Interview with Dan

Dan Foley from Survivor: Worlds Apart(CBS)

Dan Foley had a second vote. Unfortunately for him, he does not have a second chance.

The Blue Collar contestant from Gorham, Maine became the sixth place finisher on Survivor: Worlds Apart during last night’s final six episode, bounced out by Carolyn Rivera’s hidden immunity idol play. Rivera, the only remaining White Collar competitor in the game, has a second shot at the million dollars if things don’t go her way in next week’s finale — she’s one of the 32 contenders vying for a spot on Survivor season 31 — but Dan’s days are done.

Related: Jeff Probst Breaks Down The Survivor: Worlds Apart Final Five And Next Season’s Second Chance Twist
For Foley, getting on Survivor is the culmination of fourteen years of video tapes and in person auditions. But was the hustle worth the payoff? Dan drew fire from fans throughout his time on Worlds Apart for comments he made about women, including his fellow contestant Shirin Oskooi. The Portland Press Herald in Maine even wrote an article highlighting the backlash Dan received over those comments and others he made on the show. Before the game began, Dan swore that he would be remembered — and he will be, if not for the reasons he hoped.
I spoke with Dan about his time in the game, his perspective on the comments he made, how he feels the show did him wrong in the edit, and how he plans to handle the topic when it comes up during the live finale. We also spoke about his second vote, his plan for winning the season, and where things went wrong between Dan and his former ally Mike Holloway.
It’s been a long journey for Dan Foley, going through no less than a million auditions to get on Survivor.

It’s kind of nice. [Laughs] I’m one of 460 people that’s played Survivor, but casting has made it clear to me that no one has put forth the effort to get on the show like I did. Although there’s a lot of people who can appreciate the destination, almost nobody can appreciate the journey, and the journey was amazing. I saw places in this country I never would’ve seen, I met people I’ll have for friends for my whole life, and I got to play Survivor. It’s still the best day ever.

Let’s pivot from that to your final words. You said that you came out here to have fun, be remembered, and win the game. You didn’t hit the last part, but at the time, at least, it seemed like you did have fun out there, and you felt like you were going to be remembered. But there’s been a big reception to you this season. How do you reconcile these things?

Alright. [Sighs] Let’s get it over with.

Well, we should talk about it.

No, I know. Listen, at this point, I think everybody knows I don’t lie. I will tell you the truth. I will stab you in the heart to do it, because I don’t mince words. So the two things I really want to talk about are, first, my comments about Rodney’s mom, okay?

What was left out of that entire conversation was the fact that Rodney and I had talked for nearly 30 minutes about when you’re friends with people, and “your mama” jokes, guys ranking on each other’s moms, this and that. That was all left out. I had actually passed out after that leaking water challenge. I blacked out. We actually called medical to see if I was okay. I was lying in the shelter, and that’s why I was there, because I was trying to recover. Mike is putting on Rodney for not helping around camp, and Rodney says, “Well Dan, are you going to get out of the shelter at all today?” And I go, “Yeah, well, your mother’s a whore.” It was on the cusp of a conversation that had taken place, but since no one saw it, it makes me look like a real jerk. First and foremost, I’ve already called Rodney’s mom and apologized. They’ve had fun with it. Rodney explained it to his mom. She loves me. I was talking with her last night. Everything’s good.

Number two, my comment about the “slap Shirin,” okay? It was meant metaphorically. I was not promoting violence against women. I was not trying to promote violence against anybody. There wasn’t a single person all season who didn’t have something derogatory to say about Shirin. Even Mike called her a “man-hater.” I meant it metaphorically. I had no idea about her past. None. Zero. And how could I? How many times have people said, “God, I could just kill that person.” Do they go home and plot murder? No. Of course not.

I’ve been having viewing parties every week, and I’ve had diehard feminists come up to me to say, “Listen, I heard what you said about Shirin. I have to tell you, I knew exactly what you meant by it. I knew that you just meant it metaphorically. I knew you meant it as a saying. I knew you didn’t mean it literally.” That’s been very nice, because I’ve been getting a lot of hate over this. I mean, death threats. A lot of hate. When people start sending me messages telling me, “What a weak, pathetic, feeble-minded moron [your] wife must be to be married to a pig like you,” that’s crossing lines, people. You know? Like I said, I did not mean it literally. Everybody’s been losing their minds over this.

Have you and Shirin been able to talk this through? You mentioned that you reached out to Rodney’s mother. Have you and Shirin been able to communicate through this?

I actually did reach out to Shirin before the premiere, because I didn’t get along with her. As a matter of fact, nobody got along with her throughout the whole show. I tried to reach out to her. We had a conversation. And she continued to behave in real life like she did on the show. And I have just chosen to avoid her at this point. She continues to spew hate at me online, and I refuse to do so. I’m not going to let my experience be dominated by the interactions between her and I. I really feel like I was portrayed poorly. I even told Jeff Probst about this. He kind of took it to heart. I hope he does. Like I said, just like that Rodney’s mom comment, there were a lot of things like that that were taken out of context. I really felt like they did me wrong.

What do you think accounts for that? If you’re saying the show did you wrong, what do you think accounts for the show choosing to portray you that way, if that’s how you read it?

At the end of the day, they’re trying to tell a story. I get it. I understand. We agreed to be a part of this crazy, spectacular show, game, whatever people want to call it: Survivor. Do I regret going? No, I don’t regret going. I chased this dream for 14 years. I said it way back then, and I’m still saying it today. It was the best day ever. So, am I disappointed with some of the things they portrayed for me? Yeah, I’m disappointed. But life is filled with disappointments. They also showed some really great moments. They showed how much I deeply love my wife, which is 100% true. They showed how much I loved my family. They showed a secret scene where I was reading the acrostic that my stepson made me. My stepson tends to be a little more shy and reserved, but he was pretty thrilled over that. It made him really happy. I’m not going to tell you that I’m going to walk away from this with a sour taste in my mouth. My experience was way more positive than negative.

You’re the first person in Survivor history to get a second vote, this big twist that first appears 30 seasons into the show. You used it last night against Carolyn, and you were voted out anyway. Can you walk me through your plan?

One of the things Tyler said a couple of weeks ago is, “Dan is not thinking past final six.” As long as he continues to think that way about me? I was happy. I wanted him to think that way. We all knew that Tyler was a threat. One of the things I knew about myself, because I can do basic math, is using that vote doubler when there’s an odd number of people potentially made an even number of votes, so that wouldn’t have worked. The only time logically that it was going to work for me is if I used it when there’s an even number of people to turn it into an odd vote and get the numbers on my side — potentially.

Now, Sierra had come to me and said, “Will just came up to me and said maybe tonight’s the night to get rid of Dan.” I had no idea Carolyn had that idol — none. But I knew that Carolyn, Mike and Will all went on that helicopter ride together. I thought, “Oh, maybe there’s going to be a change up, because Will is saying something.” Another thing they didn’t show last night is Will actually came up and said, because they’re talking about my advantage in the game, Will said, “I don’t know what it is, but Dan better use it tonight.” I thought, “Ah! He flipped. So Will flipped on me.” So I thought this was it. This is my time to use it.

As soon as Carolyn whipped out her idol, I picked up my rucksack, because I knew I was done. But you did notice that everybody voted with me. I got zero votes last week with all the talk they had; everybody voted with me. And last night? A majority of numbers continued to vote with me. I got done dirty by an idol. I talked to Carolyn yesterday. I don’t have any animosity towards her. It was a great move. Good on her. We tried to get her and she got me instead, to her credit.

Let’s remove Carolyn’s idol from the picture. Let’s say your plan works, and you’re in the final five. What’s your path to the end? What’s your plan for winning this game?

In order to win this game, it’s the three simple steps. Everybody saw me juggling in the first episode, and all modesty aside, I’m actually a really good juggler. Winning Survivor is no different from juggling.

Number one, you have to get to the end. Number two, you have to get to the end with the right people. If you’re someone like Woo and you bring Tony to the end, you’re an idiot. You have to bring someone who is weaker than you, or not as good of a game player as you. Number three, you have to put the right people on the jury the right way. There were several different paths I planned on taking depending on who got eliminated and who won immunity. I was thinking about me, Rodney and Will. I was thinking about me, Sierra and Rodney. And I was thinking about me, Will and Carolyn — a three collar finish.
I was thinking about all these different things. I just felt that at the time I really wanted to stay true to how I started the game. Whether it was me, Rodney and Will, or me, Rodney and Sierra, I felt that was the better way to go. I stuck with my alliance. My alliance stuck with me. And I got voted out. But I said two episodes ago, nobody dictates my fate but me. I control my fate. I control my future. I stuck by my alliance. It didn’t pan out. But I went out on my terms, and I’m okay with that. That’s alright by me.

You and Mike were very close at the beginning of the game. You both stepped off the mat together and made the choice to not be bad guys with the immunity idol dilemma. Where did things go wrong? Was it really the auction where your relationship cracked in half?

Mike started to get incredibly paranoid the day that … it was right before the tippy-toe challenge that Tyler won. Mike was talking about getting rid of Tyler at that point. He was going, “They’re coming for me, dude. They’re coming for me!” I’m like, “Mike, EVERYBODY is coming for you. Everybody is coming for me! Everybody is coming for Tyler! We’re all coming for each other!” And he was just so consumed with this paranoia. At that point, Sierra and I were completely good. Mike originally had Sierra in his pocket. The more crazy he got, the more he lost Sierra, and Sierra and I ended up being a very tight bond. I knew that Rodney was trying to make deals and whatnot.

But when Mike pulled that at the auction? Yeah, he was public enemy number one at that point. That was just the end of it as far as everybody else was concerned. But the more he won challenges, the more frustrating it became for everybody. He just… I’ve told him this. He just had this condescending smile on his face. Everybody was very frustrated with it. I said it in my Ponderosa video. There’s bluffing, and there’s lying, and there’s a difference between them. Mike knew how badly I missed my wife. I was crying on day two, because that was my wedding anniversary, and it was never shown. I just… I wanted that letter. I would have not taken it, if that’s the way it had to fall for the game. But to have him tempt us like that, and then do us dirty like that? He just couldn’t understand how mad we were. He couldn’t understand that he had done something wrong.

Have you two reconciled?

Yeah, Mike actually came up to visit me. I’ve been having viewing parties every week. Apparently I’m the only one of the 18 who has been doing it every single week. Mike, Tyler and Sierra all flew up for a visit one week. And actually, Rodney is here right now, because he knew I was going home last night.

How do I know I’m not talking to Rodney right now?

“Yo, bro, I’m pretty starving right now! Okay bro?” [Laughs] “I need my carbs, me and my boys are going to roll up on you bro, okay?”

It’s not a bad interview tactic, by the way. Just send Rodney to do half of your press today.

[Big laugh] No, Rodney is one of those guys who, if you’re in his inner circle, he will die for you. And he won’t give it a second thought. How can you not have respect for somebody like that? Everybody sold him short in the game, and I think Rodney surprised everybody.

I know your comments are not how you want your experience to be colored, but they will come up at the reunion next week. It’s a conversation that matters to a lot of people, a conversation that has captured Survivor viewers in the past several weeks. Are you prepared for that conversation to take place next week live at the reunion?