S39: Chelsea Walker

[Whimsy]

From CBS.com

Chelsea Walker

Biography

  Age: 26
Hometown: Marlton, New Jersey
Current residence: Los Angeles
Occupation: Digital Content Creator

Hobbies: Working out, going to the beach, soccer, rooting for Philly sports teams, and watching Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Pet peeves: The chunky dad sneakers trend that suddenly made a comeback and makes it look like you have bricks strapped to your feet. Bulky, unflattering, and yet "everyone" is wearing them. Why suddenly, after we all agreed to put these to bed, have these dad sneakers come back?

Three words to describe you: Driven, competitive, and scrappy.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Getting on Survivor. I started applying to the show when I was 21, and I remember believing once I put in that application, Survivor would be chomping at the bit to invite me to play this game. Little did I know at that point that this would be the start to a very long journey. After almost six straight years of applying, with rejection after rejection after rejection, I finally contemplated throwing in the towel. Yet, as hard as I tried to push it away, I could never get the thoughts and urges to play out of my mind and out of my heart. I've never quit anything in my life, and I'm so proud of myself for never giving up on my dream, despite people telling me to do so. The best thing I ever did was believe in myself.

Who or what is your inspiration in life?
Larry David because he respects wood.

What's one thing we wouldn't know from seeing a photo of you?
I'm pretty, pretty, pretty good.

Which Survivor contestant are you most like?
Parvati and Kelley Wentworth, although I am aware the two girls play very different games. Parvati plays a very social, flirty, unsuspecting game, and establishes herself in power when she can. Kelley plays a very sneaky, threatening and aggressive game, tends to be more in your face with what she wants to accomplish, with a "never give up" type of attitude. I see myself in both of them.

What's your primary motivation for being on Survivor?
It's the allure of this really amazing game, this game I've been dreaming of playing since I was 8 years old. This game that will strip me down to my core, while also offering myself the opportunity to prove what I'm capable of. To all the superfans out there, never give up.

Why do you think you'll "survive" Survivor?
I've been underestimated my entire life, and the second you tell me I can't do something, I'm going to do my damnedest to prove everyone wrong. I know what it's like to be at the bottom. Things might not always go my way, but I've learned to push through the challenges and work my way to the top. I'm tenacious, a hard worker, and I don't take anything for granted. Applying to the show for so many years has made me stronger, and hungrier to win. I have something to prove, and I will win because I have the passion and desire to do so.

[LadyChatts]

Don't like her, and even less so when I saw her in Jeff's video assessment.

He mentioned she's been applying the longest of the people who have yet to make it on the show-somehow I feel like there are people out there still applying that have been trying longer than 6 years.

[LanceM]

Just listened to her inreview with Josh Wigler and she was a lot of potential to really annoy me this season.  I am hopeful she can tone down her superfandom to a minimum because she does seem like she could be fun. Not holding out hope for that. though

[LadyChatts]

I caved and listened to that interview with her.  I have a feeling my mute button will be getting a work out when she’s onscreen this season.  

She lost me completely when she said she didn’t understand why she wasn’t getting cast because the recent females have been lackluster and she’s good looking.  

[LadyChatts]

[Bryce Lynch]

Well, she won't be boring.  I could see myself liking her or really hating her.  In her interview with Wigler, she was always right on the line between bright, bubbly and funny and annoying, and crossed it a few times.   Same thing goes with the line between confident and arrogant.

I could see her as a player whose popularity with the viewers could be greatly influenced by her edit.  If they show the funny, superfan side, people will like her.  If they focus on her talking too much and being a bit rude and arrogant, she could be hated.  

[Dena0033]

Didn't like her Wigler interview. She sounds extremely full of herself, and she's not as good looking as she thinks she is.

Edited September 24, 2019 by Dena0033

[Eolivet]

I feel like she's going to be the Angelina of this year. She appears to be an alumnus of Survivor Maryland (which: don't get me started on those college shows, because one-third of the point of Survivor is to starve on an island, so unless you're starving in the middle of College Park, Chelsea ...)

Like Angelina: don't sleep on her, but I'm not sure she'll be likable either.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Eolivet

[LadyChatts]

I was thinking Angelina, too.  There was this amusing bit in an interview she gave:

https://parade.com/922140/mikebloom/survivor-season-39-chelsea-walker/

Quote

What’s one of those tricks?
Let’s see. (Mimes rolling up sleeve.) I was so mad during David vs. Goliath because Nick stole the move I was planning to do, and he didn’t execute it that well. Sorry, Nick, it was a bad execution. He played a fake idol to see everyone’s reaction, then decide what to do with his real idol. I saw it and yelled at the TV, “Nooooo!” I get that he explained it after for the jury. But I was going to make that same move, but do it better.

I’m a lot of talk right now. But when I make it to the Final 4, let’s say I win that final Immunity and I get to pick a person to come to the finals. Let’s say I thought I truly had no chance of winning. Your girl would throw herself into the fire-making challenge. [AUTHOR’S NOTE: The finale for Edge of Extinction, where eventual winner Chris Underwood would do precisely what Chelsea outlined, had not aired at the time of our interview.] I would do what Dom didn’t. I would never let myself get taken to the end. If someone tried, I would be like, “Uh-uh. Hold up, put me in. I’m making the fire.” I’ve been practicing, so I’m good. Everything ignites really quickly. Either I’m a savant, or I’m using super flammable stuff.

But this makes me think she's going to be all about camera time, all about creating a character, all about doing stuff that men are notorious for on here for bragging rights.  

[LadyChatts]

Here's one of Chelsea's exit interviews.  I had to laugh at this part:

Quote

We heard a lot of talk at Tribal Council about how much scrambling was happening on the beach that day. Did you notice that happening more than usual?
I didn’t. I do remember people going off on walks. With a lot of these conversations, I look back, thinking, “Where the hell was I?! What was I doing that whole day?”

https://parade.com/938568/mikebloom/survivor-chelsea-walker-eliminated/

I was wondering the same thing. 

She talked about wanting to play it safe and stay under the radar in the beginning, and not be paranoid by going into the vote asking everyone over and over again if Karishma was still the plan.  Maybe she played it a little too quiet and safe (and maybe shouldn't have gotten in the briefest of showmances on top of it).

Then there was this:

Quote

We saw that closeness, with Karishma even calling you sorority sisters. What drew you three together?
As soon as I heard that comment, I was like, “She’s not with us. She needs to be next; clearly, she’ll flip on us. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.” It’s not like we were mean sorority girls. I was in a sorority in college, and we were very nice. We didn’t ostracize her. We were all super close with Elaine, too, and you didn’t see her calling us sorority sisters. You see her throwing us around in the water, and I guess that’s not in Karishma’s personality to do that. She was coming in with certain values and things she can or can’t do because of her background.

Maybe Elaine is just smart not to call it like she sees it.  

She also said that on day 5, herself, Missy, Elizabeth, Aaron, and Dean formed a new alliance together and the plan had been to target Karishma.  

Edited October 18, 2019 by LadyChatts

[fishcakes]

Quote

We were all super close with Elaine, too, and you didn’t see her calling us sorority sisters.

Someone else called them the sorority sisters this episode, but I can't remember who it was. Missy, maybe? I'll have to rewatch. But I got the impression that that's how the rest of the tribe refers to them, and it's not just Karishma.

[LanceM]

Here is her Gordon Holmes interview.

https://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2019/10/17/survivor-castaway-chelsea-it-was-a-stupid-move-that-makes-absolutely-no-sense/

Walker: Dean wasn’t a showmance. I know the classic “Survivor” rule about whoever you’re sleeping next to, but that was one night. Dean was doing the same with Elizabeth, he was spooning with Karishma. And I was the big spoon. If I’m showmancing someone, I’m going to be the little spoon. It’s just crazy to me because Elaine and Tom  were super tight since day one. Elizabeth and Missy were attached at the hip. Closer than me and Dean ever were. Perception is reality out there, so shame on me for not recognizing it. 

Interesting to see her thoughts on the people that voted her out. Clearly she lays the blame squarely at Missy and Aaron's feet:

Holmes: Elaine?

Walker: Sia money, and well deserved. She is kind, truly one of the greatest people I’ve ever met in my life.

Holmes: Elizabeth?

Walker: She is a ray full of sunshine with an incredible laugh. She is an amazing human.

Holmes: Aaron?

Walker: Overplaying…but has great socks.

Holmes: And let’s finish with Missy.

Walker: Man…she’s got a case of big-move-itis. And she’s a backstabber that’s playing too hard

[ByaNose]

42 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

Someone else called them the sorority sisters this episode, but I can't remember who it was. Missy, maybe? I'll have to rewatch. But I got the impression that that's how the rest of the tribe refers to them, and it's not just Karishma.

Yeah, the didn’t like Karishma much, did they? When you have different religious backgrounds that are strict or whatnot it probably cuts you off from other groups. That said, I think they just didn’t like her in general. There is always that one girl that the other girls hate from the get go. I recall Christina Cha [Kims season) and Shii Ann (Rob & Ambers season) were ostracized from Day 1. Of course, the people on those tribes were kind of hateful bunch, too. I think it’s just a coincidence that were of Asian dissent but who knows. 

[LadyChatts]

3 hours ago, fishcakes said:

Someone else called them the sorority sisters this episode, but I can't remember who it was. Missy, maybe? I'll have to rewatch. But I got the impression that that's how the rest of the tribe refers to them, and it's not just Karishma.

Missy said something in her conversation with Aaron about getting her sorority sisters back together (or keeping them together) and referred to Elizabeth and Chelsea.  That comment initially turned me off, but now I'm wondering if she was being sarcastic or saying it because Karishma did.

And I'm still wondering why Chelsea and not Dean.  Elizabeth seemed the anti-Dean vote first before taking it to Elaine.  So was it Elaine who wouldn't budge?  

[Bryce Lynch]

Chelsea is really whiny and clueless in her RHAP exit interview.  She says she is objective, and doesn't want to sound bitter, but that she doesn't get why she was voted out and that it makes absolutely no sense. 

I didn't think the vote was the best choice, but she got into a freaking showmance.  That is usually the kiss of death.   For a superfan, who applied for 6 years in a row and even sent Probst a drink in a bar, to not know this is pathetic.  

She claims it wasn't a showmance, despite them spooning.  She compares it to her relationships to Missy and Elizabeth.   She doesn't seem to get that other players view romantic connections differently from friendships and alliances.   

She also claims she didn't realize other people saw her and Dean as a couple. Well, if you don't know what the tribe is thinking about you, you aren't playing a very good social game. 

Now she is weeping.  

Edited October 18, 2019 by Bryce Lynch

[LadyChatts]

What I don’t get about her being bitter towards Aaron and Missy is that while yes, they did throw her name out, she wasn’t their first choice.  They wanted Dean, but for whatever reason Elizabeth and Elaine said no.  So why not blame them a little?  

She sounds like she was embarrassed by her edit (or lack of).  And I knew she was going to say it wasn’t a showmance.  Which, maybe not, but a real super fan knows don’t get too close to the opposite sex out there.

Edited October 18, 2019 by LadyChatts

[Bryce Lynch]

4 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

What I don’t get about her being bitter towards Aaron and Missy is that while yes, they did throw her name out, she wasn’t their first choice.  They wanted Dean, but for whatever reason Elizabeth and Elaine said no.  So why not blame them a little?  

She sounds like she was embarrassed by her edit (or lack of).  And I knew she was going to say it wasn’t a showmance.  Which, maybe not, but a real super fan knows don’t get too close to the opposite sex out there.

I think showmances are one of those situations where perception is reality.  If your tribemates perceive that you are in a showmance, you are likely to suffer the consequences of being in one.   A smart player would avoid any appearance of a showmance and a good social player would know that the rumors were flying and do something about it.  

[Eolivet]

12 hours ago, LanceM said:

Elizabeth and Missy were attached at the hip. Closer than me and Dean ever were.

This shows so little self-awareness on her part. Married Angelina was accused of being in a showmance with engaged John, yet single Chelsea is shocked -- shocked, I tell you -- that she was spooning with single Dean, and people thought they were in a showmance. Or that people didn't take the time to analyze the fact that she was, in fact, the big spoon, ergo and therefore, it couldn't be a showmance.

I have to bring this back here, superfan.

[Nashville]

3 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

A smart player would avoid any appearance of a showmance

Absolutely zero disagreement on this point.

Quote

and a good social player would know that the rumors were flying and do something about it.  

...on this one, though?  Not so much an absolute.  If a player is being targeted by rumors, then it’s enemies who are doing the whispering - and enemies by nature aren’t too inclined to tell their targets “Oh hey, by the way - we’re saying this about you.”

The closest application I could think of “good social game” in this context would be if the player had a wide enough social net to intercept anything coming out of the rumor mill before TC.  Even then, intercepting chatter isn’t necessarily going to help unless you’re allied/aligned with more than 50% of the voting members - and if that were the case, would anybody with half a brain cell be trying to get you evicted via rumor-passing?  It would be much more likely for the tactic to backfire, and the gossiper be the one getting torchsnuffed.

[LadyChatts]

6 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Chelsea is really whiny and clueless in her RHAP exit interview.  She says she is objective, and doesn't want to sound bitter, but that she doesn't get why she was voted out and that it makes absolutely no sense. 

I didn't think the vote was the best choice, but she got into a freaking showmance.  That is usually the kiss of death.   For a superfan, who applied for 6 years in a row and even sent Probst a drink in a bar, to not know this is pathetic.  

She claims it wasn't a showmance, despite them spooning.  She compares it to her relationships to Missy and Elizabeth.   She doesn't seem to get that other players view romantic connections differently from friendships and alliances.   

She also claims she didn't realize other people saw her and Dean as a couple. Well, if you don't know what the tribe is thinking about you, you aren't playing a very good social game. 

Now she is weeping.  

I feel like taking a drink everytime Chelsea says "being a superfan".  You broke crucial rules of Survivor.  You got close to a dude.  You let yourself believe they were going for the easy vote, and didn't stick with the group to see where everyone's head was at.  Her own alliance voted her out. 

I like how Rob tried to cheer her up by saying he knows what it's like being a 4th boot blindside (ignoring the fact he made the final 3 the season before and is considered one of the best players ever).  Chelsea will be a forgettable 4th boot where, when mentioned, people will say "there was a Chelsea on that season?"  

[Bryce Lynch]

11 minutes ago, Nashville said:

Absolutely zero disagreement on this point.

...on this one, though?  Not so much an absolute.  If a player is being targeted by rumors, then it’s enemies who are doing the whispering - and enemies by nature aren’t too inclined to tell their targets “Oh hey, by the way - we’re saying this about you.”

The closest application I could think of “good social game” in this context would be if the player had a wide enough social net to intercept anything coming out of the rumor mill before TC.  Even then, intercepting chatter isn’t necessarily going to help unless you’re allied/aligned with more than 50% of the voting members - and if that were the case, would anybody with half a brain cell be trying to get you evicted via rumor-passing?  It would be much more likely for the tactic to backfire, and the gossiper be the one getting torchsnuffed.

But, if Chelsea was plugged into her tribe, at least one or two of her allies would have known about the rumors and said something to her.  Chelsea obviously wasn't as tight with people (except for Dean) as she thought she was. 

[Bryce Lynch]

53 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

I feel like taking a drink everytime Chelsea says "being a superfan".  You broke crucial rules of Survivor.  You got close to a dude.  You let yourself believe they were going for the easy vote, and didn't stick with the group to see where everyone's head was at.  Her own alliance voted her out. 

I like how Rob tried to cheer her up by saying he knows what it's like being a 4th boot blindside (ignoring the fact he made the final 3 the season before and is considered one of the best players ever).  Chelsea will be a forgettable 4th boot where, when mentioned, people will say "there was a Chelsea on that season?"  

She also went home with an idol in her pocket.  

On the bright side, other fans will respond, "Yeah, she was the superfan who got voted out because of a showmance."  On second thought, it might be better to be forgotten altogether. 

Edited October 18, 2019 by Bryce Lynch

[LadyChatts]

Here's something else from Chelsea's exit interview with Josh.  Kind of goes along with whether she should have picked something up or really isn't as much of a social gamer as she likes to think:

Quote

We ate dinner right before Tribal, and this moment stuck in my head. Missy and Elizabeth were cooking rice and splitting portions. At that point, Karishma was off on a confessional, and they accidentally barely left her any. And Elizabeth started laughing and was like, “Well, she’s going to be eating tonight!” That was right before we left. I love Elizabeth to death, but she’s not strategic to throw me off like that. It was Karishma up until the very last second.

[Bryce Lynch]

32 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

Here's something else from Chelsea's exit interview with Josh.  Kind of goes along with whether she should have picked something up or really isn't as much of a social gamer as she likes to think:

Quote

We ate dinner right before Tribal, and this moment stuck in my head. Missy and Elizabeth were cooking rice and splitting portions. At that point, Karishma was off on a confessional, and they accidentally barely left her any. And Elizabeth started laughing and was like, “Well, she’s going to be eating tonight!” That was right before we left. I love Elizabeth to death, but she’s not strategic to throw me off like that. It was Karishma up until the very last second.

She sounds pretty clueless and arrogant in that quote.  Why would she assume Elizabeth wasn't that strategic?  Doesn't Chelsea get that Elizabeth's joke is exactly the sort of thing someone would say to make the person getting booted comfortable?

What does she thinks changed everyone's minds at the very last second?  I guess she wants to feel better about herself and convince herself that the tribe didn't pull the wool over her eyes, but 6 players all mysteriously changed their minds at the last second.  

She really can't give the people who voted her out credit for anything, can she?  She was adamant that voting her off made no sense at all.   Now, I didn't think it was the best move, but there was a logic to it.  They were breaking up a perceived showmance couple.  

Edited October 18, 2019 by Bryce Lynch

[Nashville]

On 10/18/2019 at 2:55 PM, Bryce Lynch said:

But, if Chelsea was plugged into her tribe, at least one or two of her allies would have known about the rumors and said something to her.  Chelsea obviously wasn't as tight with people (except for Dean) as she thought she was. 

Isn’t that pretty much the game epitaph for every blindside evictee ever?

😉 

[Josh371982]

Missy is a Hypocrite though. Her and Aaron are a duo but Dean and Chelsea needed to be separated. Hope her and Aaron get looked at and split up with her Way arrogant ass going 

[LadyChatts]

What I don't get is why she's so emotional.  She's a super fan whose hopes and dreams were crushed after she had been trying to get on for years (and I guess you could say her dream ended on kind of an embarrassing note).  And?  She could get in a long line of people.  Look at the people whose game gets screwed by tribe swaps, or twists.  Many of them super fans.  I'm sure it's hard, but to be this emotional after all this time? 

Edited October 21, 2019 by LadyChatts

[TVFan1]

18 hours ago, Josh371982 said:

Missy is a Hypocrite though. Her and Aaron are a duo but Dean and Chelsea needed to be separated. Hope her and Aaron get looked at and split up with her Way arrogant ass going 

You and me both.

[Bryce Lynch]

On 10/20/2019 at 5:55 AM, Josh371982 said:

Missy is a Hypocrite though. Her and Aaron are a duo but Dean and Chelsea needed to be separated. Hope her and Aaron get looked at and split up with her Way arrogant ass going 

I am not a Missy fan, and I don't think she is a very, good player, but I wouldn't call her a hypocrite.  

It is normal to want to take out relationships and alliances that you think are bad for your game, while wanting to preserve ones you think are beneficial.

[Josh371982]

2 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I am not a Missy fan, and I don't think she is a very, good player, but I wouldn't call her a hypocrite.  

It is normal to want to take out relationships and alliances that you think are bad for your game, while wanting to preserve ones you think are beneficial.

Meanwhile Chelsea said in a interview that she Aaron Missy Dean and another one of the females had a secret alliance going and she wouldve stayed loyal. It was too early. She was still beneficial to miss play too hard too fast Arrogant "I'm not a Sheep" Missy 

[Bryce Lynch]

2 minutes ago, Josh371982 said:

Meanwhile Chelsea said in a interview that she Aaron Missy Dean and another one of the females had a secret alliance going and she wouldve stayed loyal. It was too early. She was still beneficial to miss play too hard too fast Arrogant "I'm not a Sheep" Missy 

I don't agree with Missy's strategy, and I think she is playing too hard, too fast. But, I suspect that "secret alliance" was something Missy and Aaron tricked Chelsea and Dean into thinking they were a part of.   

I sounds like Chelsea and Dean were trying to play the members of their "real" alliance but being in the "secret alliance", but instead got played by the "secret alliance".  

I don't have any problem with any of these people being in multiple alliances.  But, it seems like Chelsea thinks is was "disloyal" for Missy and Aaron to "betray" their secondary alliance, while thinking it was fine for her and Dean to be ready to betray their primary alliance.  

The word hypocrite comes for the ancient Greek word for "play actor".  So, in the classic sense of the word, a Survivor player is almost forced to be one to do well.  

In modern usage, "hypocrite" often means one who holds others to higher standard than oneself.  In that sense, Chelsea seem more like the hypocrite for expecting others to be loyal to all alliances, when she was not.  

[Nashville]

On 10/20/2019 at 4:55 AM, Josh371982 said:

Missy is a Hypocrite though. Her and Aaron are a duo but Dean and Chelsea needed to be separated. Hope her and Aaron get looked at and split up with her Way arrogant ass going 

Only if you believe individual survival, whether game-related or IRL, is essentially a hypocritical exercise - deciding your own personal survival matters more than others, and taking proactive steps to pursue that goal.  And I don’t even like Missy.

[Special K]

On 10/20/2019 at 5:55 AM, Josh371982 said:

Missy is a Hypocrite though. Her and Aaron are a duo but Dean and Chelsea needed to be separated. Hope her and Aaron get looked at and split up with her Way arrogant ass going 

Not all male-female alliances are a showmance.  It's the blatant romantic part of it that contestants fear.  Ironically for this season, mostly because of Boston Rob himself and the way he and Amber played.

Chelsea must have been aware that she was being perceived as having a showmance, since she had a conversation with one of the other women about it and denied it.

[Ms Blue Jay]

5 hours ago, Special K said:

Not all male-female alliances are a showmance.  It's the blatant romantic part of it that contestants fear.  Ironically for this season, mostly because of Boston Rob himself and the way he and Amber played.

Chelsea must have been aware that she was being perceived as having a showmance, since she had a conversation with one of the other women about it and denied it.

I was going to say, there are so many male female pairings that went all the way to the end and were never looked at as a showmance.  Yul/Becky, Natalie/Russell, etc.  But if you spoon each other, wellllllllll.  That's different.

[Bryce Lynch]

51 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I was going to say, there are so many male female pairings that went all the way to the end and were never looked at as a showmance.  Yul/Becky, Natalie/Russell, etc.  But if you spoon each other, wellllllllll.  That's different.

But...but...but, Chelsea was the spooner, not the spoonee.  That is totally different, at least according to Chelsea.  

[Nashville]

27 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

But...but...but, Chelsea was the spooner, not the spoonee.  That is totally different, at least according to Chelsea.  

Chelsea’s “big spoon” differentiations notwithstanding, IIRC her primary defense was that she was not Dean’s sole spooner/spoonee - he was curling up at night with others besides her.  Which might’ve made a difference if Chelsea had MADE it make a difference.  Unfortunately for Chelsea, though, she did not.

[Eolivet]

I still feel like a showmance on Survivor is like Justice Potter's famous definition of obscenity: "I don't know what it is, but I know it when I see it."

And if the editors were able to rustle enough footage to make a Chelsea/Dean showmance believable, then guess what, Chelsea? You were in a showmance.

[Bryce Lynch]

16 hours ago, Eolivet said:

I still feel like a showmance on Survivor is like Justice Potter's famous definition of obscenity: "I don't know what it is, but I know it when I see it."

And if the editors were able to rustle enough footage to make a Chelsea/Dean showmance believable, then guess what, Chelsea? You were in a showmance.

From a practical standpoint, I think a showmance exists if:

a) There is a real romantic relationship.

b) There is a general perception of a romantic relationship, among the other tribe members.

c) There is enough there for one or more tribemates to convince the majority of the tribe there is a showmance.

Chelsea and Dean seem somewhere between b and c.