Phone Call From Ethan
McDec won a phone call from Ethan thanks to her contribution to a recent Grassroot Soccer fundraiser. She posted a summary of her phone call on Survivor Sucks and gave me permission to repost it here. So, here goes:
Well here goes my attempt to post my phone call with Ethan that I won from Grassroots. Sorry it has taken me so long! I was very nervous when he called, and I think I babbled quite a bit, so hopefully I got the details right. Ethan if you read this and I’ve misquoted you, I’m sorry.
I was not expecting his call the night I received it, someone from grassroots had called me the week prior and set it up for a Tuesday, and that night came and went with no call. So when the phone rang a few nights later, I was not expecting it to be him. He was really patient with me, because I had to go grab my list of questions I had made up. While I was getting the list, we chatted about websites, and he said he visits here and Survivornews.net. I told him about a site I go to a lot (an MSN group) and he asked me for the URL for it. He waited while I looked it up in my computer, all the while chatting about Sucks, etc. He said some of the stuff he reads is too much. He said he used to visit a lot more sites and threads but he’s narrowed it down.
I asked about taxes, and if he was surprised by the amount and he said no, he knew in advance they’d be 48%. I asked if it was considered income or winnings and it is income.
I wanted to know what it was about his audition tape that got him chosen, did anyone from CBS ever tell him? No one ever let him know, but he felt it was creative and different. He did a take off of “Being John Malkovich…..Being Ethan Zohn”.
What did he think of the cast of S5? He didn’t want to sound too negative, but he felt they were a bit boring. He only watched from the merge on. He did ask if I saw Stephanie’s audition tape that was shown at the finale, he was quite shocked by it.
Could they bring ANY hygiene products? None at all, no soap, no toilet paper, toothbrush, nothing. They were given a 3 day training course that included instructions on a special tree/shrub that could be used on their teeth, supposedly it had some special antiseptic ingredient, but no one ever found it. They used regular sticks. He said that his teeth looked so white on the show because his skin was so dirty.
What would he be doing if he had never been on Survivor? Coaching soccer, and his other job, naming new products. We actually talked about his naming job for a while, because I found it fascinating. He is such an interesting guy.
Who would he have taken to the final 2 if he had won the final immunity? Lex. Did he think he still would have won? He thinks so, he thinks Frank, Tom, Kim J and T Bird would have voted for him. Was Lex going to bring him to the final 2? He said while he was in Africa he thought so, but he has heard talk that Lex has said something different since, but he doesn’t know if that is true. We discussed that Lex seemed to be someone who had integrity, so Ethan stills thinks Lex would have probably picked him.
Who does he still keep in touch with? Lex, Tom, T Bird and Kim Johnson.
How many marriage proposals has he had? He laughed and said ” not many”. I think he was just being modest!
Does he still coach or play soccer? He plays in men’s leagues (not pro anymore) and volunteer coaches when he can. He would like to have a head coach job someday, but they are hard to find. He enjoys broadcasting (mentioned the World Cup) and would like to get into that more.
He doesn’t think he would have won on Survivor: Marquesas or Thailand. He saw himself in Gabe (S4) and Ken (S5) and they both got voted out.
His secret to winning? He planned on playing the role similar to assistant coach. Not the leader, but someone everyone comes to. He wanted to hook up with the leader (Lex) but not be one. He also wanted to form a bond with someone the opposite of himself, which ended up being Kim J. (older woman).
Does he find it odd that a phone call from him would be a prize in a contest? I meant, that did he ever think this would happen? He laughed and said his brothers still think he is pretty boring. But he said he would love to talk to someone he admired, ie. David Schwimmer, so he could understand it, but yes it is a bit weird.
We chatted for a few minutes about non-survivor stuff, like both our fathers passing away from cancer, and how the “Back from Africa” episode really sealed my admiration for him, when I heard his mom talk about how great he was when his dad was sick. We also talked about our birthdays, his is one day before mine, and about the upcoming arrival of his brother’s baby. He was very excited about it, it is the first grandchild/niece/nephew for his family. I also told him I have a 4 year old son who is starting soccer in March, and we talked for a few minutes about that. I also told him that one of the Amazon contestants was in the People magazine “Eligible bachelor” issue with him, and he didn’t know about that. (Although how People could include Matthew Von Whatever and ETHAN in the same catagory is waaaay beyond me!)
Anyway, that pretty much covers everything, sorry this post is so long. We talked for a good 20 minutes, and I’ll tell you, Ethan gives good phone! He is a very nice, polite, intelligent man. I didn’t get the feeling that he was rushing me off the phone, or felt that it was a big chore to talk to me. I am doubly glad now that I rooted for him, and that he won. He will always be my favourite survivor.