Interview of the winner of the fifth season of Monkey Survivor
I understand that even after the games, you feel the effects of banana deprivation. Can you tell us exactly how that may feel?
Yes. In the games, monkeys travel to an island where they must compete for bananas. My strategy was to not win any of the bananas throughout the games, but to simply calculate the last place I could come in without being eliminated, so that I could rise to the top near the end and take the Million Banana Prize. Depriving myself of those bananas was the hardest thing I have ever done. There was one point in the games where it became apparent that I could easily win a particular challenge with ease. I knew that if I seized the opportunity, the other monkeys would recognize my superiority, and therefore identify me as a threat, but I would also temporarily ease the constant pressure and need for bananas. After feeling that pressure for so long, the first banana of mine after the games was absolutely magnificent. Coming off of a deprivation like that can be dangerous. Monkey nature insists that we gorge ourselves on bananas until we are dead. But like a starved orphan having dinner at a gorgeous mansion, if we gorge ourselves, we will get sick. It has been difficult.
Your strategy, in the game, was definitely interesting. Did you feel any guilt as you mercilessly and heartlessly stabbed every other monkey in the back one at a time?
No. Well... let me explain. In the beginning it was easy. ‘Knock off the weak ones first,’ I told myself. But as I began to create alliances and ‘friendships,’ It became slightly more difficult. You, see...
[Deep breath. Grip visibly tightens on chair.] What I had with Wanda was real.
[Crowd gasps in astonishment]. If it were not for the banana deprivation, voting her out of the game could have been the hardest thing I have ever done. She is really the only person I felt guilty about voting off of the island.
What an unexpected turn! Instead of the last question I prepared, let me ask you this. Do you hope Wanda will accept you again?
I... I need to leave. I need a banana. [Shaking, the winner left his jacket across the back of his chair and ran off of the stage.]