'Superfans Often Say John Has No Strategy': The All Star Mullet Hits Back
John Eastoe isn't here for superfans who claim he has no strategy when it comes to Australian Survivor.
Speaking to 10 daily on the phone following his elimination, John said he was under no impression that anyone else would be getting their torch snuffed that night. He was a dead castaway walking.
"I knew what was coming. I watched my two closest allies get voted out in the two previous tribal councils so, I knew what was happening."
The play was simple. Locky had decided he wanted to either axe the Godfather once and for all or at the very least flush his immunity idol and get rid of John at the same time.
"It's almost like a sinister feeling when you're the lone wolf out there and there's an alliance having secret conversations and you're not privy to anything," John said. "That does weigh on you mentally.
"You're constantly thinking, 'Are they talking about me? Are they lying to me? Am I going home?' When you're on the bottom, there's so much deceit thrown your way, you don't know who to trust."
That lack of trust began to impact one of the things John does best, his social game. It's also something he pushes back on when fans of the series claim he simply hangs around without much of a gameplan.
"Quite a few of the superfans often say 'John has no strategy' but I think being a social player is a strategy in itself," the 29-year-old miner said.
"Both times I've been pretty proficient at building relationships and surrounding myself with people who are willing to work with me, and for that reason, I find myself in strong alliances.
"That was my strategy. Create a network and get information, not be the biggest player."
What John wasn't expecting was to have all that social gameplay unpinned during the tribe swap.
"Shon going to exile probably didn't help the cause either because myself, Lydia and Abbie's heads are on sticks and she's still on the beach," he said with a laugh.
Though John felt like tribal council was only going one way, there was a brief moment where Mat threw a spanner in the works -- an idol-shaped spanner.
Handing the idol over to Jonathan LaPaglia, Mat wondered out loud if he should play the idol for himself... or someone else.
"I did think he was going to play it for me at one stage," John admitted, "and it would have blown the game wide open."
But had Mat played his idol on John's behalf, it would have sent the Godfather packing.
"I couldn't have lived with myself, with the guilt if he had played it for me and he went home," he said.
"I would have felt terrible and regardless of the situation, we were both pretty buggered. If I was there for two more days, I was still up sh*t creek... but it would have been nice to have stayed a little longer."
After leaving Season 4, John admitted he wasn't ready to break the rules and this time around he still seemed tentative to wade into the mucky side of the game.
"I was just going to go with the flow," he told 10 daily, "if I had to lie I had established it was okay to lie."
"As much as you want to be a good bloke out there, you sort of have to mould to the game. But it's pretty hard to throw your morals out the window."
Ahead of Season 4 John also admitted he did almost no prep, applying for the show as a gag with a mate. This time around, as some of the best players Australian Survivor has ever seen sharpened their metaphorical machetes, John told 10 daily he 'probably did less' prep.
"Physically I went in a few kilos heavier, which was not such a bad thing, but in terms of actually studying the strategy of things... I did absolutely nothing."
Unlike some of the other castaways who have had years to re-think their strategies and mull over the mistakes that saw their torches snuffed in their first attempt at the game, John was one of the few returning from the previous season that had wrapped only weeks before All Stars began.
"I felt like I was still recovering from the first time, to be honest. Not just from a physical standpoint," John said. "I had only just come out of the game, gotten back to work and then I was back. It was a whirlwind.
"I don't know where my life's at anymore. It puts you into a bit of a mental spin," John said. "Doing it back-to-back you don't get a chance to experience reality again."
Now that his time on All Stars has come to an end, John said he was looking forward to returning to normality but having his face plastered over the TV makes that a little difficult.
"Maybe I should shave my head," he said as a joke. At least we hope it was a joke.
