Mike Gabler reacts to that shocking Survivor 43 finish

Dalton Ross
·13 min read
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He was hiding in plain sight all season long, but when the time to attack came… the AlliGabler struck.

Mike Gabler was crowned the winner of Survivor 43 on Wednesday night, capping an improbable ascent from a player who at one point asked his tribe to vote him out on day three to an undisputed reality TV champion. Gabler's remarkable rise was cemented when he set a Survivor record with the fastest Tribal Council fire making ever (4 minutes, 9 seconds), sending favorite-to-win Jesse Lopez to the jury.

The 52-year-old heart valve specialist then pitched his case at the final Tribal Council, highlighting the fact that he had never had a single vote cast against him while also taking credit for his bold move at the merge of heavily targeting Elie Scott. The jury agreed with him, giving the AlliGabler a 7-1-0 victory over Cassidy Clark and Owen Knight. And they did so not even knowing that Gabler was planning to give his entire million-dollar winnings to veterans in need, which he revealed later at the after-show.

How did Gabler do it? We caught up with the newly crowned champion just minutes after the finale ended to get the scoop on his shocking win. You can watch the entire interview above, or read it below. (Also make sure to read our finale recap and finale Q&A's with Cassidy Clark, Owen Knight, Jesse Lopez, and Karla Cruz Godoy.)

Survivor 43
Survivor 43

CBS Mike Gabler on 'Survivor 43'

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Considering how everything turned out, are you glad you didn't go through with your request for your Baka tribemates to vote you out on day three?

MIKE GABLER: [Laughs] I sure am. There's so many emotions that go through your head when you're on Survivor, and when you're sleep deprived, you're hungry, you're thirsty, there's so much going on. And then we lost a tough challenge. And I work in a realm where accountability is very important and I felt partially responsible for our loss. And I didn't feel it was good to hide behind my idol. But Elie, of all people, Elie pulled me aside and she looked at me in the eye and she goes, "Gabler, pull it together. We need you." And I was like, "Yes, ma'am. I got you." And then we continued to play on.

And the rest is history. We talked about the beginning of the game, now let's talk about the end. We saw Cassidy say on the show that she felt really good going up against you and Owen at the end. I'm sure you were also doing jury math in your head before you walked into Tribal Council, so how did you see the votes shaking out before final Tribal started?

My game the entire time was a relationship game. And the edit showed a lot of it, but also left out a lot of it. I actually thought the season's edit was fantastic because it left everybody guessing. No one knew exactly who was gonna go into it. There were a lot of strong players in the final. I mean, the final five was five sharks in a bowl together trying to make it out. I felt pretty good no matter who I went up against. I had a strong story to tell because I had been playing the entire time.

I mean, if you go back even to the Elie vote that day on Baka Beach, I was immune because our team won where they split us into two teams. But I had my idol that was still valid from my second Tribal Council. And I looked over at James. I was trying to make new friends, trying to make new relationships and alliances. And James asked me for my idol. I shook his hand, I looked him in the eye and I said, "I'll give it to you, James." And I gave it to him.

But then, a couple of hours later, I had to come back to him right before Tribal Council and I said, "James, I gotta have the idol back because I gotta be able to show it to Jeanine right before Tribal Council so that she won't play hers for Elie." So there's a lot going on. I don't know if it was exactly shown, but it was powerful stuff.

Did any of the votes surprise you at that final Tribal?

The only vote that surprised me at Final Tribal Council was James, because I thought James — with our relationship — would've voted for me, because I'd never voted for James. I was always truthful and honest with him. But out of total respect for James, he did have a very close alliance with Cassidy from day one, and he honored that. So I can't say it was a surprise, but I did feel looking across the jury, whether it was Noelle, Ryan, Cody, Jesse, Sami, I felt that my game was strong enough throughout the entire game that I was going to get their votes. I really did.

And there was only one vote the whole season that had me nervous, and that was the Cody vote. I felt pretty safe except for that one because there was so much going on and everything had to go just right — otherwise, it was me, Owen, and Jesse on the chopping block. That was pretty dicey, and everything worked out the way we thought it might. In Survivor, you take big chances. Hey, those who dare, win.

Survivor
Survivor

Robert Voets/CBS Jeff Probst and Mike Gabler on 'Survivor 43'

It's crazy to say the James vote surprised you. Because if you then get that vote, you play the perfect game. You have no votes cast against you all game, then you get every single vote of Tribal. It's nuts.

That's right. It's nuts. It is absolutely nuts. I mean, to play the game of Survivor is a lifelong dream of mine. They've done such a great job evolving this show and keeping it relevant over 43 seasons, 20 plus years. And to be a part of that history, it's humbling. I don't know what to say. It's amazing.

Could you sense as that final Tribal went on that things were going well for you and the jury was buying what you were selling?

I think so. I mean, Dalton, you saw it. You know, I'm a better orator than I think I got credit for. So a lot of the game, I believe people underestimated me. There's one quote I have somewhere in there that was like, "I can play the hillbilly, I can play whatever they want." I mean, I'm a reasonably intelligent individual and my oratory skills and all that stuff are more potent than I think folks gave me credit for. And that was their mistake, not mine.

Even the fire making, which broke an all-time Survivor record — early on in the game, I couldn't make fire, right? [Winks] I hunt and camp and do all kinds of stuff, but it's not my advantage to show people that I can make fire very well early. Let Sami do it, let Cody do it, let somebody else do it. I'll gather wood, I'll do whatever you need me to do. But I hid that card up my sleeve until the final four and I blazed into final three.

Yeah, literally. So you intentionally sabotaged that fire early in the game?

I won't say I intentionally sabotaged it, but I didn't rock it out either. You know what I mean? In all fairness, I'm used to making fire in the north and the northwest or the Pacific Northwest. It is a drier high desert area. And being in the jungle, it did take me a little bit of time to figure it out because it's a lot of moisture, it's damp, it's wet. So I had to figure out how to strike closer to the kindling and the tinder. And I was able to figure that out.

Survivor
Survivor

CBS Mike Gabler on 'Survivor 43'

Let's play a little Survivor What If? Let's say Cassidy doesn't put you in to fire against Jesse, and someone else takes him out. Do you think that changes the end result at all?

It's like the butterfly effect? In Survivor it's real, right? So if I hadn't made fire in dramatic fashion and taken out one of the most awesome savage players of the season… It was also painful. I even got emotional watching it tonight because, you know, most of the [time], the six of us are gonna take somebody out, and we all walk up the stairs, we put our vote in, we come downstairs and they go home. It's kind of clean.

That was like hand-to-hand combat. And Jesse's a man I respect. I love him for who he is as a person, as a father, as everything. Jesse's a stud. And that was mixed emotions. I went from the elation of winning to, "Oh, no. My friend." It was a weird situation to go into fire. To make fire in front of Jeff Probst with cameras all around is not normal. And to do it where you're knocking out somebody that you care about is very difficult. So it was hard.

When did you hit on the idea on donating your prize money to veterans in honor of your father? Was that before the game or during the game?

That was before the game. I was talking with a buddy of mine who's a veteran and my wife. And we were talking about, "What if you win this thing?" You know, I've worked really hard my life. I've built a good financial set up around myself. I've got to work another eight years before I can retire. I've still got a kid in college, one more to go. I've still got a house payment, all that stuff the money would have helped, sure. But my father's a veteran. My uncles are veterans. A lot of guys I went to high school and college with are veterans. And they need some help.

And to do something bigger than yourself gives you power in life. Even the grip challenge where I was struggling, the first five minutes of the grip challenge were the most painful. The other 38 minutes or whatever was left were not, because every time I channeled a hero, I got an endorphin explosion. Every time I thought of something bigger than myself, I was able to persevere. And on those days when we were really hungry — about 12 days was the longest I went without a meal, and I mean a mouth full of coconut, maybe a hermit crab and a worm or two, whatever — you're getting desperate.

And what keeps you going? It's not necessarily Gabler, because Gabler could tap out. But if I'm thinking about people who are dependent on me, like veterans in need with a traumatic brain injury or PTSD, that lights a fire in you. And that drove me. It drove me day in, day out in the rain and the sun and the cold, the heat, everything. Our heroes drove me. I never had the honor of serving. I had the opportunity, but not the honor to serve, and the fact that I have the honor to serve those who served just fills my heart.

Survivor
Survivor

CBS Mike Gabler on 'Survivor 43'

Well, it was incredible, and what was also incredibly interesting was that you did not bring it up at final Tribal Council. Did you ponder a lot on whether to bring that up before the voting and why did you ultimately not do that?

That's an awesome question. I did think about it, and as soon as I did, I felt ashamed of myself for even thinking about it. Because for me to use them to get to my end would've been hollow. I needed to win on my own merit. And to win on my own merit allowed me to give this donation to veterans' charities and people in need freely and honorably.

And so that was my secret to the end. And I'm glad I kept it, because honestly, it wouldn't have been the same, right? If I would've been like, "Wait, I'm not as good as Owen. I'm not as good as Cassidy, but I'm gonna do this" — that's not a real win. I had to win on my own merit and then make the public announcement afterwards to let everybody know what was running my nuclear reactor inside me all those days and nights.

You mentioned that you were struggling physically out there. We saw it on the show. Was there ever a point where you worried that your body was going to shut down on you and force you out of the game?

Another great question. The first week out there is the worst. So anybody thinking about playing Survivor, just know your first week out there, your body is going berserk. Okay? You're delicious to the bugs. I had bug bites on my bug bites becuase you're sweating out sugars, minerals, all those things. Because you come into the game and you're eating. And then as you starve and you go through your fat, you start burning muscle.

And you're getting sunburned, you're cold at night, it's raining, and you're looking down the barrel and you're going, "I've been here three days. My back's already peeled. I've got bug bites on my bug bites. I'm dehydrated, I'm starving, I'm sleep deprived." And I'm like, "I've gotta do seven times this or more. Wow." And that's when the brain just has to tell the body, "Hey, this is how we're going." And eventually about day six, your body just goes, "Okay, let's look right where we're going. I'll follow you."

Survivor
Survivor

CBS Mike Gabler on 'Survivor 43'

What's something that happened out there that never made it to TV that you wish we could have seen?

I missed my older daughter's senior prom. And as you guys know from watching the show, I love my daughters. And when we were out there, I was counting the days and I knew what day her prom was. And Elie and Jeanine said, "Hey, why don't we do a Baka prom night?" So I went down the beach with Elie to look for hermit crabs for dinner. Owen and Sami went and got some wood. Jeanine went and found some other stuff to make the fire with, and we had ourselves a feast, a prom dinner, and then we all danced on the beach under the stars. And it was the Baka prom night.

I hope Survivor puts it in as an extra scene because it was cool, it was genuine, and it was a little reprieve from the game that meant a lot to me. We were a crazy bunch, but we loved each other and cared for each other. And, you know, the knives came out, but at our core we were all friends and we cared about each other.

I saved the most important question for last: Metallica or Slayer?

Oh my gosh. We can talk for hours on that. I'm saying Metallica, man. I love Slayer, but I'm going Metallica.

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