Survivor 50's [Spoiler] Says Cirie's 'Emotional Manipulation' Hurt Him

Spoilers ahead for Episode 8 of "Survivor 50!"

"Survivor 50" has lost its resident Dragon Slayer! 

Benjamin "Coach" Wade is a man of many words. And many of those words are in the form of haiku, proverbs, songs, and other bits of ancient wisdom. But the Tide Walker's luck ran out after Jeff Probst announced a Double Duo twist that paired castaways up with partners, only it wasn't just for the challenge. The duos' fates were then sealed, meaning that one pair would be voted out of Tribal Council that night. 

After buddying up with Chrissy and losing the immunity challenge, Coach's monstrous target, plus a slick fake idol play by Devens pointed all of the attention back at the Dragon Slayer, and he and Chrissy were voted out by a vote of 10-1-1. (Read our recap here.) 

Below, Coach walks us through that latest "Survivor 50" bombshell, the "emotional manipulation" he says he experienced during the game, and why he gunned so hard for a split-vote during Dee's ousting. 

TVLINE | Coach, first up: Have you created a haiku about getting your torch snuffed on "Survivor 50"?
BENJAMIN "COACH" WADE | No, but I can make one up right now if you want me to.

TVLINE | Hit me with it!
I'm just gonna make it up. OK, so:

My torch has gone out,
first thoughts, despondence and fear
But all remains true.

There you have it, 5-7-5. It was really funny when I did 5-8-5 out there. Everybody caught it and they're like, "Oh my gosh!" Fun fact, Nick. First poem was published when I was in seventh grade. I've been writing poetry for a while, so it's nothing new.

TVLINE | What was your reaction to hearing Jeff announce this twist and that your fate would be tied to Chrissy's?
That's unbelievable. They know what they're doing. I know that they faced a lot of criticism, but you know, you don't want "Survivor" to ever become predictable, and it certainly is unpredictable this season. I think people will look back on it, and it'll be a season that's watched time and time again. If we had known that at the time of picking the pairs, — which, of course, that's why they didn't let us know — then it would have been a different story. But it was, "Wow, are you serious?" I looked over at Joe, and he made a beeline to Tiffany. He had just gotten through telling me that morning, after Dee, he was like, "Tiffany has to go." I'm gonna ask him today, actually. I'm gonna reach out to him and say, "Why were you so hell-bent on getting Tiffany?" Maybe just to win.

I went for somebody that I've been with [since] Day 1. We were like brother and sister. Chrissy and I shared a real bond. She's a real person, and we had a real connection out there, so it just made sense that I wanted to do that. When Jeff said that, I was like, "Freaking A!" Then I saw the basketball. I'm like, "Oh, are you freaking kidding me?" I told my son last night, who's 6'4." He's a good basketball player. I said, "You know your dad sucks at basketball." And he was like, "I know." And I said, "Hopefully they'll show me sassing Jeff Probst back." Anyway, it's all good. It was a sinking feeling when I saw that.

TVLINE | Early in the season, you spoke with Chrissy about how she was talking too much around camp, and in this episode, she took the lead to tell you to chill out. Was it contentious at all or was it more like friends keeping each other in check?
No, it was cool. I appreciate it, but in hindsight, I shouldn't have listened to her. That was not the right play. I should have gone around to everybody. Again, hindsight, I should have gone around to everybody and just made real connections with them. That's what was so cool is that in the beginning, it was real connections with all these people, even Dee. I should have just gone back and reconnected with everybody, but I didn't, because they told me to be quiet. And so I did, I was quiet. And then I'm breaking the fourth wall. There's three cameramen around me and there's one cameraman for everybody else. There's three around me sitting in the hammock. That's typical. So, what am I gonna do? Those poor guys are sitting there for hours on end with no entertainment whatsoever. I'm gonna give them a little show. So, I'm breaking the fourth wall and they are freaking loving it. It's what endears me to the production crew.

TVLINE | Had you known the full twist details, who would you have picked? Would that have changed your strategy there?
Funny enough, I probably would have picked Devens, or maybe Christian or Rizo, just to spread it out and get intel from that other camp. I'd already put my foot in my mouth, telling Devens about the middle people. It was so funny. I'm looking at myself thinking, "You freaking suck!" but I'd already said that, and so I probably would have picked Devens.

TVLINE | The vote seemed to be between yourself and Chrissy, and Devens and Aubry... until Devens pulled off that big fake idol show. How much did that fake idol play a part in your elimination? Or do you think you and Chrissy were out regardless?
No, I think it was touch and go, right? I really do. I think that it was the tipping point. I think that maybe it was going to be Devens and Aubry. Nobody really liked Aubry. I did like her, but I don't think anybody liked her, and she had burned everybody by not playing her idol. They knew the idol was flushed and they knew Devens was dangerous. So, I think that the fake idol definitely had something to do with it. It was the tipping point for Chrissy and I to go.

TVLINE | Cirie is included in this strong seven alliance you were a part of. From a viewer's perspective, she's dangerous! She'd absolutely cut bait whenever she needs to. Was that at all discussed out there?
It was a little bit. There was a level of deception. Dee went up to Cirie and said, "You know, Coach said your name." I said Emily's name. I didn't say Cirie's name, but she said, "Coach, said your name." Dee later admitted to Cirie when the game was done that she actually had lied about that. But it is what it is. Once that seed is planted in somebody's head, they're going to run with it. 

The same thing happened with Sandra [in "Heroes vs. Villains"]. I don't really like players like Sandra or Cirie. I think that they are overrated strategic players. But then something like that happens and then you think, "I guess maybe they might not be overrated. It was a subtle move. Her coming back from exile... I went up to her and we sat on the hammock and I just said, "Look, I'm with you." And she said, "I'm with you till the end, Coach." And, I really thought she was. I told her this. It's too bad they didn't show this. I said, "You're like the cavalry running in to save the day because you're back." I was looking at the votes and I was thinking, "OK, well, if these people want to vote against me, we still have the numbers," and Cirie's coming back, that puts it in our favor, right? Because it was going to be essentially tied, but Cirie's back and she's in our favor.

TVLINE | Now, you pretty much owned the Dee vote, which seemed to rub some people wrong. Was that worth increasing the size of your target?
Obviously in hindsight, no, but nobody wanted to split the votes. I was absolutely gobsmacked. I was super cool. I was like, "Dee. Let's lock it down," and that was it. But we've got to have somebody else to vote for. And because I saw Rizo and all these other players trying to stroke the middle, and I was trying to work with the middle players as well. At one point in the merge, the Blood Moon really changed everything, because really there was nobody that I didn't want to work with. I was in the middle of everything. Emily came up to me, everybody was trying to work with me. I think that it got my anger because I thought, "It's Season 50! You guys are all returning players. We've got to split the votes!" I specifically asked people, "Do you really want to go 12 votes on Dee?" Yes. "Are you sure about that?" Yes. So what would have happened if I hadn't fought for it and Dee played her Shot in the Dark, and I would have gone home?

To me, it was worth the risk at the time. Looking back on it, once people started resisting, I should have just said, "OK, that's not a hill I want to die on." At the time, I figured that I had the numbers so strongly in my favor, that it wasn't going to happen. I mean, I amassed a huge army and I'm watching the show in the recent weeks, [it's] just sad to see it all unfold because Charlie and I were rock solid. Kamilla and I were rock solid. Kyle and I are both Buffalo Bills fans, and Mike White and I were awesome. Mike White and I message back and forth all the time. I had this huge amount of people, even Angelina and I wanted to play together. And it was like I had this huge army, and they're not being cut because people know they're in my army. They're just being cut almost on a whim. It's kind of sad to see. What I had built slowly disseminated.

TVLINE | You tried to make amends with Tiffany, but it didn't seem to fly. How did you feel after that conversation? Did you feel like things were smoothed over?
She asked me, "Who put my name down?" I was like, "[he makes mumbled noises]." I'm not a good liar, period. You can see that. I did lie this time around. I did get messy, foolishly, but after that conversation, I was just like, "Yeah, that sucked." I didn't get anywhere with her.

TVLINE | You invited Rizo to join the Four Horsemen, but he didn't really take that as a compliment. What are your thoughts on how he reacted in his interviews, and what are your thoughts on Rizo in general?
I think that I listened to too many people. I thought Rizo should be gone first. I was having flashbacks of Russell Hantz, just not knowing who Russell was [on "Heroes vs. Villains]. It gave him a huge advantage, gave Rizo a huge advantage in this game. So I just thought, "You know, let's get him out. I'm not gonna trust people like Cirie." But when Stephenie came and said, "I trust Cirie implicitly and I trust Ozzy," and Colby's saying, "Rizo is a great dude," and Genevieve is saying, "Coach, he really wants to play with you," so I listened to those people. They were true in saying that. But when I saw Rizo say it, it was just like, "That's cool." I didn't take offense to it, right? He was very generous in his affection towards me. First day on the beach, he said, "Coach is my hero." The last day that I was there, he said the same thing. I have no ill will towards Rizo. As far as a player, I think he's a good player. I think that he's good TV. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was 25, full of myself and all that. I don't think that he would have gotten very far if we would have seen his season, but it's always good to have those surprises out there, at my detriment.

TVLINE | Did you have any idea that Cirie, Rizo, and Ozzy were truly the ones playing the middle, and that they had formed such a tight trio?
I've always known that Cirie has led Ozzy around by the noose, right? I mean, he's always had a ring in his nose for her to lead him around. That's just historically accurate. So if Cirie wants to know who my children are, and she wants to get involved with me on that level, pre-game, during the game, that's a level of emotional manipulation that I'm not comfortable with. That did hurt me. But it is what it is. It did surprise me, but that's life. I don't go out there and play "Survivor" like most people. They're better at it than me.

TVLINE | Is this the last we'll see of the Dragon Slayer, or are you picking up that phone call when Jeff rings you for "Survivor 60"?
I don't know, man. I gotta take a long look at it. I've turned down a few shows in the last few weeks. I'm just not that kind of person. I was retired, happily retired. I've got an amazing life, got an amazing family. I'm a world builder. I'm a community inspirer. I don't need "Survivor." I would say this is my last time, but I could be the Brett Favre of "Survivor" and just keep coming back. I don't know. I mean, I am a performer, so when they call me, it's like, "Is this what I'm supposed to do?" I think, "Is this my destiny in the moment?", so we'll see.