Survivor’s Andrea Boehlke talks season 35, gameplay and the Fan Forum

Heading into the second season of the Fan Forum, seasoned player Andrea Boehlke talks to Surviving Tribal about the changes in Survivor season 35.

Not only does Survivor season 35’s debut tonight brings us a new season’s worth of exciting new reality competition gameplay, it gives fans of the show something to talk about. There’s nothing greater than to get into discussions or arguments about how a player could have changed things in order to stay in the game, or how they got screwed over by a twist.

Andrea Boehlke has been serving as a post-show host of the Survivor Fan Forum for People TV since her Game Changers season, and now she returns tonight after the 8 p.m. ET Survivor season 35 debut with a veritable all-star panel featuring Cirie Fields and more. Andrea was also gracious enough to talk to us at Surviving Tribal in a phone conversation about her last season, details surrounding the Survivor Fan Forum and her thoughts on Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.

Surviving Tribal: Thank you for joining us today, Andrea! We’re about to talk about Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Huslters, but I want to circle back to your Game Changers gameplay now that you’ve had roughly four months to decompress the season. More specifically, I want to ask about the emphasis Jeff Probst brings to a season’s theme when he does the grand reveal on Day 1. When you heard the name, did it do anything to you to make you want to alter your game plan?

Andrea Boehlke: That’s a good question! I don’t think I changed my approach when I heard that it was called Game Changers. I knew when I got there that I was obviously playing with certain legends, like Cirie, and obviously, J.T. was there, and Sandra, so I knew there was going to be big names. So when he said “Game Changers,” it didn’t change the way I was going to play, but it did put a lot more pressure on.

ST: When you hear that Jeff is pushing for a more dynamic ability to adapt – you’ve seen most of these players, except for Michaela and Zeke, play on Survivor – when you hear “Game Changers,” do you think that they may have changed their game?

AB: Yes, of course. Everyone is there for a reason, so even though we didn’t see Zeke and Michaela play, it does cause concerns. It definitely tells us that there’s something very special about these two players, and they probably did something on their season that was monumental.

ST: One of the most prominent of the many twists from your most recent season is sticking around for Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers: the open forum final tribal council. It combines the format of the Dr. Will Kirby jury segment from Big Brother and the standard format from previous Survivor seasons. When you first heard this new format change, what entered your mind as a juror?

AB: I immediately really liked that idea. I feel that if you have a chance to get everything off your chest and really ask more than one question to each person, it might actually sway your vote. In the traditional format, you basically get your couple minutes, get up there and address the Final 3, where this gave you more opportunity to potentially change your vote.

I really, really liked it. Having an open format where you can bring up several different aspects of their play; I think it’s the way to go. I’m really glad they decided to do it this way because you know how it is; different juries can get kind of bitter, and this, hopefully, can break that down and make juries less bitter.

As the show progresses, I think there is more emphasis on jury management.

ST: We see a lot less of Ponderosa than what actually happens at Ponderosa, including people talking how they’ll probably vote. Obviously, they don’t want to show us that, but do you think this open format changed a significant amount of people’s thoughts on who they voted for in the end?

AB: I actually don’t know. If it came to who I was going to vote for, I was already set going in. You would have to ask other people; maybe other people were on the fence. For me, it didn’t change my opinion. Maybe it changed other people’s opinions, like Tai, but I have no idea because we didn’t talk about it.

ST: With future seasons knowing about this format change, how do you think it will effect jury management going into that Final Tribal Council?

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AB: I think, just in general, there’s more emphasis in jury management as we get further along. Probably because in Kaoh Rong, there’s that huge debate about whether the jury was bitter or not. We also saw with Russell and Natalie in Samoa; there’s that argument. You get to a point where it comes down to maybe jury management is more important than we originally thought.

As the show progresses, I think there is more emphasis on jury management. I don’t necessarily know if the format changes that; either way, at the end of the game, you have to get the jury to vote for you.

ST: Let’s pivot to the upcoming season of People TV’s Survivor Fan Forum. This is the second season, but it’s also your first season not knowing how it turns out. Knowing that you’re able to be more free with how you discuss the season, how do you plan on approaching this year’s after-show?

AB: I’m very excited to be coming back for Fan Forum. I had a lot of fun last season when I did it, but because I was on the show, it was very stressful. Because I didn’t know how I was going to be portrayed, so I had a lot more anxiety. This time around, I can speak more freely, and I can talk about what players I like and don’t like, where I wasn’t able to do that last season. I think it’s going to be a lot better now that I can speak more freely.

ST: One of the interesting facets of your show is you were willing to go into the woods with how Survivor is produced. One of your viewers last year asked a question about edgic, and you and some of the people on the panel were discussing how confessional counts and players’ focus in the story is portrayed. How do you find a balance between talking about the episode in a casual way and in a way that kind of supports the hardcore Survivor fans?

AB: It’s tricky because we are trying to find a middle ground. We’re not Rob Has a Podcast. We’re not trying to have this super, superfan base; we’re obviously welcoming to all superfans. Our approach is going to be different than a certain forum that focuses solely on strategy; we’re trying to attract a broader group of people.

If the casual fan can stop by and also the superfan can stop by, both will get something out of it. That’s why we have Dalton Ross, who is a superfan and knows everything about Survivor; he’s on the panel to address the more strategic sides of it. Obviously, I know what I’m talking about when it comes to different things about Survivor and Survivor history.

But then, we want to bring more celebrities that haven’t maybe seen much of Survivor, but are fans that like it. For our premiere, we have Tamar Braxton on, we have Cirie (Fields), we have Dalton and myself. We are trying to make a show that anyone who likes Survivor, whether you be a superfan or just started to watch it, can enjoy.

ST: For all the focus on post-show reactions and conversations about Survivor, you’ve also been good to include a game or two, including one challenge where you balanced an object on your head and you and your guests replicated that. Are there any plans to mix those kinds of fun little side things to replicate the show, or is it going to be mostly conversations about the show?

AB: We would love to do more games. It kind of depends on the episode and if anything sparks our creativity, so obviously we want to do more things and are trying to always keep it fresh.

ST: If there one male and one female player that you haven’t had on your show yet that you would love to come on, who would it be?

AB: It all depends on who’s in town. I obviously would love to get Boston Rob on; we talked about it last season. It kind of depends, because you have to be in New York for (the Fan Forum), so I would love to get Boston Rob on. For females, I would love to get someone like Kim Spradlin on the show.

ST: On the last season of the Survivor Fan Forum, you hosted the likes of players such as Eliza Orlins, Courtney Yates, Hannah Shapiro, Reed Kelly and plenty more. You mentioned you had a player and Dalton Ross coming on the first episode, but do you have any more players that you are working on getting for the rest of the season?

AB: I don’t want to put any names out there, just in case they’re not confirmed. You can expect some of the players from last year, especially people in New York. If any other Survivor people are reading this, and you are coming through to New York, hit me up, because we would love to get you on the panel.

ST: As we move to Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, it starts tonight. We have these three tribes produced; six versus six versus six. Is there a player from each tribe that sticks out for you, based on their pre-game interviews?

AB: For the Heroes, I really like Katrina, the Olympian. She seems like a badass! For the Healers, I like Jessica, but I think it’s because she named me as who she’s going to be most like. (laughs) For the Hustlers, I really do like Ryan, the Bellhop. He’s a character I don’t know if we’ve ever seen before, so I think he’s probably going to be the standout character for the season. I’m really excited for those three.

ST: This may be a bit of a sore spot to bring up, but on Day 1 of Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, there’s another secret advantage being added to the game where someone has a super idol that they can use only at that very first tribal council. (If they aren’t headed to Tribal Council, they must sneak it to someone on a tribe that does.) What do you think of the long-term effect these opening moments have on the season, and as unbiased as you can be, is it fair?