Patt Cannaday will never live down losing her pants on Day 1 of Survivor 51.
The federal prosecutor from Washington, D.C., has accepted the fan nickname “Pantsless Patt,” but she doesn’t plan on getting a tattoo anytime soon to mark the occasion. “Other people can get that if they really want to,” she says with a laugh the day after her blindside in Episode 3.
In this exclusive interview, Patt tells Gold Derby about her revenge fantasy for the six people who voted her out, why she thinks Mike Pinsky would have been the one going home from her group if Danny Kilby had the numbers, and how she feels about people rummaging through others’ bags.
Patt also weighs in on whether Rob Antonson is a quitter. “Anytime the doctor says, ‘You’re good to go,’ and you say, ‘I’m pulling myself,’ that’s a quit,” she declares. Read the Q&A below or watch the video interview above.
Gold Derby: You ended the show by saying, “I don’t even want a cheeseburger. I just want revenge.” It was kind of an epic goodbye message. Who did you most want revenge on in that moment?
Patt Cannaday: First off, I wanted to have a way back into the game, which I know is controversial, but as a player, it’s obviously what I wanted in that moment. And then I wanted to go back and I wanted to find all the people who had voted me out and I wanted to, one by one, vote them out of the game so that they know what it felt like, because it did suck.
Patt with two T’s is a unique spelling, but so many people spelled it correctly. Was there a conversation where you whispered, “If you write my name down, it’s two T’s”?
OK, it’s such a fair question, and I assume there must have been. I must have said Patt with two T’s at some point. I definitely didn’t say it as in, “When you write my name down, say it this way,” but I assume we must have had a conversation about it because I think some people got it right, and then some people put hearts, which I did not appreciate in the moment. Now, I’m like, fine.
Of the six people who wrote your name down, who surprised you the most — Kilby, Carter [Krull], Lewis [Kelly], Thien An [Nguyen], Maggie [Nestor], or Jenna [Doore]?
Oh, and I know the names. I have to say that Carter was the one that I really thought was voting with us, but he wasn’t the one I was closest to. But yeah, he was the one that I actually did think was voting with us. I think Mike in that Tribal Council said, “Carter’s with us,” not to me, but to Jelly [Loblack]. We believed Carter was with us.
Heading into that Tribal Council, how confident were you that Kilby was the one that was going to go home?
I would say 60-40, but I thought Mike was the other person. So I did think that there was a chance that Mike would go. I actually felt like I was Mike’s shield at that point, and so I never wanted Mike to go, but I was like, “OK, I do feel like I’m acting a little bit as a shield and I’m trying to move things.” So I was like, “You know what? If it has to happen, then it does.” But I was never going to vote for him. But then it was me.
We have to talk about what happened with Rob on the other camp. Should fans consider him a quitter? Do you consider him a quitter?
Yes. I mean, honestly, anytime the doctor says, “You’re good to go,” and you say, “I’m pulling myself,” that’s a quit. That doesn’t mean that you don’t have your own reasons for it, but ultimately, it’s a quit. No one forced anyone out of the game there.
I kept comparing what happened with Rob to the previous week with Brady [Booker] chopping off part of his thumb, and their reactions to their injuries were so different. What do you remember most about the thumb incident?
And to be fair, there were lots of injuries going on. We had a broken foot, my back was infected. But yes, the thumb incident was even crazier than it could have ever been shown. People ask me, “Is Survivor real?” And I’m like, “Yeah.” I mean, there’s obviously, like any show, going to be moments that I’m like, “Oh, I didn’t think that was as big of a deal as it looks like.” But there’s also moments where you could never show how crazy this was. And I do think that the Brady thumb incident was one of those things. It was a full whirlwind. They showed me rolling my eyes at his freakout at one point, which happened for an hour. I mean, it was a lot. It was really, really wild. And then the thumb was right there, too, the whole time. It was an experience unlike any other.
When Carter came over to your tribe, people started looking through his bags. How do you feel about the rummaging through other people’s property?
I think in the show I was like, “Go, go, go, go, go.” [Laughs.] That is totally fair game, and I love a game that doesn’t have that many rules. Carter left his bag smack-dab in the middle of a different tribe that, at that point, we didn’t know he was going to join us. It was crazy. Also, Carter had an idol. We didn’t find it; we didn’t see anything like that. But imagine! Maybe he had it on him. I am very curious about that, actually. But yeah, I mean, that’s fair game and I loved that move by Lewis.
Were you aware of Maggie and Brady finding the clue in the oar?
Oh my gosh, yes. I’m so glad you asked about this because I haven’t said this yet. We were like, “Brady, then you just gave her the vote? What just happened?” That was crazy work. We kind of laid into him and we’re like, “What was that?” Jelly and I were blown away by that move. It was crazy. Yeah, he came back and told us and we were like, “What just happened?”
If you had been chosen to go to the other tribe and you had this option to mutiny, I’m guessing you would’ve said no, right?
Yeah, I was Toka through and through. It’s a very messy family, but I was there and I would never. I’m also a little tribal, and so I was like, “There’s no world in which I would’ve gone to purple, Savu.”
What is the biggest lie you told on the island?
This is such a fun question, and I wish I had a ready answer. Kilby and I lied right before Tribal. Kilby and I are looking at each other. I’m like, “I’ll vote for Mike if you want me to.” He’s like, “We’re definitely voting for Mike.” We’re just like, “Lies, lies, lies.” So those were pretty obvious. Also, I think there were some moments where I told Brady, “No, you’re not super emotional,” in the same moment that I was telling him something in order to get his emotions spiked to then vote out Kilby. And I love that. He’s very passionate, and it’s like you tell him that someone talked about him and it’s like, “Cool, vote on that person.”
What surprised you the most by watching this whole experience play out on television?
I loved pregame. I was like, “I’ll go to war with any of these people. I’m not here to make friends. I’ve got friends at home” — which is true. I have friends at home. But I’m a friend person. I loved my people. I would’ve ridden for my people. I was there to make friends for sure. I hope that I could have made some tough choices, but I definitely think I was a more loyal player than I thought I would be.
Of all the new friends you met, who were you personally rooting for to win the $1 million or possibly $2 million?
Jelly and Mike, followed by Devin [Way].
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.