Geo Bustamante wonders 'How did I become so mean?' on Survivor 43

Dalton Ross
·12 min read
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Geo Bustamante wonders 'How did I become so mean?' on Survivor 43
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"I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of excited about Tribal Council."
"I feel like I'm calling the shots right now."
"Tonight, it's gonna be pretty easy."

These were just a few of the boasts from Geo Bustamante before the last two Tribal Councils on Survivor 43, but the boasts turned into busts when not only did his intended target of Cassidy Clark remain unscathed, but Geo found his own torch being snuffed on day 11 of the game.

It was a topsy-turvy ride for Geo. He almost immediately put himself in danger by not performing well in the opening reward challenge, but then stepped up and helped dig up the tribe's supplies with his ally Ryan Medrano. Geo's problem is that while his alliance with Ryan was, indeed, rock solid, his side alliance with Karla Cruz Godoy was a mirage, and once he told Karla about his Knowledge Is Power advantage, that sealed his fate in the game.

Geo was voted out by his Coco tribemates 3-2, ending the run by the charismatic contestant who appeared to have the opposite problem of his ousted teammate Lindsay Carmine in that he simply didn't worry enough. But as we learned when we spoke to the 36-year-old project manager, appearances can be deceiving. We got the full scoop on what really went down out on the island. You can either watch the interview above or read it below. (Also make sure to read our episode recap and check out an exclusive deleted scene.)

Survivor 43
Survivor 43

Robert Voets/CBS Geo Bustamante on 'Survivor 43'

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Okay, Geo. What happened? Where did it all go wrong?

GEO BUSTAMANTE: I think that everything went wrong from the very beginning, to be honest. I loved every second of me being on Survivor, so let me just start by saying that. But as soon as I got to the island, I kind of messed up on the very first challenge, and I feel like I should have put my foot down. I remember right before we started that challenge, James had come up to me and said, "My knee hurts, so I can't really do this challenge." So I was like, "Well, I guess you can't run. I can run, so I'll jump in there and do it." And everything just went down after that because I wasn't strong enough to pick up the crate.

I remember right before we started the challenge, Jeff said, "Those crates are really heavy." So I looked at James and Ryan and I was like, they're the strongest people. And James looked at me again and went, "My knee hurts, bro." So I feel like that was the beginning for me. I pretty much started off by showing everyone that I wasn't that strong, and that was an excuse. And on Survivor, you don't need many excuses to be taken out. So from the very beginning, I knew I was on the bottom and I knew I had to work really hard to make sure that I make myself useful around camp and not get voted out if we lost.

But yet we kept hearing you tempting the Survivor gods and talking about how great your position was and how easy the votes were gonna be. So at least from what we saw, you looked like you felt pretty confident in your place on the tribe.

Perception is reality, I'm gonna just say that right now. Every episode is a two-day episode and you guys only get to see whatever the Survivor gods want you guys to see, basically. So much more happened. I was doing so much. I climbed every single tree looking for an idol, because I was scared. Every time I got a chance to, if I saw a stone sitting somewhere, I flipped every stone trying to find an idol every single day. Because I wasn't comfortable, but I didn't wanna show everybody else that I was scared because I didn't wanna look like "Geo is scared. He shouldn't be here. He's freaking out." I didn't wanna look paranoid. So there's so much that you guys didn't get to see that actually happened, but that's part of the game at the end of the day. That's what makes Survivor a really good show.

Survivor 43
Survivor 43

Robert Voets/CBS Geo Bustamante on 'Survivor 43'

Tell me about some of the things that did happen that you wish we had seen.

I did a lot around camp, because I was always in the bottom. Even though we were winning challenges, I knew I was in the bottom from day one. I challenged myself to do so many things that I've never done before. Prior to Survivor, I've never gone camping or anything like that. But on Survivor, I learned to push myself to the limit. I learned to go climb trees and look for idols, look for food, be a provider. And all of us were pretty happy. And that made me feel happy.

Also like, you know, there are so many little disagreements that happened prior to whatever we got to see on TV that if you take those little things out, you're probably just gonna look at me like I'm a crazy person. It's like when you walk into a room and you see somebody having a reaction about somebody saying something, you're gonna think that person is mean, but not the person that actually initiated it. So little things like that happened as well.

One thing from last week I can stop thinking about is we were cutting casaba, and I was cooking almost every day cause I wanted to provide for the tribe. And I remember Cassidy had come up to me and said something about "You should start chopping the food differently so we can feel like we're eating something different." And at that moment I'm like, "You know, it's draining looking for food and chopping the food." And then five minutes later I'm eating as they're telling us, "Okay, time to go on challenge." And I'm like, "I didn't get a chance to eat!"

At that moment I was kind of upset. I was a little frustrated. I was like, "Wait, I've been doing all of this. Now the only thing you come and tell me is, 'Chop it different so we can feel like we're eating something different?'" People didn't get to see that part. They only got to see the side where Geo kind of like catches an attitude and he's like, "No, this is how I do it" or whatever. So that's one thing.

Watching me back on TV, I was like, I didn't even like that Geo. I was like, how did this happen? How did I become so mean? I don't think I was mean or was barking orders at some people, but again, reality TV. And I was grateful to be there and I'm still grateful to have an opportunity to watch me back being a little soldier in this world.

Survivor 43
Survivor 43

Robert Voets/CBS The Coco tribe on 'Survivor 43'

Well, you, you mentioned Cassidy, and clearly, we saw your intent on getting her out. Why did you want her to go so badly?

Everything started with that casaba situation. We were actually getting along pretty well before that. I know she was trying to work with me. But after that incident, things didn't really feel right. She would come up to me and tell me something like she was trying work with me and stuff, but I could see that she wasn't honest about that. I knew she wasn't trying to work with me, but there was a lot of days where she was supposed to be part of an alliance with me and Ryan, and I was able to see right through it. I'm like, "You're not part of our alliance." I knew she was working with somebody else.

Same thing with Karla. She was working with Ryan and I, and at a point, I saw her and I knew she was not working with us. She was telling Cassidy everything. Because when the casaba incident happened, I had walked away from Cassidy and I started complaining to Ryan and Karla and saying," Hey, I'm working hard over here so everybody can eat." And Karla had gone and told Cassidy everything that I said, and then Cassidy got upset and told me everything that Karla told Cassidy. And then it became a situation now where Cassidy's like "I heard you were talking about me. I'm not gonna tell you who told me, but somebody told me." And I'm like, really? [Laughs] Like, I know who told you. [Laughs]

Well, that begs the question then. We saw you tell Karla about the Knowledge Is Power advantage. Why did you tell her about that knowing that maybe she wasn't trustworthy with information?

Even after I found out that I couldn't trust Karla, I really wanted to work with Karla. I mean, I didn't have that many options. It was just Ryan and I. So I really wanted to work with Karla and I had even called her out. They didn't show this either, where actually I went up to her and said, "Hey, I know you're working with them and you're not working with us, but I really wanna work with you. I think it could be you, me, and Ryan all the way to the end. We can protect each other."

So with me coming back from the journey, I wanted to share that with Karla, just to show her like, "Hey, trust me, I trust you. I have the Knowledge Is Power. Maybe we can work together. We can protect each other. And when the merge comes, we can fight the other people that are working against us." I mean, it obviously didn't work out, but I was trying everything in my power to just stay there for another day if possible.

Do you still have the Knowledge Is Power parchment?

Oh no. They take that away from you. [Laughs] I wanted to keep it in a frame. I was so happy. You don't understand. I was like the happiest person when I got my Knowledge Is Power, I was like, this is my dream, especially after spending the first whatever amount of days looking for an idol. I probably climbed every single tree I walked past. And I was like, "You know what? I might be playing a little too hard doing all of this and risking myself a little bit too much. But I didn't wanna go home having any regrets and saying, "Man, I felt like I should have checked there," when I'm watching TV. I was "No, I flipped every stone." I even opened coconuts thinking maybe the idol is inside a coconut. [Laughs]

Survivor 43
Survivor 43

Robert Voets/CBS Ryan Medrano and Geo Bustamante on 'Survivor 43'

Did you know that Ryan threw the challenge? Did he ever tell you he was going to do that or that he had done that?

When we were on the island, he had mentioned about wanting to throw the challenge, because something had happened with Cassidy. He wanted Cassidy out at a point, and I was like, "I'm down for that, so let's just go for it." But I didn't wanna throw the challenge, because at the same time, I knew that I was on the bottom from day one and I was like, "I don't wanna throw the challenge cause that's a risk for me and if something happens, I could be the one going home."

We didn't really talk about it that much. It was just an idea that he had. And then I didn't even know he threw the challenge. I was like, "Man, I should have jumped in there and been like, 'Let me get that that ball and throw it myself and see if it works!" But honestly, I didn't know.

You talked about your struggles with your family growing up and how they basically kicked you out because of your sexuality, leading you to be homeless. How aware are they now of your Survivor experience and have you heard from any of your family since the show started airing?

No, it's actually been 17 years since my parents have spoken to me. And I haven't heard from them. I don't know if I will either. But hey, you know what? It's okay. I'm not gonna say I moved on from that because you never really move on from your own family, but I've learned to live my life and not put my life on hold to make other people happy.

What was it like being able to share that story? Cause I'm sure it's a story that really resonated with a lot of people that have maybe gone through similar issues and problems with their families.

For me, it was really hard actually. Cause I didn't wanna say anything negative about my family either. There's no way to go around that. I didn't wanna trash them and I made it a point to say, "I don't wanna say anything negative. I don't wanna trash them." I still love them. It's been 17 years, but I still love them.

At the same time, I know this is my story. I know the struggles that I've gone through, and I wanted to, if possible, inspire somebody out there and say, "Hey, you know what, I've gone through this, and look at me — I'm on Survivor now." If I could inspire someone, then to me it would be all worth it. Or if I can help somebody or show someone out there that you can be strong, just push through, don't give up, it will be all worth it. I just wanted to send them that message.

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