‘Survivor 43’ Winner Mike Gabler Breaks Down His Surprising Win and Why He’s Donating the Prize Money

The heart valve specialist also gets into his winning “any threat anytime they’re available” strategy.

At long last, Survivor 43 has arrived! Every week, Parade.com’s Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the castaway most recently voted off of the island.

“The best assassin doesn’t show up at the castle with an axe saying, ‘I’m here to kill the king.’ He or she slips into the kitchen, slips a vial of poison into the king’s bowl, then leaves.”

Camouflage can be the difference between life and death. Mike Gabler knows this firsthand, considering his years of outdoor skills in camping and hunting. And he brought that cloaking, quite literally, to the game of Survivor. The heart valve specialist had both positives and negatives to his game. But his ability to slip under the radar and play the middle was undeniable. As a result of his “Alligabler” behavior, he ended the season without a single vote against him. And when he poked his head above water, it was to an ovation from the jury, who gave him the money near-unanimously.

If you had told the Gabler on Day 3 that he was winning, though, he probably wouldn’t have believed you. The oldest person on Baka considerably, he was an immediate outsider, which led to him making a gutsy decision and getting an idol in the first few days. But the game was already wearing on him, to the point where, after losing the first Immunity Challenge, he offered to forgo his immunity and play his Shot in the Dark. Luckily for Gabler, he was talked out of it by Elie Scott, who felt good about keeping him in the game. Those feelings would quickly sour, though, as the premerge went along. Baka kept winning, and Gabler kept getting on the nerves of his tribe members. It got to the point where Elie and Jeanine Zheng not only went through his bag, but tried to trick him into thinking his idol was invalid. When Sami Layadi told him this, Gabler was seeing red, and not in the way he usually does on the job.

When the tribes came together, Gabler used the moment to forcefully put out Elie’s name. And though it led to a tense afternoon of arguments, he accomplished his goal and got out his biggest enemy. Knowing the eyes were on him, Gabler slunk into the shadows, aware that the biggest players were often the ones who got their necks chopped. And he soon became the one to do that chopping. With his threat level dissipated, he made deals and relationships with everyone in the game. The changing dynamics put him in the decision-making position, outside the gaze of warring factions. That culminated on Day 25. Physically and mentally exhausted, Gabler was sent in to make fire against Jesse Lopez, the odds-on favorite to win the game. Pushing through, he was able to assassinate the king of Survivor 43, sending him to the Final Three. It was there he finally shed his camouflage, talking up the game that nobody had noticed. It was a good enough pitch to handily give him the million dollars, all of which–in a Survivor first–he promised to donate to charity.

After the finale, Gabler spoke with Parade.com about how confident he felt that he would be Sole Survivor, his “any threat anytime they’re available” strategy, and his decision to donate all of the prize money to the charity Veterans in Need.Related: Read our Survivor 43 pre-game interview with Mike Gabler

So I have to start by asking how you’re feeling right now. Obviously you found out you won back in the spring. But what’s it been like getting to watch it back throughout the fall and seeing yourself win all over again?You know, it’s a great question. It’s like watching [sports and] knowing the score of a game. It’s like 3 to 30 and triple overtime, but you don’t know any of the plays. Because I don’t know what the edits are gonna be. I don’t know how it’s gonna show what it’s gonna be. So watching it live, I’m on the edge of my seat just like every other fan. Because I am a fan. I’m a superfan of Survivor and watching it play out was really awesome.

I think that Survivor does a great job, in storytelling. And there’s a lot of suspense this season, a lot of blind turns. I was watching your podcast this entire time, Mike. And I would crack up every time, you guys are like, “Gabler, this crazy guy!” I’m like, “Wait!” (Laughs). It was fun. I really enjoyed it. And I feel like now I can shout it from the rooftops. My parents, my family, my friends, everybody can now celebrate and know what I know. Because it’s hard to keep that kind of a secret, that much energy, that kind of experience under your hat for six months.

Well let’s start shouting! How confident were you that you had won after your performance at the Final Tribal Council?I felt pretty confident about it, Mike. I was surprised by one of the votes, the James vote. That was the only vote that really surprised me. I felt pretty good about everything. I’d have relationships throughout the entire season with everybody up there. I was in alliance with every single person up there at one time or another. And I had trust with them. I had experiences with them. And they shared with me, and I shared with them, and we took care of each other. And it’s a game of attrition. So at the end everybody’s gotta go down. But I did it in such a way where I kind of kept my hands pretty clean. And I got people to do my bidding on a lot of things. I planted a lot of seeds. I was more of a farmer than a hunter in this game.

If you go back, there was a clip that they released where me and Cass and Jesse were sitting around the fire eating some rice. And I mentioned, “Hey, you guys have played a great game. I played a great game. All our games are different. But you know, Jesse, if you sit next to Cody, and Cass sits next to Karla, I don’t know.” And lo and behold, things start turning. And I did that throughout the whole game, working relationships and building trust.

I was always in on decisions. I knew where information was coming. The most information came through me. I was with the “Ride or Die” alliance, which was me, Cody, and Jesse. And we were a pretty powerful alliance that nobody knew about until final Tribal. I was with the Baka boys. I was with the Coco crew, the underdog alliance, all these different alliances. And no one knew that I was. They just thought I was in their alliance and not going to anybody. I was only nervous a couple times in the whole game. Believe it or not, I felt pretty good.

You mention that you had all of these alliances. At what point did you decide you wanted to go to the end with Cassidy and Owen?That is an awesome question. And let me give you that answer. I think if you have one way to get to three, that’s good. If you’ve got two ways, it’s twice as good. If you got three ways, it’s three times as good. So I had multiple ways to get to three. If Cody would have played his idol and Karla would have gone home, I still could have gotten to Final Three. It just would have been a different Final Three. If Cass would have gone home instead of Ryan, I still would have gotten to Final Three. I had multiple ways to three. And that’s what I don’t think was clearly shown in the edit.

I kind of took a page out of Sandra’s book, which is “anybody but me.” And I changed it, which was “any threat anytime they’re available.” And Cody was a threat. I planted a few seeds and it was germinated a bit. Jesse’s ready to make this move, or he was willing to go in on it. So was Cassidy. We’re gonna act ourselves up and play this game. And we played that game. And Cody went home, Karla went home, Jesse went home. And I ended up with one of my alliances, the underdog Alliance, which was me, Cassidy, and Owen. They’re great players. I love them, trusted them, played with them since the merge. So I had a bunch of different ways to get there. And that was kind of the secret sauce to my success this season.

Well, you talk about these relationships. And I do think the reason why many are surprised by your win is because things were rockier back on Baka. Were you aware of the perception you had in the premerge of being on the outs and getting on people’s nerves?I was. But part of that is also the edit. Like the day of that clip where Sami and I are on our fishing trip and we’re kind of frustrating each other a little bit. We laughed ourselves silly out there. We fished like crazy. We caught a bunch of little fish. We had a good time. I mean, Sami and I want to do The Amazing Race together. That relationship was much stronger than portrayed.If you look at Baca, I kept that knowledge of Elie and Jeanine looking through my bag under my hat for 10 days. I went and looked for the idol, even though I knew Jeanine had tricked me out of my bead. I didn’t confront them.

I waited and was very patient until the right time to unveil things and to act on it. And when we got to the merge, you have this opportunity. The merge is halfway, and if you get the the merge, you think that you stay with your original core people, and you’re gonna get to Final Five. I mean, maybe, but really unlikely. You gotta meet other people. And there was success in meeting Cody, Jesse, Karla, James, everybody. So for me, when I got to the merge, I knew if I got to the merge, I’d get to the end. If I got to the end, I thought I’ve had a pretty good chance to win.

Of the relationships we didn’t see, which ones would you say were most pivotal to your game?I don’t think they necessarily showed as many relationships as I had with as many people out there. Like I had a really good relationship with James. They showed me with Ryan. Obviously Sami and I were tight. Owen was a calming factor. I just liked being around him. He’s a cool guy. Jeanine, Ellie, I can go down the list. I’m a fan of the show. So imagine I’m on this show with his these castaways, and I’m looking at them in the eyes just like this. And I’m like, “You are an amazing person. I want to learn as much as I can about you.” And I really did.

I honestly got to know each person out there. And not in a devious way, like, “I’m gonna get you later.” But because I was like, “I’m so grateful and blessed to be on the show with these amazing people. I want to get to know them.” And by doing that, it, you know, I’ve got lifelong friends. I really do. I mean, we all talk to each other. Even Elie, I talked to Elie for an hour yesterday. She’s a great person. We have a great relationship.

It’s interesting you mention Elie, considering that was the moment you seemed most out “in front.” When you make that effort to put the target on her at the merge, how much do you think that changed your gameplay and perception?I think it positively affected my game, in that it showed that I could be decisive. I could be bold when I needed to be. And she’ll admit it, she underestimated me early on. And that’s okay. I was humble enough to allow myself to be underestimated. I didn’t have to be like, “I’m smarter than you think I am.” I’m like, “Okay, if that’s how you see me, that’s how we’ll have a relationship.” But it will bite you. It’ll bite you.” And it did.

So I knew that her and Janine had been, hiding things from me. And you’re playing a game of strategy, I totally get it. And they were hiding the fact that they tricked me out of my bead, and that they didn’t tell me they had an immunity idol. I knew that I gave them multiple opportunities to come clean with me; they didn’t. And then when we finally got to the merge and there’s that merge feast, I’ve been waiting 10 days to drop that truth bomb. I’m in the middle of biting a sandwich. And Karla brought up, “Hey, are we going to talk about strategy?” Ryan threw out the idea of the seven of us, which didn’t go; people weren’t biting on that.

So I just pulled out that grenade and threw it out there. And, you know as well as anybody, if you bring up a name in the middle of a merge, it’s probably going to stick. And it did. And it was good. Because at that point, we were adversaries in the game. And I didn’t want her on the jury. And I didn’t want her in the game with me, because she was not going to be helping me. If I had to battle her even bigger than I already did, then it was gonna be maybe a battle for three more episodes, then I would be a clear target after she got out, or she would have gotten me out. So I had to get her out.

In both the premiere and the finale, you talked about how physically drained you were from the elements. How much did that affect your gameplay?The first week you’re out there, Mike, is the worst week. The days are the worst. Because you are delicious. You are full of sugars, minerals, and salts, and the bugs love you. I had bug bites on my bug bites on my bug bites. And I sunburn so bad. On that first challenge my back peeled. I mean, we were dehydrated. We were hungry. I mean, I’ve never gone a week without eating. So that mental game early was the hardest. And my feet, as you saw them, were pretty gross, man. They were pretty freakin’ gross flippers, man. They were weird. I was turning into fish feet. And in the jungle, you don’t dry out. That first week was really hard. It was mind over body. And I had to just get through it.

People are like, “Well, how did you get through that?” Because tapping out is something you could do. But you have to play for something bigger than yourself. On that grip challenge I was hanging on, I was calling on a hero after hero to inspire me. The first five minutes the grip challenge were the worst. After that, when I started naming heroes and things, they were empowering me. I was getting these endorphin rushes. I could have held on to that damn thing for hours. Literally, I was holding it with one hand at one point.

And, thinking about the game during the hardships, those 26 days, I was thinking about what I was going to do with the money. Because I thought about this with my wife and one of my buddies, who was also a veteran, and what I was going to do with the money if I won it. And I was like, “Gabler, you cannot quit. You must win. You must do better at these challenges, because people are counting on you.” And it gives you strength. I mean I could do this for Gabler. But I take care of patients. I work on a heart team. I love the service; it gives me strength and it gives me power. And that’s what helped fuel me through the game.

On that note, we need to talk about your choice to donate all your winnings to Veterans in Need. At what point did you decide to do this, and did anyone know about it?I kept it quiet. Well, first of all, I talked about it with my wife and my buddy before the show. And we were like, “If you get to the end, let’s do something powerful, something good.” There’s a lot of news out there, just terrible stuff. I love Survivor, the human story of Survivor. I love the heroes, and season 43 is full of heroes. Every person on that show is amazing. And I’m like, “Let’s do something big with this money.” And I kept it under my hat.

And I’m glad I did too. Because I wanted to win this on my own merit. It would have been cheap and hollow if I would have been like, “Hey, wait a minute. Owen’s awesome, and Cassidy is awesome. But I’m gonna donate this.” No, I wanted to win it on my own merit and then make the announcement. And I’m glad the editors came about it later in the show where I unveiled it during one of my confessionals. And I’m glad that they edited the way they did, because I think it was surprising. Even though I was very much about it all along, I didn’t want to use veterans to benefit me. I want to benefit veterans.

What has the response been like from both your family and the veteran community, considering how much you shouted them out?I work with with a lot of great people that do a lot of great things. And I’m humbled and honored to play a small role on their teams. So I work with surgeons and cardiologists. I am not a doctor, let me make that clear. Because that’s been confused a little bit. I’m not a doctor; I’m a heart valve specialist. I work with a heart team. But they’ve all appreciated that. With the company that makes the heart valves that I work with, that we put together, that save lives every single day, it’s been very positive. Ther are so many people that go into making these things, like making sure the bovine pericardial tissue makes the stand for R&D and all this kind of stuff. And everybody took pride in that, as they should

When we take care of one hero, it affects that entire family. We took care of a patient last week, 44-year-old mother of two. And I’m so blessed to get to do what I do every day. The million-dollars doesn’t matter to me. I mean, what am I going to do with a million dollars?  I’ve got a million-dollar job, I love what I do. I love who I work with. And the fact that we can take care of people, and I go on this amazing adventure and take care of people that need us desperately. I mean, every day, the suicide rate is off the charts. People with PTSD, traumatic brain injuries. For us to be able to help people with this money, Survivor’s the gift that keeps on giving.

As a winner, you are definitely an outlier in terms of character. And as mentioned on the after show, you are the second-oldest winner in Survivor history. Do you think your win may mean anything for future players?You know, I hope so, Mike. I mean, I’m 52 years old; I was 51 when I was on the show. And I’ve been a fan of the show since Day One. I have watched every episode. I have great respect for the game, for the project ,and for everybody that’s a part of it. And if you want to do this, I encourage you to try it out. Put together on an audition video and send it in. Because I did thism and you can too! Look at anyone on that cast. Little Jeanine had a heart of a dragon. I mean, she was just unbelievable.

What’s magical about Survivor and why as a fan I love to watch it is the harshness, in the rawness of the experience. You come out and your heart really explodes with purpose. You never know who’s gonna win the immunities. Look at Cass, I mean, three challenges. Owen, three challenges. Look at him and Karla not just the breaking the Survivor challenge and the record, but the ocean. They broke the tide. I’m like, “Did that happen?” It was incredible.

Next, read our interview with Cody Assenmacher, who was voted out in Survivor 43 Episode 12.