Austin Li Coon wanted to recreate the Survivor: All-Stars experience of Boston's Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich. And similar to Season 8, Austin played the role of Boston Rob on “Survivor 45” – finishing in second place behind his showmance partner.
Dee Valladares' dominance all the way through – including waiting until the final tribal council to tell Austin right in front of the jury how she lied to him about the Julie Alley immunity idol game – sealed the deal for her win. How did Austin feel when Dee dropped that bombshell on him? We asked the runner-up this and much more when we spoke the morning after the final. We also asked if Austin and Dee's romance continued after they left the island, similar to… well, you know who.
Austin Li Coon on “Survivor 45.”
CBS
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First of all, I'm sorry for retrospectively jinxing you by making you my winning pick for this season.
AUSTIN LI COON: I am honored. Thank you. I mean, to be one of your winners. No need to apologize.
How did you feel about your chances coming into the final Tribal Council?
I knew it was an uphill battle for me. I knew the jury was leaning toward Dee before the final Tribal. I noticed this because whenever I walked in with my immunity necklace, Drew was the only person smiling at me. So I knew I had an uphill battle ahead of me, but I really felt like if I could tell my story, I would win.
I felt like a lot of my moves kind of went under the radar. A lot of things happened earlier in the game, in the middle of the game, that some people had forgotten and a lot of people on the jury weren't really aware of. So I felt like if I could tell my story, I could have a chance of beating anyone. So that was my thought when I looked into Tribal.
I know you were doing jury math in your head before final tribal. So which voices surprised you?
To be honest, Kendra surprised me. Bruce – I was actually a little surprised. I knew I had to earn every single vote I got at Tribal Council. The fact that I felt like I could turn a few people around was a pleasant surprise. I was a little surprised [about] Emily too. I thought there was something wrong with our alliance, but I burned them a bit, so I totally understood it too.
Austin Li Coon on “Survivor 45.”
CBS
Could you feel it slipping away in the last tribal?
It was rather the opposite. So Dee had this big moment where he said, “Listen, I lied to you and I actually told Julie.” This happened earlier in Tribal Council, and when that happened it was like, “Okay, shoot.” Now I have to put it in overdrive and really step on the gas.” And this is where a lot of my arguments that I had previously made at Tribal Council came from. So for me it felt the exact opposite. It was like, “Oh shit, I got the wind knocked out of me right at the beginning.” And after that it was like, “Okay, now I'm fighting to get it back.” And I thought I could still do a little bit keep fighting through.
Let's talk about Dee and the haymaker she gave you, because this has personal and professional elements since you're both trying to win a million dollars and it ends up right in front of the jury. What goes through your mind when she drops that?
Yeah, she drops it, and there was a little inkling that I went in, that she told Julie, but I kind of tried to convince myself, “No, no, no, that didn't happen.” “That can't have happened.” Because in my opinion, I obviously told Dee and it was in my best interest for her not to tell Julie. I knew that people would then blame me, so I somehow convinced myself that she didn't tell Julie. When she said that, I think my first thought was, “Damn, all right, thanks to her.” That was sick. I look a bit like an idiot at the moment.”
But I recorded it and I was kind of like, “Okay, listen. The main reason I chose Julie at that point wasn't necessarily to get Julie out, but to try to get the idol out.” And ultimately that's exactly what happened in my head.
I had Drew and Dee as my first isolation layer, and on top of that I had Emily and Julie – and I sort of weighed them similarly in terms of allies at this point in the game. So for me it was like, OK, I knew either Emily was going home or Julie was going home, but the most important thing was that I made sure that both Dee and Drew would still trust me 100%. That's ultimately why I told Dee. That's what I thought, so I explained it to the jury. But yeah, it was a bit of a sucker punch.
Austin Li Coon on “Survivor 45.”
CBS
How could this game turn out differently if you don't tell Dee about the Julie vote?
Yeah, so that's interesting. I've definitely thought about this a lot. If I hadn't told Dee about the Julie vote, I think Drew and Emily would be in a much better place. It helps their games more than my games. It would give them a lot of power. For Drew, he was the most isolated person at this point in the game and had Emily and me as his number one. And then Dee would lose a lot of trust in me. She would probably still want to work with me, but that was kind of unclear.
That's why I was afraid of losing my positioning in the game. If I had let Drew and Emily take this step, I don't know what would have happened. This is a big what if? Dee would probably come back and be willing to work with me again and forgive me, much like I forgave her. But I felt like over the last seven games it was still a point early enough in the game and I needed both Drew and Dee to make sure I could make it to the end.
When you saw that the first immunity challenge was the Michele Fitzgerald special, did you know that if you won you would knock over the tower puzzle?
One hundred percent. And I think anyone else would have done the same. We all saw that as Jeff walked us through the challenge and we saw that we were solving the Michele puzzle, we thought, “This is incredible.” This is as iconic as the Survivor auction, and if you win, you have to You cancel the auction, otherwise you have actually won this challenge?” I don't think so.
You said Jake had a lot of trouble making fire during practice. Was that 100% true or were you just trying to get Dee to take you in?
Fifty – fifty? I felt like Jake, he was fine. I mean, he wasn't very good at keeping the fire going. He could light the flame pretty well, but in maintaining it he didn't really understand how to light the base. The reason I became so comfortable and really good at firing was because I studied how Bruce did it. Bruce was the master of making fires and he certainly made every single fire in Bello, and he did it in Daquwaka too.
So Jake never actually had to make a fire. And he fought. Without me going in there, I think it would have been a big mess because Katurah was lighting fires while practicing. And it was a worry that Jake would lose. So who knows what would have happened? He might have made it, but things could have turned out very differently. I think it would have taken longer.
Austin Li Coon on “Survivor 45.”
CBS
What do you think will happen if Katurah doesn't change her vote at the last second in the Final Five and Dee is voted out?
I have to say: thanks to Jake. He fought until the bitter end. He was always trying to think: What can I do to make the biggest impact with what I have? If that had gone down, that would have been crazy. Then the final four would have had Julie instead of Dee. And you saw how close Jake was in 80% of these last four challenges. The chances are good that he will win in the end. Then he will put himself in the fire. He's going to fight Julie, maybe he'll win. And then there's Jake, who just comes into Final Tribal with two massive maneuvers on his resume.
Who knows what would have happened? This would have been another war of a final tribe, but a different kind of war. That's a lot of what ifs, but the game could have been completely different. And I felt bad for Jake. There was a lot of emotion when the move he planned didn't work because it would have been crazy and I would have been excluded from the vote for a second time in a row and that would have changed a lot of things.
I've already asked Dee this and we'll see what you have to say: What is the current relationship status between you and Dee?
We want to keep this a little secret for now, just because things have been so crazy. The finale just aired and I don't think I'm ready to engage with all the fans and give the answers yet. That's why I'm going to keep this a secret for now.
Dee Valladares and Austin Li Coon on “Survivor 45.”
CBS
Speaking of things that don't go out to the world, was there anything that didn't make it to air this season that we'd like to see?
On the original Reba we had so many incredibly funny moments. Dee might have told this story too, but there was this one time – it was the day before the tribe swap and we all kind of felt like a tribe swap was about to happen. So we went looking for the idols. At this point Dee knew we were looking. Julie knew we were looking, Drew obviously knew it and I knew it.
And then Sifu noticed that we were looking for idols. And he comes up to us and says, “Hey, what are you doing looking for my idol?” And we say, “Dude, you've been looking this whole time.” And then he says, “No, I have that not. What are you talking about?” And Dee says, “They have spy shacks! You spied on us!”
The day before the tribe swap there is this huge explosion and people are screaming at each other. Dee chases Sifu with a stick and swings at him. And it's crazy. And then at the end it's like, “Okay, listen, at the end of the day we have to stay with Reba Strong.” We're on the verge of a possible trade. We must be ready for this merger. Maybe we won't see each other again soon after. We have to stay close.” So I went to talk to Dee. I went to talk to Sifu and got him to calm down [and] to apologize.
And then we had the lamest thing [team cheer]. I said, “All right, everyone, hands in the middle!” We say, “3, 2, 1. Reba!” We did that after challenges, but this time it was so sad and pathetic. It was a hilarious moment. So we were sure that was going to be broadcast because the whole rest of the game we were like, “Kumbaya, Reba strong, we love each other!” And it just built up all the tension to this explosion that happened.
That is amazing. I need the footage.
Yes, me too!
So what do you say if you're asked to play again?
Anyone who says no is fooling themselves. Of course I would. And I would like to have that additional preparation time of 72+ hours [as an alternate]. That would be great.
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