Final Interview

Debb's Final Chat
January 31, 2001 3:00 PM PST
CBS Moderator: As you all know, Debb, the 45-year-old corrections officer, was the first to be voted out of the Australian Outback. . . . There are so many great questions so let's just jump right into them. If you're just joining us, we're chatting live with Debb Eaton. To ask Debb a question, please type it in the space below and click "Ask the Survivor." We'll get to as many as we can. Let's begin. Please welcome Debb.
Debb Eaton: Hi I'm happy to be here, I'm looking forward to talking with you all!

DebbieFan: Debbie, I think you were wrongly thrown out of the Outback. People didn't give you a chance. They did not have enough time to see you would of been a great member to the team. Do you have any regrets of what you did the first few days to make a bad first impression? Thank you Debbie!!!! :)
Debb Eaton: I agree with you. And speaking with my tribe members now I think they agree also. And if I had to do it all over again, I'd be a little more flexible. But, that's life.

Koala: Who is the one person who shocked you the most by voting against you?
Debb Eaton: Rodger. We hit it off real well, he's a great guy, but I guess I was most surprised by Rodger's vote.

Orange Julius: Debb, what would you have done differently?
Debb Eaton: I would have rolled with the punches every night in the tent. I would not have let morals be such a big issue. Morals were such a big issue, and that was my downfall.

islandman: What was the hardest aspect to adapt to while you were in the Outback?
Debb Eaton: I don't want this to sound like I'm cocky, because I'm not a cocky person at all. If I had to say one thing, I mean, I was only out there for 3 days, and I don't feel like I was very challenged. The most difficult time was sleeping at night. I hated it. Wet sand, rocks. It was horrible.

Jim: Debb, what did you really think of your former tribe members?
Debb Eaton: Well, I was out there 3 days. I didn't have the biggest opportunity to get to know them. And now I have had the chance to talk on email and phone, and I've gotten to know them. Nick was very quiet, smart. Jeff is so warm and friendly, I love it. Kimmi, we get along just fine, she a very nice girl. Same thing with Alicia. Elizabeth is younger than my son. The one that I get along most with would be Rodger.

runnermom: How did you feel about Alicia and Jeff's recent statements about you?
Debb Eaton: I don't know what the statements are. Sorry.

cherub: Why did you bring eyeliner as your luxury item? Was that useful or just something personal to you?
Debb Eaton: We were told to choose 5 things, and the things that we could choose were limited. We couldn't bring anything that was useful for survival.

RichardSurvivorGod: Debb, who did you want to win the first Survivor?
Debb Eaton: I wanted Colleen to win. She didn't take it seriously She was having fun, she was my favorite. She seems to have won anyhow.

SurvivorChick: Debb, why did you wish to be on Survivor: Australian Outback?
Debb Eaton: I absolutely love adventure and competition. I love it so much and will forever be disappointed that I didn't get to play the game longer. That's why I live in Northern New Hampshire. I love this kind of stuff!

MattyMatt: What surprised you most about the experience (other than being voted off first)?
Debb Eaton: I guess how hard I took it. I took it harder than I have ever taken anything else in my life. It still is hard, when I think about it. I just hate to lose.

boyroy44: Did your prison guard toughness cost you in popularity with your Survivor colleagues?
Debb Eaton: I don't believe it did. I think the first episode portrayed me a lot harder than I am in real life. But the parts of me they showed, I'm not always like that! I'm actually a lot of fun to be around, laugh a lot. Everyone in my tribe that I've talked to has said that I'm not as aggressive as I was out there.

thx: How do you like being in the media spotlight now?
Debb Eaton: It's a lot of fun! No question about it! I think everyone dreams of an opportunity like this. And I'm making the most of it. I just want to have a lot of fun and make a lot of money!

kingroo: How much of your reserve food supply did your tribe go through when you didn't have fire?
Debb Eaton: We rationed it very, very closely! Mike wanted to eat non-stop! But like I said we didn't know when we would have fire so we had to be careful! We were going to eat twice a day, and we only opened 2 cans per day.

Survivor Chick: What was the first thing you ate and did when you left the Outback?
Debb Eaton: I had a can of soda! That was my very first thing! I was dying for a diet Coke, and then I drove back to the ranch, talked to some people and went to bed. Pretty boring, but that's what I did. But the next morning when I got back, I saw some of the sights.

Sunshine: Would you do this again?
Debb Eaton: Sunshine, I would hop on a plane in 5 minutes! I hate that I did not get to play this game! I hope that something sometime an opportunity will come up that will give me the adventure I missed out on.

Redhead: Are there any of your fellow Survivors you will keep as friends?
Debb Eaton: I'm sure that I'll be in touch with a lot of them. I don't really know all of them really well. I had a lot of fun with Jeff, I love Mitchell, Mike and I talk a lot, and probably Maralyn.

shewolf: You told Alicia that Jeff wished to leave...is that true?
loopy: Did you have other reasons for voting Jeff off, other than him being sick?
Debb Eaton: I was running around trying to convince others to vote for Jeff, because he was sick, and in the Jungle only the strong survive. He made a statement to me that I took literally, "I want to go home." We all want to win. And the only reason I voted for Jeff was because he was sick. To vote against the weakest player; and it was either going to be Jeff or Rodger, because Rodger couldn't swim. But Jeff was sick.

Koala: Who would you like to see win?
Debb Eaton: I don't think there is any one of those people who deserve it more than the others. They all deserve it equally. I'm going to be happy no matter who wins.

moon girl: Did you win anything at all for participating?
Debb Eaton: Every contestant is given a certain amount of money, considering how they finished in the contest. So yes, I was paid some money. The money was least of the consideration. The adventure, the contest, having the time of my life...but yes, everybody did win some money.

greatgolfer2000: Did you see any subtle alliances forming while you were there?
Koala: What strategies do you see people forming now?
Debb Eaton: I thought I saw a pattern of people that were staying together and talking a lot together, and it made me think that there were a few alliances forming. I don't know if that was the actual case or not, but that was my opinion. I was trying to form my own alliance, but it didn't happen. When you're out there, you're kind of paranoid. You're looking at everybody and wondering. No one knew what strategies to have. I think everyone knew that they should have some kind of alliance, but I didn't know either.

Wendiluwho: It seems like there were less insects, etc., than the first Survivor...did you encounter any dangerous animals or conditions?
Debb Eaton: I didn't actually encounter anything like that. We had to be careful walking everywhere. There were snakes and we had to walk very heavy; you could see crocodile eyes at night or up ahead. But I didn't have any contact with any wildlife while I was out there.

Survivor2B: What strategy had you worked out for yourself before arriving in the Outback?
Debb Eaton: I knew right from the get-go, that I was going to vote for the weakest person. I also didn't want to take control, because it was pretty clear that they picked 16 very controlling people and we couldn't all be leaders. But I wanted to be low-key and play it safe. Ha ha!

AK: What has been the public response to you so far?
Debb Eaton: It's hard to say, because I haven't been home, on the internet; I haven't seen the papers. I'm kind of interested to see if people like me or hate me, I have no idea!

Chillywilly: Do you think you were voted off because you are a strong woman?
Debb Eaton: I think that was part of it. But to be honest with you, I think the main reason I was voted off is we had to make a choice in three days, and any little difference would tell the tale. And I didn't quite fit in with my tribe. Everyone was grasping at straws, but not me, I knew who I was going to vote for. I was going to vote for the weakest person. I think that was part of it, but not all.

OG: I read that you all underwent evaluations by a psychologist before the show. Is that true? And what were the evaluations like?"
Debb Eaton: Yes, we all went under a lot of testing. We answered a lot of questions about what kind of people we are, a lot of repetitive questions. Survivor wanted to make sure that the people they put under this sort of circumstance would be okay to handle this kind of stressful situation.

Amberlover: How do you keep your life private now that you are famous?
Debb Eaton: You don't. You just, you have to deal with it in a mature fashion, I guess. You can't let people that say bad things about you upset you. But I'm pretty well grounded, so anything I hear won't affect me. Some things might hurt a little at times, but I'm pretty strong. I'm a good person. And I'm aware of that, so anything I hear that is negative, isn't going to affect me.

fair dinkums: Do you see any romantic connections forming? Between who?
Debb Eaton: I saw none and don't expect any from my tribe.

CBS_Moderator: Many people are asking variations of these questions, so let me sum up: Can you describe the application process a bit, and can you tell us if you studied the first Survivor in preparation?"
Debb Eaton: First off, I didn't study the first one. I watched and enjoyed it, and from there I sent in an application, a video. 50,000 people sent them in, from there they cut to 800, then they cut to 100. Then they cut to 50. Sent the 50 out to L.A. for interviewing, and from there they picked the 16. And we were on our way!

TieDie: Did they drag the river or something to protect you from the crocodiles?
Debb Eaton: My understanding is that they had divers in the water. When we were on the plane, the divers were keeping track of things. Other than that, when we were living, as far as I knew, we were on our own!

shewolf_PA: You said on Letterman that there was an MTV beach house mentality in your tribe...do you feel differently now?
Debb Eaton: No, that's just a convenient way of saying that there were a lot of young people in the tribe, and in the tent things got a little risqué. It wasn't a knock, it was just how things were.

ColJo 31: Who do you think is the weakest member of your tribe?
Debb Eaton: Well, when I was out there, the weakest was Jeff. No questions asked. Rodger had just learned to swim 2 weeks prior. Other than that, Kimmi. She didn't strike me as someone as tough or had experienced many hardships. But the other ones were strong mentally and physically and could have gone forever.

CBS Moderator: amazed2010 would like to know more about your relationship with Kimmi...was there tension and what was its cause?
Debb Eaton: Kimmi and I had tension because we are two different people. I'm a very private person, and nothing is private with Kimmi. She would walk around half-naked, and would talk about being naked, and I'm just not like that. There is nothing wrong with that. She is who she is; I respect that. But it was a little difficult, because she didn't seem to respect that I was not like that.

Alice Springs: How did your fellow workers greet you when you returned?
Debb Eaton: They were all great! When I was standing in formation I got applause! Even the inmates in the prison. They have been supportive of everything that I have done.

CBS Moderator: Thank you so much for speaking with us, Debb...good luck with everything. Do you have any final comments for us?
Debb Eaton: I thought an hour in a chat was going to be difficult and I've had a blast! And if you liked the first one, you are going to love the rest of the shows! Keep watching Survivor, and if you like the first one, you are going to be thrilled if you keep on watching!

CBS Moderator: Thanks again for joining us...all of you and Debb. Tune in to an all-new Survivor on its regular night and time, Thursdays at 8:00 PM PT/ET. After Survivor on Thursdays, check out America's new number-one drama, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, on its new night and time, Thursdays at 9PM ET/PT.