For all the Jerri Fans!
The ClubHouse: Archives: For all the Jerri Fans!
Moondance | Sunday, April 01, 2001 - 12:53 pm  Early Show transcript CLAYSON: They did. Jerri Manthey's a 30-year-old actress from Los Angeles. Hi. Ms. JERRI MANTHEY (Former "Survivor" Contestant): Hello. CLAYSON: That montage was cracking you up. Ms. MANTHEY: Oh, absolutely. It was hilarious. CLAYSON: You can't get away with this. You were telling me this morning before we started, you woke up to some radio deejays who were talking about you. Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah. The alarm clock went off this morning, and the first thing I heard was the "Survivor" theme music, and two deejays just going on and on about how much they are so happy I'm off the show and what a horrible person I am. So, yeah, it's--it's impossible to escape it. CLAYSON: You--were you surprised at all? I mean, we asked you earlier, did you think you were being as obnoxious as it was portrayed? Ms. MANTHEY: No, I really--I didn't--I didn't feel like I was being overly obnoxious. I mean, I definitely had moments where the hunger and the lack of sleep got to me, but never in a million years would I have guessed that it would be pieced together where all those moments were one big moment. CLAYSON: What were those--what were those moments mostly? I mean, do you remember it with Kel or Colby or Keith? Is there a particular person that just got you? Ms. MANTHEY: Well--oh, gosh, where do I start? There were definitely certain people who--who had personalities that clashed with mine. CLAYSON: Well, it started with Kel--Wouldn't you agree?--with the beef jerky. That's the moment we all thought, 'Oh, she's something else.' Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah. Yeah. The truth is with the whole beef jerky incident, he was gone long before that even happened. On the way hiking to our camp, Kel, because he's in the military, I guess is--is used to barking orders at people, and he was literally barking orders at us and telling us when to stop and when to drink water and 'OK, we're going to--we're going to do this and we're going to do that.' And immediately everybody was looking at him like, 'Who is this guy?' None of that made the show. So when the beef jerky thing came up, that was immediately assumed by everyone to be the reason why... CLAYSON: And to this--to this day you believe he had beef jerky? Ms. MANTHEY: Absolutely. CLAYSON: Absolutely no doubt? Ms. MANTHEY: I am 99 percent sure he had beef jerky. He's the only one who is 100 percent sure. But I know what I saw. CLAYSON: He told you that you're the one per--he told us that you're the one person he does not look forward to ever seeing again. Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah, that's nice, huh? CLAYSON: I'm so sorry. Ms. MANTHEY: No, no. No, no. CLAYSON: I've got to tell you, you remind me of Rich, when I met Rich the first time. I'd--we'd said all these horrible things about him and he seemed like such an awful guy and then he came and he was just adorable. Ms. MANTHEY: Oh, thank you. CLAYSON: All right, talk to me about Colby. Ms. MANTHEY: Colby. CLAYSON: You saw him a couple of days ago, didn't you? Ms. MANTHEY: I did. I saw him two nights ago at the "Eco-Challenge" screening. It was the first time we'd seen each other since the outback. CLAYSON: And what was his reaction to you? Ms. MANTHEY: Very friendly. It's--when you step outside of the game, things are a little bit different. You know, it's not--it's not as stressful, obviously, and we've all eaten some food, so it's a little more relaxed. CLAYSON: First you started with him, sort of flirting with him. Was that your way to try to get him on your side, on your--on your team, in your alliance? Ms. MANTHEY: I think it was a little bit strategy and also just--I mean, he's an attractive guy. And as far as I'm concerned... CLAYSON: No kidding. Ms. MANTHEY: ...if I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere, I'd like to have someone who is nice to look at around. CLAYSON: That's my girl. But it turned--but--but explain the water toss. Because the messages in the detent--in the tent earlier on deteriorated to that moment when he threw that water at you. Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah. CLAYSON: And I really think that was a metaphor for--for what had happened and what was to come. Do you agree? Ms. MANTHEY: Well, you know, it's funny when you watch it on the show. It looks like he's angry. But when it happened, there was a lot of laughing going on. It was all kind of in fun and games. There was no bitterness involved when he threw that bucket of water on me. CLAYSON: You really don't think there was? Ms. MANTHEY: No, I don't think so. I could be wrong. I'm just assuming what I felt to be the case. CLAYSON: Do you blame him for stirring up animosity toward you? Ms. MANTHEY: Ooh. I--to be honest, I don't know if Colby was really the center of the animosity. I think it was more Keith that was feeling the wrath of what had happened earlier. CLAYSON: Let's talk about Keith, the man who can't make rice. Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah. CLAYSON: At least in your opinion, right? Ms. MANTHEY: He can't! It still--it doesn't make any sense to me. He's a gourmet chef. Why can't he make rice? CLAYSON: Was it that bad? Ms. MANTHEY: It was horrible. It was horrible. The--what he was doing is he was making it in his paella pan. And I understand that he was probably doing that to create some sort of need for him to be there. I mean, out--above anyone else, I was just excited to have a chef on my team. I was like, 'Great, you know, we're going to have a chef. You know, he's been in the outback.' He was, the whole way there, talking about these gourmet meals he was going make. I was excited. CLAYSON: Was it poor strategy, though, to alienate him in that way and Tina, too, because she jumped on with--to defend him. Ms. MANTHEY: Well, in retrospect, I should have probably bit my tongue a little bit more than I did, but, you know, it's--that's just the kind of person I am. If I--if I have issues with someone, I don't have any qualms about bringing it to the surface. CLAYSON: You said last night at tribal council that you said things out of frustration and--and things that you would want to take back. Is there one thing that you would want to take back looking at everything that you said? Ms. MANTHEY: Oh, yeah, I think actually there was the tribal council where Jeff Probst asked me specifically, 'Who are your friends? Who have you especially bonded with?' And with--my answer, I think, alienated certain people, and I--that's probably the one moment I wish I could change. CLAYSON: We have so many more questions for you, viewer questions, too. Lots of e-mail. Ms. MANTHEY: Yea! Ooh. CLAYSON: We'll get to those after this. {Commercial break) JANE CLAYSON, co-host: There she is, Jerri. Ms. JERRI MANTHEY (Former "Survivor" Contestant): Snuffed out. CLAYSON: Snuffed out. Welcome back inside. I'm Jane Clayson along with Russ Mitchell and Susan McGinnis is over there. Good to see you, Susan. It's time for our weekly "Survivor" score card and an update on which outback castaways are still in the hunt for the $ 1 million prize. There are just seven survivors left: Elisabeth, Nick, Rodger, Keith, Tina, Colby and Amber. This after... Ms. MANTHEY: No. CLAYSON: There goes the X across the face. This, after several members of the Ogakor alliance turned on one of their own and kicked Jerri Manthey out of the outback. Welcome back. **** Ms. MANTHEY: Thank you. RUSS MITCHELL, co-host: How's that sound, kicked out? Is that nice? Ms. MANTHEY: It sounds a little harsh. It does. But, you know, it's the truth. But I'm on the jury. MITCHELL: That's right. Ms. MANTHEY: And that's a very powerful position to be in. CLAYSON: Right, right. Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah. CLAYSON: You said last night that you weren't terribly surprised. At what moment during that show did you realize that you were done for? Ms. MANTHEY: It was when I woke up in the morning and was a little bit cranky and we got the tree mail. And it said something--choose your partner wisely because this is definitely one reward you do not want to miss out on. So for me that was--it was no bars holding there, I was ready to win. And so I immediately approached Colby and I was like, you know, 'I want you to be paired up with me, period.' And Tina said, 'Well, that's not fair. That's not right.' And to hear the word 'fair' come out of Tina's mouth really set me off because she's the one who back-stabbed our alliance first. She's the one who, you know, voted off her best friend, you know, and then she--the word 'fair' comes out of her mouth and it just took me--whew, I--I went off. And that's when I--I confronted everyone and said, 'What about this game is fair?' When those words came out of my mouth, I felt marked. CLAYSON: Really. MITCHELL: Really. Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah. And then when I picked Colby's name out of the hat and then won the reward, I knew at that point that my days were probably numbered. CLAYSON: How was that Great Barrier Reef? Ms. MANTHEY: Oh, beautiful. It was beautiful. It was so romantic and, as you can see, like the shot with the waters... CLAYSON: There it is. Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah, the water's coming up on both sides. It was--you couldn't have placed us in a more romantic spot. CLAYSON: Did you have any idea that Colby was out there collecting for everybody back home? Ms. MANTHEY: Funny you should ask because, no, I did not know that. I was walking right behind him picking up shells myself and going, 'Oh, how beautiful,' and tossing them back. MITCHELL: The look on your face when he actually presented those corals to everybody else was like, 'Uh-oh, what's up with that this?' Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah, I was in total shock. I really... SUSAN McGINNIS (Anchor): Did you think later that was a pretty clever move? Ms. MANTHEY: Oh, of course, yeah. Kudos to Colby. I mean, honestly, he--he pulled one over--right over on my eyes. I mean, I... CLAYSON: And you were thinking the whole time, in fact you said it, 'This is like a great honeymoon.' Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah, yeah. It was--it was a beautiful spot. MITCHELL: Right. CLAYSON: And he's thinking 'How--what can I do here to--to get ahead?' Ms. MANTHEY: And funny enough he's the one who asked me not to talk about the game, not to talk about the people, not to--you know, just to take the day off. CLAYSON: And you believed him. MITCHELL: That's right. Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah, and he's like scheming and planning and putting shells in his pocket. MITCHELL: Your pally Colby there. Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah. MITCHELL: Oh, gosh. Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah. CLAYSON: You were telling me earlier about how difficult all the talk about you has been for your family. Ms. MANTHEY: Yes. It's only natural my parents, their daughter, you know, is in front of the world here on television and people are talking about how much they hate her. So my parents, more than anyone, have really gone through the wringer on it. And my sister, too. My sister is very similar to me, personality-wise, and you don't want to mess with my sister. MITCHELL: Yeah. Ms. MANTHEY: And she's younger than me so... MITCHELL: We've got some e-mails here from folks who have questions for you. This one's from someone who says, 'My eight-year-old son, Rami, who loves "Survivor" cried of joy when Jerri got voted off. We were shocked at his tears. I guess it does not pay to be mean, not even for $ 1 million. Try kindness.' What do you think about that? An eight-year-old kid thinks you're the witch? Ms. MANTHEY: Well, if the eight year old had written that e-mail, I might take it a little more seriously. It sounds like that in itself was edited by the parents. But I--you know, it's, again, the editing. I think it is important that people understand that, you know, we have three days worth of footage. Hundreds and hundreds of hours of footage. And not just from one camera, like two beta cams and a bunch of DVs running around. They edited that to 41 minutes. So much gets left out and there were some very tender moments out there. Very--some kind moments that I shared with Amber and Mitchell, in particular, that just didn't make the show. McGINNIS: OK. I have another e-mail question for you. 'Nobody everybody talked about their families back home. Did you have a special person in your life at the time that you were sent to Australia?' Ms. MANTHEY: There were moments to calm myself to make myself feel better, I thought of my family. I'm very close with my family. And also I have a few friends in LA and my friend Christine, who I think--I thought about a lot. You definitely--when you're in that situation, you're forced to put things in perspective in the real world and--and you kind of narrow down the people that really make a difference in your life. CLAYSON: I know you want to be an actress. You've already done one appearance on a Showtime special, right? Ms. MANTHEY: Yes. I've actually--I've been a struggling actress since--you know, for like eight years now. I--I CLAYSON: Here--here's the--the... Ms. MANTHEY: Oh. CLAYSON: ...film that your in. Ms. MANTHEY: Oh, how funny. CLAYSON: How far do you want to take this? Ms. MANTHEY: This--this has been a life-long dream for me. It's--I'm not someone who was on "Survivor" and wants to be an actress. I'm an actress who just so happened to do "Survivor." So it's a little bit different for me than--than maybe some of the other people on the show. I've been doing theater since I was nine years old. I've done numerous student films and independents and commercials and industrials. CLAYSON: Now do you feel like you're propelled to a different level? Ms. MANTHEY: I think that a huge door of opportunity has just opened for me. CLAYSON: So maybe it is not so bad that everybody said bad things about you. MITCHELL: But... Ms. MANTHEY: No, no. I--I'm--I'm willing to look at positive side of this. It's... MITCHELL: But I don't want to blow your cover here, but you're really a nice lady. Ms. MANTHEY: I know. Yeah, I hope people aren't disappointed. CLAYSON: You really are. MITCHELL: Really. CLAYSON: Jerri, nice to meet you. MITCHELL: Yeah. Ms. MANTHEY: It's great to be here. CLAYSON: Thanks for coming. MITCHELL: Yeah. Ms. MANTHEY: Where's Bryant? That's what I want to know? MITCHELL: He's on vaca. CLAYSON: I bet he wishes he were here today. Ms. MANTHEY: I wish Bryant was here, too. MITCHELL: Oh-oh. What was--what was this? Sounds like a challenge to me. Ms. MANTHEY: I've been listening to the things he's said. MITCHELL: OK. Ms. MANTHEY: Yeah. CLAYSON: Thanks a lot, Jerri. Ms. MANTHEY: Thank you. CLAYSON: You're a great sport. Ms. MANTHEY: Thank you. CLAYSON: Thanks, again. |
Digilady | Sunday, April 01, 2001 - 03:00 pm  Thanks, Moon. As usual I missed it when it aired! |
Gail | Sunday, April 01, 2001 - 03:43 pm  Digi - just go to the official site - they have all the videos of all the ex-survivors. Plus, they have internet chat sessions. The only interview I got to see was Jeff's. The rest I watched on the net. |
Digilady | Sunday, April 01, 2001 - 05:17 pm  Now why didn't I think of that? LOL! Thanks, Gail. |
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