Alas, Mitchell Olson, the 7-foot, 23-year-old singer/songwriter/Survivor contestant from Union City, was voted out of the Ogakor tribe last Thursday night. It all began when Ogakor lost the immunity challenge, a contest that tested tribe members’ knowledge of their environment. After Mitchell fumbled the final question, Ogakor had to head back to Tribal Council for the second week in a row.
At first it looked like Keith (the Midwestern chef and Mitchell’s on-screen nemesis) was in the most imminent danger. But then Colby (the cowboy who spent last week’s episode flirting with that annoying and bombastic bongo-playing Jerri) switched his alliance. While he had originally agreed to vote with Jerri, Amber and Mitchell, when push came to shove he voted with Keith and Tina. For the first time in the Outback, contestants were faced with a tie: three votes against Keith and three votes against Mitchell. After Keith and Mitchell were given an opportunity to plead their worth, tribe members re-cast their votes, and again, there was a 3-3 tie. Finally, Jeff Probst explained that under Survivor’s official game rules (those TV people think of everything), in a deadlock, the person who as accumulated the most votes in previous Tribal Councils is the person to be voted out of the tribe. Unfortunately, Mitchell had received one vote and Keith had none.
Since his banishment, Mitchell has made the obvious rounds. He’s appeared on the CBS The Early Show and Late Show with David Letterman. And last weekend he spoke with Christine Nardone, a Hudson Reporter staff writer who covers the Union City beat. Look forward to her article in the Hudson Reporter’s Sunday papers.
Mitchell Olson’s final words
(Spoken last week as he left the show)
“That definitely took me by surprise. I guess I can’t say that I’m not disappointed, but my goal was not to win Survivor; my goal was to be selected for Survivor – and I did accomplish that. So, as much as I wanted to stay, it wasn’t for me. There was definitely more pressure than I had thought. It was physically tougher than I thought, mentally much tougher than I thought. I spent most of my days and nights thinking about my friends, my family, and food, pretty much. Those four things. But I can’t say I wasn’t surprised. They got me there. I’m not really disappointed with them; I feel a little bit betrayed by some of them, but at the same time I want to shake their hands and congratulate them for pulling the wool over my eyes, because they definitely got me. But I guess the bright side is, I get to eat, and I need to eat. Look at me! Cripes. So, this is for the best. I wish them well. I hope they go on to win the next couple of challenges, because they deserve it, they need it. They are the better team, and they’ll do fine, they’ll do great, without me. But I’m definitely going to miss the game. It was a good run.”