Every tribe needs one: that quin- tessential cuckoo character with a wild glint in his eye, which leaves you wondering if his bizarre antics really are all in jest, or if the guy may indeed be on the other side of sane.
In the case of Philip Dickson, “it’s a bit of both”. While his underpants-wearing shenanigans and the like (so not a good look for you, Phil) seemed rather odd behaviour to the out- side eye, as he explains it, “the game of Survivor is so intense, I would have really gone crazy if I didn’t have fun with it”.
All of which could explain why, far from putting out the flames of discontent within the tribe, this fire- fighter was more often than not fuelling them. Even if only from the sidelines.
His quips pertaining to his best pal, Dave (said with tongue firmly in cheek) frequently featured in the “Meow!” category of this writer’s weekly Survivor round-up. And since he knew his number was up, he used his parting moments to expose Moyra’s “I know nuttin’” stance – just because he could. “That was a strategic move to show the Rugrats that there may be a few cracks in their alliance…” Whether they’ll lend any weight to it remains to be seen.
As for his sentiments regarding his Farrier friend, it’s fair to say that was certainly not for show.
“Ah Dave, Dave, Dave… he’s an old fart. We didn’t get along from the start. I would never see him again after the show. He doesn’t speak sense. He’s an irritant.”
Okay Phil, don’t be shy – tell us what you really think!
Still, as he acknowledges, “people like that have gone on to win Survivor… even though nobody likes them and they annoy everyone, they get pushed through because they’re perceived as weak, which people think can work in their favour if they get to the finale with them.”
On the subject of interpersonal relationships, it didn’t seem there was much love lost between him and Zavion either?
(And no, it wasn’t Philip’s camp imitation of Selatan’s resident muscle man – for which he has apparently received a lot of flak from the self-righteous brigade – that made me beg the question, but rather, Zavion’s comment during tribal council that “Every- one here is playing as a team; Phil isn’t”.)
“I don’t think you could type what my response to that would be…” chuckles Philip. “I was a team player. I fed everyone every day. I gave 100 percent at all the challenges. So I hid the sugar cane? Everyone does something to protect themselves.”
A shot at R1 million and his obvious fondness for the series aside (why else would anyone willingly subject themselves to such torture?), did Philip at least get what he had hoped to from his Survivor experience?
“Absolutely. I got my six-pack. Now I’m just waiting for when the media will show it.”
Ah Phil, your zaniness will certainly be missed.
• Survivor SA: Champions, airs Sundays on M-Net at 5.30pm.