‘Survivor 43’: Owen on His ‘Balls to the Wall’ Plan to Win and Where He Went Wrong, ‘I Was Very Deflated’

Survivor 43 ended with three more under-the-radar castaways making it as finalists. Showbiz Cheat Sheet talked to Owen Knight over Zoom on Dec. 15. He explained his plan to win, and one way he wished he salvaged it.

[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from the Survivor 43 finale, “Snap Some Necks and Cash Some Checks.”]

Owen Knight | Photo: CBS

Owen responds to Stephen Fishback’s reaction to his ‘Survivor 43’ game

Q: I think at the end, I started to think that you were going to win, mostly because of how strong your storytelling was throughout the season. Your great analogy of Charlie Brown, my personal [favorite.] I was like, throw out all the other analogies, this one takes the cake! But were you surprised at all, like how much of your story storytelling was part of this season?

Owen: Yeah, I was definitely pleasantly surprised. You know, being the losing finalist, I didn’t necessarily think I was going to have one of the more narration-heavy edits of the season. So I’m very honored to get as much as I did. So I always thought I could be an OK, like confessionalist. So it was kind of vindicating in a way, seeing that they liked what I was putting on the tape there.

Q: Absolutely. And talking about the zero-vote finalists, you did call out Stephen Fishback as the big fan you are. I personally watch Rob Has a Podcast with Fishback, and he said you and your story were so close to his heart. How does that make you feel?

Owen: It makes me feel great. I’ve been a patron of Rob’s actually for like five years. So I listen to Know-It-Alls a lot. And no, I mean, I think my game resonated with a lot of fans. You know, I always said going in my floor was Jacob Derwin. My ceiling was Adam Klein.

I hope I land somewhere in the middle and just don’t totally implode, and I think the frustrations the, this my whole ride I think I’ve seen a lot of people say like I kind of was like the avatar for a lot of the fan base and I’m honored to kind of have that position and be seen as relatable to a lot of people.

Owen’s theory about his game and shorter days for ‘Survivor’

Q: Why do you think you were able to ingratiate yourself into the in-crowd for these votes?

Owen: It wasn’t for a lack of trying. I’ll tell you that. I mean, I remember the day Jeanine [Zheng] went home. She and I were going all over the beach, trying to get Karla [Cruz Godoy], trying to get [Cassidy Clark], trying to kind of get all the women together. And I don’t, I don’t know what it was.

I mean, I don’t want to make it sound like–I’m glad most people have not speculated, like, oh, it must be really awkward and weird and like, just not nice to be around. I don’t think it was that. But I think finding myself in the minority after the Elie [Scott] vote and then not having as much runway to work with in terms of just an hours-per-day standpoint. I think dropping off 13 days of the game, I don’t take as much issue with it as many fans do. But I do think intrinsically, there is a big difference in terms of like how much time you have to strategize because after a challenge, you only have so many hours until you go to Tribal Council.

Some people are all doing confessionals, and not having that extra day in between really accelerates the strategizing that needs to happen, and I think it makes it slightly easier for the status quo to be maintained. So it is what it is.

Owen knew he had to pull a Chris Underwood to win

Q: So let’s talk about how you did want to make fire because you knew that could be a good resumé builder. I just talked to Cassidy, and she said that [Mike] Gabler actually wasn’t that gung ho about making fire beforehand. And then when they were in front of the jurors, it’s like, ‘Yes, I’m ready.’ And you felt the same way. I did question If she thought that hurt her chances of winning if two people beside her are like, ‘Yeah, we want to go up against Jesse [Lopez] to make fire.’ How hard did you fight to be that person next to Jesse?

Owen: Yeah, not as hard as I wanted to, to be honest. I think the show was pretty generous in the edit to, to be honest. I like, I was very deflated after the challenge. Like you saw me smash my pole on the ground.

Like I knew the only shot I had to win the game was to win the challenge. Pull a Chris Underwood to take off the necklace, take out Jesse myself. I knew that that was my path to victory, even if that would be enough, you know, like, I knew that was my best shot, so I was feeling really down on myself. You can kind of see it in my face in that confessional, kind of in the ravine there. Like I was, just the wind was out of my sails.

So I wish I had fought harder. Like, I certainly brought it up to Cass. But I think we both had this perception that Gabler was not a serious contender, and that’s our own blind spot. Like, I don’t–he deserves to win. I believe every winner deserves to win. But our perception at the time was that he was the third-place finisher already, and so it wouldn’t be that harmful. She didn’t want to give me that resume point, as she said.

But yeah, he was, we were feeding him coconut all day. Like really, he was really dragging by the end there. So I think there were some ups and downs to his confidence level as there were to mine. So it was a complicated day, and I do feel for her having to make that decision. But for me, it would have been I would have had to go kind of balls to the wall there and take off the necklace.

Q: What was going through your mind of like, ‘Oh, my God, Gabler won?’

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Owen: Basically that. Basically, that was my reaction to say, holy sh*t, like, this is, is this happening? Like, it felt like I just, I did not see it coming. And, like I said, he deserves it.

Like they clearly he–the jury was really enjoying him during the final tribal. And that’s when I was like, uh oh, like what’s happening here? Just how much he was making them laugh and everything. So yeah, I just thought they, I was, I was surprised, but that’s showbiz.

This interview has been condensed for this article.

More ‘Survivor’ exit interviews from Showbiz Cheat Sheet

‘Survivor 43’: Karla on Her ‘Daenerys Targaryen’ Ending and Why Jurors Cared About Fire-Making

‘Survivor 43’: Cody Doesn’t ‘Blame’ Jesse ‘but, We All Need the Damn Money’

‘Survivor 43’: Sami Felt Guilt For Blaming Gabler, Explains His Connection With Karla

Noelle Says ‘Survivor 43’ Told Her Story ‘Perfectly,’ Answers if She Planned to Turn on Jesse and Cody

‘Survivor 43’: James Gives His Fix for the Knowledge Is Power Problem, ‘It’s Not Meant to Be Fair’

‘Survivor 43’: Ryan’s Secret Goal in His Merge Alliance Pitch, ‘It Was More of a Trap’

‘Survivor 43’: Jeanine Says ‘Kudos’ to Jesse Keeping Her ‘Baby’ in the Game

‘Survivor 43’: Dwight on That Idol Mystery and a Jesse and Karla Preseason Theory

‘Survivor 43’: Geo Responds to Cassidy’s ‘Sassy’ Comments and Says ‘Karla Had the Bullets’ Not Her

‘Survivor 43’: Lindsay Hates You Think She’s out for ‘Paranoia’ and Not Karla’s Strategy

‘Survivor 43’: Nneka Talks Struggling in That Challenge, Bonding With Cody, and More

‘Survivor 43’: Justine Says ‘Hats off!’ to Cody for Clever Idol Hat, Shares What the Edit Left Out

Morriah on Disappointing the Dad of ‘Survivor 43’ and Not Believing Gabler

‘Survivor 43’: Owen on His ‘Balls to the Wall’ Plan to Win and Where He Went Wrong, ‘I Was Very Deflated’

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