Debbie doesn't regret $120 fries

BY CHRIS SCHULZ

EXCLUSIVE: Survivor victim Debra Beebe says she would have paid up to $500 for a basket of "cold and crunchy" French fries after spending 33 hungry days on the hit reality show.

Beebe, a school principal from Alabama who goes by the nickname "Debbie", was eliminated from Survivor: Tocantins after yet another blindside by the show's five remaining contestants.

Erinn Lobdell, Benjamin "Coach" Wade, Tamara Johnson-George, James "JT" Thomas Jr and Stephen Fishbach will now battle it out for the show's $1 million prize. 

In last night's episode, Beebe paid US$120 for a basket of French fries after being given $500 for a food auction challenge, but the 46-year-old said she would have happily spent all her money on them.

"I'm a French fry girl (and) I didn't care if they were $500," she said. "I didn't hear another word Jeff (Probst) said. I was like, 'Jeff, give me the fries'.

"They were not the best - they were cold and crunchy. But I dipped them in mayonnaise and ketchup."

Beebe said she held no grudges against her tribe for eliminating her, describing it as a "relief".

"This is a game (and) I give them all credit for playing it so well. I really care about these people ... there are no grudges. Yeah, I wish I was in the final two but it was a great game and an unbelievable experience.

"Honestly, when Jeff put out my torch I was ready to go eat chocolate and peanut butter. It was kind of like a relief."

Beebe said she was under the impression Wade would be going home, but the tribe blindsided her because she was a "social" threat.

"They had talked to me for two days about voting Coach off and I finally agreed and they knocked me. The other tribe members had convinced me that if we didn't get rid of Coach I might be on the line. I've gotta give them credit - they did a great job."

She described Wade as a "unique" character and said she had no idea he was calling himself the "Dragon Slayer" behind their backs.

"I have been dying laughing watching (the show on TV) because when you do your private interviews they take you off very far away.

"The (story) he told us about being kidnapped by pygmies in the Amazon was amazing. I didn't care if it was true or not, it wasn't worth me calling him out on it. I was too tired and hungry to fight him on it.

"If he wanted to believe it's true then I've gotta believe him - I guess it's true."

The 900-odd students at her school had loved seeing their principal on television.

"The students are teasing me about how filthy and crazy I look on the show. I don't know what I was thinking with the Pippi Longstocking braids.

"My students are used to seeing me all dressed up so to see me filthy and nasty, having not bathed in 33 days and not brushing my teeth. They think it's hilarious.

Survivor: Tocantins screens on TV3 at 7.30pm every Thursday. Stuff.co.nz will interview every contestant as they are eliminated.

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