Kevin Leung, the second person voted out of Survivor 48, talks with Parade.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00So let's dive in, Kevin, because we got a lot to do.
00:02And suffice it to say, you had a dive heard around the world last night, too,
00:06speaking of diving.
00:08OK, I have an explanation for that, by the way.
00:09Yes, do it. Completely.
00:11But OK, yes, the dive.
00:13I will say that dive actually looks terrible.
00:16But it's because when I first dove in with Cedric on the first thing,
00:20when I dove in, my shoulder actually like a little bit popped out a little bit.
00:24So when I came back up, I actually popped it back in.
00:26So I was really, really cautious of my shoulder the entire time.
00:30And holding that thing and falling probably 75 times.
00:34Like, I don't even know how many times it fell in the water
00:36because it was such a abysmal performance, like Jeff mentioned.
00:40So when he was like swim out, I was like, OK, I'm going to do a cool dive.
00:44And as I was about to jump, I was like, wait, you have a dislocated shoulder.
00:47So that's how it was like a mid dolphin dive.
00:51And I was like, I'll just belly flop so that I can just like
00:53not hurt my shoulder at all.
00:54So that's kind of what happened.
00:55But glad that it's a meme.
00:57Well, I want to actually start with that, because obviously it's
01:01something that's a large part of this up and down day one for you.
01:04And, you know, I got the chance to, you know, watch and report
01:07what happened in the moment.
01:08Obviously, you've gone on to explain it as well on social media.
01:10But but talk to me about your POV from what you can remember of,
01:14you know, how that injury actually ended up happening.
01:18And, you know, the first things you remember once you actually came to
01:21in the midst of the calamity around you.
01:23Yeah. First, watching all my preseason interviews,
01:26I had so much zest of like playing a long game, like playing a clammy tree,
01:31being iterative with my strategy.
01:34Like I just had all this like ideas in my head.
01:37First five seconds, I'm like, wow, this is David versus Goliath.
01:40Like I just was like all my preseason
01:43strategy of having David, Kyle and Joe.
01:46It was like out the window because I was like, oh, I'm the strongest person
01:48on our tribe. Like this is surprising to me.
01:51And then doing the Marine challenge, what happened was I actually like
01:55grabbed the rope to try to go under.
01:57And what happened is I didn't realize the mud was so deep.
02:00I actually thought it was pretty surface level to the sand.
02:03So when I held the rope and fell in, I actually like tore my shoulder
02:07by holding the rope going in.
02:09So that's actually how I tore it.
02:10And right when that happened, I mean, thank you so much for writing that article
02:14because you actually informed me a lot of stuff that I didn't even remember.
02:19But blacking out completely, even asking if we won, like I was like,
02:23that's so pitiful.
02:24Like you obviously lost and it wasn't even close.
02:27But just ask me that just shows you how how out of it I was.
02:31And I think that tearing my shoulder on day one and then doing the earlier
02:35supplies by day one at nighttime, I was completely physically like depleted.
02:39And it just got kind of worse and worse as each day on.
02:41Yeah, I want to talk about that, because you mentioned, you know,
02:44obviously popping it out a couple of times leading to some memetic dives
02:47and the challenge.
02:48I mean, we'll talk about obviously everything that led to your blind side.
02:52Do you feel like your physical status contributed to that?
02:55Did you feel like this was something that was kind of actively wearing you
03:00on the game to the point that it was making you a liability to this tribe?
03:04I mean, one is I guess, like, absolutely.
03:07So like after I came back from the earlier supply challenge,
03:10the question it wasn't shown on air, but there were so many questions
03:13that like, hey, kind of like that's not like, don't do too much.
03:16Like, don't get like, don't get water.
03:17We'll get water.
03:18Don't carry a bamboo.
03:19Like I'm like, wait, hold on.
03:21If this is the perception is this is what I'm like,
03:24and I'm just kind of like a deadweight physically,
03:27then in challenges, I'm not going to be useful.
03:30And also their own perception of me being medivac is very high.
03:33So what I had to do was like that night, I just like
03:37I didn't sleep at all because of my shoulder.
03:38Like it's actually very hard to sleep with a dislocated shoulder in general.
03:42But our shelter was terrible and the sand was like not very good.
03:46So what I did was just go out to the beach by myself and just weep.
03:49Like silently weep by myself and just like ask.
03:53I just contemplate over my head.
03:54Like, how am I going to how am I going to make 26 days?
03:57Like, even if I was physically, like mentally fine, like physically,
04:01like my body is deteriorating.
04:02They gave me the medical team gave me ibuprofen because I was in so much pain.
04:05But we had no food on the island.
04:07So I just threw it up constantly with water
04:10because I drink so much water to try to get some, I don't know, energy
04:14or some like fluids.
04:15So throwing up all the ibuprofen.
04:18Steph mentioned it in her exit interview.
04:20Like my my shoulder was a lot worse than what they showed.
04:23But because like what you said, I didn't want my tribe to think
04:26that I was weak or that I was slowly getting better back.
04:28So I just like held it together, like put on a brave face
04:32and been like, if you're going to play, Kevin, like you need to act
04:34like you're 100 percent OK.
04:35So I feel like I was playing two survivors, one actual game
04:38and then my own survivor game of like just being on the island.
04:42Well, let's talk about what led to you is sitting in front of me today
04:47because, look, there's this tribal council where say and Mary
04:50are going back and forth.
04:51I imagine when say plays idle, you're like, well, this sucks for Mary,
04:54but at least like I'm getting accomplished what I want to only for it to be you.
05:00Give me your reaction to everything that was happening in that moment.
05:04Was there anything that flagged in your head throughout that evening
05:08that things might turn on you?
05:10Yeah. So just for context, once
05:13we did our first tribal and we came back, I was like, OK, this is fine.
05:19Like Mary has a vote.
05:20I have a vote.
05:21Now there's a majority now because with with six people, a three, three tie
05:25is very like it's possible.
05:27But now with five people, there is a majority vote.
05:29So I was like, OK, we can we can do this.
05:31We can see what happens in journey.
05:33We can see what happens in challenge.
05:33Like there are options available.
05:36Here's like the demise, like the step by step of my demise.
05:40So one, Mary loses her vote.
05:42So once she loses her vote, I was like, this is wow.
05:46Like this is a disaster to like at least our alliance and like our strategies.
05:50Like that's already one.
05:51Two is we do that challenge and it's disastrous.
05:55Like we don't even get close to finishing that immunity challenge.
05:59So in my head, like.
06:01I'm thinking, OK, this is going to be going to tribal at five.
06:05We're probably going to tribal again at four because of the fact that
06:09they can put in their four strongest, like they can put in two puzzles
06:11and two puzzle and two muscle and they're strong.
06:14Steve and Logie are just physically powerhouses.
06:17So to me, like getting out, Mary, in this round, like that was the plan,
06:21like, you know, getting married.
06:22But in my head, I'm like, to me, going out second or third
06:25is not that much of a difference to me.
06:27Like I wanted to go far in this game.
06:29I wanted to win.
06:29So like if say still had her idol and we were just like
06:33moseying on along and everything's kumbaya, she still has her idol.
06:36Mary goes home.
06:37The next tribal that we go to, like and I was like, we're going to tribal again.
06:41We're not going to last like an immediate challenge.
06:44We're not going to win.
06:44I would be the target for sure.
06:47And there'll be pretty much no way I can get out of it
06:49unless my Shaun and Dark hits or something.
06:50So in that moment, I was like, I need to kind of make a move right now
06:55while I still have Mary as like a potential like ally,
06:58but also like a wildcard.
07:00Like, what does she have? What is she not?
07:01So that maybe say and Cedric and Justin can, you know, have a deflection
07:04and say, do we want an idol like Cedric? Don't you want an idol?
07:08It's not about getting say out, actually.
07:09It's more like, do you want an idol going forward so that we can be protected?
07:14So that was my plan.
07:15And it almost worked.
07:17Like Cedric did tell say like, hey, we want to vote out.
07:20Like, we still want to vote out.
07:21Mary, use your idol.
07:22We want to we want to vote out Mary.
07:24And it almost worked.
07:26It just I definitely played so hard in that round because I was like,
07:30I just don't want to go to tribal and wait to get voted out.
07:34I'm intrigued that you point out, you know, had you sort of stayed the course,
07:36you feel like you would have gone out at four no matter what.
07:39What does that come from?
07:40Was it just a sense from you that the other three were so in tight
07:43with each other that you would be quite literally the odd man out?
07:46Yeah, I mean, there's so many facts that like stated.
07:48One is I go from the earlier supply challenge.
07:51I come back and I already got roped into this alliance.
07:55So he's like, hey, me, you, Justin and Cedric are all in alliance.
08:00They agreed to the alliance, those three, and just said, hey, get the fourth Kevin.
08:04So like, in my mind, I'm not even I'm not top of that alliance.
08:07I'm not even number two.
08:08I'm definitely like just at the bottom of that four.
08:12But when I saw Justin and Cedric, they talk, they mingle at nighttime.
08:17They're chitchatting.
08:18They just have much more of a camaraderie of like personality.
08:22They're a lot more calm.
08:24They're just methodical.
08:25Like and I'm I'm a little bit chaotic, you know, social energetic.
08:29So when I saw them two kind of conversing, talking, I was like, OK,
08:33I am not even their number ones either.
08:35Like I am just Mary's number one. And that's it.
08:38So I for sure was not going to be safe
08:42at four if Mary goes home, especially if they have an idol.
08:46Those two guys were so like a mindset like, oh, it's our idol.
08:51She has an idol. We can't touch her.
08:53So like, in my opinion, at four, I don't know how I'm going to convince
08:56Cedric and Justin to not vote for me because there's not many people left.
08:59They either have to go for each other or go for the idol.
09:01So I just try to make a big move at five.
09:03And that was probably my biggest move, but also a downfall.
09:07Well, let's take a step back from five to six, because from our perspective,
09:11you know, you called yourself the king of Vula.
09:12It seemed like you were right in the middle of kind of these two pairs.
09:16How close were you to prospectively flipping the game?
09:21You know, Stephanie posited to me last week, like, oh, if I had told Kevin
09:24or Kevin and told me about, say, his idol, we could have forced a three three tie.
09:27Were you keen on possibly flipping things against, say, that early?
09:32Yeah. So like on that's a great question.
09:35And I feel like a lot of people have asked me, like,
09:36oh, why didn't you flip on, say, like, why didn't you flip it on that vote?
09:40The kicker was that in the first vote, we barely know each other.
09:44It is like too hard to even form an alliance that you feel comfortable with.
09:47You're just going with whatever is is happening.
09:49And we just all didn't want to be the first vote.
09:51So that was probably like the main reason of like, OK, we don't want a three three
09:55split. If there's a chance that I don't have to throw myself out there
09:58and risk me going home, like I'm not going to do it.
10:00I'm going to make sure that I have a majority going into at least the first
10:04tribal. It was actually like it showed me and Justin being really,
10:08really close in the first episode.
10:10But we weren't that close.
10:12And the swing, I actually asked him to like I actually asked him
10:16if he was willing to put a vote on saying turn it.
10:20He was not willing. So like that's that's really the kicker right there is
10:24if he was willing and was like, let's do it.
10:25I'm like, great. Even if Stephanie Fisher shot in the dark, me, Mary, Justin,
10:29it's a three two. So we knock out say Justin was was not budging.
10:33So once I realized he wasn't budging, I was like, oh, it's there's no chance.
10:37Talk to me about your relationship with say, because even at this tribal council,
10:41right, like you accused her of outing the alliance.
10:44She replied that you already did beforehand.
10:47Obviously, you were eyeing her as like the most dangerous player besides yourself,
10:50you said. So talk to me a bit about the dynamic that the two of you had
10:54over the course of those five days.
10:56Yeah. And also, like, I have nothing personal against anybody.
10:59This is all a game.
11:00I think like in this game itself, the way I treated it was like
11:03we're all playing for a million dollars. This is a cutthroat game.
11:06I didn't want to just, quote unquote, sit on my hands and just like not do anything.
11:11So I think like when I realized that, yeah, I'm an aggressive,
11:15like strategic player, try to be strategic player and say like they have power.
11:20Say is a very like
11:23like motivated, determined person who can form alliances.
11:27You can see that she found an idol.
11:28She found an event or she met an advantage to turn into being idle.
11:31She formed alliances like there.
11:33To me, I'm like, wow, that's a really, really strong player and a dangerous player.
11:38It's dangerous to have a person on that tribe, have two people like Justin
11:41and Cedric be so loyal to her where they're like the idol is ours.
11:45And I was like, wow, this is this is kind of hard to play against
11:49when you have so many so much influence.
11:52So I think like that dynamic, I was like, if I get say out,
11:56then the influence will come to me.
11:57Like only one of us can prevail from this tribe, because like if not,
12:01then like I'm just going to be a sitting duck in the next tribal.
12:04So me and Cedric, like we worked together like we were fine.
12:08We talked. Sometimes we laughed on the beach.
12:10Like nothing was bad.
12:12But in my mind, it's just a game like a game of the game move.
12:14And yeah, like respected each other's game.
12:17And that's it.
12:18Last thing I want to ask is, listen, there were a lot of ups and downs
12:21in your journey.
12:22Let's talk about the big up that you had, arguably the biggest,
12:24which is getting these supplies on the first day.
12:27Admittedly, you know, I'm not sure how you felt about getting sent
12:30on the journey in the first place, if it's like dislocated your shoulder
12:34just a few minutes beforehand.
12:35But talk to me about that experience, because, again, obviously, to your point,
12:39not the way you expected between maybe the tribe makeup and this injury
12:43that you get, but you got the ability to metaphorically
12:47and perhaps literally fist pump, you know, at the end of it
12:49by being being sort of the hero and bringing supplies back for your tribe.
12:53Yeah. OK, for the record, I did not volunteer to do this
12:56or your supply shop.
12:57I think like even my mom was like, why did you say yes?
13:01And I was like, Mother, like what happened was I obviously just got my shoulder.
13:05I blacked out.
13:06Then it went back to my tribe and was like, honestly, I was like,
13:08what's happening?
13:09Like, what are we doing in the sweat versus savvy?
13:10I actually did not hear any of Jeff saying it's an earlier supply.
13:14I thought it was sweat versus savvy initially.
13:16So when we first came back and, you know, you hear Justin say,
13:19Kevin, you should do it.
13:21I was like, OK, I don't even know what I'm doing.
13:23Also, I was like, am I going to get medivacs now?
13:26So I had no idea.
13:27And when they pitched me to go, my tribe pitched me to go.
13:31I was like, well, you guys really are just like throwing me to the wolves.
13:36But I was like, it's another opportunity to show myself.
13:39Like, maybe I'll win.
13:40Like maybe there's a puzzle involved or maybe it's a math problem.
13:43Like something will be there that I can win.
13:46And then when I read it with Kyle and I said, you must do literally
13:51manual labor and do like dig and do the tree.
13:55I was like, this is going to be so difficult.
13:57Actually, in that moment, I just like put my shoulder back in the doctor's help.
14:02I just was pure adrenaline.
14:03It was just like, just go at full speed.
14:06So like, I think watching that,
14:08my dad, we had a little watch party and my dad, like he's so just even keeled.
14:14And he's like not very expressive, but he actually like
14:17rose up and like fist pumped when when I won.
14:20And I think that just sounds like, wow, it's worth it.
14:22Like the whole experience is worth it just to hopefully make my parents proud
14:26of me in this scenario.
14:27So, yeah, it was it's been a long journey, ups and downs, like I think in five days.
14:32I was like, wow, I feel like I played it 100 days in the island.
14:35So, yeah.
14:36Yeah, you cram like the journey is a five different survivor players
14:38into one five day game.
14:40And so, I mean, regardless to your point, I know this was a huge dream for you.
14:44And, you know, it turned into a nightmare for a second.
14:46But like what you were able to do over the course of these five days
14:48and the fact that you went out with your head held high, even today speaks a lot
14:52about, you know, who you are and how you appreciate this experience.
14:55And you know how much I adore you and every chance I get to talk with you.
14:59I wish it wasn't a couple months from now.
15:00But regardless, I realized the time that I got to crack into this game, Kevin.
15:04And thank you, as always, for being so open about, you know, yourself
15:08and this very role of being rollercoaster of a week in the game.
15:13You're welcome.
15:13But also, Mike, thank you.
15:14Like, thank you so much for just being my advocate.
15:17And, you know, like I when I didn't see the medical during the episode
15:22and actually like it hurt a little bit, just, you know, it's like such a huge part
15:25of my journey and just to have all that cut and people being like,
15:28you're whining over your shoulder.
15:30And that's like, I feel like so when I read your article
15:33and I was able to share that, like it really it really meant a lot.
15:36So like, Mike, I just want to say, like, as a human and this is a game
15:40and you're you're a, you know, survivor, reporter, legend, you're everything.
15:44But I think just as like a human being, like, thank you for advocating for me.
15:48And like, just, yeah, showing like true compassion and grace,
15:52because I actually like, yeah, I cried many, many months coming back
15:56because I couldn't tell anybody about my shoulder.
15:58And I had to just like hold it all in.
16:00But like, thank you for like actually like treating me like nicely
16:04and like writing about an article about my shoulder and like telling me
16:08like that I had resiliency because like I really didn't
16:11like believe in myself.
16:13And I was like, you're a freaking loser.
16:15Like you lost. You lost everything.
16:17You lost in every single challenge.
16:19You got voted out second.
16:20But I think reading your article made me just like happy that like
16:23someone cared for me. So thank you, Mike.
16:25God. And I am just a face in the crowd of many people who do, Kevin.
16:29So thank you that that means the world to me.
16:33And I am so happy to know you.
16:35And I'm so happy that I got the chance to even just play a little part
16:38in your story. And the story continues to this is just the beginning, man.
16:41So thank you. Thank you, Kevin.
16:43Seriously, thank you for everything.
16:44I wish you and your family nothing but the best.
16:47And thank you so much again, my friend. Take care.
16:50Bye bye.