TAMMY on the Early Show
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The ClubHouse: Archives: TAMMY on the Early Show

Webkitty

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 07:19 am EditMoveDeleteIP
She was well spoken, not a big surprise.

Jane asked her if she learned anything about herself, and she said she learned not to be so closed off (not exact words) to be more open.
She said Kathy told her (around day 28?) that she (Kathy) didn't really know who she (Tammy) was.

Best moment: When asked about Sean:

~Sean is a cornacopia of intestinal problems~

ROTFLAO!

Seamonkey

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 08:40 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Tammy looks good, dressed in black slacks and black tank top.

Jane said she thought Neleh was going and Tammy said "we hoped Neleh was going" but then covered and said just that she wanted to stay.

But.. no surprise.. said as soon as John was gone she knewit was over. She said that Robert told her he'd give her the immunity but she said no.

After merge they invited Paschal and Neleh to be part of their alliance and they knew the order, etc.

She said "for some reason" they decided they weren't happy with Tammy's alliance (she doesn't mention the coconut chopping).

Says Neleh is a "little schemer" but then admits that it was part of the game.

Zoe... two strong women on same team, bound to be conflicts.. had almost no conversation, except the one shown.. said they had plenty of time to commiserate and are ok.

She stilt walked a LOT as a kid.. her dad would have them walk around and throw ?? balls at them to dodge.

The money lured her to the game, but she had a great adventure.

She wasn't surprised that paschal chose neleh for the cruise, said no one but maybe vecepia was.

Basically she disses and then backtracks.

Agree, speaks well but seems very guarded.. you don't expect a spontaneous laugh.

For her book she spent time in jail, said there were many parallels to the game.. food issues and trust/alliance issues (not even close to exact wording).

Ah she's smiling now.. really nice smile.

Part of her audition tape.. attitude.. tough..

Physical aspect difficult? It was HUGE.. she usually works out daily, there they had lack of food and exercise.

Said the lack of food affected them all along. She and Neleh had the most problem.

Sean: cornucopia of intestinal problems.. thanks webkitty for alerting me :)

Relation strained.. great guy, got along well.. He did have a lot of stomach problems!

Why not vote for Neleh? Tammy says Vecepia was low energy, not going to get water, whatever.

She had watched all the survivors.. her fiance got her hooked, he had applied , challenged her to apply and SHE got in :)

Tammy had approached Vee a few days earlier and Vee wasn't ready to switch sides.

Talking about taking her journalism skills, no emotion.. realizes it is ok to not be so tough , to show emotions, etc.

Getting married in August in San Diego!

For the second half of the interview she seemed MUCH warmer, very pretty, nice smile.. nice to see. And apparently earlier when she first came in, before they started, Jane had said something about two weeks too late, meaning Tammy only stayed the last two weeks due to Immunity, and Tammy wasn't thrilled by that observation. In the first little blurb Jane mentioned that and Tammy conceded that was probably true. I'm not overwhelmed with some of Jane's interview techniques.

Grooch

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 08:46 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks Seamonkey & Webkitty!

I'm stuck at work and I never get to see the interviews.

Squaredsc

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 09:14 am EditMoveDeleteIP
thanks also sea and web, i am also at work and have to rely on you all for this info. wow she spent time in jail for a book. did she say what the book title is? i wonder how long she stayed there. wonder why vee was surprised at pappy picking sweet pea. hmm. sounds like a good interview, but i wish jane would ask tougher questions, like more about the zoe/tammy thing and the coconut thing.

Seamonkey

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 09:27 am EditMoveDeleteIP
They didn't even give the book title :(

I'm not sure if Vee had actually said anything but Tammy thought maybe Vee expected to be taken.

Well it was a much more thorough interview than some have been with Bryant, but no, they didn't even mention the coconut episode.

Hey, Squared.. I'm glad I can watch.. I get much from you and others too, specially on show nights.

Willi

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 11:42 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks Sea & Webkitty...I missed it & forgot to set my VCR. I agree Square...I wish Jane would ask tougher questions.

Sia

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 12:06 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Squaredsc, I think Tammy was in jail researching an article she wrote for a newspaper, not a book. Here's the page from cbs.com/survivor that mentions this topic:

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor4/survivors/bios/tammy.shtml

"Leitner has earned multiple Arizona and New York state awards for crime reporting, including one for a first-person account of the time she spent behind bars "doing time" with the same criminals she wrote about for a Corning, New York, newspaper. She received an Arizona Press Club Award for coverage of legendary mob informant Sammy "The Bull" Gravano's arrest in Arizona. She has covered Nelson Mandela's Congressional Gold Medal ceremony, Hillary Clinton's Senate run and, most recently, the Arizona angle on the terrorist attacks (two of the hijackers learned to fly at a Scottsdale flight school and one lived in Mesa).

Proving she'll do anything to get a story, Leitner once burst into a burning building and, in another instance, worked as a member of a NASCAR pit crew. In 1999, Leitner was honored by the City of Scottsdale, Arizona, for saving a drowning man. She is currently writing a true crime book about a serial rapist who evaded police for 16 years during a multi-state spree."

Moondance

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 12:07 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Transcript and Images

http://survivorfever.net/earlyshow_tammy.html

Squaredsc

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 12:43 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
ok, thanks sia, and moon for the link, the girl has guts.

Seamonkey

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 06:14 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Great chat!! Good questions.

Moondance

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 06:22 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Tammy's Final CBS Web Chat - 5/3/02

http://survivorfever.net/final_chat_tammy.html

Seamonkey

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 06:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
oh.. too funny.. I actually meant the chat that you posted a bit after I posted.. Psychic you are, Moon.

Twiggyish

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 06:56 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I can't wait to read her inside report on being a survivor contestant.

Squaredsc

Friday, May 03, 2002 - 07:04 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
thanks moon, great chat, wish i could have been on there and asked a question. i would have asked this....hi tammy, i could tell that you were very into the game from the beginning. why is it that you and your other 4-person alliance members didn't realize the faux paus you all made with the coconut challenge, especially when you all were in the minority?

Fruitbat

Saturday, May 04, 2002 - 05:38 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks Moon, that was a very good chat. Square, she answered that. At the time they did not think of how that looked and there was no plan ahead to do it, just unfolded.

Car54

Sunday, May 05, 2002 - 04:05 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Entertainment Weekly
SUNDAY, May 5, 2002

Crime of the Heart


Castoff Tammy dishes about Nelah and Rob. She gave up her newspaper reporting job to play ''Survivor,'' and now she's going to write a book by Jessica Shaw

ON THE WRITE TRACK Unfortunately for the crime reporter her time was up

It came as no surprise to anyone -- least of all the reject herself -- that Tammy Leitner, the 29-year-old crime reporter from Arizona -- got kicked off the island Thursday night. Even so, the defeat is still stinging for her, so we let her vent.

So, I take it you knew you were getting the boot?
Unfortunately, it was no big surprise for me. It still hurts. It sucks. I mean, 30 days with no food, mental exhaustion, and then to lose?

Did you sort of think the General was going to give you his immunity necklace?
Well, he and I had talked about it. He gave me a huge hug after he got immunity and whispered in my ear, ''I'm going to give this to you. You're not going anywhere.'' I told him, ''No, You keep that. You earned it.'' I mean, I don't know if he was really prepared to hand over the necklace and I don't know if I was prepared to take it. I wanted to win on my own merits.

Why didn't you guys try to vote Neleh off?
Early on, I had approached Neleh and Paschal to have them join with us. Then I approached Vecepia but there was no way in swaying her. The one person I didn't approach was Sean, and after watching last night's episode and seeing how he felt about Neleh, I wish I had.

So what's the deal with Neleh?
She's a very sweet person on the outside but on the inside she's a schemer. She was playing the game just like the rest of us. In fact, she was playing us.

You must have been pretty pissed when she offered you that mint out of her mouth?
I was ready to jump down her throat and take that mint and shove it. For the last hour we sat there and listened to her tell us about every piece of food she'd eaten on the cruise ship right down to the pad of butter. And then to offer us a mint she'd been sucking on for 30 minutes? That just added insult to injury.

Did you not know out there that people were getting fed up with Neleh?
I didn't. Until I watched last night's episode, I didn't realize people were starting to see through Neleh's sweet and innocent act. I had seen through it a week or two prior to that.

Do you wish you'd chosen a different alliance?
The one thing I wish I had done differently is, I wish we'd gotten a strong fifth person in the alliance. We could have ridden it to the end if we'd had a fifth person we trusted. Gabe didn't work out. Vecepia didn't work out. At different points they were our fifth person.
When you got kicked off, what did you eat?
A lot of peanut butter. For some reason that's what I was craving the most. It's three months later and it's still all I'm eating.

When you saw Zoe, were you full of rage?
After you get kicked off, that walk is the longest, loneliest, hardest walk you ever had to make. The first few people I saw were John and Zoe. They both came up and gave me a huge hug and told me how good it was to see me. Then it was a little bit strained seeing Zoe, but after we both got voted off we had plenty of time to sit around and talk about the game.

Did you guys just sit around and trash everyone?
John and I were really on the same wavelength. I held him partly responsible for the demise of our alliance and I called him on it. He was dealt a great hand. He just didn't have the poker face to pull it off. He still, to this day, doesn't think he was the death of our alliance.

What are you up to now?
I quit the newspaper to go on the show. Now, I've been trying to finish a book on a serial rapist I covered when I was in Arizona. I'll continue to do what I do best which is crime reporting.

So no Hollywood dreams for you?
No, I didn't go on ''Survivor'' to became a star. I went for the million dollars.

Of all your tribemates, who's the most likely criminal?
Rob Mariano

Why?
He's such a ladies man. He's such a Cassanova. He'd get busted for stealing someone's heart.
(Posted:05/03/02)

Sunshinemiss

Sunday, May 05, 2002 - 04:22 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks Car, good interview.

Refreshing to have a reality show contestant not talk about doing Playboy or moving to LA to get into show biz. It's the exception rather than the rule.

Loved the quote about Boston Rob getting busted for stealing someones heart!

Car54

Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 05:02 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
From Survivor Central:
Murtz Jaffer: Did you even get your fire burning in the last IC?

Tammy Leitner: No. I never got that darn fire lit. That was an extremely discouraging challenge, because the harder I tried the more frustrated I became.

MJ: What was the camp's reaction towards Sean change of attitude (i.e. "There are chores to be done") ?

TL: Sean's "change of attitude" had more to do with his new alliance with Paschal and Neleh than anything else. He never did as much work as everyone else, either before or after this alliance was formed. And he always seemed to have a stomach ache, which I imagine contributed to his lack of work.

MJ: If you were chosen for the rumored all-star survivor, would you do it again?

TL: Absolutely! In a heart beat! How I wouldn't love a second chance at playing this game!!!

MJ: Why were you serving Rob and Sean as they were lounging by the beach right after the switch?

TL: I just happened to be cooking dinner that night and I think I was dishing out plates to everyone - not just those guys. But thinking back, I can't remember Sean or Rob ever cooking dinner and serving me!

MJ: What were your most and least favorite challenges out there?

TL: My favorite challenge was the stilt challenge - for obvious reasons. When it comes to stilts I'll take on anyone. My least favorite challenge was when we had to empty the rocks out of the boat that was on the bottom of the ocean. My ears hurt every time I dove down, so that challenge was not as much fun as the others.

MJ: What do you think about the way Kathy has been playing the game? Did you expect her to be such a hard competitor from the first day?

TL: Kat was a marked woman from day one. Her brazen, in-your-face attitude was out of control and obnoxious in the beginning. She came around as she got to know us all and as I eventually got to know her. In the beginning I never would have predicted her to be one the final six. But that is what's so great about this game - the unpredictability of it.

MJ: Was there any last-minute attempt to form an alliance with Sean/Vee, and if not, why?

TL: I had actually approached Vee a day prior to see if she was really that tight with the alliance she had formed, but I got the impression that she was. And I never did approach Sean, only because I thought that him and Paschal had developed this strong bond after they won that reward challenge together.

MJ: Did the Rotu Alliance realize they were alienating the rest of the Soliantu tribe so badly? Were you blindsided when John was ousted?

TL: I still don't believe that the Rotu alliance was alienating the rest of Soliantu. It may have appeared that way, but we were very low key about our alliance - until that challenge when we had to chop down each others coconuts. I now realize that we appeared cocky during that challenge. But we had not discussed the order we would cut them down in and unfortunately it just happened that way. But I still believe to this day that our alliance was never as cocky as Paschal, Neleh, Kathy, Sean and Vecepia acted the morning after they voted out John - when they were singing and gloating at the waterfall.


MJ: Have you ever walked on stilts before? Or do you just pick up new skills quickly?

TL: When I was a child my father made me stilts. I would practice in the backyard until I became unstoppable. My brother used to hurl a soccer ball at the stilts to try and knock my off. But I never imagined my stilt walking skills would pay off!

MJ: You looked to be in great shape on the show. Did you work-out before it, or are you generally athletic?

TL: I worked out a little harder than usual a few weeks before the show. But I have always been athletic, into sports and love to workout. I run, take kickboxing classes, lift weights, bike long distance, rock climb and will try just about any sport!

MJ: Did you feel that your athleticism would be considered as a threat in the game?

TL: I assumed that because I was athletic, I would be viewed as a threat. But I would rather be voted out because I am considered a threat than to be considered lazy or boring.

MJ: Did it irritate you that you were voted off before Sean and Vee?

TL: I think that the six people left in the game have played the game smart - in their own way. Whatever strategy they employed - whether they were sneaky, manipulative or flew under the radar - it worked for them. And the bottom line is that they are still in the game and I'm not, so I have to hand it to them.

MJ: Why did you vote for Vee when it seemed like you two were so close?

TL: Vee and I were close in the game and still keep in contact. But I felt that Vecepia was not pulling her weight around camp those last few days when I was on the island. I'm not sure if she was depressed about her birthday or what, but she just seemed to be doing as little as possible to get by.

MJ: What happened with Zoe, didn’t you guys interact when John was there? What made her turn against you so quickly after John’s dismissal?

TL: Zoe and I really didn't talk that much on the island, even though we were in an alliance together. The morning after John was voted off the island, both Rob and I noticed that Zoe was ignoring us. In fact she was acting as though we had the plague, staying as far away from us as possible. That was what led to the big confrontation with Zoe, where she said that she didn't like me and I ultimately referred to her as a "•••••." At that point Zoe was doing whatever she could to distance herself from Rob and myself and pretend as though she was not part of our alliance.

MJ: Any regrets?

TL: None! I had a blast and wouldn't trade this life altering experience for anything!

Please credit Survivor-Central.com

Seamonkey

Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 05:41 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks Car, Queen of Interviews!!

Squaredsc

Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 05:51 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
great job car, i don't know how you find all of these interviews. i am glad that she admitted that they screwed up with the coconut challenge, i have just been waiting to hear one of them admit it straight out and say we fu*ked up the coconut challenge. 1

Car54

Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 06:01 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Tammy is on the jury. What I want to know is what her comments about Kathy mean.
Does Kathy go so far they never get time to get
over their differences?

Or is Kathy in trouble?

Either way it doesn't sound like Kathy would have Tammy's vote on the jury.