unfinished business. After my last two times playing, I felt as though I had so much more game left in me to play. There’s also an overwhelming amount of support from the fans and my family, who are confident in me going back and playing again after having some time off.
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What are you going to do differently this time around? Do you have a strategy?
You would think I would have it figured out with now being my third time. But I can’t help but see myself as a competitor and a threat regardless of the situation I’m put in. I feel that the odds may be slightly stacked against me, but hopefully, people will trust me knowing that I have everything to lose and that I might be an extra vote and a shield. The only thing I can do is to be true to myself and try to build good meaningful relationships with my tribemates.
What’s your point of view on alliances? Necessary or a hindrance?
Absolutely necessary. Probably the single most stressful and mentally challenging thing to manage in the game. The more important thing is understanding the dynamic of the alliance and who’s developing closer relationships and trust, usually in the two or three power-couple tiers. I think the game is much more fluid and free-flowing now, and alliances can change hour to hour in voting blocks, when in the older seasons we would see an alliance stick together from the first tribe and oftentimes to the very end of the game.
What’s the one thing you’re fearful about returning to the show?
The hard part is that players are going to see me as the biggest target throughout the game. It’s just going to be hard to downplay that even a little bit, and will make it incredibly difficult to convince a majority to not want to vote for me. So I suppose my biggest fear is simply being voted out short of day 39.
So you think you’ll be a target going in, especially considering most of the other contestants are newbies.
Hopefully, I can show them the ropes and provide valuable insight into the game and into the future, continuing our relationships far beyond the game and into our real lives. There’s so many beautiful and incredible takeaways that you can have from this Survivor adventure. The first time I played, it was a real shell-shocker and sometimes you aren’t prepared for how hard the game really is. It can crack you wide open faster than you realize. Hopefully, I can be somewhat of a security blanket and confidence boost for these new contestants as they’re about to go through a truly heavy personal growth experience.
As an aside, do you watch other reality shows? If so, which?
Ever since I came back from the show, I’ve been so motivated and dedicated to my craft of the arts I often don’t have time. Of course, I always make time always for Survivor and occasionally some Vanderpump Rules with my girlfriend. But ever since playing, I vowed to come back and try to maximize my time to my passion of art and healing, and doing my best to be as present as possible with the people I meet and spend time with in my life every day. Live every day like it’s your last.
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‘Survivor: Edge of Extinction’ premieres on Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global.