Reality show competitions are notorious for changing the rules partway through the game. It's an easy way to keep viewers interested, especially when it seems as though one team is easily defeating another time and time again; a simple rule change ensures that the show remains unpredictable and keeps viewers coming back. Unfortunately for the contestants, the changes that make for exciting television are often the very things that sabotage their strategies.

Such was the downfall of Jacquie Berg, the 25-year-old medical sales representative from California who saw herself go from power player to bottom dweller on Survivor: Gabon. On the original Kota tribe, she was flying under the radar, but was suddenly exposed when both tribes were ranked according to usefulness and the perky blonde found herself ranked as the most useful woman and fifth useful tribemate overall. A surprise shake-up moved Berg to the Fang tribe, immediately putting a target on her back, and when Kelly Czarnecki, another former Kota, decided to align herself with the original Fang members, Berg was powerless to prevent being voted off.

The fourth player eliminated from Survivor: Gabon told us about how switching tribes tripped her up, what her next move would have been if she hadn't been voted off and who she wants to see kicked off next.


Q: How are you feeling now that the episode as aired?
A: Oh, I'm just kind of reliving it all over again. I'm very disappointed; very devastated.

Q: Obviously you weren't a big fan of the team shake-up.
A: Oh, not a fan at all. Every night, I swear I dream about what I could have done differently, but I feel like it was a lot of bad luck.

Q: Do you think there was anything you could have done differently?
A: Looking back, if I had befriended Kelly a little bit more, then maybe. But she's such a loose cannon that even if I was to get her to help me out, I don't know if it would have worked, honestly.

Q: Well, she did badmouth you to the cameras when you were out of earshot.
A: Yeah, I think she had a negative opinion about everybody at Kota. She really alienated herself and she was just trying to save her own butt. I don't think she actually thought those things. She, of all people, she complained a lot. No one could really understand her; the things she said didn't really make sense. So I don't know. She did a good job of showing them that she didn't have an alliance with any of us, and that was my pitfall.

Q: What do you think happened during the immunity challenge? Why did you guys lose?
A: Me and Ace would constantly look back at our team and they were doing nothing. Crystal and Kenny and Kelly were, like, paddling themselves in a circle. I was like, "Really? You can't just sit there? Swat the ball away?" They were hurting us. If they were on the sidelines, I think we would have done better. It was just really discouraging.

Q: If you hadn't been kicked off, what would have been your next move?
A: If I'd stayed one more round, I would have kept an alliance with Sugar, Ace and Matty.

Q: So you did have an alliance with them.
A: Yeah, I did. They were my backup alliance. I was glad I had them, though it didn't work out for me. We probably would have voted off Crystal, G.C. and Kenny.

Q: If Sugar had been back from Exile island, do you think she would have giving you the immunity idol she found?
A: Definitely. Definitely. She's pretty smart. We would have come up with a good plan to get the numbers in our favour.

Q: You obviously have a good opinion of the original Kota tribe.
A: Yeah, I did. We're all so similar and they played a smart game. You can work with that so much better than with people who are loose cannons, you have no idea what they're doing and have no rhyme or reason for the votes that they make. Over at Kota, I had to centre myself around strong people and I knew I wasn't going to stick out as a strong member. But over at Fang, everyone seemed like such a weak link that it actually put me at a disadvantage.

Q: The shake-up obviously harmed your game-play. What was your strategy going into the game?
A: Going in, I just wanted to look very trustworthy and genuine and not be a leader in any way but just fly under the radar. When we had the rankings, though, I was like, 'Shoot!' It was just so out in the open. I was ranked as a top girl and that did put somewhat of a target on my back. I felt like they knew I had better relationships on my team than Kelly did and there's no way I could really talk my way out of that.

Q: Out of those left, who do you think is the new Fang's biggest liability?
A: The biggest weak link? I think is Crystal. She is so opinionated and she is not playing a smart game. She'll centre weak people around her and she's no help in the challenges.

Q: Who do you think is the biggest threat?
A: Ace, actually. I know everyone has always been worried about him and he's really sneaky, but he's had so many worldly experiences and he's very physically strong. I think he'll keep strong over any of the other guys.

Q: Ace seems to be a very polarizing figure; people seem to either love him or hate him.
A: Yeah, exactly. I think just because he's just got such a loud personality, I guess, you either can mesh with him or you get annoyed by him. But I think in a game like that, you can only envy somebody with that many skills.

Q: Who do you want to see kicked off next?
A: I want to see Kelly. Just because I went before she did.

Q: Who do you want to win?
A: I want either Sugar or Charlie to go all the way. I think both of them are really good-hearted people and really genuine and they both are trying to play a really smart game.

Q: Who do you think will win, regardless of who you want to win?
A: Maybe Bob or somebody you wouldn’t expect. Somebody that’s not strategizing as much as they should. Maybe Bob or Kenny.

Q: Jeff Probst seemed to immediately hate the Fang tribe right off the bat. Was it justified or was it just edited to make good TV?
A: Oh, it was obvious to everybody. [Fang's] energy was just so negative; I don't think anything could have changed it. None of them could be trusted and all of them, basically, expected to lose. I don't know; people always gravitate to people who are more optimistic, so maybe that's why Jeff liked us.

Q: But even once the teams were shifted, it seemed Probst still really didn't like Fang, even though it now had some old Kota members on it.
A: I totally understand that, though. I didn't like Fang, either.


Survivor: Gabon airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on Global and CBS.

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