Survivor Kaôh Rōng: Tai Trang Marks His Journey

Although Survivor no longer presents a fan-favorite award at the end of each season, there’s no debate about the true breakout star of Kaôh Rōng… and his name is Mark.

Of course, if there’s a second fan-favorite, it’s Tai Trang, just a few points behind his chicken sidekick. A singular force in the Survivor mythos, Tai’s popularity can’t be adequately described in words. He’s so magnetic that singer Sia showed up at the Survivor finale to award $50,000 to Tai’s charity of choice, and to Tai himself. It was, hands down, the most surreal moment in Survivor reunion history, and it’s all thanks to a beauty called Tai.

Here’s the other thing about Tai, and it’s best said in the man’s own words: “I’m a little longwinded.” He says this with a big, infectious laugh at the very end of our conversation on the Survivor finale red carpet. The interview feels like it just started, but handlers nearby make it clear that the time has already come to wrap up.

There’s too much to talk about with Tai, so much that it can’t all be contained in a single interview. Perhaps a follow-up another time. For now, here’s Tai’s take on his fears heading into the finale, how he worked overtime to keep Mark alive, and more… but first, I need to ask him about Sia. Watch the moment for yourself, if you missed it:

Tai, what the heck just happened?

It was crazy! It was wonderful though. Wonderful surprise. It messed up Jeff’s timing. I think he wanted to ask more questions.

Some kind of television history was just made, though. It’s okay.

I hope so!

Talk me through your feelings during that Final Tribal Council.

There’s a lot you didn’t see. Tribal takes a long time. I don’t know. There was a lot up in the air. It was so brutal, more than you’d see. I remember being so fearful. The jury was pretty hostile. At that moment I was pretty strained. I feel I did not give it my one hundred percent, so I did not feel confident coming in. And I was fearful, even watching it tonight. I wondered what they would show. But what they ended up showing was fine. I think the fear in our head is the worst.

But it’s understandable why you would be afraid. You had blindsided Scot, this was a big turn for you and the game, and when he steps up to talk, you’re preparing yourself for a serious moment.

Yeah. And he didn’t hold back. I knew in that moment that I didn’t win. This was cut out, but I told him, “You are a basketballer. You play games. Whether you lose or you win, you still shake hands. You congratulate the people you’re playing against.” I tried to tell him that and it was left out. At one point I tried to talk to him again to convince him. It’s only a game and you need to respect that. It’s only a move.

Are you two okay now?

Oh, we’re great. We had dinner in the summer. He and his wife, and Neal, were having dinner in San Francisco. We had a great meal together with my boyfriend. This is a very close cast. Right off the bat we realized it was a game. But I was very fearful. Just the look on Scot’s face!

Almost a full year passed between Final Tribal Council ending and the show premiering. What was that year like for you?

We came back and then nothing happened. Three days later, I went back to work. Things went back to normal within five days. Even though I was a little bit sick. I was dizzy, I had liver damage… but then, life went back to normal, until they revealed the cast, and I was on it. In a way it did not seem that long for me. I’m glad we waited long. It gave us time to heal. I was worried… I never know how I appear. I never know how I come off. But after the first episode, I started getting used to it. Even hearing my voice! Crazy! Watching myself was crazy. I started getting love from all the fans… and I felt that I was a different person than what’s typically on the show. I think that’s why fans drawn to me. Like Jeff said, something kind of unique about, not typical. In a way, waiting so long helped me treasure Survivor more.

At the Final Four, you voted for Cydney and forced her into a tie against Aubry. What was your thinking behind that?

I know… well, like, there’s something about Aubry that I’m really drawn to. She reminds me of the nerdy dorky friend of mine. I talk the same language with her. I’m loyal to her. She’s like my best buddy. Maybe that’s a mistake. I know how well spoken she is in Tribal. But I wanted to stay loyal. People keep saying I’m a flip-flopper. But I just changed one alliance when I betrayed Scot, that’s all I did. I never flip-flopped anything. So I wanted to have that claim. I know I’m at the bottom of that alliance with Scot and Jason. If I give them my super idol, I lose. Next vote I’m gone. I never know what would happen. But with Aubry, to answer your question, even though I know she’s strong… they didn’t show this but I walked her through making fire. I showed her exactly how to make fire. I make fire all the time at camp, so I walked her through how to do it. For some reason I felt like I wanted Aubry to be in the Final Three with me. She’s like a best friend. In the big picture it might not be great, but… okay, you know in the last few episodes, even though she flips on me so many times? And a few votes back, when they all vote Nick, and I vote Jason… I can talk about that now.

Great! Talk about it! Why did you vote Jason?

Because! I told Aubry, I can’t stay with that alliance. It’s a different creature. I told her I can flip on Jason. Let’s blindside Jason and get the idol out. I know we have an idol. So Aubry, Debbie, Joe and I can make that vote, blindside Jason. If they say yes… I talked to her about it maybe an hour before it, and she said yes, and then she decided to vote the other way and vote for Nick and she didn’t tell me. So that’s the first one. Also the vote with Michele. I talked to her about it, she said yes, and then she blindsided me twice. [Cracks up] I follow my heart. Outside the game, we’re friends. But watching that was painful. And how it made it look like she was telling me what to do. No! The whole Scot vote was completely my whole idea. I woke her up and told her, let’s do it the third time.

How hard was it to say goodbye to Mark?

Jeff told me he would have a good place, some family in Cambodia can take care of him. Because I can’t take him home. Jeff said we can’t take him home. But I cannot leave him on the island. There’s no fresh water. He completely depends on us. He’s like a family member. I don’t know. Maybe he became another Cambodian family’s dinner. [Laughs] But at least I got him through the thirty-nine days. I worked really, really hard, physically, to go dive for clams and do a lot for food around camp, so they don’t feel like they’re hungry to look at Mark like meat. After a while we released him from tying, so he was walking around camp. Well you know, when you have a name, and you’re walking around talking to us, he’s part of the family. They become a person. I don’t think anybody was going to eat him. It would look really bad for the rest of the tribe. Except for Nick at the beginning.

Oh, Nick would have eaten Mark. No question.

Yes! At the Beauty tribe, we did eat two chickens. They only showed one. But Nick was like… afterwards… we really ate a lot this season. Coconuts, mangos, and all of these greens. I’m a gardener and a forager. Right up the river we found a lot of clams, giant clams, so we ate the entire time. At that point, Mark was completely safe. Did you like it when Mark was at the Tribal?

Of course! It was beautiful!

It was an emotional moment.

Josh Wigler is a writer, editor and podcaster who has been published by MTV News, New York Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Comic Book Resources and more. He is the co-author of The Evolution of Strategy: 30 Seasons of Survivor, an audiobook chronicling the reality TV show’s transformation, and one of the hosts of Post Show Recaps, a podcast about film and television. Follow Josh on Twitter @roundhoward.