What was he thinking?!
Why would theHeroes v. Healers v Hustlerschamp throw away his chance at $2 million?
Probably because he knew that chance didnt really exist.
CBS
And the man sounds truly at peace with hisSurvivorjourney.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Well, we just watched it all go down.
How are you doing Ben?
BEN DRIEBERGEN: Good!
It’s a pleasure to be here, and an honor too.
It’s awesome to be able to talk with you.
Lets get right to it because it’s the question everyone’s asking.
And so I really didn’t want to go and get crucified.
And so I knew I was in for a hurting.
Survivortakes a huge mental toll on you.
And coming home, wondering if you’d won a million dollars?
I’m happy where I’m at in life.
He played a heck of a game out there.
And when I lost that challenge, Sarah and I had talked about possibly taking Tony out.
Like, we knew Tony was a big threat, but our goal was to get to the end.
And Sarah was my number one.
Tony was my number two.
I wasn’t going to write Tony’s name down to leave.
And I still had my little loyalty with Sarah.
And then that’s why I think we worked so good with each other.
Tony is who he is on TV, right?
And Sarah is an amazing player and amazing person, too.
I would do anything for my friends and do anything for my family.
But what I did with my million the first time was I invested it.
Money’s not everything.
I had to get through and get to the end.
And I won a million dollars, it was fantastic.
But people also looked at me in a different light.
If you focus on negativity and hurting people, that’s going to be your outcome in life.
But I always say stay positive, stay humble.
And then we got some money and it was amazing, and we’re very happy now.
Not that I didn’t like the person, but I saw how I could treat people.
But what do I do getting to that goal, right?
But nobody cares that you won if you just elbowed everybody out of the way.
And so this time was to build those relationships.
And I really did build those relationships out there.
And with Tony and Sarah and Denise talking about enduring and let go.
And so this was a scene where the fire is crackling and I’m thinking about stuff.
Because there’s things that I’ve done and experienced in the past that still weigh on me today.
And it’s like, “Am I a good person?”
We really bonded out there.
All four of us did.
And that’s what I focused on this time.
And maybe did I over-correct because I wanted to build a relationship so bad?
You’re proud of yourself, man.
You got off the couch, went and playedSurvivorand won it.
And that’s all that matters.
So you must feel you were successful in that mission.
And you focus on the positive.
That’s an amazing feat for me, right?
And there’s a reason I wasn’t voted out first.
I went to plenty of Tribals.
Michelle talks about going to all the Tribals.
I think she went to one more Tribal than I did.
And we were both never immune, right?
That should be a testament to both of our social games.
She’s an amazing player.
And she’s very positive.
And she played an amazing game as well.
And neither of us were on the chopping block until the end.
And so, yeah, for me, I’m happy with that.
That was my goal.
And I did it.
My goal was to win $2 million.
Look at the other six goals you checked off.
Like running through the forest after I found an idol awkwardly with Tony.
And then carrying him off and he’s screaming.
So much good positive experiences came out of this.
That it was worth it in so many ways.
Is there any sort of light you might shed on that?
You asked me before the game, “Who do you want to work with?”
And Jeremy was one of the guys I wanted to work with.
Day one, we hit the beach and I am just scared.
I’ll be honest.
I’m nervous like, “Holy cow, I’m out on the beach.”
I respect who you are.
I really want to work with you.
And we can get to the end."
And so he’s like, “Yeah.
He’s giving me the go ahead.
And so then we start walking up these stairs and he’s behind me.
And so I called him out at him.
I was like, “Jeremy, what are you doing, dude?”
And he’s like, “Oh, I’m just doing my thing.
And y’all let me do my thing.”
And I’m like, “Okay.
So this is howSurvivorworks.”
I got to let him do his thing.
I can’t blow up.
I can’t get mad.”
Initially I’m like, “Oh man, this is not good.”
But it is the card I was dealt at that time.
I just forfeited all my information to him.
He was not having it.
And he got caught not having it.
But I had to let that go and attempt to work with him and build that bond with him.
And he is a nice guy.
I couldn’t be in the game with him anymore.
And so that’s what it came down to targeting Jeremy.
And the game makes you very stressed.
But what it boils down to is, it’s just a game.
And I respect Jeremy as a man and as a winner and as aSurvivorplayer and as a firefighter.
So there’s no hard feelings between Jeremy and I.
And I wish him and Val and the kids all the best.
I would do stuff for the experience of fun and positivity, like that big slide.
I went head-first backwards after Jeff’s like, “Okay, head off to camp.”
And I just laid on my back and went down backwards.
And so, for me, it was so draining out there.
The game was so fast.
And she did, she was amazing.
That was her game.
And she did very good out there on the Edge, getting all the tokens and stuff.
And I remember Jeff being like, “Okay, everybody, head back to camp.”
And I just kicked my legs up and went head-first backwards on my back, down a slide.
And I was like, “Okay, we’re still having fun.
My wife made me shave when I got home.
And for moreSurvivorscoop, follow Dalton on Twitter@DaltonRoss.
