AE: At the Charmin Teahouse reward, James stripped naked and took a
shower with everyone watching. We saw everyone’s reaction, but yours. Were you
not there or were you simply not shown?
TH: I saw it, I just didn't really care. I was talking to Sherea. We were
having a little chat, brushing our teeth because we got toothbrushes. [laughs]
AE: We just thought it was odd that they showed everyone's reaction but
yours, almost as if they were pointedly not showing you.
TH: You know, that's a good point. I wonder. I think originally they may
have thought I was going to be like similar gay characters in the past, like
Brandon or Brad, but when I told them "This is my game and here's how I
play it," they kind of changed the way they wanted to edit me completely
and it became more "mastermind."
AE: What was up with that Instinct cover proclaiming you the “Million
Dollar Man”? Did they just decide to do that on their own? Or had they heard
something from somewhere?
TH: Honestly, I didn't even know I had the cover until I saw it on the
internet. All I know is that the publicist for Survivor emailed me and said, "Hey, I need you to answer these
questions." So I filled out a bunch of questions and that turned out to be
the Instinct interview. They pulled that headline out of the air. The winner
was such a secret. Survivor isn't
going to let that slip to Instinct
Magazine. I think it was their way of trying to get attention and it just
happened to be true.
AE: Who were the previous players you admired?
TH: It's surprising, but I actually loved Jenna Morasca from Survivor:
Amazon. I figured she got out there, a twenty-one year old swimsuit model
who looked like she had no idea what she was doing. She said she was going to
use her sex appeal and bitchy attitude to get her as far as she could in the
game, and it ended up winning her a million dollars. When I got out there,
people underestimated me like no other, and now I'm sitting here with a million
dollar paycheck.
AE: Did you pattern yourself after her or did you just go in playing
your own game?
TH: I went in saying this is going to
be a brand new game featuring Todd. I made sure to find the big guy to align
with – James; the honest one – Amanda; and the smaller one – Courtney. And an extra
tag along – Denise. I knew numbers were key. As the time went on, I could get
rid of the people I no longer needed.
AE: You were a formidable player, taking a lead role almost from the
very beginning, allowing Aaron to take the lead while still running the show.
At times though, it almost seemed like you were more interested in stirring
things up than making strategic moves. Is that a fair statement?
TH: I made sure any move I did make
had some sort of strategy in it. For instance with Jean-Robert. I was losing
Courtney's trust, and I needed her complete, 100% trust if I wanted her to go
to the finals with me. I had to pull a move she was in favor of, and that was
getting rid of Jean-Robert. It also made it look like I saved James again, in
his opinion. I said, "You know what, I just saved you because they were
going to vote you out."
You know, just buttering up who was soon to be
the jury. [laughs]
AE: What was your most memorable moment on the show?
TH: When my sister Brandy came out. That was so surreal to me to have my
little sister there in this game that we'd both been watching for so long, and have
her experience a little taste of what I'd gone through. It was so great.
