Meet the 'Survivor 44' Cast! Matt Blankinship is Fighting His Urge to Give People What They Want

The security software engineer is hoping to learn from failure and push away the anxious voice in his head.

Given his job, it makes sense security software engineer Matt Blankinship is focused on errors. Crucial mistakes make up some of the 27-year-old's favorite Survivor memories, but also help grow the nagging voice of anxiety in his head. Matt is hoping to tamp that voice, ready to pick himself up when he does inevitably stumble, brush himself off, find an advantage or two, and move on.

Read on for my interview with Matt, and make sure to check in with Parade.com every day for interviews with this season's contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 44 premieres on March 1 with a special two-hour premiere on CBS.

Related: Meet the Full Cast of Survivor 44

Interview with Matt from Survivor 44

Why are you here on Survivor?
I'm here on Survivor mostly for me. It's an internal struggle. I want to sort of prove to myself that I can do this really challenging game. I want to test myself. As a kid, I think I was a lot more afraid of taking risks and afraid of being in front of people or judged by people. And I think I've grown a lot. But this will be the ultimate test of my comfort with discomfort.

What's your history with watching Survivor?
So when I was in high school, there was a girl that I really liked. And she introduced me to Survivor. She was like, "This show is awesome. We've got to watch this." And I loved it. I couldn't get enough of it. And so, since then, I've been watching pretty regularly. And it was a dream of mine to be on the show. So I tried, and I made it! Here I am; this is actually happening. So I'm very stoked to be here. I'm stoked to watch myself with my friends who I watch Survivor with. I think that's gonna be an amazing moment for us.

Give me one Survivor winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most.
I identify a lot with Yul. I think it was awesome as a person who is part Asian to see an Asian man out there kicking ass, playing the game, and doing a great job. And he really inspired me to be here. He was one of the people who I saw and was like, "Wow, that person shared something with me. Maybe I could do this as well."

And then the non-winner I identify with–this is gonna be a little bit of an out-there answer, I think–but Erik Reichenbach. He's famous for giving up immunity and falling victim to the Black Widow Brigade. I see some of myself in him. He was kind of thrown into the deep end with all of these women. He was young and was not really sure how to handle all these pressures. And I think there's a part of me that can really relate to that, that feeling of like, "Oh, God, people want things from me. How can I stand up for myself and not give in to them? Or do I just bend over?" So I can relate to that. But I hope I don't make the same mistakes. (Laughs.)

What's your favorite moment in Survivor history?
I think a lot of my favorite moments, which relates to Erik, have to do with momentous blunders and catastrophic errors that people make for whatever reason. So I love that moment in Tribal where someone busts out the Knowledge is Power advantage, and they're like, "I'm gonna take your immunity idol." And then the person's like, "I don't have an immunity idol." And all the jaws drop to the floor, and it's a big "oh [expletive]" moment. I love that as an audience member. That's what I live for. (Laughs.)

What's one life experience you feel has prepared you most for the game?
I think one of the things that I've had to learn the hard way in my life is that things don't always work out the first time around. And it's tough to put a lot of yourself into something. I've auditioned for bands, or I've applied to colleges or applied to jobs, where you put a lot of yourself into this, and put a lot of your hope on how your life will be on this thing. And then they reject you, and you fail. (Laughs.)

In my current job, I applied three times, and they rejected me each time. And then, the fourth time, I finally got the job. So I think that persistence and the ability to take this moment of defeat and pick yourself up and turn it around and try again will be really important in this game. Because no matter who you are, there's a moment along your Survivor journey where you're at rock bottom. You feel like nothing is going your way. Everything is terrible. And I think that those moments are what separates the really great players from the players who just sort of fold.

What excites you the most about the new era of Survivor?
I love that you cannot know what to expect. (Laughs.) There are just so many things that are unheard of and new. And everyone is going into this game with a fresh sense of what the game could be and what it means to play Survivor. So if you have a game plan of, "I'm gonna play it this way." But what could actually happen out there could be totally different because everything has changed, and they've thrown in some other crazy thing.

And I think that's exciting because I think what that means is they want people to be adaptable. They want people to be making relationships across alliance lines and always playing the game for you. And it just shakes things up, and it gives people who are maybe on the bottom a chance to come back and make something new out of whatever the new situation is. So I think it's an interesting era of Survivor that we have entered. And I'm excited to just test myself like that.

What do you think people will perceive you as?
People tend to perceive me as a pretty laid-back and happy, joyful dude. And I think there's a big element of truth to that; that all describes me pretty well. But I think that there's also a level of contemplativeness, thinking through the things that I say really, really carefully, that people maybe don't associate as much with me. And I'm hoping it stays that way. I'm hoping that people underestimate me as the guy who's here to just have a really fun adventure and play this fun game, and they won't see how much I'm thinking behind the scenes.

What type of player are you looking for in an alliance?
For me, my ideal alliance member is someone with whom I can chat about all of the different options. I think people often get pigeonholed into, "It's either this person or that person. Which one is better?" But what I really want is someone who can look at the whole tribe. It's not just two people who are vulnerable; it's everyone. And think through all the different options and maybe come up with creative strategies, or listen to my creative strategies and talk me through them.

And I want to be working genuinely with this person. People always plant the deception and whatever because I think that's exciting. But at least for the first part of the game, I want someone who I can fully trust with everything I have, and who won't go rat me out for saying, "Oh, maybe we should vote out this person." So I'm looking for a really, really genuine connection and someone who I feel like I can discuss fully transparently with. And at some point down the line, we'll have to turn on each other. But we'll get there when we get there.

How eager will you be to look for advantages in the game?
Very eager. This new era is almost defined by advantages. And having an advantage opens up so many doors of possibility for you that it is really doing yourself a disservice in this game not to be looking for advantages. I would expect everyone out there to go looking for advantages because there's so huge. You want to have options. At any stage of the game, it's valuable to have multiple things that you could do and be able to choose from that. It's an embarrassment of riches. That's the position I want to get.

What is the one thing you told yourself you wouldn't do in this game?
One thing that I think is the challenge for me sometimes is I can get into my own head about how people are judging me, how I'm coming off, or what I should say. I think, "This person wants something from me. I feel like I have to give it to them." That voice of anxiety and stress and whatever is not my friend in this game. Everyone here is playing for themselves. And I have to do the same thing. So my personal goal for myself is not to get caught up too much in that anxious voice and just be willing to make decisions that are good for me and not feel bad about it. Because everyone here knows it's the game of Survivor, and they're going to try to use my urge to give them what they want against me. I can't let that happen.

What's the best advice you received before coming out to play?
My dad told me to trust myself out here. I think, like I said, that voice of anxiety is always there and always talking me down. And at home, I can always turn to my parents or best friends to talk me out of that negative headspace. But here, it's just me, and I have to rely on me. So the advice is just to trust myself and trust that I can do this and trust that I can support myself and just go out there and be who I am bravely.

Can you come up with your own weird phrase that could be said at a challenge to unlock an idol?
"The oyster has landed on the moon, and the chickens are out."

What celebrity or fictional character would you want to come out for a Loved Ones visit?
Maybe I would take Albus Dumbledore. (Laughs.) I feel like he is a guy who always knows what to say at just the right moment. And whatever I need at that moment, he would give me. So I'd bring Dumbledore along.

Next, check out our interview with Survivor 44 contestant Josh Wilder.