Toodles, Ted!

Big Ted Rogers was the latest casualty on Survivor: Thailand. The 37-year-old software developer from Durham, N.C., spoke with Julie Chen on The Early Show about his time in Thailand.

Actually "Big Ted" should be called "Middle Ted," Chen noted. He lost 60 pounds during his 36 days on the island. And the shower he had as a result of winning the reward challenge was "tremendous." But, the non-drinker admitted, that after indulging in the wine at dinner, he "not only had a big hangover, I had a humongous hangover."

The long-standing pact between Rogers and Brian Heidik fell apart on day 36 and Rogers was left without an alliance, and ultimately out of the game. Was it fair to say that Brian had betrayed him?

"Fair to say that Brian played the game and is playing the game to the best of his ability. So he had to do what he had to do to potentially try to be in the position to win a million dollars," he replied.

But was Heidik the reason Rogers wasn't in the final four?

"I think the reason I'm here now is because my strategy wasn't as strong as I thought it was. And that's just the way the game is played. And unfortunately, my alliance wasn't as strong as I thought it would be. And it didn't carry me to the end," he answered.

Rogers was asked about Helen - after all, he had shared his reward challenge with her, and she thanked him by voting against him.

"Do you ever feel like she betrayed you? She kind of made you feel like she was going to stay on your side," said Chen.

"Yes, yes," Rogers said. "One of the advantages of being on the island as long as I've been, and being involved with the Chuay Ghan tribe from the beginning, I kind of knew the mode in which they would operate as far as decisions were made and who was going to be voted out next. As far as Helen was concerned… Helen did what she had to do as far as from a self-preservation standpoint. Even though we discussed the strategy and she saw the strategy clear as day, she couldn't really let Brian or Clay or anyone else know that we really, really saw the light, except for Jan. And so I think she had a balancing act. I don't look at that as a betrayal. I look at that as a smart move on her part."

Chen remarked that early on it looked like it was the guys against the girls in his tribe. Was that really the case?

"I started this game with an alliance with Brian," he said. "Clay was just a person that tagged along, if you will. So, I didn't look at it as guys vs. girls. I looked at it as: Who do I have an alliance with? And if that alliance wavered in any way, what is my next option?

"My strategy always has been adaptability. So I wanted to adapt to whatever the situation brought to me. So I formed an alliance which I thought with a person who was just as competitive as me. And I thought that the two strongest members of the Chuay Gahn tribe would go all the way if we kept the alliance intact. But if not, I was willing to form an alliance with anyone else."

Speaking of Clay, Chen wanted to know if he is "a brilliant player or just so lucky. No one likes him, they say he doesn't do anything - yet he's still there."

"I think Clay is a very lucky player. And I think that his strategy is a unique strategy. I think he's very lucky to be where he is," Rogers said.

Chen was not going to let Rogers get away without grilling him about the Ghandia "grinding" incident.

"It was truly an unfortunate mistake on my part. It had to deal with dreams. Even before that incident, I remember incidents where I had a vivid dream of a lizard attacking me and I was yelling and screaming and Mama Jan basically had to tell people to wake him up, get him out of this dream. Unfortunately that's just me. I have vivid dreams. And in that position with Ghandia at that time, I had an inappropriate dream, and I acted inappropriately. However, I don't take full responsibility for blowing the proportion out -- way out. But I do take responsibility for the mistake," he admitted.

Chen then opened the discussion to telephone callers.

"Robert" wanted to know whether Ghandia's actions, whether directly or indirectly, caused all the issues to come up later on the show.

Rogers replied, "No, I don't. It's really hard for me to say, to be honest with you. I looked at it at that juncture in the game, that it really didn't matter what she said. I mean, I just wanted to make sure that everything was out in the clear. And everyone knew the truth. And fortunately for me, honesty prevailed."

And, he said, they are not back on speaking terms. But he really doesn't have much contact with any of the other contestants either.

Another caller wanted to know about Roger's wife. What did she have to say about the whole Ghandia incident?

"I tell you, my wife is an amazing person. Just like any other spouse, she was upset. She was very, very embarrassed, as I was. But we worked through this together. And we resolved the issue. And now we look back at that as a mistake that happened. And we do look at it and we can talk about it. And we've moved on. I like to say that for us, the drama train of that incident left the station a long, long, long time ago."

What a lucky survivor.