Sam Phalen says it 'stung' not getting Sierra's “Survivor 47” winner vote

Sam Phalen gave a hell of a performance at the final Tribal Council as he argued why he deserved to be crowned the winner of Survivor 47. But it was too little too late, as the jury instead awarded the title of Sole Survivor and million dollars that goes with it to Rachel LaMont by a vote of 7-1-0 over Sam and Sue Smey.

Was Sam surprised by the landslide tally? What votes surprised him the most? And what happened at final Tribal that we did not see. We asked the NFL beat reporter all that when we spoke the morning after the finale, and also inquired about his epic fire-making contest and what it was like to be the occasional object of Teeny Chirichillo’s ire. Intel and insight to follow.

Related: Survivor 47 finale recap: A victory a year in the making

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I’m sure you were doing jury math in your head. What did you think your chances were walking into that final Tribal Council?

SAM PHALEN: Yeah, walking in, I'd say I felt like I was behind, but I felt like I only had a couple of votes to make up if I made my case how I thought I was going to be able to make my case. I felt like Kyle was going to be somebody that I would have his vote. I anticipated having Sierra's vote and I thought I was going to get Gabe as well. And then as the Tribal Council unfolded, I started to feel like Andy was more of an option for me.

And so quite honestly, as the votes were coming back, I'm sitting in my head thinking, “Oh no, we're four to four and I know I don't have Sue.” So I was trying to do the math, but expected it to be very tight. I was a little bit surprised by the 7-1 outcome, but I think sometimes it doesn't always capture the spirit of how difficult of a choice it might be for a juror to make.

I just spoke to Rachel, and she was also worried that you were maybe going to get Gabe's vote. From a viewer's perspective, Sierra might be the most surprising one to us. You can't tell me that didn't hurt a little bit not to get her vote considering what close allies you were.

Yeah, no, totally. It stung. When you play the game with somebody and they're right by your side for your time in the game, I almost felt like I'm playing the game for both her and I as your right-hand ally, as somebody who gets taken out instead of me at a Tribal Council where they split the votes between us. So I did expect to have her vote. That stung a little bit, but I think we've seen through 46 and whatnot too that you can never guarantee it, and people vote for different reasons — random reasons that you might not expect.

Related: Rachel LaMont reveals the lie she told at Survivor 47 final Tribal Council

So you did get the sense during final Tribal that maybe you were changing some minds out there?

Yeah, I really wanted to go into final Tribal and try and emphasize the differences between my game and Rachel's game. And I felt like if I could do that and I could get through to the jurors of how different, but also respectable and dynamic my gameplay was that people would start to see beyond flashiness. I knew Rachel had a lot of flashy accolades and things that were tangible for the jury, which creates a narrative that's very difficult to fight against, one of which is me sitting in front of the jury when Andy gets idled out talking about how unbeatable Rachel is.

So I kind of have to reverse some of this idea that's been going around I've helped create that this is the biggest threat in the game and the best player in the game. And I really saw it flip, or felt like it was flipping, after Andy's question when Andy kind of calls Rachel out on the Mike Holloway, Ben Driebergen thing and where you fit in this. And I'm like, “Wait, they're starting to really see the differences. Now's my chance to go.” And I had told Rachel before that final Tribal, I'm like, “I'm coming for your neck tonight.” And she's like, “I'm coming for yours and I'm ready to punch right back.” So it was really fun because I think we were both able to get our jabs in and go to war for however long that lasted. It was hard to keep track of time.

Related: Jeff Probst calls Survivor 47 winner one of franchise's 'best overall players' (exclusive)

What happened during that final Tribal that did not make it to air?

I think one of my favorite things that I talked about in final Tribal, and one of my favorite aspects of my game as a whole, was breaking down Operation: Italy. And I really had the opportunity to talk about Operation: Italy in front of the jury and why I felt like it was such a good move from my game in so many different ways. Operation: Italy was something that I'd been wanting to do for a couple of days leading up to when it actually happened. It was something that I had pitched to Genevieve.

We had kind of assessed whether Teeny or Andy was our best option to sort of bring in on this plan. And then when we brought Andy in on the plan, Andy comes to us with the exact same idea that we were trying to pitch to him, which was a weird world's colliding where we’re simpatico and pushing towards the exact same goal, which was incredible.

And he's a great strategic partner who was able to see the game similar to me at that stage. But what I really liked that it did, was not only give me power over my co-conspirators, but then also layers of insulation. Andy then is able to have his threat level elevated, where if people know all that he had cooking all that he had going on with Operation: Italy, I think they'd start to look at Andy a little bit differently. And so Genevieve and I held that break glass in case of emergency option with Andy of: If it's going to be one of us, we throw Andy under the bus and then all of a sudden we give ourselves another day here.

And then having Genevieve have the fake idol was also important to me because it kept the target on her instead of me. And so then not only am I boosting yet again another player out in front of me to take a fall and keep my name out of everybody's mouths for another day, it also gave me control to sort of at my convenience maneuver how people viewed Andy and Genevieve in the game, which I thought was a really powerful thing that I was able to say.

Me and the jury had a little bit of good back and forth and some debates about it. I think Caroline asked me at one point, “So are you saying that Genevieve and Andy don't deserve credit?” And I was able to stand on it and say, “They absolutely do, but you can't write down either one of their names tonight.” And so that was a moment that I think I would've liked to have been shown.

Related: Rachel wants to own Survivor challenge record in finale deleted scene (exclusive)

I personally don’t think there is anything more difficult in reality TV than having to be told you lost a million dollars and then immediately shift into smiles and champagne for the After-Ahow. Tell me what that was like for you?

Yeah, it's very hard, especially when you don't get explanations before you're having this After-Show. So I stood up, Kyle comes up to me, gave me a hug, said, “Hey, man, I was the one that voted for you.” So I knew already at that point, but then your brain starts to go, “Well, why Kyle and not so-and-so or so-and-so”, and you try and sort of figure it out in your head. Not the easiest thing to do in the moment.

But also, I adore Rachel. I think she is just an absolute rockstar, a total badass formidable opponent for sure, which is why it was such a goal of mine to get her out of the game over and over and over again. And so you want to have your winner be celebrated. You want to understand that you are so pumped and happy and amped for them. You want to be gracious as well and know that I got to do something that nobody gets to do. Nobody gets to play Survivor, let alone play the entire game. And so that in itself was a big blessing.

I think it's much better for everybody to sort of come at the After-Show and come at the final Tribal Council with a level of gratitude and grace instead of bitterness or misunderstanding. Those conversations can happen afterwards. They can happen off air. We can hash it out and figure out why this or why that. But yeah, it is a whirlwind of emotions for sure — trying to figure out exactly what to say, exactly what to do while your brain's going a million miles a minute.

Well, it's interesting you mentioned season 46 earlier, and when Maria didn't vote for Charlie, that ended their friendship. They don't talk anymore. Are you good now with Sierra?

Yeah. I mean, we're good. We're friendly. Absolutely. Yeah, I would say we're good.

Related: Survivor 48 teaser shows muscles, mayhem, and possible medical evacuation

Okay, how is it possible that you played Survivor for 25 days and only touched a flint “maybe once”?

Yeah, well, look… so I practiced right before going out, and this is definitely a level of hubris in myself that I would change. I always was just like, "I'll be able to figure it out if I have to. I'll be able to figure it out in the moment.” I don't know why I believed that. I don't know why I just had this level of confidence in doing something. Frankly, I didn't expect it to be as hard as it was.

So I guess why I didn't do it out there was I didn't want to show anybody I was bad or good at fire. I was really trying to keep my fire-making skills, or lack thereof, a mystery to the rest of the castaways. And everybody else is anxious and excited, eager to go and make the fire at Gata. Sierra on day one wanted to go make the fire. Andy, Rachel, people were volunteering to go and give this thing a try. So for me, I was saying, “Hey, you got it. I'll keep my lack of ability sort of a mystery.” You never know how you're going to be able to use it to get into somebody's head, to make them make a mistake and bring you to the end potentially. So I wanted to keep it ambiguous, but not sure why I didn't do it. I just kind of thought I'd be able to figure it out. Should have practiced more. Absolutely.

Well, I guess you did figure it out.

The results don't always justify the means here. I would not recommend future Survivor players going out there without really practicing. It's the most important thing you can practice.

Related: The Survivor 47 final 4 speak!

Tell me about the wind because Probst even said at one point it was blowing Teeny’s flame away from their rope and blowing your flame into your rope.

Yeah, so I didn't realize in the moment how extreme it was affecting Teeny’s flame until watching it back last night. I had heard what Jeff was saying about “Teeny’s got an inferno going on!” And in my head I'm trying to stay locked in on what I've got going on in front of me, especially once I have a flame. I'm trying to really nurse it to action.

I think I had my fire-making spot in the right spot. I had my fire in the right spot on it — a little bit more in front of the rope instead of right on the rope, so that when the fire moves, it moves backwards and you're able to build it up so it will go right on the rope. Watching it back, I was even more floored than I was in the moment, seeing how dire it was looking for me.

How did you all determine who sat where?

I let Teeny pick.

Oof. Speaking of Teeny, what was it like being on the receiving end of some Teeny temper tantrums, either in person or watching back on screen?

Yeah, it was okay. It was fine. Teeny knows that I love Teeny, and the one thing that you cannot anticipate and plan for anything in Survivor is for things that people carry with them about themselves or about their lives into the game and how it's going to affect the way that you interact with people on very deep human level in a very deep, difficult game. And I'm not somebody who is Teeny, I'm not Teeny’s identity. I don't know what it's like to be Teeny’s identity. So I think it's foolish of me to put myself into Teeny’s shoes and understand everything that they were feeling.

I just kind of tried to control the controllables, control how I behaved, and how I acted, and let it be what it's going to be. But I don't take any of it personally. I know that, like I said, we all come in with different stories and backgrounds and wounds or whatever it might be, and I felt like Teeny is incredible about being able to recognize those things as well — so eloquent in how they talk about those things and a real level of vulnerability that I appreciate.

Related: The Survivor 47 jury speaks!

Yeah, I think the thing that really speaks to Teeny’s character is that they said that it's basically their own insecurities causing these things. It wasn't something you were doing, it was stuff they were going through.

Which is incredibly vulnerable. I just want to say for Survivor fans out there, it is so hard to play this game and it's so hard to be yourself, and we often watch the show back and we we want people to be true to themselves. We want people to be real, and that's real and that's okay because that's part of life and part of the game that I certainly as a fan of the show and as a fan of Teeny can love and appreciate.

 What else happened this season that didn’t make it to TV that you wish he had seen?

I just can't say enough about how much I would've loved to see more Sam and Genevieve content. It was my favorite thing about playing the game with my number one ally and just good friend —  how fun it was and how much fun we had plotting and scheming. Some of that's probably captured in the show, but I was like, more, more, more, more. Can't get enough.

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