The blindsided player says he went kind of crazy in a tent after his ouster.
Elevator salesman Cody Assenmacher didn’t want any salespeople (besides himself) in the game ofSurvivor 43.
But he was sold out anyway, and by his biggest ally in the game.
Cody Assenmacher on ‘Survivor 43’.Robert Voets/CBS
But how does Cody feel now after watching everything unfold on TV?
And why did he keep giving Jesse his idol anyway?
(you’re able to watch the entire interview above or read it below.)
Cody Assenmacher and Jesse Lopez on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
You know, I got hit with the perfect storm there.
That will be in my head for a long time.
And I said, “Okay.”
Cody Assenmacher on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
So I grab it from Jesse, and I have it in my hand.
And Jesse, did a great job.
He said, “Hey, man, I think she may have a Knowledge is Power.”
Cody Assenmacher on ‘Survivor’ 43.Robert Voets/CBS
And I sat there, and I processed it.
It ran in my head throughout the day leading up to Tribal Council.
And as I was showing Karla, I was like, “I don’t trust this girl.”
He wouldn’t steer me wrong."
And I gave it back last minute.
So he played a good game, man.
And he spooked me there last minute with that comment.
An himnotasking for it back is what ultimately made me give it back.
Because that was our token of trust.
What was your initial reaction when Jesse stood up and played your idol for Owen?
What are you thinking at that point?
I knew I was gone.
I knew that was it.
Don’t do that."
I have never been that mad in my life.
I just got betrayed.
It looked like you were deliberating “Do I shake this guy’s hand?
Do I keep walking.
Or do I give him a piece of my mind?”
So what were you thinking in that moment?
Or do I push him into fire?
[Laughs] I was numb, bro.
At that point I literally was like, “You sank both our ships, because you are next.
You have no protection, I’m not here to help you, and you just burned our idol.
You’re gone at five.
You sank both our ships.”
So how do you think you do if you make it to the end?
I’ve played this through my head a thousand times and talked to some of the other contestants.
He’s gone at five.
I think I got a really good shot at winning that million dollars.
I think my profession and my charisma would have had the jury voting for me.
Beware of the salespeople, right?
Whom did you want to sit next to at the end?
What was your ideal final three?
So Jesse was one of them.
I wanted to go with Gabler and then, honestly, I was fine with anybody else.
I really, really thought about Owen.
I wanted maybe Owen.
So yeah, Jesse, Gabler, and Owen.
I guess that’s three additional and plus me.
But it’s 7 a.m. here, so cut me some slack, bro.
How were you dealing with the whole situation?
So I had that moment, then went back to Ponderosa.
Believe it or not, everybody in that show is blindsided outta there.
I’m not the only one that experienced it.
So it was good to have some drinks.
It was good to have some talks, had a good cry.
I stayed up all night.
And it slowly wore off.
We saw you pretty hopped up on coffee and Danishes after that trip to theSurvivorSanctuary?
Was there a caffeine and sugar crash later that we didn’t see?
You couldn’t imagine.
And that night, I couldn’t sleep.
I was up all night.
I literally was up all night just freaking miserable, just wide awake.
And the next day I was like, “The crash is coming.
You did it, you knucklehead.
You f—ing did it.”
What did you oughta eat all that and drink all that coffee for?"
We get electrolyte packs, and you get one a day out there.
Because you get a little bit of an oomph when you have it.
And I was chugging them, right, drinking them.
And I don’t know how many, but I had too many.
Let’s go do this, let’s do that."
I mean there’s a lot, right?
it’s possible for you to’t see anything.
Eventually, we didn’t have a fire for eight days.
Getting up to go to the bathroom is the worst.
You’re tripping over things.
And even sleeping at night, we had what we called bush babies.
Nneka made a nickname for ‘em.
These birds are like the size of pigeons and are walking over you.
How much did it rip you up to vote Nneka out, and does that still gnaw at you?
I was so gutted that night.
I told myself: I don’t want to do that again.
And it was my Achilles heel at the end of the day.
Would you go back and play again if they invited you?
Yeah, man, I got some redemption, bro.
Those goddamn Danishes and coffee cost me a million bucks.
Those were million-dollar Danishes.
Finally, after everything you went through on this show, are you still living to get radical?
I traveled for about four to five months.
I got my radical shirt on right now with Patrick Swayze.
Those were a lot of fun.
I’ll be that way forever.
