TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews
The Tribe Has Spoken: Yul Kwon Wins!
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Dec. 18 -- In the end, brains won over brawn.
Yul Kwon, a 31-year-old management consultant from California, won CBS' 'Survivor: Cook Islands' after a 5-4 vote.
The skilled strategist was called the "godfather" by fellow contestants thanks to his clever manipulations and well-planned dealings, which helped him snag the win.
After the finale, Yul spoke with AOL TV editor Geoff Bennett about his plans for the $1 million prize money, what he really thought about the racially segregated tribes and what it's like to be one of the sexiest men on the planet.
The big question: What do you plan to do with the money?
I've been trying not to think too far ahead because I knew it was going to be a very close vote, and I didn't want to set myself up to be disappointed, but there are definitely some things I want to do. My parents came over here as immigrants and didn't have a lot of money. They made a lot of sacrifices to provide opportunities for me and my brother. So I'd really like to provide them with some things they weren't able to on their own. I'd like to be very thoughtful about how I can try to use the money and my position right now to try to serve my community and do socially constructive things with it.
How were you able to keep secret from your family and friends the fact that you were on the show?
With my immediate family, we all signed these very scary-looking non-disclosure agreements with very stiff penalties. So they knew I was on the show. With my friends, it actually wasn't too hard to keep things mum. I'm usually pretty good about keeping secrets. I was more worried about my mom. She gets very excited and has a tendency to tell her friends things. (Laughs) So I was a little worried. But fortunately, she didn't let the cat out of the bag.
When I first found out about it, I thought "Oh my God, this could be a terrible mistake." I had a lot of trepidation about it. I really thought it could be a really socially irresponsible idea, especially if they played up racial stereotypes and ended up in a lot of weird ethnic strife. I don't believe for a second that anyone on the show was racist, but at one point, it looked like the tribe that was going to dominate was all of one ethnicity -- the Caucasian tribe. And they were systematically voting out all the minorities. And I don't think it was race-motivated, but I could see a lot of people watching the show drawing very unfortunate implications from that and applying them to our broader society, and I was really worried about that. But I have to say that I'm really happy with the way things turned out -- that ultimately a multicultural coalition got to the end. And I think we showed that we were able to overcome our individual differences and bond with one another because of our values.
What did you find to be most different from watching the show and actually being on it?
(Laughs) It was a lot harder than I thought. I thought it was mostly about challenges, so I was training and optimizing my body to compete in the challenges. But when you get there, it really is about survival. You're hungry, cold, bored and miserable most of the time. It was kind of a shocker. It was much more shocking than I thought it would be.
When you found the hidden immunity idol, did you think you had the game in the bag?
No, certainly not. I knew it was a huge advantage. One thing I really wanted to do was use it in a way that would change the game. I didn't want to use it to save my butt for one round. I was really hoping there might be an opportunity to flip the numbers in some sense. And the opportunity did come up, and I wanted to use it to bring our alliance up out of the underdog status into control of the game.
You said you found out once you started that it wasn't possible to play the game completely clean. What did you mean by that?
One of the reasons I wanted to be on the show was because I wanted to be a positive role model for people in my community. As an Asian-American, growing up, I didn't see a lot of people I wanted to emulate on TV. So I wanted to play with as much integrity as I could. But I realized early on that you're not going to get very far in the game if you're not willing to manipulate people and deceive them. So for me, the ethical dimension was really tough. I still feel I tried to play with as much integrity as I could within the parameters of the game.
And if you hadn't won, who would you have wanted in your place?
I think both Becky and Ozzy were very deserving competitors. I think Ozzy, in any other season, would have won. I think I probably would have liked to see Becky though because she and I are very much aligned in terms of our values and goals and our commitment to serving our community. She's a non-profit attorney who's done a lot of work for battered women, and I know that she would have used the success to drive change and make an impact.
During that last tribal council, did you really have to sit there for an hour-and-a-half and watch Becky and Sundra try to start a fire? Or was that trick editing?
No, no. (Laughs) That was painfully long. It was awful.
You know, for the most part, I felt like I got a fairly positive edit for most of the season. I'd ask a lot of my close friends, "Do I appear differently on the show than I am in real life?" And people felt that it was the way I really am. I did notice toward the end with the whole "godfather / puppet master" thing that they did start to manipulate things I said and take things out of context, in some sense, to heighten the tension and the drama. I think they were trying to create a bit more drama about whether I was alienating people on the jury.
So how are you handling your newfound fame -- let alone being featured in PEOPLE's "Sexiest Man Alive" issue?
It's weird. That really blew my mind. I thought it was a joke. It's weird for me because, by nature, I'm really more of an introverted and private person. I know it's kind of ironic for someone on a reality show to say. But I don't like being in the spotlight. I'm still trying to get to a point where I feel comfortable with it.
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