How long have you been playing racquetball?
Uhhhmmm. I think I have been playing ... (to her friend Tracey) Hun, how long have I been playing racquetball? (Tracey "five years") Has it been that long? Holy cow. Five years apparently. Actually I met my friend Tracey, my best-est friend, playing racquetball. She said that we have known each other for five years and that's whenever I first picked up a racquet, so it must be five years now.

What got you started playing racquetball?
I actually contracted rheumatoid arthritis and I was big into the tennis circuit and I played at the state level and I could not play anymore with my arthritis. Then I decided to try racquetball. I kinda have an unorthodox racquetball swing because mostly you use your wrist in racquetball and I use more of an arm motion to protect my wrist. But I took up racquetball and fell in love with it and I have been playing it ever since.

You played, and won women's B, in your state tournament this year. Was it different for you because of your Survivor notoriety?
It wasn't really different. I think the only thing that was different was that I knew a lot more people the second go around [it was her second state tournament] and so it was fun just talking with everybody because I knew them now, they weren't strangers. And a little bit different because more people came to watch my match than they did I '98. I wonder why? (laughing) It must be the quality of racquetball. [Pictured with Kaci Allen at left.]

What, if any, of your racquetball skills helped you to "survive"?
Probably if I had to say anything, it would be my tenacity. I just got one of those … I would call it tenacious -- my husband would probably call it stubborn -- attitudes. Just never, ever, ever giving up. I knew that I was always stubborn, but I think Survivor made me realize the lengths that I would go to. I would rot, like being on that pole out there for 10 hours, I would just rot out there if it meant winning. It's just kinda my personality and racquetball is the same way. Whenever I go out and play with Tracey or my husband it's one of those things that sometimes we get into these battles and it's almost humorous how competitive they get. Long story, but bottom line is I would say my tenacity.

Who are some of the people that you play with regularly and have their attitudes changed any since the show?
I play with my best friend Tracey (Graves), my husband Dale (Wesson), John McCauley and we have a Saturday group. On Saturday mornings we got out and there's a whole bunch of people and play in that Saturday morning group. It's getting so it's hard to even get a court. We play doubles mostly and we just interchange people. But John McCauley, Dennis Stinnett, Dale and Tracey are the four people that I play with the most. And nobody treats me any different at all, I'm still just Tina to them. It's still very much just a competitive racquetball group and we love to just get in there to compete with each other.

The Saturday morning group ... (l-r): Dale Wesson, Jerry White, son Taylor Collins, mom Tina, Tracey Graves, John McCully, Melissa Stinnett, Dennis Stinnett. 

Where do you play?
I play at Court South on Merchant Road. It's the north location. They've got three different clubs but it's the north location in Knoxville.

Have you been able to play very much since the show?
(quickly) No. (laughs) I've played like three times since May 2. I've only been home three days.

What are some of the TV shows that you have been on, and which one was your favorite?
Oh let's see, I have done David Letterman, Rosie, Regis, The Early Show, Late Night with Craig Kilborn, Hollywood Squares. That's all I could think of and my favorite show was Hollywood Squares. It was big time fun, just real silly, real laid back, all the Survivors were on together, so we all got to be together. That was probably my fun-est show that I was on. I also did the opening for the Academy of Country Music Awards and that was probably one of the most exciting things that I have done so far because I got to meet all of the country music stars and everybody was so nice and so down to earth. What an opportunity it was to be back stage meeting and greeting country music stars.

You said that you liked Hollywood Squares the best because all of cast of Survivor was there. Do you still keep in touch with a lot of them?
I do. I keep in contact with most of them actually. We all e-mail each other but I'm on telephone contact weekly with Mitchell (Olson), Colby (Donaldson), Mike (Skupin) … those three I am probably the closest to, and Elisabeth (Filarski).

Have you been able to slow down at all since you won?
The first week was all CBS. I didn't have say-so about things, I just had to go and do all these different things that I was required to do. Now I can say "yes" and "no" and even though I am still traveling a lot I am getting more sleep than I was. I get to get up a little later and I don't have to stay out as late as I was. I can go to bed at a reasonable hour and if I have an event to do it is usually during the day instead of at night so it's definitely a lot better now. But it hasn't really slowed down for me. I still have a lot of travel plans.

Who on Survivor do you think would give you the toughest game?
Colby, or maybe Michael. Skupin would give me a tough game. Actually I believe he may even play racquetball or has played. I am not sure if Colby plays but I think Mike would give me the best game.

I heard a rumor that you were cast to do a movie. Is that true and if so what movie is it?
No, I'm not an actress at all. I don't want to be an actress. I am going to do a cameo, just a one-liner in Return to Gilligan's Island. I've got a one-line thing where I am just going to pop in and say my one line. But no, you will not see me in any movies. I don't want to be an actress.

How has your celebrity affected your family life?
Well, I don't get to cook as many dinners as before. We haven't had a whole lot of dinners together that were home-cooked meals. I knew that I would be home today and leave again tomorrow so I made dinner tonight. It's the first home-cooked dinner I think that we have had in the month of May. And my poor animals, I've had to have Tracey take care of them for me. 

My home life is just totally out of control. You can't see my kitchen table. My answering machine will be just completely full of messages and I just can't keep up at this point. I'm so far behind that it's in control of me, I don't have control of it. It's a little frustrating for me because I am a control freak. It feels a little different because I am so far under that I don't know if I can ever dig myself out with all these things I need to answer and respond to.

What are your future plans in racquetball, and in life?
I really, really enjoy competing in racquetball. I enjoy playing my Saturday morning games with Tracey and Dale probably more than anything else. I don't really have any specific goals in racquetball. I would have liked to have gone to the regionals and nationals and played this year but, of course, my schedule did not allow me to do that. Maybe if things settle down next year. I would like to do that before I get too old, at least attend a national tournament and play in it. So, hopefully, next year I can do that. 

My goal in life is probably to balance out my life with its new changes. I told Mark Burnett when I went to interview for Survivor that I have the perfect life. I am so happy and so content that I don't need Survivor to be fulfilled. That is truly how I feel. Now it's trying to balance the life that I love as a woman, as a mother, as a wife, and the new responsibilities that come along with Survivor. For me the biggest challenge is going to be to balance it all out and to make sure that my husband and my family are not getting the leftovers. It's been one of those situations where you are just trying to keep up. I haven't even hired an agent yet so I've been in the process of doing that. Hopefully he can take over a lot of the responsibilities that I have had to do.

Would you say that the show has made you more resilient?
No, I am one of those types of people who it would be very hard to break me in any situation, already I was that way. Survivor was more, for me, more of proof about who I am. I think the skills that I have developed throughout life which, for me, is being relational, it just goes to prove how far those skills can go. Because Survivor is really a little bit of strategy, a little bit of luck, and a whole lot about relationships. So if anything it just proved my thoughts and my theory on Survivor.

Would you do it all over again?
I would not do Survivor ever again. It's funny because I originally told Mark Burnett that I would do Survivor for free. When I watched the first one I thought 'What a great game'. It is a perfect game with such incredible dynamics. The whole concept of Survivor, I think, is incredible. I went because it was a free trip to Australia, you get to hang out in the outback for six weeks and I love to camp so, for me, it was a paid vacation. I came out of it going I never knew it was that hard, facing starvation and going through the hardships that we went through, I never knew it would be that hard. Now it would take a whole lot more than a million dollars to get me to do it again.

Are you glad that you did it?
I am glad that I did it. I brought back some memories from the outback that will stay with me forever and I still dream about being in the outback, the incredible environments that I was in. You cannot imagine all the animals that surround us out there. You see snakes every single day, there were three snake bites in the first ten days. Hundreds of kangaroos, wallabies, flying foxes, crocodiles, you are just surrounded by wildlife. If you like the outdoors, what an adventure to be in. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to experience that but I was ready for it to be over, come day-42.

Is there anything that you would like to add?
What I would like to say, as far as racquetball is concerned, is that it came along at a point in my life that was a very difficult time. To find out that I had been diagnosed with arthritis, there was a point where I had to sleep sitting up, I couldn't get in and out of the bathtub by myself, and I was giving up a sport that I really enjoyed. It was very social for me to go and play tennis and I enjoyed the people that I played with and here I was having to give up something that meant so much to me. 

Racquetball came along and filled the shoes of something that was a big part of my life. How grateful I am that I get to play and the joy that racquetball brings to my life is pretty significant. Now I even get so that I have withdrawals if I am out on the road. All I can think about is if I only had somebody here that I could play with. It's a fantastic sport, a wonderful athletic release for me and I am just very appreciative of racquetball and everything that people do to put on these tournaments because I know how much hard work it is. 

I would really like to see a lot more women start playing the sport. That's my biggest disappointment is going to play these tournaments and having to play in the men's division or have to go and play A or Open because there's not anyone in my division. I'd love to see an explosion of women in the game.
All court photos, courtesy Jennifer Hunter (pictured above left); Survivor photos, courtesy Tina Wesson.