The jury agreed with him, giving the AlliGabler a 7-1-0 victory over Cassidy Clark and Owen Knight.
How did Gabler do it?
you’re able to watch the entire interview above, or read it below.
Mike Gabler on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
MIKE GABLER:[Laughs] I sure am.
And then we lost a tough challenge.
And I work in a realm where accountability is very important and I felt partially responsible for our loss.
Jeff Probst and Mike Gabler on ‘Survivor 43’.Robert Voets/CBS
And I didn’t feel it was good to hide behind my idol.
We need you."
And I was like, “Yes, ma’am.
Mike Gabler on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
I got you.”
And then we continued to play on.
And the rest is history.
Mike Gabler on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
We talked about the beginning of the game, now let’s talk about the end.
My game the entire time was a relationship game.
And the edit showed a lot of it, but also left out a lot of it.
Mike Gabler on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
I actually thought the season’s edit was fantastic because it left everybody guessing.
No one knew exactly who was gonna go into it.
There were a lot of strong players in the final.
I mean, the final five was five sharks in a bowl together trying to make it out.
I felt pretty good no matter who I went up against.
I had a strong story to tell because I had been playing the entire time.
But I had my idol that was still valid from my second Tribal Council.
And I looked over at James.
I was trying to make new friends, trying to make new relationships and alliances.
And James asked me for my idol.
And I gave it to him.
So there’s a lot going on.
I don’t know if it was exactly shown, but it was powerful stuff.
Did any of the votes surprise you at that final Tribal?
I was always truthful and honest with him.
That was pretty dicey, and everything worked out the way we thought it might.
InSurvivor, you take big chances.
Hey, those who dare, win.
It’s crazy to say the James vote surprised you.
Because if you then get that vote, you play the perfect game.
You have no votes cast against you all game, then you get every single vote of Tribal.
It is absolutely nuts.
I mean, to play the game ofSurvivoris a lifelong dream of mine.
And to be a part of that history, it’s humbling.
I don’t know what to say.
I mean, Dalton, you saw it.
You know, I’m a better orator than I think I got credit for.
So a lot of the game, I believe people underestimated me.
And that was their mistake, not mine.
Let Sami do it, let Cody do it, let somebody else do it.
I’ll gather wood, I’ll do whatever you need me to do.
But I hid that card up my sleeve until the final four and I blazed into final three.
So you intentionally sabotaged that fire early in the game?
I won’t say I intentionally sabotaged it, but I didn’t rock it out either.
You know what I mean?
It is a drier high desert area.
So I had to figure out how to strike closer to the kindling and the tinder.
And I was able to figure that out.
Let’s play a littleSurvivorWhat If?
Do you think that changes the end result at all?
It’s like the butterfly effect?
InSurvivorit’s real, right?
It was also painful.
It’s kind of clean.
That was like hand-to-hand combat.
And Jesse’s a man I respect.
I love him for who he is as a person, as a father, as everything.
Jesse’s a stud.
And that was mixed emotions.
I went from the elation of winning to, “Oh, no.
It was a weird situation to go into fire.
To make fire in front ofJeff Probstwith cameras all around is not normal.
And to do it where you’re knocking out somebody that you care about is very difficult.
So it was hard.
When did you hit on the idea on donating your prize money to veterans in honor of your father?
Was that before the game or during the game?
That was before the game.
I was talking with a buddy of mine who’s a veteran and my wife.
And we were talking about, “What if you win this thing?”
You know, I’ve worked really hard my life.
I’ve built a good financial set up around myself.
I’ve got to work another eight years before I can retire.
I’ve still got a kid in college, one more to go.
I’ve still got a house payment, all that stuff the money would have helped, sure.
But my father’s a veteran.
My uncles are veterans.
A lot of guys I went to high school and college with are veterans.
And they need some help.
And to do something bigger than yourself gives you power in life.
Every time I thought of something bigger than myself, I was able to persevere.
And what keeps you going?
It’s not necessarily Gabler, because Gabler could tap out.
And that drove me.
Our heroes drove me.
I never had the honor of serving.
That’s an awesome question.
Because for me to use them to get to my end would’ve been hollow.
I needed to win on my own merit.
And so that was my secret to the end.
If I would’ve been like, “Wait, I’m not as good as Owen.
You mentioned that you were struggling physically out there.
We saw it on the show.
The first week out there is the worst.
So anybody thinking about playingSurvivor, just know your first week out there, your body is going berserk.
You’re delicious to the bugs.
Because you come into the game and you’re eating.
And then as you starve and you go through your fat, you start burning muscle.
My back’s already peeled.
I’ve got bug bites on my bug bites.
I’m dehydrated, I’m starving, I’m sleep deprived.”
And I’m like, “I’ve gotta do seven times this or more.
I’ll follow you.”
I missed my older daughter’s senior prom.
And as you guys know from watching the show, I love my daughters.
And Elie and Jeanine said, “Hey, why don’t we do a Baka prom night?”
So I went down the beach with Elie to look for hermit crabs for dinner.
Owen and Sami went and got some wood.
And it was the Baka prom night.
We were a crazy bunch, but we loved each other and cared for each other.
I saved the most important question for last: Metallica or Slayer?
We can talk for hours on that.
I’m saying Metallica, man.
I love Slayer, but I’m going Metallica.
