Papa Bear blames young tribe on Survivor exit

Mark Caruso says he had trouble bonding with the younger members of his tribe. Photo / Supplied

Survivor's latest victim Mark Caruso says he was eliminated because he was older than the rest of his tribe mates.

Caruso, a former New York City police detective who goes by the nickname "Papa Bear", was eliminated from Survivor: South Pacific after his tribe tricked him into thinking they were all voting for "nerd" John Cochran.

The 48-year-old then lost a nailbiting Redemption Island duel against Christine Markoski and was sent home.

Caruso told nzherald.co.nz he had trouble bonding with the younger members of his Savaii tribe but gave himself his friendly nickname in a bid to win them over.

"I was with a lot of Barbie dolls and Kens, and a nerd. On the other tribe were older people. I thought, 'I need to think of something really fast to maintain myself on this tribe'. What will reach into their inner psyche? Everyone has a dad, that's where (Papa Bear) comes from.

"Do I think it worked? They had a lot of respect for me, for sure."

Caruso denied that experienced Survivor player Oscar 'Ozzy' Lusth was running the tribe.

"The thing wtih Ozzy is he's such a nice guy, he shares, but he's asleep. He doesn't have what it takes to be the leader. We wanted to keep Ozzy on for a bit, and then get rid of him. He's strong, he's good in challenges and he's a good provider.

"Jim (Rice is running things). He's quiet, and devious."

Caruso, who spent two days on Redemption Island, said he didn't expect Markoski to be as good as she was during their bag-throwing duel.

"It's a real game with real people. You're hungry, you're tired, you're filthy, we didn't sleep and then you do a challenge. It's hard, it's not a joke. If you ate and had the proper hydration you'd probably do that challenge in 30 seconds and win.

"It was a nailbiting experience, it was nine-nine and she won out over me."

He wished he'd spent longer than just 10 days on the show but believed he'd been put on the wrong tribe.

"I'm always the friendly guy. I make friends real easy. In the group I was with it was harder because they bonded so fast because they're younger.

"That just left me with an old woman, Dawn, and a nerd, John, and the rest is history."

* Survivor: South Pacific screens on Four every Wednesday at 8.30pm. nzherald.co.nz will interview every contestant as they are eliminated.

- Herald online