After going from Survivor 49 alternate to full-fledged castaway, Jason Treul‘s time in Fiji ended sooner than he hoped—but not before he made his mark. Speaking with Men’s Journal after his elimination episode, Jason opened up about what it was like to be thrown into the game at the last minute, getting “swap-screwed,” and why he’s ultimately proud of the experience. He also reflected on the rare alternate-to-player journey viewers got to see play out on screen.
Scroll down to read the full exit interview with Jason.
Men’s Journal: How are you feeling after watching the episode last night? What was it like reliving your boot?
Jason Treul: Yeah, I know. It’s interesting. I know what happens, I just don’t know what’s going to be shown. So I think that watching it, I was like, oh yeah, you kind of go back into that mentality of how it felt. And I think the episode really paints what my point of view was, even though it does show a lot of other people. My thought going into that last day was, so much of this is out of my control. So much of this is decisions between old Uli as to what they want to happen. You know what I mean? So being able to see those conversations, hear spicy confessionals about what’s going on, it was really fun. I was watching it with Jawan [Pitts] too. We watched it together, and then when the rock draw scene happened…I don’t know. It’s funny. My back was against the wall. I felt like it was against the wall, and I think that’s what it showed.
Men’s Journal: At Tribal, you seemed surprised. Did you think you had made some progress, especially with Savannah [Louie]?
Jason: I think so. I’m not Savannah, so I can’t really speak to her, but if I was in her position, I would be very, I guess “trepidatious” is the right word? She was just hesitant to tell me anything. Even if I wanted Jawan out, it’s something that one, I can do without Jason’s help, and then two, if I tell him, maybe it blows up in my face. So I think that there’s very… I don’t know, I just can’t see a world where I’m being let in on the plan, right? I’m somebody where it’s like, my number doesn’t even matter. So did I get the sense that Jawan was on the bottom? Yes. Did anyone tell me that Jawan was a name that was being thrown out? No. I guess you could say implications of that—other people were talking to each other more than Jawan, but no one ever told me, “Hey, this is the power dynamic of Uli. Let me tell you everything in our PowerPoint presentation.” It’s like, no, dude, we’re not telling you anything.
Men’s Journal: Was it easier or harder to accept going out the way you did, knowing so much came down to swap luck?
Jason: I think that I have a unique thought on that—or not a unique thought, but a unique perspective—because the reason that I even get to play the game anyway is as an alternate. It’s out of my hands. So it’s like, tide comes in, tide comes out. There are these forces in the game of Survivor that are just sort of outside of your agency. I was put on the show because of things outside of my control. I was taken off of the show by something that was a little outside of my control. I think that at least I’m playing the game. I can try a little bit. I’m very proud that I was able to outlast Matt [Williams] in one episode because, hey, if two people are swap-screwed, at least I did better than the other guy. So I think I’m very at peace with how things went. Couldn’t happen to a better guy.
Men’s Journal: Were you surprised that they showed your alternate story on TV?
Jason: Yeah, I mean, that was my biggest point of anxiety before the premiere. Not anything that happens on the island, but just like—am I allowed to talk about this really important experience that I had? It’s weird because being the alternate toes this weird line of, is this something that regular people in America know about, care about, have context for? Does it make sense for a television show to say anything about that, or is that all just behind-the-scenes fun stuff? So I actually didn’t know, and that’s how come I frame it at the beginning. I said, “Jeff, I don’t know if I can say this—cut it if we can’t—but I’m going to say it because this matters so much to me.” It was crazy that it happened. It was crazy that they even showed it. I was fully prepared to be like, OK, this is something I can just kind of keep close to my chest and tell my friends. But no, I was so happy to see that that was told to everyone.
Men’s Journal: If you had known you’d definitely be playing, would you have prepared any differently?
Jason: I think that I would’ve probably prepared more for the strategic elements. My focus going in as the alternate was like, oh, if I get pulled in, I just want to make sure that I don’t die. So I wanted to make sure that I was physically fit enough—like, I’m not going to be Jake [Latimer] levels, but I’m going to try to make sure that I don’t die in the mud. I slept outside. I made sure to starve myself so that I could at least withstand the elements. That was my focus. I didn’t really think about the strategic stuff because it’s like, OK, I’ll figure it out as I get there. Maybe next time I apply, I’ll be deeper into that—maybe a more strategic slant. I don’t know if strategy helps when you get swap-screwed; maybe I come back super prepared and it doesn’t make the difference. But who knows?
Men’s Journal: Did you have fun out there?
Jason: Yeah, I thought it was amazing. I had so many moments of triumph out there too. It’s so cool to go from this spot where I’m like, oh, I’m not enough, this isn’t for me, I don’t belong here, and then being tossed in, being able to flourish. Also, having lived long enough in the game to meet so many people, I felt like—towards the end of my time there—I was like, dude, this was my season. It’s crazy to think. I started from such a perspective of, “Oh, this belongs to them.” But having lived through this season, I’m like, no—this belongs to me. This belongs to us. I felt like I was part of the tapestry of what the season was, which is cool.
Men’s Journal: Did you consider playing your Shot in the Dark?
Jason: From my point of view, it really truly is a two-day journey. It’s like a sting operation from all of Uli to take me from this person that is willing to just blindly say, “I’ll play it,” to diffusing this bomb. By the end of it, I’m like, no, dude, I love you all, I’ll play together. I think that from my point of view, one of their main objectives was to tell me whatever it is to get me to not play it—because what else are they doing other than that? So many of them, I think the point of view I want to emphasize is that this is a lot of our first or second Tribals. You want to use those first couple of Tribals to test relationships and bonds, and I knew that the first one was going to be Uli reinforcing their relationships with each other to vote out one of us.
I thought that once they got that out of their system, then we can do something for the second vote. And that’s exactly the narrative Savannah gave to me. But I think again, it’s another vote where, if Jawan votes with us and he doesn’t realize he’s on the bottom—it’s interesting the spot that he’s in right now. Because he hasn’t been giving a lot of information, no one’s turned on him yet in the vote. He’s someone who’s willing to rig a rock draw for the people—the tribe—that he’s on the bottom of. That’s such an interesting thought.
Men’s Journal: How close do you think Savannah actually was to flipping?
Jason: I don’t know. The tough thing is that I think these are conversations I’m just sort of a chess piece for. Even though I’m an interesting tool to effectuate this idea from Savannah, we see that she’s talking with Nate [Moore] about it because this is actually something she has. She wants to talk with people that she trusts. I don’t know how close she was to making that decision. I don’t think I’m the person that knows. Maybe she’d be more honest about her thoughts with people she’s known longer. Would’ve been nice if it went the other way, but I don’t think I had a lot of sway in making that choice. That truly was something she had to figure out for herself.
Men’s Journal: We saw other tribes poking fun at the Hina chants. What was it like seeing that back?
Jason: We’re all in Survivor in our underwear, OK? We’re all cringe. I think that the thing in the tribe was a little silly. I think at a certain point, it was just this weird combination of personalities—Kristina [Mills] was a cheerleader, MC [Chukwujekwu] is a personal fitness coach, and Sophie [Segreti] is a really competitive challenge person. I’m a home-team boy myself. We were just like, screw it, dude. We want to be here, let’s hype ourselves up so we can do well in this challenge. Obviously, Survivor is a game of perception—that’s a stupid thing to do—but when you have those personalities together, it’s like, let’s do it. Let’s braid our hair together so that we can have a little extra secret sauce when we win the challenge.
Another part too—we’re the only yellow tribe in the new era to do what we did, and I think that was weighing on our minds. We didn’t want to be the disaster tribe. They always pick us to be the disaster. We wanted to do everything we could to perform well in the challenges.
Men’s Journal: I know you hadn’t really met them yet, but what did you think watching the Sage [Ahrens-Nichols] and Shannon [Fairweather] dynamic play out?
Jason: Oh, my God. After the game ends, everyone gets to meet each other and everyone on our cast is so funny. The Sage and Shannon thing is so interesting. There are a lot of really—let’s say—interesting personal dynamics that say a lot about people in the world. Every one of us knows or has in our lives a Sage or a Shannon, and when those worlds collide, it’s really cool. That’s what makes Survivor, Survivor. Also, Sage’s facial expressions are so good. I love them—they’re insane.
Men’s Journal: She was like Jim Halpert-ing the camera, which I thought was hilarious.
Jason: I know! That little thing with Shannon was so good.
Men’s Journal: Last question—are you glad you did it, and would you play again?
Jason: Dude, yes—so happy. I think once you’re on the boat, you’re like, get me out of here, dude, I want to eat a burger. But then you eat your burger, and literally less than 12 hours later, you’re like, throw me back in. I want to do it again. I was there as an alternate, right? When you’re an alternate, you’re praying on a chance for a chance. For that to pay off, it’s like—dude, what can we not accomplish if we put our minds to it?
