In an interview by Philstar.com, here's what the Top 4 of Survivor Philippines has to say.
SUPREME: You all had your own things going, before Survivor. Why did you guys sign up for this?
AKIHIRO SATO: I joined Survivor because I wanted to see how this reality show
works and I wanted to challenge myself, how to survive on the island without all the luxuries.
SOLENN HEUSAFF: For experience. I’ve been a big fan of the show since the first one and I’ve always said I wanted to join. I thought there’s no way in hell I could but then they made the Celebrity Edition and I thought, again, ‘Hell no.’ But then my friends started auditioning so I thought, might as well audition. I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, and prove to others also.
ERVIC VIJANDRE: Well, there’s the three million. [Laughs] And ito yung chance ko to make a name for myself.
AUBREY MILES: Since the US version, fan talaga ako ng Survivor. Yun nalang yung gusto ko gawin ngayon sa career ko. I’m not really looking forward to anything in my career. I just want to join reality shows. Dream ko yun eh—Amazing Race, Survivor. Then there’s the experience. I want to know how to play it. Kasi pag nanonood ako, I really get emotional. I want to see how it feels to play that.
What were your expectations going into the show?
AKIHIRO: I was expecting the mosquitos. I was sure we were going to get a lot of mosquitos. I expected to see a nice place, with at least coconut trees. If you watch old Survivors, there’s at least a nice beach. I thought I could survive on coconuts.
SOLENN: I had the same problem. The Survivors were usually on “heaven” islands, with lots of fruits and fish. We were in the mangroves. The only thing we could find were clams. We couldn’t even swim deeper than knee-high because we weren’t allowed since there were sea snakes.
What was the most difficult part of living there for you guys?
AUBREY: Yung living every day talaga.
SOLENN: These three didn’t have shelter for two weeks, their tribe.
ERVIC: Walang bubong, walang food, walang mapaglutuan ng rice.
SOLENN: The hard part is also sleeping in your wet clothes…
AUBREY: At sa lupa!
SOLENN: It doesn’t do justice, when you watch it. It looks like we’re in a park. It was a town that got demolished by the tsunami so it’s all shaved.
ERVIC: Kaya nakakaasar pag may nagsasabi, ‘Uy scripted.’ Di niyo alam kung ano yung hirap na dinamas namin sa island.
AUBREY: Walang washing. Ako pa ayoko maligo sa beach kasi madumi. Naliligo lang ako pag umuulan. Yun lang chance ko mag-kuskos pero walang toothbrush, soap, shampoo.
What did you like most about it? Being on the show?
AKIHIRO: For me, it was the challenge and experience to live in the island.
SOLENN: It was pushing yourself to the limits. I mean, these two [points at Akihiro and Ervic] stood for 11 hours. You’d never do that in real life. Even if someone paid you, you’d say, ‘Hell no.’ But there, you do it because you’re in competition. You just never think you’re going to do that.
ERVIC: Siyempre yung once in a lifetime talaga. Kahit sobrang hirap, alam naming tatatak ito sa buhay namin, makwekwento namin kahit matanda na kami.
AUBREY: Ako, siguro nag-enjoy lang ako nung top 10 na. Na-feel ko na talaga na this is it, ito ang sinalihan ko. Pag tumagal ka na ng two weeks, you’ll feel na sayang na. Dun mo na makikita yung game. It was the point that everyone was playing and I enjoyed that.
Survivor is a game of deception. Do you guys have any regrets? Anything you wish you can take back?
AUBREY: Ako wala kasi sa Survivor, you’re allowed to do anything you want, as long as you don’t hurt physically. Just do kung ano makakabuti sayo, ano makakatulong sayo tumagal.
ERVIC: Alam ko ano papasukin so alam ko kung ano yung pwede mangyari. This is the game of Survivor. It’s part of the game.
SOLENN: I don’t reject anything but maybe I’d do different things, like different alliances. [Laughs] But we’re in the top four so we’re pretty happy.
What did you learn to live without?
AKIHIRO: Clean clothes.
AUBREY: Lip gloss.
SOLENN: Cellphone. I thought I would die without it, but I didn’t really look for it.
ERVIC: Ako banyo.
SOLENN: Yeah, having to wipe our asses with our hands… We pooped, like, four times in 36 days.
AKIHIRO: Me, two times. [Laughs] So after, in the jury’s house, I was in the bathroom for hours.
So how do you become friends after outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting?
SOLENN: I think it’s because, us, we know it’s a game so we don’t have anything against each other.
AUBREY: Tsaka lagi din kaming magkasama sa island so lagi kami magkausap. Matagal kami magkasama so we got closer. And top four kami so pare-pareho. Iba yung feelings ng jury sa feelings ng top four.
SOLENN: And you get comfortable with everyone because even though we all just met each other on the island, we smelled each other’s worse smells, we’ve seen each other’s worst itsura in the morning. We did all the bad things so we’re all open.
ERVIC: When we were promoting out of town, isang room nalang.
AUBREY: Nasanay na.
ERVIC: At first, they gave us rooms pero nagsisiksikan din kami sa isang room so sabi nila, isang room nalang palagi. [Laughs]
AUBREY: Tabi-tabi pa rin kami.
ERVIC: Nasanay na kasing tabi-tabi eh.