And Brandon talked about the oneSurvivormilestone he most regrets missing out on.
you’re able to watch the entire interview above or read it below.
BRANDON DONLON:You know what?
Brandon Donlon on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
We can’t stop now.
We cried a lot last night and this morning.
I made the mistake of checking Twitter after the episode last week, which was a bad move.
Sean Edwards, Hannah Rose, and Brandon Donlon on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
I can’t believe it.
It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
It wasn’t even the same day.
Sean Edwards, Brandon Donlon, Janani “J” Krishnan-Jha, and Julie Alley on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
It was like two hours!
It was an hour and a half.
I wanted to hand them out.
Sabiyah Broderick and Brandon Donlon on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
I wanted to just find one and then pawn it off and see if somebody opened it.
I am super [results oriented].
It didn’t work out, but it was super fun.
Brandon Donlon of ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
It was super cool to do.
And then I see the puzzle game at the journey.
I don’t think for a second that I’m not going to win that.
It’s a game for babies!
It’s a matching game.
I am actively not good under pressure.
So I just kept going through the same six, and then I lost my vote.
I was batting a thousand.
I’m watching the episode, I’m like, “Oh, I’m doing great!”
And then “Oh, this is where the tide turns.”
What was your plan going into Tribal Council?
Emily was going to leave at that first Tribal Council.
What did you think your chances were going into that Tribal as you walked in?
What did you think was going to happen?
I knew it was more than halfway me, but it was not down and out.
The check hadn’t been written yet.
For me, there was a chance.
And so I didn’t have a vote and I knew Emily was guaranteed voting for me.
We know the two people that are potentially going to leave.
Emily’s voting for me.
So that is one of my proudest parts.
Listen, you ask me to do anything with hands or running or swimming, whatever not the best.
But I can talk.
I can give a good speech and I’m very proud of that.
Okay, let’s talk about the ladder.
We saw you have that panic attack during the marooning challenge.
Yeah, so me and Sean jump off the boat.
We’re swimming, batting a thousand in the swimming.
It seems as though I grabbed onto the rung that everybody else stepped on.
So my balance was off.
And granted, it has a lot to do with upper body strength also.
I’m not saying that those critiques are not unfounded.
I’m with you.
And that made me panic.
I felt my body shut down.
And the panic attacks that I’ve had, my hands freeze up.
So Sean comes down, and we do the really beautiful handholding shot.
He gets me up there and then I get to the mat and I black out.
I have no memory beyond kind of getting up past the thing there.
And now it’s a weird phantom thing.
Now that I’ve seen it so many times, I feel like I remember it.
But I was laying there for quite a bit.
And again, you don’t want to open like that.
You don’t want to go back to your camp with that."
This is that times a thousand.
This is exactly what you hope doesn’t happen.
But you know what?
I went back and told everybody, “Hey, I had a panic attack.
So there was a 45-minute long medical visit.
I mean, as a superfan, you get to meet Dr. Joe!
He’s a great doctor.
Jeff was asking meSurvivortrivia questions to calm me down, which was very nice.
He asked me at one point, “Who’s the biggest villain inSurvivorhistory?”
And I said, “The ladder.”
And it was the first words that I had said, and everybody cracked up again.
I didn’t hear it.
I wish I could have heard it because apparently it it killed.
In the theme song, they show a clip of somebody getting water poured in their mouth.
That’s this guy!
So it’s super, super cool, but I cannot commend the medical team there enough.
Immediately getting situated and coming back into reality, I knew that I was in really good hands.
Let’s jump ahead to the last puzzle that may have sealed your fate.
What happened on that puzzle?
Sabiyah seemed pretty frustrated with you during that.
I think there were a couple of things.
I was much worse than Sabiyah on the puzzle.
I’m not saying that Sabiyah and I were equally bad at the puzzle.
I think we were both frustrated because we could hear the other tribes making a ton of progress.
And I felt a lot of that because I had said I was the puzzle guy.
I put together puzzles like everybody did before we left.
I mean, I am mentally somewhere else.
We wanted it so bad, and we had a little bit of a lead.
I think that getting back to camp after that is the most dejected I’ve ever felt.
And again, the challenge performance, I went going in knowing I’m not Jonathan Young.
I’m really not anything.
The other side of the spectrum is much lower.
But that particular challenge, I don’t know how it was that bad.
And that’s a hard puzzle.
It’s a really, really hard puzzle.
Besides winning, what’s the one otherSurvivormilestone you wish you had gotten to experience?
Kendra came to our camp and the first Tribal Council, which was super nice.
They cut it out of the episode, just because I’m sure there was a ton going on.
I would’ve liked to have just met the other people on the boat.
I’m saying I’m with my family and I only got to meet six people in the family.
I got to meet Bruce and Drew on the journey, which was super cool.
I know that I’m with 17 of the most interesting people in the world.
you’re able to’t get better people.
My group is the best people you ever will meet in your life.
I wish I got to spend more time with them on the island for sure.
Has it been excitement?
Has it been a little bit nervous in terms of knowing how that was going to be received?
That’s the weird thing aboutSurvivor.
You live it all, then you have to live it all again months later.
This is the question that’s going to make me cry potentially.
I was good when I got back.
I was super good.
The past month has been pretty rough.
And again, I’m not giving credence to anybody who’s sending hate online.
The past week has been very, very rough.
But knowing all of this was going to air and then having it air….
I mean, this morning I feel so free.
I feel this weight is off my shoulders.
I can be myself.
This is what I’m good at.
I cannot stress enough: I got exactly what I wanted.
I can’t believe I did it.
I can’t believe that I got to do it.
You would say this is an unsuccessful run.
And they’ve texted me and they’re like, “Oh, you were right.
This is really good.
It’s the best show on TV.”
So right now, to answer your question it’s been rough, but this is worth it.
I would do it a hundred more times to feel what I feel right now.
I can’t tell you how great this is.
Let me talk about the journey.
When I was on the journey, I’m so excited.
I’m looking at the little box, the combination box.
I’m like, “I’m going to open this box.”
All the production folks are there, and I don’t pop swing open the box.
And I am looking at them and I’m like, “Can I hey just open it?
I don’t need what’s in it.
I won’t read what’s in it.
I just want to know that I can open it.”
So I find the correct thing, and I got to pull the thing.
I never opened it.
I don’t know what was in it.
I don’t ever need to know what was in it.
But I got to fire up the box onSurvivor.
They knew how badly I wanted to open that box, and I got to Tyson that.
I think it’s the final four immunity challenge ofBlood vs. Water he yanks the thing.
I got to yank the thing.
And it was on a technicality.
It doesn’t count for anything.
But when you go toSurvivor, you want to initiate the box.
Then I got to fire up the box.
