Candace: ‘Coach was a perv’

The first to be voted off her tribe, Candace Smith, the attorney from Ohio, had plenty to say about the ‘Survivor’ experience and her tribemates when she spoke to GlobalTV.com.

John: I was sitting here trying to figure out why you got the boot last week? Was it because you opposed ‘Coach’? Was it because you were a threat?

Candace: Join the party. We are all trying to figure out what happened. I think it was a combination of me being a threat and going after Coach. I was the one who raised the issue of him not contributing anything to our tribe except a lot of talk. He bossed everyone around camp, he was weak in challenges and he definitely saw me as a threat. I was not very receptive to any of his advances. You might have seen one of the many. He wasn’t too happy with Candace.

John: How much influence did Coach have over your tribe? Were people just falling in line?

Candace: He has a lot, for sure. I felt like I was in a cult or something. I was looking around thinking…Really? Is everyone buying this crap? He is definitely very good when it comes to manipulating people. I don’t think he will last very long because of that but he seemed to have some kind of power over people. People in my tribe were not thinking long term. They were just thinking…Hey, as long as it isn’t me. Who cares?

John: As we have seen though, that can be a shortsighted plan on ‘Survivor’? If you kick off the strong people, you are bound to lose people and challenges.

Candace: I agree. I think the tribe is very shortsighted. Coach wanted to get rid of me so he campaigned against me. It was easy for people to go along with him because I was such a threat. Sierra and Brendan knew I was onto their whole beach-fire pit story, which absolutely made no sense. So, they were okay with seeing me go.

John: Were you surprised that Erinn voted against you?

Candace: No. Not at all. From the editing people think her and I befriended one another but not really. I knew I couldn’t trust her. I knew that girl was pretty cutthroat and I think you will see that later on down the line. The only person I was surprised by was Jerry as I thought we had really connected.

John: Did you like your edit?

Candace: I love my edit. You know, there is only so much time in an episode. I would’ve liked it if they had shown more of my jokes. All in all, America got the essence of me. I am hard working. I don’t give up. I stand up for myself and other people. Maybe they could have shown me standing up for other people against Coach, which I did.

John: I found it interesting that Carolina spoke her mind and was kicked out and then the very next week, the same thing happened to you.

Candace: Speaking your mind definitely makes you a target. People try really hard to fly under the radar and being a hot girl doesn’t help. People are already staring at you. People are also easily threatened out there. People have insecurities and with the 100-degree weather, those insecurities become more extreme.

John: As far as the tribal dynamic goes, was there anything you wished they showed more of?

Candace: I think you saw that Coach was a perv. I wish they would have shown a little bit more to show how extreme it was. I had to restrain myself. People ask why I couldn’t have just gone along and played the game. He was constantly making inappropriate comments, trying to touch my butt. I think Debra idolizing Coach could have been shown more. It was pretty tacky and pretty disgraceful the way she was behind Coach constantly like his little puppy dog. It was like…Coach, what do you need, Coach? Did you want some water, Coach? Did you get enough to eat, Coach? It was like…Are you kidding me? I don’t know how he had this power over people?

John: I have heard something about you pursuing stand-up comedy. Is that true?

Candace: Yeah, I have done a little bit before I even went on the show. I have done modeling and acting but I always loved comedy and now I have decided to pursue that.