Survivor Ghost Island has arrived! Every week, Parade’s Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the castaway most recently voted off of the island.

The latest Immunity Challenge focused on keeping constant pressure between a ball as it stood wedged between two jaws. On paper, this was a perfect test for Michael Yerger, as the 18-year-old was arguably the cast member with the most pressure on him up to this point. Unfortunately, he let the pressure slip, eliminating him from the challenge and allowing the jaws of the Naviti majority to close around him finally. That night, Michael would go out of the game with hugs after a roller coaster of 29 days full of bottom-dwelling, idol plays and, in Kellyn Bechtold‘s case, feeling like being stuck upside-down in a loop.

Though Michael lied about his age coming into the game, perhaps it was the schoolboy mentality in him that found him closely bonding with Brendan Shapiro in his initial days on Malolo. Though he earned ire from Jacob Derwin for priding tribe strength, he felt in a comfortable position going into the first tribe swap. But that was the last time Michael would ever feel comfortable in the game, and that’s not just because he wasn’t able to visit the “Hotel Naviti” camp early on. The random switch coincidentally put the Malolos in a 5-4 minority on both tribes, and now Michael was on the outside looking in with Brendan, Stephanie Johnson and Jenna Bowman. With his back against the wall, he was able to find some lumbar support via a clutch idol find. Now in possession in one of James Clement‘s infamous unplayed idols from Survivor: China, Michael vowed to use it to put his alliance in a better position. And he tried to do that valiantly at the next Tribal Council, pulling out the idol and only revealing that he would be playing it on one of them and that they would be voting for Bradley Kleihege. When it came time to present the idol to Jeff Probst, he decided to keep Stephanie safe, only for the tables to turn back in his direction when it turns out the majority stuck together to go for the surprise target of Brendan. With the so-called “lion” now out of the game, Michael felt like a Simba without a Mufasa. But who would have guessed that he would soon turn into “The Idol King,” which would simultaneously grow and shrink the target on his back?

Malolo lost the next two Immunity Challenges, but Michael was kept safe out of pure necessity for the small chance of being able to win something. Though he was not in the line of fire, he had to watch as his fellow tribemates Stephanie and James Lim fell by the wayside. Now left alone on a tribe with Kellyn, Desiree Afuye and Angela Perkins, he knew strength would now turn into a weakness. As such, he hit the beach once more in search of an idol and came up successful when he grabbed a lethal piece of lumber. He was now holding onto the infamous fake stick idol from Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites, and was able to pocket it when he finally netted a victory for the Malolo tribe. Entering the merge, he knew he was at the top of the hit list due to being both a former Malolo and a challenge threat. Though the Naviti majority had its eyes set on Chris Noble, Michael looked to take advantage of the schism in the purple people, appealing to Angela to get her to jump over. But the Army veteran was not going to cross lines anytime soon, and locked the target in on Michael by running a smear campaign against him. Backed into a corner, he tried to stick it to the others by playing the stick that night, only for the non-nullified votes to bounce back on his beach crush Libby Vincek. Now without an idol for support, his position in the game was looking flimsy. When a twist divided the tribe randomly into two groups that would each vote someone out, Michael looked for this as an opportunity to possibly make leverage of small numbers to stay alive. But the random draw turned out to be his biggest weakness in the game, as he wound up with three Navitis in Kellyn, Wendell Holland and Domenick Abbate, as well as Laurel Johnson, who was secretly working with the latter two. For the second time in the game, Michael was left in a small tribe with nowhere to hide. He fabricated having a record-tying third idol, which stoked the paranoid inferno growing inside Kellyn that caused her to force a tie that night using her extra vote from Ghost Island. But the tie vote had severed any ties Michael had left in the game, as in the re-vote, the three Navitis quickly decided to send him packing.

Now out of the game, Michael talks with me about what he thought the plan was going into Tribal Council, why he chose to make such a big swing with his first idol bluff and how the other castaways reacted when they found out he was only 18.

How has everything been the day after you watch yourself get eliminated from Survivor?

I’m doing well. Just hanging out, having some coffee. I’m in New York for the first time, so that’s fun.

Since you’re in New York, did Domenick make you the coffee?

[Laughs] No, he did not! He was the coffee guy on merge beach, but I made my own this morning, and I’ve got to say, it’s pretty [expletive]. It’s not that good. [Laughs]

Maybe you need Domenick then! So speaking of the coffee guy, I noticed that when you were voted out, there were hugs all around and declarations of, “You’re the man” and “Vinaka.” Things seem pretty amicable from both your side and their side. Was that because you had been such a target from early on?

Obviously, with me being an underdog, it was painful knowing that I was always on the bottom. But each week that I made it through, it was almost humorous to us. We would get back from Tribal and joke around, “Well, Michael’s still here!” And of course, that’s awful because they’re joking about my livelihood in the game I know and love. But it was lighthearted and friendly. I really got along with everybody out there and had a great time. I think it was a respectful end to the battle. For me, game respects game. I knew there’s not a whole lot I could do. I went out fighting with both hands swinging. But I think it was a long time coming, and now that it finally happened, it was players respecting other players’ games.

We saw on the way out that you had voted for Wendell. Was that part of a plan you had formulated going into that Tribal Council?

So talking with Kellyn, she believed my lie about the idol. I was a little surprised, honestly, that she ate it up that much. But we had discussed whether we should target one of the guys or go for Laurel. I think she threw it out to Dom and Wendell and were not super perceptive to voting out Laurel. I know that worried Kellyn because, obviously, that was a red flag for her. So I worked with Laurel, and she was great pretending like she was on the bottom with me as one of the Malolo. I was really tricked by Laurel, thinking she was willing to work with us. Going into Tribal, it was my understanding that me, Kellyn and Laurel were all working together to vote out Wendell as a blindside. I really thought Kellyn knew she could potentially be next if she didn’t make a move now, and same with Laurel. So I thought they were smarter than that [and would] want to make a move when they could while they had me around. Of course, it’s frustrating seeing that I was one vote from staying in the game if I put my vote on Laurel, but it was how the cookie crumbled.

Talk to me about your connection with Kellyn. Previously, you were on opposite sides on Malolo, but you spent so much time with her in the premerge. Did you go to her to prey on that relationship in the hopes of staying?

Yeah, definitely. This cast as a whole, there’s going to be the real superfans and more everyday people. Kellyn was one of those people like [me] where we can completely separate the game from our personal lives. We can really connect as humans, get along and enjoy each other, but also go and cut each other’s throats if we needed to. Of course, we did work together for part of the game, and we were enemies for part of the game. So that was a roller coaster in our relationship. But we love each other; we got so close out there. And of course, with us being that close, as a last resort, I want to do whatever I can. We still laugh at that conversation on the beach because we’re both completely putting up our poker faces and we’re dead set on what we’re saying.

I was trying to work the relationships we built so strongly up to that point because I can’t say I had that with Dom, Wendell, or Laurel. Dom and Wendell, because they were in such power positions for the majority of the game, they were able to put up a wall and box me out and not consider me as an [ally]. I think they knew I wasn’t super naive and wasn’t going to go with whatever they were doing. Wendell obviously knew that I previously targeted him, so there was some bad juju there.

In that conversation on the beach, you told Kellyn that if you survived the vote, you had every intention to stick with her until the end. What was your ideal endgame, and did that include Kellyn in it?

I think if I sat next to any of the Malolo I was with, I could have beat them. I think if I sat next to Kellyn, I would have beat her. It would have been a lot harder because she’s playing a fantastic game, so that’s obviously a hard call. But I definitely would have been loyal to that promise and would have taken her to the end. And I think that does say something about the loyalty. Obviously, things could have changed, but at that moment I really meant it when I said it.

Throughout your final day in the game, there seemed to be a couple of signs that things were working against you. One example is your conversation with Donathan, where you ask him to lend you his idol to make a bluff. Another is walking into Tribal Council and seeing that Jenna is on the jury bench. Did those cause warnings to go off in your head that this may be your time to go?

One hundred percent. It’s hard because you can think about things that can change your game, but they’re not going to change your game unless you can bring it to fruition. I thought it was a brilliant idea to try and work with Donathan and see if I can leverage that. It beats me why he was so selfish with [the idol]. He told me right when we had found that idol together–because I placed my hand on that second half first–he’d be willing to play it for me and that he wanted to make a big move with it. So I was confident that he’d be willing to help me at that moment. He was afraid it’d put a target on his back, but nobody knew he had the idol except for Laurel and Jenna and me, and we weren’t going to say anything. Even if people were talking about me having an idol, it wouldn’t put a target on his back. That still is very confusing to me. Of course, it was very hard hearing he was not willing to do that.

And of course, seeing Jenna sitting on the jury bench, which is the first time in history that’s ever happened, I think it’s crappy she had to go immediately and sit on the bench. That’s no fun at all, no time to decompress or anything. But me and Jenna’s conversation right before Tribal was actually very happy. We were cheerful and kind of confident we’d both come out [safe]. She thought Donathan was going to play the idol for her, and I was sold that me, Laurel and Kellyn had a blindside in the works. So we left on a good note. Then to walk into Tribal feeling good and seeing her there all somber was definitely a buzzkill. I knew at that moment if her plan didn’t work out, then most likely mine wasn’t going to. It worried me for sure.

Let’s speak about your game before this past Tribal Council. You were able to find and play these two idols, but as a negative externality, you had those who were closest to you go in your stead in Brendan and Libby. How tough was that to deal with emotionally, dealing with this duality of guaranteeing your safety while also sending home an ally?

Oh my God, it sucks, dude! It was awful. I couldn’t catch a break with the minority on the swaps, [then I] have the people closest to me get voted out just because of my mistakes. I mean, the second idol play wasn’t a mistake. But of course it didn’t help my game out; it saved me a couple of days, but I lost an ally through it. It was frustrating not being able to leverage those idols and use them to their full potential. I wanted to make some moves and put myself in a power position. Seeing the possibilities and not seeing them follow through was hard and discouraging at times. But I had to stay positive, keep my head up and keep on going. I’m just grateful I was able to put in the work in finding the idols and save myself when I did. Because I probably would have gone home even [at] the Brendan vote if I hadn’t had bluffed. They said I was the original target, and it was switched to Brendan because of the whole idol thing. I’m proud of that, but definitely not ideal in the way they were played.

Talk to me about that idol bluff. Before the game, you talked up your independence, as someone who has struck out on your own in life. But at that moment, you were almost rallying the group to use the idol to benefit them as a whole. What prompted you to do that, rather than choose to just hold on to the idol until you could use it to guarantee your safety?

Like you’re saying, I didn’t just want to save myself for another three days. I wanted to flip the tables and put me and my alliance into a majority position where we could keep the numbers, keep a strong tribe and get to the merge with some momentum. The last thing I was thinking was to save myself. I wanted to keep us four together. We worked well together, and we were all level-headed, smart and social. I wanted to do absolutely everything I could to rally them and make a move out of it. I showed them [the idol] very last-minute; that scene on the beach is minutes before we go to Tribal. I waited until the last second until there was no room for error with the idol where they could use it against me. It didn’t work out, but we gave it our best shot. I’m proud to say that we tried because I’m not at all about making a safe play to stay a little bit longer. I wanted to secure a powerful position.

I knew at Ponderosa, you revealed you were 18 to Libby. But when did you tell everyone else, if at all, and what was their response?

At Ponderosa, I told Libby because I think that would have been very disrespectful to not disclose that to her given there was a spark there. I did tell Jenna, just because we were so close. Having my mom out there, I didn’t want there to be any secrets; we wanted to enjoy our dinner. I bonded with Chris out [in] Ponderosa as well; he’s an awesome guy, super-cool dude. I could tell he’d respect me for being young and playing the way I did, so I told him as well. Those were the three on Ponderosa who knew.

Post-game, I didn’t say a word. I let it trickle. People found out, one way or another. Online, they saw the pre-game stuff and had heard through other players. The responses were absolutely hysterical. People like Kellyn who were a little bit flirty at times and spoke to me as older were very caught off-guard. Brendan was so surprised. Brendan thought I was even older than 24; he kept saying, “Oh, I believed you were 28!” The response was flattering, I should say. They didn’t see that immaturity or whatever it might be in me. But I didn’t get the big reveal that I wanted to if I had made it to Final Tribal.

In response to the ad you and Jenna recently came out with in your Ponderosa video, when are we going to get a formal marketing campaign for “Aqua by Survivor”?

[Laughs] You know, I think that’s something we’ll have to work on here pretty soon. That bit was amazing. We had so much filming that. And [Ponderosa producer] James Seale is absolutely incredible. So we might have to get this campaign going and get it into Macy’s! You never know.