Brandon Cottom blames Survivor birdcage miscue on 'wet underwear'

Brandon Cottom and his Ratu alliance were feeling pretty good about their position on Survivor 44. They'd just taken out a member of the rival Soka squad in Matt Blankinship and appeared poised to do the same to Matt's showmance partner, Frannie Marin.

But Brandon forgot one of the cardinal rules of Survivor: Those not in power will often band together to chop the head off the snake — and Brandon was that head.

Brandon was blindsided on this week's episode after the Three Stooges (Carolyn Wiger, Carson Garrett, and Yam Yam Arocho) sided with Soka and did not let the Ratu crew know that Danny Massa was going to play an immunity idol for Frannie. When Danny did, Brandon was voted out.

But there's more to the story that we didn't see. When we sat down with the former Seattle Seahawk the morning after his televised ouster, Brandon explained that he thought there was actually a split vote plan in place, one that never fully materialized because they were apparently too busy… painting the tribe flag?

Brandon revealed that and a lot more, including why wet underwear ultimately doomed him when it came to the Birdcage. Watch the entire interview above or read it below.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let's start by talking about the logistics of what went down at that Tribal Council. Did you all talk about the possibility of an idol being played?

BRANDON COTTOM: We did talk about the possibility of an idol being played. It actually goes back to last week. We initially thought that Matt had the idol, and that's why he was so frantic to get his bag. So that kind of carried over to this week where we thought, If Matt doesn't have it, then either Frannie or Danny have it. So we knew that there was a possibility one of 'em had it. We just didn't know who it was. So I thought we had a plan. That was on me for not double checking with everybody before we went to Tribal. We actually started painting the Va Va flag, and completely lost track of time. Next thing you know, time to go to Tribal. And I'm like, Oh, I didn't check in with literally anybody. So that was a hundred percent my fault. I can't blame on anybody else. It was a great move by Danny, and I probably would've done the same thing.

I assume you thought you had seven people on your side, so was there any discission about splitting the votes?

There was. We had talked about that as soon as we got back from the challenge, that it was a possibility after I had actually heard that my name was possibly being thrown out there. It was just never determined. We kind of had a gray area where we're like, "Alright, you might be the one who votes for Danny. I'm going to vote for Frannie. This person does this." And we never came back together and said, "Alright, this is solidified what's going to happen."

So as those votes were being read, I'm like, Alright, Frannie, Frannie, Frannie. I'm like, Well, that's too many Frannie votes. And I already knew what was coming after that. Next thing, I saw my name and I was like, Yep, they got me.

So we did think it was a possibility. I personally thought that we were splitting the votes, but I don't think that everybody else was necessarily on the same page. Or they already knew what the plan was and they were coddling me until we got to that point.

After Danny played his idol for Frannie, what did you think was going to happen on the vote?

I actually thought that we split the votes. It's funny they didn't show it, but I actually look over to Lauren. I'm like, "He has no idea." 'Cause I'm thinking he played it for Frannie, and we have a plan for this. The first thing that alarmed me was the look that Lauren gave back to me and she was like [looks worried] and I was like, Oh, no. Because I knew she was supposed to be one of the ones I thought was going for Danny, too.

And when she didn't, when she looked at me like that, I was like, Oh no, this is bad. Next thing you know: Frannie, Frannie, Frannie, Frannie, Frannie, Frannie. And I'm like, It's gonna be me.

I know this is a long time ago, and you already said it was a little confusing, but do you remember who was supposed to be on Danny and who was supposed to vote for Frannie?

That's the thing. And I just didn't play it right, because I can't remember. I know that I thought that Lauren was [on Danny], I feel like I thought that Carson was, and possibly Yam Yam as well. I knew that one of the things I said was I didn't want to put Danny's name down in the case that he did play it for himself. I didn't want to ruin what I thought was an alliance between me and him for further gameplay.

So I purposely said that I wasn't going to vote for Danny. We had so many conversations that day. I can't remember who I said what to. At the end of the day, I didn't double check with anybody. So I can't even answer that question.

Tell me what you were feeling after seeing your name come up and then getting your torch snuffed.

It was a bittersweet moment. It's one of those moments where you think you have everything figured out. You think that you've been a part of the right conversations, and all in that one moment, you realize, I've been bamboozled. The script has flipped on me. It's my turn. So it's bittersweet. You're appreciative to be out there. And it's cool in a way as a Survivor fan to have your torch snuffed, because a lot of people never get that opportunity. But nobody wants to get that torch snuffed at the end of the day.

The only thing that was kind of a shining light was knowing I'm about to get some food in a little bit, so at least I'll get some food and a bed. Doesn't really do that much for you in the moment, but it's the little victories in life, I always say. That was my only little victory in that moment, to be honest.

A few different people have mentioned to me how close you and Lauren were, but we didn't really see that too much on the show. What can you say about you two partnering up in this game?

Me and Lauren actually got really close very, very early on. In that first Tribal, I actually knew that she had an extra vote. She did tell me shortly after we all kind of dispersed. She didn't tell me that they were going to be voting for me, but she did tell me that she wasn't going to vote for me. So she was kind of trying to play both sides. After that moment, she came back, we talked about it, and we were just like, let's attack this head on. So that's when our alliance really started to form. From there on out, it really just became, let's try to get Ratu strong.

At that point, we had never lied to each other. But there was obviously a little bit of bad blood between me and Kane. Me and Matthew, I thought we were tight at that moment, but Lauren was the only one who I knew, I can actually trust you for the longevity of this game. That started very early, but they really didn't show much of the relationship that was built there, which was a little bit surprising to me. Obviously, there's so much going on and there's so much that they have to show. I understand. I get it.

What's something else that happened out there that didn't make it to TV that you wish we had seen?

There was one moment that I was very curious if they were going to show that relates directly to that last Tribal that I had. Yam Yam actually did approach me at one point and say that Danny was putting my name out there and that I could possibly be a target. Now, he never told me that Danny had an idol that he was going to play, but he did put the bug out there that, "Your name is getting tossed around."

So that's why it wasn't a huge surprise to me when it played out how it did, because I had already heard whispers that my name was possibly getting thrown out there. Me and Yam Yam, we were kind of getting into a good place, but the Tika three, like you saw, they were in the middle and they really didn't want to have to choose a side. So they really played it very smart the way they went about it because it helped them through the struggle.

They're letting the two big dogs fight it out and they're just sitting there eating popcorn and watching.

Exactly. They're watching the war from the sideline, because it was definitely Ratu-Soka war that was going on at that time. They let it play out how it needed to play out.

How quickly did you regret opening the birdcage in front of the entire tribe?

Immediately. [Laughs] I've talked to a lot of people about that situation, like, "Why didn't you work with Maddy? Why'd you tell her?" Stuff like that. It's funny, because when I actually found the [key] I tried to hide it. What you might not see: I tried to hide it. I actually tried to put it in my underwear, but my underwear were wet, so I didn't have any on [and] it literally fell right through my shorts. That's when you see me standing there with it and it looks like a bulge in my pants. I grabbed it before it fell on the ground and Maddy was already circling around me. I knew she saw it. She later confirmed me that yes, she did see it.

My whole thing was for one, I didn't know it was an idol in the cage at that moment. I did think it was probably an advantage, but I didn't think it was an idol. Two, I didn't want to have to play under Maddy's thumb because we'd already had conversations leading up to that that led me to believe I could not really trust her. And I knew that was just the quickest opportunity for her to be like, Alright, well, I got this on Brandon. This is ammo against him. I can either use it against him or I could play with him. But that was up to her to decide, not me.

So I was like, you know what? Instead of putting another target on my back, I'd rather just go out, let everybody know, "Hey, I found the key. This is what it is. We'll figure out what it is together." And then as soon as I opened it up, I regretted it immediately. Because not only did I have an idol, but I also had a fake idol, which now has absolutely no power because everybody's seen exactly what it looks like and that I have it. It was a bittersweet moment. Obviously, everybody who plays Survivor, you want to find the idol. I just didn't want it to be public knowledge on day 1.

There are some people on this season who are Survivor obsessives who have studied every episode. I got the feeling you were not one of those people. What was your relationship to the show and how did you end up on it?

I'm a casual Survivor watcher. Me and my dad, we started watching very early on when I was younger. We watched every season together. After I moved away to college, that's when I kind of fell off. I didn't have cable, I just had a lot going on with football and other things. I didn't really watch much TV. I kind of fell away from the show for a little while until I moved back to Philadelphia about three years ago. That's when we started watching again.

The way I actually ended up applying for the show was after one of the episodes, Jeff says, "This could be you! Sign up to be on Survivor." My dad was like, "You need to go ahead and put your audition in." I was like, "You know what, why not? Let's do it and see what happens." I actually made a video that night, and I got contacted pretty shortly after that to continue to make another video and do the whole application process.

Honestly, it's one of the best decisions I made because it's been an amazing experience. I met some amazing people. I love everybody on our cast. I think we have a great group of people. It's fun to watch us, but outside of the show, I think everybody is really cool, really level-headed, and just a bunch of characters. So I'm blessed to have been on this season and I'm very thankful for the opportunity.

With whom did you want to sit at the end with had you made it to the final 3?

In my head, I would've probably said I wanted Lauren sitting next to me. That third spot was kind of up in the air and really depended on how it played out. For a while, I thought Danny, but at the same time, I knew that he was gaming. He was really playing a good game, so I probably wouldn't have wanted to take him to the final three. I would've probably had to say Lauren and Jaime, honestly. I think they would've been the two that I would've chosen to try to take with me to the end.

What's harder, NFL training camp or Survivor?

They both have their difficulties. Survivor is different in a whole different way. You're never in a situation where you're stripped of food and all the luxuries in life, your phone, your family. So it's way more of a mental game. It's a lot more physical in the sense of you're not eating, you're spending calories all day, and you're actually out there trying to survive.

So I'd say Survivor was a lot harder than I would've ever expected — especially starting off with that sweat challenge and those first couple challenges. From that regard, I'd probably say Survivor, honestly.

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