As a community college dropout, Survivor: Thailand castoff Robb Zbacnik doesn’t get much credit for intellectual prowess. To wit: His warm, fuzzy fireside chat last week came off as a lame effort to soften his Sook Jai tribemates — all of whom were about to unanimously vote him out. What was that about?
“Everything I spoke there was of utmost sincerity,” the 24-year-old bartender from Scottsdale, Ariz., tells TV Guide Online. "It really bothers me that people would think that was part of my strategy. I guess I’m not the halfwit everyone’s made me out to be. [The tribe] was bothered by the loss we just suffered [in the Immunity Challenge] and I was trying to make people happy.
“I’m a pretty sincere guy and I enjoy uplifting people’s spirits,” Robb adds. “If you noticed at Tribal Council, Penny was crying and Jake got up to hug me. I left on a good note, and gave everyone a positive leg to stand on after my departure.”
Thus, he argues, there was no point in buttering up the Sook Jais. “I was gone,” he says. “Without a doubt, it was my turn as far as their voting process went. It went Jed, Stephanie, then me. They had their little clique. I think they liked me more than Shii Ann, but in the event of a merge, I was more of a threat because of my physical strength.”
Speaking of Shii Ann, Robb rants: “We had a hate-hate relationship. There’s no love about it. She was constantly putting in her two cents when I didn’t want to hear it. That’s one of the reasons I hated her on the show. The way she played the game, she got on everyone’s nerves.”
Summing up his reality TV time, he insists that “if only Jed and Stephanie’s friendship came from this great adventure, it would be worth more than $1 million to me, by far. That’s the truth, bro. I just turned 24. I have the rest of my life to make money.”
Hmm… Might he accept if Playgirl asks him to strike a pose, for example? “I’m up for just about anything,” the hottie admits. “If they paid me enough, I’d probably do it.” Spoken like a true Survivor. — Daniel R. Coleridge