An Interview with Sole Survivor, Bob Crowley

“After I got off Survivor, I won the million dollars, gave it to my first wife and she still has it. So that’s the bad news,” Robert Crowley jokes to me, wearing an aged, blue Survivor buff. “The good news is, I am still married to my first wife.”  

Crowley is the winner of the 17th season of CBS’s long-running television series, Survivor. He embodies the spirit of Maine; he chops wood to stay fit, owns and operates a yurt business for a living and talks with a subtle, Down East, vocal rhythm. But, on top of that, he’s also a famous, reality-television personality.  

I was introduced to Bob through a string of connections, but it wasn’t difficult to meet him; he is known for his approachability. It’s not uncommon for Crowley to be hanging around downtown Portland at a local pub, watching the newest episode of Survivor with fans and friends. 

The award-winning reality show is currently in the midst of its 40th season, dubbed “Winners at War,” a major milestone for the series for more than just the number. To celebrate the anniversary, CBS invited back 20 previous castaways, all winners of their respective seasons, to go head to head in an unprecedented Survivor showdown. I was lucky enough to chat with Bob Crowley, a former winner and fellow Mainer, to discuss everything from predictions and gameplay to his life as the oldest Sole Survivor.  

“We were hungry and we were cold at night, but I was just in Africa, in Gabon, one foot in the jungle, one foot in the savanna. I’d go swimming in the pond with the crocodiles,” recalls Crowley with excitement in his voice. “I was like jeez, it is not fair that something so incredible can happen to one skinny, ugly old guy.” 

Crowley competed and ultimately won Survivor: Gabon in 2008, however, he was not asked back by producers to compete on Survivor: Winners at War this year in Fiji.  

“In hindsight I’m glad, but I was pissed when I didn’t get the call,” Crowley states. “I am not one of productions favorite winners, they like mean people and big tits, and I don’t got either one of those,” he chuckles. Bob also mentioned his distaste for the backstabbing and deceit that are essential elements of the game. 

“All that being said, if I got a call from Mark Burnett right now interrupting us, I’d shut you off in a heartbeat, pack my bags and I’d be outta here,” Crowley laughs. Throughout our conversation, it was apparent that Bob’s reasons for competing on Survivor were more for the adventure and experience, than television exposure that many other contestants seek. 

“10 to 50 thousand people apply, you have to be unusual to stand out,” he says. Even getting an interview to be on the show, let alone winning, is an accomplishment.  

Crowley recalls his experience of being flown out to California, sequestered in a hotel room and being interviewed for a week. “I only sent in one application,” he says. “If I knew what Survivor was like, even to lose, I would have sent in a thousand applications.” Crowley was required to take the MMPI test, an arduous, 560-question multiple personality indicator that all Survivor applicants must take.  

“I thought I flunked out of the interviews, but they called me a little more than a month later and said ‘Bob, are you still interested in being on Survivor?’ What had happened was, Jimmie Johnson, the Dallas Cowboy coach, was chosen for my show but then had a heart attack, so they asked me.” 

When most fans think of Survivor, they often think Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. “It is one-third physical, one-third mental, and one-third just luck,” Crowley credits his success. He still believes that a huge part of his victory simply had to do with being in the right place at the right time. 

“Mentally, it is real easy to let somebody tick you off when you need them later on in the game, but I spent 25 years teaching high school having to deal with the logistics of physics and kids who hated each other,” he says. “Being a teacher helped me on the show.” 

Many viewers wonder what goes on behind the scenes of a reality TV show. Are all these people just actors and is what we are seeing really ‘reality’? Crowley seems adamant that the show was in fact an accurate depiction. 

“What I saw in Africa, what I saw in Tribal Council, that is what one hundred percent what happened,” Crowley states. “However, all the cameramen want their footage on the show. I have had questions over the years, because the cameramen know where hidden immunity idols are. It would not surprise me if somethings have been bent, not by production itself, but just by human nature.” 

As any Survivor fan would know, over the show’s twenty years on air, the game has extensively evolved, creating a duality in season forty of ‘old school’ versus ‘new school’ returning players. “Obviously I am an old school player, I got the shirt” Crowley proudly remarks.  

“The players haven’t changed, it’s the producers that have changed the game,” he says. Over the years, the game has shifted away from an emphasis on basic survival skills and towards a more complicated game of social politics and strategy. “I’m good at throw me in the bushes with a swiss army knife and a canteen, and I can make for happy days.” 

“Would I play it differently now than I did then? I’d be looking for a lot more idols,” Crowley claims. Hidden Immunity Idols, often abbreviated to just ‘idols,’ allow the player in possession a one-time immunity at any tribal council and are hidden by producers around camp and the surrounding forest, bringing in yet another element of uncertainly into the game. Crowley demonstrated this on his season, where he created one of the first ‘fake hidden immunity idols’ and bluffed his way to safety.  

“I’m like the Survivor fan, I base my predictions, hopes and dreams on who I like. Boston Rob, I do not want Boston Rob to win, I find he’s obnoxious,” says Bob about the Season Forty. He clearly detests Boston Rob, the widely regarded, yet also self-proclaimed Survivor legend. “Boston Rob, I do not want Boston Rob to win, I find he’s obnoxious… Hedging my bets for a winner, I really like Denise.”