‘Survivor 43’: Cody Doesn’t ‘Blame’ Jesse ‘but, We All Need the Damn Money’
Survivor 43 is coming down to the wire with multiple duos. But one was split unexpectedly. Showbiz Cheat Sheet talked to Cody Assenmacher over Zoom on Dec. 8 about his blindside.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Survivor Season 43 Episode 12, “Telenovela.”]
Why Cody gave Jesse his idol on ‘Survivor 43’
Q: I saw that you already told Mike Bloom that Jesse lied and said Karla has the power. Therefore, that’s why you had the idol back. How long before the Tribal Council did he tell you that?
Cody: You know, I had the idol. I got it from him. It was just a couple hours before. And the whole time, Karla unknowingly was part of the storm saying, ‘Hey, let’s go in and tribal with our idols and show everybody that we got them and we’re going to play them.’
And I’m like, ‘This ain’t adding up.’ She’s wanting me to come in there and parade around with this idol. My number one is telling me she may have a knowledge is power. There’s never been a knowledge is power played in the game yet? I’m gonna trust my man, my main guy here, and give it back to him because I didn’t see him playing that an option, you know?
And I wanted to give it back to him at that point as well, because that was also a token of our trust. And by keeping that at that time, then probably puts a red line on him going what does Cody got planned?
Q: Did you want to go to the end with Jesse?
Cody: Yeah.
Q: Did you think that you could beat him?
Cody: Yeah.
Why Cody targeted Cassidy and Karla
Q: Gabler planted the seed to Cassidy and Jesse they needed to get rid of their closest allies. Did he ever talk to you about that? What do you think of his strategy?
Cody: I mean, Gabler made a comment. Obviously, nothing was ever acted upon thereafter as maybe I don’t know, people didn’t take it seriously or what.
But Jesse and I, maneuvered the game very well in the sense we didn’t show anybody that we were communicating and navigating and influencing people’s decisions. Gabler made that comment nothing happened when I aligned with Gabler when the move was made yesterday, Gabler was my insurance policy. I thought that if something went sour, Gabler was going to be the one to sound the alarms and be like, ‘Hey, Cody.’ Because that plan was never fully articulated to Gabler.
It was the same as always. ‘Hey, bro, let’s go for this person. OK? OK.’ So by that, by not telling him the full plan, I thought that there was an insurance plan there. That if Jesse decided to do something crazy, Gabler would have informed me. But that didn’t happen.
Cody reacts to Jesse’s reason for betraying him
Q: How did you feel watching Jesse cry, saying he loved you but needs the million for his family?
Cody: No comment. Yeah. You know, I get it. I don’t blame him for the move he made. He had to do it. It was the right move. I can not fault him for that. You know, as the guy on the blunt end, it’s just tough to–I didn’t think morally it was an option. You know, I, I didn’t think it–you know. It’s Survivor. It’s a game. And that’s on me.
But, we all need the damn money, you know. We all need the money. I got family, I got friends, I got bills. Like, nobody needs that money any differently than anybody else, so I get it.
Will Cody change his loyal strategy if he plays ‘Survivor’ again?
Q: It’s very possible that your blindside is going to be added to the list of the biggest moves in the new era of the game. How does that feel?
Cody: It sucks, but you know that blindside. I told myself I can’t be Iowa nice and have this aloha spirit in the game. And I guess it just kind of shows, unfortunately, who I am as a person, you know, and I’m OK with that.
It’s a game, you know, and I would rather be added to the other list of winners, there’s no doubt about it. But, you know, I have $1,000,000 danishes and coffees to blame.
Q: If you play the game again, will you be a less loyal player?
Cody: That’s a secret. I can’t tell. That’s going to blow up my next opportunity [smiles.]
This interview has been condensed for this article.
More ‘Survivor’ exit interviews from Showbiz Cheat Sheet
‘Survivor 43’: Sami Felt Guilt For Blaming Gabler, Explains His Connection With Karla
‘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
