Getty Television personalities Colby Donaldson and Jerri Manthey attend the "Survivor: Heroes Vs Villains" finale reunion show
Three-time “Survivor” castaway Jerri Manthey recently opened up about her relationship with Colby Donaldson, which she said was very different from what people saw on TV — she also revealed that they did, in fact, hook up at one point, but it was long after “Survivor: Australian Outback.” Here’s what the infamous “Survivor” villain had to say.
Manthey Said Watching Season 2 Would Give Her PTSD
Manthey was edited as a villain both of the first two times she played “Survivor” — season 2, “The Australian Outback,” and season 8, “All-Stars” — before having a redemption arc on her third season, “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.” In a recent interview on the “Hot Takes Deep Dives” podcast, she said that she felt that her season two edit wasn’t great and she can’t rewatch that season.
First off, Manthey said that there were “conversations Colby and I had that no one ever got to see,” which is why it looked like she was throwing herself at him — because viewers only saw that part of it.
“Obviously, he was flirting with me or I wouldn’t have just kept throwing myself out there like that. Like, c’mon. I have my issues with Colby. We’ve moved on from it to some degree, but I can’t watch [season 2], I’ll get PTSD,” said Manthey.
She acknowledged that she has “embraced” her villainess role, but it was also kind of sad for her that that is how she was portrayed.
“[‘Survivor’] was a show that was kind of made for someone like me and I just embraced it,” said Manthey, but she added, “I guess the part about the whole experience that makes me a little sad is that my experience that I had in the outback is so different than what you saw on the show. I was definitely a leader in a lot of ways.”
Secondly, Manthey has said that younger people watching that season now will reach out to her with surprise that she was villainized so badly on the show.
“If you go back and watch the show now, a lot of people, the younger generation that is just now watching season two, they’re like, ‘I don’t understand, why was Jerri villainized? She didn’t even do anything. In fact, Colby was kind of an a**hole to her!'” said Manthey, adding, “I think over the years, people have come to realize that I didn’t do anything to be villainized, but it also made me memorable, so again — double-edged sword.”
Manthey Said She and Donaldson Finally Did Hook Up
The two of them did have one night together, years after “Australian Outback” and “All-Stars.” It was when they were all in New York City after “Heroes vs. Villains.”
“It was after ‘Heroes and Villains,’ when we were in New York and we went to a strip club together. We had a lot of fun together that particular evening. It was kind of our ‘water under the bridge’ moment,” said Manthey, adding, “We had a really good time that night, he bought me a lap dance. We laughed, we joked, we went out to dinner and then the next night, I think there was some other event we were all at and he took off with Parvati [Shallow]. So he’s one of those guys, enjoy the moment while it’s there ’cause it’s probably not gonna be there the next day.”
“It was one night, that’s it. It was one and done,” said Manthey with a laugh.
She also said that they don’t keep in touch and that Donaldson has basically tried to distance himself from “Survivor.”
“He has completely disappeared off the ‘Survivor’ radar … He’s very anti-‘Survivor’ anything. He won’t go to any reality events, he’s tried really hard to distance himself from that, and personally, I think it’s because he has to live with the fact that he chose to go to the end with Tina [Wesson] instead of Keith [Famie]. If he had gone with Keith in season two, he would’ve won. Nobody liked Keith. It would have been unanimous. So he has to live with that and I think that still haunts him ’til this day,” said Manthey.
“Survivor” is back in production now. If the pattern holds, it should be premiering its 41st season the third or fourth week of September 2021.
READ NEXT: ‘Survivor’ Alum Regrets Being Jeff Probst’s ‘Pet’