By John Powell – GlobalTV.com

In just six episodes Jerome “Rome” Cooney become one of Survivor’s greatest villains. Whether you like him or not he was a focal point of much of the drama and also much of the energy this season. At times a very merciless player, Rome has no regrets about how he played the Survivor game and in speaking to Global TV he had a secret to reveal about Kyle.

John Powell: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us today. How are you doing?

Rome Cooney: Doing good. Doing good. Doing about as good as you can.

John Powell: How are you feeling this morning about everything?

Rome Cooney: Honestly, edit-wise, it is what it is. You can’t control how they’re going to portray you or what’s going to get shown. All you can do is know how you played the game and what you actually did out there. I think that’s my biggest takeaway watching it all back. Being really content with all the things that I was able to do. If you look at what I was able to do in the span of six episodes that was a lot more than a lot of people are able to do if they make it all the way to the end. I really just can reflect and look back and say that I had a great time out there.

John Powell: Watching it back you got to see things that you didn’t see when you were on the island like people’s reactions to you, people reactions to your gameplay. How do you feel about all that now?

Rome Cooney: I feel like some of it’s justified and some of it’s not. I can understand how some people might feel like ‘Rome didn’t like me out there’. There was no hard feeling against anyone out there. I didn’t have any ill-will against anyone. It was as simple as I had an alliance and I was sticking to it. When you have an alliance, if you’re sitting here being “He-He and Ha-Ha’ with all the people that aren’t in your alliance, guess what? The people that are in your alliance are going to start looking at you like: Maybe you’re not actually with us.

John Powell: Looking back do you think it was a big mistake to target Kyle?

Rome Cooney: No, honestly, I don’t. I would do it again. I targeted Kyle for moral reasons. It wasn’t shown but Kyle had mentioned something on the beach that I was not a fan of and that was the reason why I targeted him otherwise I would have worked with him…Kyle said something about Sue and Caroline that I was not a fan of. It didn’t make the edit so I’m not going to talk about it but that that made me want to go for Kyle instead. I was like: Okay, I’m not going to work with this guy. I want you out of the game. I don’t even want you to last another day on this on this island. People know because I obviously relayed what he said to Sue and Caroline so the people on the island know what he said but I’m just not going to be the one to repeat it right now.

John Powell: An ultimatum in all reality is a threat because you’re basically saying either do this or this will happen to you. Do you regret any of your interactions with Sol and how do things stand now?

Rome Cooney: Me and Sol are great! Me and Saul are perfectly fine! We get along great outside of the game and I think that’s just so funny people feel like it was all outside of the game stuff or like Rome was following him around and being all demeaning and things like that.

No, it was all in the aspects of the game. I didn’t start following him around until after the ultimatum. I know it’s edited to take it look like I was following him before. If you even look at my outfit I’m literally wearing the outfit that I’m wearing after I gave Sol the ultimatum. It’s pretty obvious that it was edited out of order. People pay attention!

It’s funny because an hour before tribal was when I gave Sol the ultimatum. I’m sitting here going hard as possible for my alliance. We’re doing everything we can to get his shot in the dark. It didn’t show but I didn’t only ask Kishan if it was a good idea to give Sol the ultimatum. I also asked Genevieve. I also asked “Teeny”. They all said it was a good idea.

I apologized to Sol once and the thing is nobody had to tell me go apologize to Sol. I just knew that probably made Sol feel like a really, really bad type of way so let me go ahead and be the bigger man and apologize first. Nobody told me to apologize. That was just me being an actually good person, which I was kind of surprised I even left in at this point based off the edit…They showed like eight seconds of a two minute apology but it was a genuine apology, for sure. Sol accepted it and then we voted together that night. So, you know, it is what it is.

John Powell: What was your dynamic with Sol out there?

Rome Cooney: I wasn’t the only one that didn’t see eye to eye with Sol. It was also Genevieve. Me and Genevieve both had issues with Sol. Genevieve’s weren’t like shown as much mainly because she wasn’t on the screen much of the first few episodes. There was a lot of moments a lot of Bruce (Perreault) vibes coming from Sol in a way that weren’t shown. I understand. You’ve got to have a protagonist and an antagonist. I understand if they’re going to paint me as the villain.

John Powell: Speaking of Genevieve, you didn’t get to see a lot of what was going on behind the scenes with her. Were you surprised with how her view towards you and some of the comments she made?

Rome Cooney: I was playing hard. I was playing a really, really fast game. We clicked off the off the bat. We had an alliance from the jump. While Kishan and Aysha were doing the first marooning challenge puzzle me and Genevieve literally locked in an alliance…We made sure that we didn’t talk during the day’ Like me and Genevieve probably talked for like an hour on the beach every single night and it was never shown. Me and Genevieve were extremely tight. We talked about about our alliance. She was my number one out there. I also felt like I could trust Teeny and I felt like I could trust Kishan as well.

John Powell: Lot of people I’ve talked to in the past said they’re kind of forced to play a very quick, aggressive game when you have three tribes and the numbers are low. You played a pretty aggressive in-your-face game. Do you regret anything looking back?

Rome Cooney: No, I don’t regret anything. I had the experience of a lifetime! It’s a game! In the moment I did everything that I felt like was the best option for me to to move further. I got myself in some hot water a couple times. I was able to figure my way out of it. It’s just all about moving on and pushing through. I don’t regret anything out there. I had a blast and I had a ton of fun. If I would have been playing like a bump on a log, guess what? A lot of people wouldn’t be talking about me. A lot of people wouldn’t be saying they they hope to see me back eventually.

John Powell: As a host and a commentator in real-life what was it like to sit in that chair that only Jeff Probst has ever sat in?

Rome Cooney: It was unreal! That was one of the most awesome moments of my life! Like you said, I’m a host. I’m on stage a lot. I’m having to address crowds, things like that. For Jeff to pretty much like: Hey, break down why this advantage isn’t good in my seat. It was really awesome because it’s you are going to let me roast your advantage? It was awesome just being able to get that opportunity and also to nail it as well knowing that I didn’t stutter. I didn’t mess up at all. I didn’t mess up any names. I broke down exactly why it wasn’t great. Jeff gave me a fist bump at the end. There is no better feeling!

John Powell: We only ever get to see a very small portion of your journey. Is there anything that about your journey you wish fans and viewers got to see?

Rome Cooney: Mainly the deleted secret scene. I think the secret scene where I was catching fish. I think that one is a huge one that shows a lot of my personality and a lot of who I am as a person. That one was definitely disappointing to not see make the main edit. I understand they can’t fit everything into 90 minute episodes.

I think that also my social game. I understand that the first vote was very boring from. It was an extremely boring vote in my opinion just because it was always going to be one of them two. It made it seem like because of my advantages they weren’t gonna vote for me. They weren’t going to vote for me and Genevieve regardless if I had the advantages or idol. It was always going to be Aysha from the jump because we had that strong of an alliance that nobody wanted to flip on for the first vote. It’s really interesting that my social game wasn’t shown pretty much at all.

John Powell: If I ever went on Survivor, Big Brother, anything like that, I have always said I would be playing for my friends and family. I don’t care what fans think. I don’t care about any of that stuff. That’s who I’m there for and that’s what I’m playing for. Looking back, you’re pretty much portrayed as the villain this year. Do you feel bad about it?

Rome Cooney: Nobody expects to go on Survivor and see a 40 minute montage of my lowest moments. (laughs) I know this sound insane but I envisioned that I was going to get a hero edit…It was just hilarious. At the end of the day, my tribe knows what I did out there. It is what it is. I’m just glad that the fans were entertained.

Survivor 47 Fantasy Tribe