S44: Carolyn Wiger

[Whimsy]

Carolyn Wiger

Age: 35

Hometown: North St. Paul, Minn.

Current Residence: Hugo, Minn.

Occupation: Drug Counselor

Three Words to Describe You: Passionate, a little bit loud, open

Why do you want to be part of Survivor? I want to share my story. I want to bring the hope. Addiction looks different for everybody and recovery does too. Survivor is so much more than a game to me. It's the human interactions, the growth and the fun! Of course, I want to be a part of that!

What's one life experience you feel has prepared you for the game? Overcoming my addiction and learning how to forgive, love and accept myself. Active addiction is mental and emotional torture. It took me years to realize my mistakes don't define me. I've worked hard to become this person I am proud of. I know this game will break me down but I am strong, resilient, and most importantly, I believe in myself!

Which previous player do you identify with the most? Who do you think you will play most like? I so badly want to be like, "Yeah, I'm going to be as strategic as [Kelly] Wentworth and cutthroat like Parvati." But that isn't happening because I am way more Noura. My entire life I've been told that I'm too this, I'm too that, I'm too loud… too much. It has been my dream to play this game as myself and Maryanne is proof it can be done. I want to have fun like Tiffany, be lovable like Maryanne, and free spirited and spontaneous like Noura.

What will you value in an alliance partner? I know this is a game, but we are human first. My alliances will go deeper than strategy because my bonds will be real. I value authentic connections and interactions. My alliance goal would be something like the beautiful bond between Shan and Liana, or the partnership of Christian and Gabby (pre-merge though).

Favorite Hobbies: Gardening, ice skating, rescuing bunnies.

Pet Peeves: When people ask me if I'm sick if I'm not wearing makeup. People who make fun of what is different from them or what they don't understand. Gel polish that chips quickly.

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Staying sober for the last 13 years and raising my son in recovery.

What is something we would never know from looking at you?  I eat so much candy, it's ridiculous. I've had three crowns because I keep cracking my teeth from jawbreakers and atomic fireballs. I've fallen asleep eating chocolate too many times to count.

Who in your life is your biggest inspiration and why? My mom and dad. My mom is the most selfless person I know. She's my rock and never hesitates to help, even when her own needs are pushed aside. My dad dropped out of school and joined the circus. He decided to turn his life around so he went back to school, got a law degree, and was elected into the Senate. He believed in me when I didn't believe in me and pushed me to do better no matter what my past looked like.

Why will you be the Sole Survivor? Because my authentic connections will win me the game!

[howiveaddict]

Caroline reminds me of Flower from Ghosts.  

[JudyObscure]

I like what she said about Maryanne proving you can just be yourself and win this game, you don't have to be a Kelly Wentworth. 

It also sounds like she got sober for the sake of her son and I really admire that.

I can't say how much I hate those shorts.

[peachmangosteen]

I love her lol.

[LadyChatts]

Carolyn has definitely made me do a 180.  When I initially saw her and read that Noura was a former castaway she liked, I was expecting Noura x10.  But she’s surprised me in the grasp on the game she has.  It does worry me that no one seems to be listening to her or taking her seriously.  Especially people who’ve since been voted off and said they were shocked by how good of a game she was really playing.  If she doesn’t win, I hope they are setting her up for a return on day.  

[Scatterbrained]

 Suspect that no one taking her seriously means she won’t win.  It’s a shame that she is being overlooked; she’s definitely trying.  I guess we will see.

[LadyChatts]

Exit interviews from Carolyn (#1) https://ew.com/tv/survivor-44-carolyn-wiger-finale-interview/

-mentally she was drained at the FTC and wasn't as confident as she wanted to be (she got down on herself to the point where she felt she wasn't good enough to win)

-it hurt not to get any votes, and she really expected to get Frannie and Carson (she knew she wasn't going to get Brandon and Danny because they valued tribe strength).  She does say she didn't think people cared as much about challenge wins this season, aside from those two.

-she gets why Jeff likes reading of the final vote->immediate reunion, but she's not a fan.  In her words:

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Horrible. Like, Jeff, stop doing that! But like, no, "That's when it's real." And I get why he does it. Like yeah, it's real. I ran out. I have not watched that part of it yet. It was horrible!

"How does it feel to not get any votes?" It sucks! And so to have to just go from that and people don't realize that [final] Tribal is an interrogation. It is literally an interrogation. And you have all these people, they're all ready and smelling great. And we're like stinky old dogs. It is hard. The pressure is real. So then going from that, and this is hours and hours long, so it's like, "Can we get a break?" There is no break. Like, gimme the pizza. It's horrible. It felt like crap. I hated it. Mentally, I was just like, get me out of here. It's horrible.

 

-she said her and Danny were just very different people, but she also found him hilarious and thinks he's a great person (she wishes more of their interactions made it to air).  She mentioned the hardest thing is not being able to get a break from anyone, and just being stuck.  She also had this to say about her airtime and other things of hers not making it to TV:

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I can't think of a lot of things that weren't shown, I was on the screen too much.

-she said that this experience did change her, and she compared it to her journey of getting sober; like having positive self-talks with herself, telling herself it was okay to be proud, okay to be emotional, okay to feel certain ways.  

**Second interview https://parade.com/tv/carolyn-wiger-survivor-44-interview

-says there is nothing wrong with being an emotional player, and just because you are emotional doesn't mean you can't be strategic.  

-she's used to the perception people have of her, and she was prepared going in.  She felt like the odd one out during the game, and said it did hurt how people looked at her.  

-seeing people like Brandon or Kane, who always had serious faces, or someone like Danny whose different from her, brings her vibe down and intimidate her.  She was more on par with people like Frannie and Carson.  She thinks this is why she might have fizzled at the FTC, because the jury just staring at her.  She wanted to stand up for herself more at that phase when it came to her game, but couldn't seem to make herself do it.

-she clicked with Yam Yam day 1, and thinks she would have been gone day 1 with the other two tribes ("especially Ratu").  She did want to go out there and bond with people, and have these connections and deep conversations, but says it was hard since some people are in game-mode and don't want to talk emotions

-Finally, kind of what might be a double standard to how people were receptive of Yam Yam's personality but not to her own:

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A lot of your journey was about being underestimated, something you expected given your personality. But there were clearly moments where you were frustrated for being disregarded, like going on the journey with Danny and Brandon, or nobody listening to you at the merge lunch when you say Josh's idol was fake. Talk to me about your reactions in those moments.

Okay, I'm trying to be positive. I did not expect that. Because yeah, I'm a weirdo. But I didn't expect people to look at me like I was such a freak. I always said to Yam Yam, "You act like like a complete clown sometimes." But that's Yam Yam. And everybody loves it. But I would ask myself--and I hate that I did this--, "What is wrong with me? Yam Yam can do it and it's adorable." And then I come in, and it's like, "Ooh." I felt like that sometimes, but I did not expect that. I expected like how it is in my real life. For people to meet me and be kinda like, "Oh, she's a lot," but then to get to know me and be like, "She's amazing." And I think people were really freaked out. So I didn't expect the level, because, again, I've done a lot of work to be okay with me and to be just comfortable with myself. So I expected people to love me more.

 

[violet and green]

Hooray!