Tony Vlachos on why 'losing helped me' forSurvivor: Winners at War

The Cagayan champ says that “fear of failure is out the window now.”

He then tried to kick into an even higher gear for his return onSurvivor: Game Changers.

There were plans to build a spybunker.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Start us off with the update, Tony.

I don’t even want to remember 34.

I have to leave that all behind in the middle of construction, but hopefully it’s worth it.

Hopefully I can go back with some extra money.

It’s an opportunity to win a million dollars.

You have one out of 20 chances to win a million bucks.

it’s possible for you to’t say no to that.

The game itself, yeah, it’s fun when you’re in it.

You had some hesitation, then?

You weren’t an immediate yes?I was an immediate yes, but then the hesitation came.

But I’m impulsive, man.

These are former players that are going to play again.

They know each other outside the game.

I’m not going to have a shot like I did inGame Changers.

They’re going to vote for me, they’re going to go after me right away.

The sun’s going to be beaming on me.

The bugs are going to biting me.

I would never say no.

I definitely love to play this game."

Losing actually helped me, the fear for failure is out the window now.

I wasn’t scared of losing the first time, and that’s why I won.

Usually it’s gambling, right?

Scared money don’t make money.

That’s usually the case, you’re not scared.

I don’t like that stuff.

That’s not my nature.

It’s not so bad."

I got blindsided and it hurt, but you know what?

The pain dissipates in a matter of days, and that’s it.

You’re like, “Oh s. Life goes on.”

You don’t care anymore.

They’ll get over it just like I did."

It’s not that big of a deal.

What surprises do you have in store for us this season?

Do you have some clones that you’re working with?

What do you have?

I know you got some stuff.That’s what I was going to tell you, Dalton.

This time around, I’m like, “You know what?

I’m not doing none of that.

I’m not here to playSurvivor, I’m here to play the players individually.”

That’s a big difference.

What are you going to do the first time you hit the beach?

Because last time you took off in a full sprint, I believe.That’s exactly my point.

It was dumb of me to do, quite frankly, right?

This time, I’m just going to go there, I’m going to kick back.

I know it’s going to be boring, but that’s what I have to do.

That’s a telltale sign right there.

They got something going."

It’s like the best of the best pretty much, right?

These are great players that happen to be winners.

What I’m hoping is that they realize that: listen, there’s always one winner.

It’s not going to happen.

You’re better off getting rid of them first."

You’re here before the game with a group of nine other men, all winners.

Yul Kwon, I know doesn’t do the politics that the other ones do.

I’m with you guys if you need me as a vote.

I’m going to say the same thing to Tyson.

I’m going to say the same thing to Boston Rob, and Jeremy.

I’m going say, “You guys, listen, I’m with you guys.

Let’s get rid of stragglers.”

How do you think the other players see you?

I make some good moves, but I’m like: “Look at this guy.

This guy is serious right now?”

It just worked out for me, man.

What’s your biggest weakness, Tony?My biggest weakness is my personality, my character.

How is that a weakness?Because I’m a clown.

I go out there running around.

I can’t stop myself from doing silly things.

I hope I don’t rub these people the wrong way.

These guys might not have the tolerance for that.

Isn’t there something about that, though, just having fun with this experience?

It’s just like work, right?

It’s no different here.

I’m here, I’m going to make the best of it.

Get him out of here."

It could backfire, too.

What do you do with the idol situation out there?

I know that you like to search for idols.

We know there are some people here that have also found a lot of idols.

We also know back onHeroes vs. Villainspeople that looked for idols were ostracized.

That’s the person I’m going to see to it that gets targeted first.

You’re not going to control the game.

Idols, I will go look for them, just like everybody else is.

Ben is going to go look for his bombs, we know that.

We’re all going to look for idols, but the timing is the key.

The timing is the key.

I’m not going to run off like I did the second time around.

Season 20,Heroes vs. Villains, was a huge event forSurvivor.

Season 8,Survivor: All Stars,was a massive event.

I applied to get on the show that I really liked.

You got to know somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody that referred you to these people.

They’re not going to watch me.

They called me a week later.

I couldn’t believe it.

I thought somebody was playing a trick on me.

I wound up not only going onto season 28, but I won the season, right?

That in itself is like a dream come true, right?

Then they call me again forGame Changers.

Then they call me again for season 40, which the Super Bowl ofSurvivor, right?

20 years in the making to get to this point today, right?

I can’t even put it into words to tell you what the experience or the feeling is like.

I just can’t.

Come on.That’s not what I said, Dalton.

I said I’m not going into it thinking about doing anything.

I’m not going to go in there with the premeditated notion of doing these things.

What about the clones you promised inGame Changers?I didn’t get to do the clones.

That’s what these people do, they live and breathe this stuff.