Like the first syllable of his name, Rocksroy Bailey looked to be a solid, reliable force in the game of Survivor. With a simple yet effective mentality of hard work and sticking to his word, he hoped he could blend into the background enough to stick around until the very end. But in this cast, he ended up being the one to stick out, as various personality conflicts and a perception of being unmovable led paper to defeat Rocks at Tribal Council. Rocksroy came to Fiji eager for an eye-opening experience, given the limited amount of literal vision he may have left. He was quick to get to work, which put him in initial conflict with his younger tribe members. In fact, Rocksroy’s bossiness and difficulties with some others nearly made him the first person voted out of Ika. But his work ethic and strength won out over that inclination, keeping Rocksroy in the game. While his allies were getting “Survivor rich,” he was poor in social capital, particularly when it came to his relationship with tribe outsider Tori Meehan. This came to the forefront when she pushed the opportunity to send him off on his own for two days, an opportunity that he surprisingly relished to relax and take in the scenery. That vacation came with a fringe benefit: The ability to “turn back time” and make himself, along with half the tribe, safe in the process. In an instant, Rocksroy had guaranteed himself a spot in the jury phase, but he had no idea what situation he was walking into. After a couple of votes, he decided to shift the momentum in a certain direction, advocating the men come together to avoid getting picked off. Unfortunately for Rocksroy, the men indeed wind up together, as they made up his group during a split Tribal Council. He felt confident that Romeo Escobar would be giving his final monologue as an easy vote. But Omar Zaheer was not eager to keep the “unmovable” player in Rocksroy in the game over Romeo. So Rocksroy was voted out unanimously, with nothing but shattered dreams and hopes that his new “allies” freeze. Now out of the game, Rocksroy talks with Parade.com about his reaction to all of the discussion that happened to his immediate boot at the next Tribal Council, the various comments that were made about him throughout the season, and how he looks back on those two days he spent on Exile. So we need to start with what happened after you were actually voted out. You just get blindsided and are probably processing so many things on the jury bench. But then you have Drea and Maryanne talking about how they felt they needed to play their idols tonight to guarantee that another Black person doesn’t get voted out after you and Chanelle. Talk me through all the emotions you were experiencing at that moment. I’ll bring it to the moment. It’s pouring rain. Drea walks in first. She sees Chanelle, and she sees me. And she’s like, “What the?” Because I don’t think anyone expected my name would be on the chopping block that night. But it was, and I was there. But sitting through all of it, I tried to live in the moment I was in. I just tried to absorb all of it. As you saw on TV, I didn’t have many reactions to what Drea and Maryanne were saying. Because their emotion and their reaction said it all. I did not need to say anything. It was kind of a relief to me. That rain coming down on me was like washing everything away. It’s okay, Rocks, you’re good. Don’t worry. Live in the moment. You had a great experience. You’re so fortunate to be a part of this community of survivors that have played the game. Just be calm. And that’s how I felt about it. It was amazing. I’m looking back and rewatching it last night, seeing how emotional Drea was and saying, “I’m not going to be the third Black person sitting there. I’m going to play my idol.” Then Maryanne looks at Drea and says the same thing. That drew from a lot of our past personal experiences. I’m not putting words in their mouths. But you could see their past experiences coming out. So for me, I was just like, “Wow, take it in. Let it be.” Continuing on last night’s episode, there were quite a few comments thrown your way by Omar and Hai about your demeanor, which was at least one reason why they voted you out. Were you aware of those perceptions when you tried to get that guys’ alliance together? I knew that I had to make a move at some point. Was it too early? Maybe. I don’t think what Omar and Hai surprised me too much. The game is moving so quickly. The time is so much shorter for you to make a decision on what you’re going to do to build a relationship. I had lost two and a half days not building relationships with people because I was exiled on the island by myself. I think that that has to be taken into account as well. I did not get to see a lot of the other social dynamics that were happening because I wasn’t there to see them. So I wasn’t too surprised by how they portrayed me because I was someone new. I was someone coming in who is this person, based on the facts that they have already built from their understanding of two days of knowing and getting a feel of Ika. I wasn’t really that surprised. I think that I’m being characterized as something I’m not. But I understood. It’s a game. It’s the emotion that you’re going through at the moment. And I hold no grudges. Nothing against anything that was said about me or how someone may have looked at me at that moment. Going forward in life, they know–and I hope they will–that I am not that type of person. Talk to me about those days on Ika. There were a lot of comments about you being bossy, and Tori even called you a narcissist. What was your take on that camp, and were you aware of how you were coming across? With ICA, it’s very interesting watching yourself being talked about in conversations that you had no clue about. But I think it should be noted that my name only came up once. I think that was with Drea. And Romeo shot her down right away. My name was never written down before last night. I came in with my strategy as being a provider, someone you can lean on, someone you need, that’s necessary for your better being. Because even though we’re playing a game, you still want to feel comfortable. You still want to have a bit of security, and I wanted to be that person that gave you that. I think Zach, Swati, Romeo, Tori, and Drea all, at the get-go, saw what I was trying to build for them. Putting together our camp would pay off at night. You’re cold; you need fire. It rains; you need shelter. Maybe, because I deal with a five and a six-year-old, the way I conveyed myself came off a little bit bossy. But in that first episode, you see me ask Drea, “Am I being too bossy?” And she said, “Yeah, you may want to tone it down a little bit.” I felt it based on the reaction. But it was all for the better good; it was all for us being a better tribe. We sleep better; we get up and play better. We eat better; we get up and play better. Our mental state going into challenges is going to be better for us. Speaking of perception, I know you’re not on social media. Do you have any thought about how you may have come across to the audience? I try to portray myself as “I am who I am.” Not fugazi, nothing like that. I’m so honored, and so I feel so appreciative. I have not read anything, and I have not seen anything because I do not have any social media. But I hope what anyone says about me, they take me as I am. And hopefully, I’ve had a small impact on anyone’s life out there to make them a better person going forward. You and Tori seemed to have several disagreements throughout your time together. Was it a simple personality conflict, or did one particular incident lead to you two not seeing eye-to-eye? I don’t think there was anything that really happened. We come from a different environment. I was a city boy in Brooklyn; she was kind of a country girl in Oklahoma. She had a room; I had a living room. (Laughs.) But we actually got along really well. We spoke to each other combatively sometimes because she didn’t understand where I was coming from. She didn’t understand my game. I didn’t understand her game at times. But I was always wanting to work with Tori. She is a wonderful, wonderful person. She won two individual immunities! And for me, Ika was still strong. She and I never agreed on how we wanted to express our gameplay. She didn’t understand how I was playing, and I didn’t understand that she wanted to make sure she stayed. I may have reminded her of a person that is confident in themselves and always wants to portray that to people. And I think sometimes that’s a threat, because I am very confident. I was very confident in who I am and what I can do. And she made me feel so incredibly humbled by the fact that she gave her all all the time. We struggled a lot because our tribe was overwhelmed in the challenges by Jonathan and others. But she always gave her all, and I always will give her credit for that. So we were like oil and water, but we had kind of a mixed trust. Even to the end, we understood each other. I want to finish with that moment of reflection you had on Exile. It has to be another mixture of emotions. Here you are, able to take a breath from a very stressful game and take in a beautiful sight that you may not be able to see again in many ways. But then you have this hourglass sitting there and having to weigh the choices of making six people no longer safe. How do you look back on the climax of your time in the game? It’s funny. My name is Rocksroy, and I drew that rock to go. Being just by myself for those two and a half days was incredible. I was able to get back into who I am and remind myself of how fortunate I am to be in such a beautiful place like Fiji. The decision to smash that hourglass, that was difficult. Trust me, I actually considered not smashing it, which is kind of insane to think about. It’s obvious; smash the hourglass, do a do-over. But when I smashed it, I was thinking about Drea. I was thinking about Romeo. And like I said, the Tori factor. Not because I didn’t get along with Tori. It was because I felt as if Tori would perhaps reveal some of the things that were happening to the others. I didn’t know what I was walking back into. So let’s take that out of play and smash the hourglass. But being on that island, experiencing a full moon and a sunrise, was incredible. I felt so privileged. That was kind of my million-dollar experience. I cannot say enough about how spiritual and how incredible that experience was just to have for myself. Next, check out our interview with Chanelle Howell, who was voted out in Survivor 42 Episode 8.
