'Blindside a compliment'

BY CHRIS SCHULZ AND TRACEY BOND

Being blindsided and earning the nickname "The Dragon" is a compliment, says Brendan Synnott after his elimination from reality show Survivor.

Synnott, a 30-year-old business entrepreneur from New York, was eliminated from Survivor: Tocantins when the show's newly merged tribes took advantage of his refusal to play his hidden immunity idol.

Synnott told Stuff.co.nz he had no idea that his nickname was "The Dragon" and that Benjamin "Coach" Wade - who helped orchestrate his elimination - was calling himself "The Dragon Slayer" until he saw the show on TV.

"I think the combination of everybody wanting to go after me, me getting blindsided and getting the nickname 'the dragon' (proved) everyone was showing me a lot of love," he said.

"One of the most flattering things anyone has ever done to me is blindside me."

Synnott, one of the show's strongest competitors and a favourite to win, said he had considered playing his immunity idol, but decided against it at the last minute.

"I was thinking about sitting there with (the idol) hanging around my neck just to show everyone I had it. I thought if I could just wait one more tribal I can play it next time.

"We would have had four people left in the exile alliance, Taj (Tamara Johnson-George), Steven (Fishbach), myself and Sierra (Reed). We would have had two immunity idols and we would have been able to control the game.

"You go to tribal and you always have that sense you're going to be voted off. It's never like you go there and feel totally comfortable."

He said he regretted not telling people he had the idol sooner.

"Looking back at it, it's the kind of thing where as soon as people think you're lying about something, they want you out of the game. I should have let them know sooner."

Synnott said the atmosphere on Survivor since the two tribes - Jalapao and Timbira - merged was "toxic".

"I generally want to trust people and like them. When we got to the merge I was looking for people to trust because people are talking about each other behind their backs and going after each other. It made me feel sick to my stomach.

"I felt better about trusting JT (James Thomas) but the number one rule of Survivor is don't trust anyone."

Last week, there was no elimination as Joe Dowdle was forced to leave the show because of a serious leg injury.

Dowdle told Stuff.co.nz he agreed to leave because his leg, injured during one of the show's challenges, wasn't worth risking in his bid to win Survivor's $1 million prize.

"If that infection gets to the bone, you start to talk about (amputation). Getting up and walking around was killer. All the blood would rush down to my leg. It made it really hard to get around.

He was "disappointed" to leave the show, but was looking forward to watching what happened.

"I really wanted to be there, I was really into the game. (But) a couple of days up to being pulled off I was focusing on the leg, not the game.

"When they told me I was going to hospital I was disappointed, but a little bit relieved."

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

* What do you think of Joe going home? Did Brendan deserve to be eliminated? Post your comments below.

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