‘I Got More Sheep Than Snakes’: Michelle Calls Out Mokuta For Playing It Safe After Her Exit From ‘All Stars’
Michelle Dougan has hit out at her Mokuta tribe for playing conservatively after she became the fourth All Star to leave ‘Australian Survivor’.
Speaking to 10 daily after her premature exit from the game, Michelle explained that she wasn’t thrilled to be on a tribe dominated by contestants from the sporting world.
“It's definitely just about strength for that team,” Michelle said of Mokuta.
“I mean, you've got Abbey who's played women's AFL, you've got Lydia, who's an Olympian, you've got ex-Gladiators and strength is just so important to them -- whereas, to me, ‘Survivor’ is way more of a social game.
Michelle said she believed her tribe had pre-judged her athletic abilities from her performances in Season 2 and were more than happy to eliminate her after she was the first contestant from Mokuta to surrender her barrel during the gruelling immunity challenge, which contributed to the team’s eventual loss.
“I guess that's what happens when you play Survivor twice, they know you from your previous season so it didn't matter that you went and trained harder.
“I was up that rope and across those barrels way before Lydia or Abbey,” she added.
But while the Mokuta athletes’ unwavering focus on keeping the tribe strong was somewhat predictable for Michelle, she said she expected a different strategy from ‘Survivor’ snakes like Nick and Harry.
“I was excited, people were going, 'they're snakes, they're snakes' and I thought, 'yes!' because these people twist and turn the game.
“Knowing that I wasn't physically in this athlete's alliance, I was excited for the snakes, so I was a little bit disappointed that I got more sheep than snakes.”
While Michelle attempted to make some moves with her deceptive season-mate Henry, she said wasn’t impressed by Nick and Harry’s reluctance to shake things up.
“I think Nick was scared to start playing and Harry talks it up but, from when I was there I didn't see much from him, either.
“He just didn't really give much either way so, in my eyes, that's just not what strong players do,” Michelle said.
Michelle's frustration with her perceived lack of big moves over at Mokuta left her “walking out of there not really being impressed by anyone” and wishing that she’d been placed in the middle of a more dramatic and unpredictable bunch of misfits.
“I was pretty jealous of the Vakama tribe,” she said. “I was loving hearing the gossip on the other side of what was happening over there."
Michelle said she would sidle over to AK during reward and immunity challenges to ask about the latest blindside, explaining that it was "so exciting over there".
After making a passionate plea at Tribal to stay in the game, Michelle ended up on the wrong side of the votes with Nick, Harry, Abbey, Zach, Lee, and Lydia scribbling her name down on their parchment.
"At first I kind of thought I was convincing them but as it got to the second half of Tribal Council I had feeling I was done for and I don't know if the talking was more of a hinder than a help," she said.
Shonee, Sharn and John opted to vote for Henry, and Michelle and Henry tried to give Sharn the boot -- with Michelle telling 10 daily that she was scrambling to wrangle votes for any name that wasn't hers.
Ultimately Michelle said that while it was "heartbreaking to drop the ball on half a million dollars twice" she doesn't regret dropping everything for another crack at Sole Survivor.
"At the end of the day, it's a game where 23 other people drop the ball twice so we can all have a champagne and a vent later on."
