'Survivor' Winner Chris: I Lied

Says He Had To; Adds He'll Go Back To Work, Despite Winning $1M

(CBS)  Chris Daugherty candidly admits he lied during the course of "Survivor, Vanuatu."

"If you want to … have a shot, you're going to lie," he told The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen. "You look at me and (fellow "Survivor contestant) Twila, we lied and played the game. …I went into the game knowing a time during the game I'm going to have to lie."

That was only part of the wining hand that Daugherty revealed to Chen, who presented him with his champ's check for a cool $1 million.

How does it feel?

"It's sinking in slowly, but surely. I'm feeling great right now. It's amazing. You know, I'm still just reflecting on everything that's happened and, all of a sudden, here I am."

Daugherty says he's going to buy a Harley Davidson motorcycle and fix up an old house he has. He told Chen he intends to give a significant chunk of his prize to charity.

He also plans to return to work on an Ohio road crew, saying he really enjoys the company of his coworkers.

What's more, Daugherty isn't deluding himself, sheepishly conceding that fiancée Lori Groves will have a big say in where the money goes.

During "Survivor, Vanuatu," Daugherty stayed true to a vow he voiced: "I didn't come here to get second place, and I sure as hell didn't come here to get third or fourth. I come here to win."

When the game began, Daugherty looked like he'd be going home early." But after 39 grueling days, he proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had the stuff to be the sole survivor.

Almost from the start, Daugherty had to flip his planned strategy on its ear, then keep flipping.

"It's hard to have a strategy going into the game when you don't know the type of people you're going to be playing with," he told Chen. "First of all, they separated us (by) gender, so there was an initial shock when the game started, because my initial plan was to maybe hook up with a middle-aged woman and, you know, sort of the Colby-Tina type thing ("Survivor: Australia"), because it seemed successful. Then, they threw me in with eight other guys, and I knew right then that just making an alliance and having the numbers was the way to go.

Chen observed that, for a while, it was the women dominating and picking off guys just because they were guys. How did Daugherty overcome that?

"Well, I was put in a situation where I was the last man standing and, basically, I knew not to say anything wrong, you know? The last thing I wanted to do was put my own foot in my mouth. I kind of sat back and the six women slowly, but surely had, you know, conflicts between 'em, and they was ripping each other apart and I seen that because they had been together for so long. So I kind of sat back and watched.

"At the same time, I played a sympathy card. Definitely, I pulled it out when Chad got voted off and it worked. And it was great. Amazing."

Something else became clear to Daugherty as the game wore on. "Ami was a power player in the game and she was somebody that I definitely wanted to stay close to, but not strategize with, because it just seemed like everyone that talked to Ami throughout the game -- any guy that talked to Ami, their head was on the chopping block pretty quick. She was making short work of the guys.

"Then last night, I find out what kind of power Leann had. I basically just kind of drew myself close to Julie. Eliza was a big factor. She was the one that jumped the fence with me and Twila and Scout."

Did Daugherty pick Twila to be sitting next to him in the final two because he didn't think he could beat Scout?

"Oh, absolutely. Twila was the most controversial player in the game. You know, it was evident, you know? She's outspoken. She can't help but tell you the truth and how she feels. And I knew if I had an opportunity to go to the end with Twila that, you know, yeah, she definitely had made a lot of enemies throughout the game. Making promises, breaking promises."

On winning three of his last four immunity challenges, Daugherty observed, "Anything could have happened. There is no trust. No trust. The final four, immunity was the only trust you had."

The other three Final Four contestants agreed that Daugherty deserved to win.

"He played a great game," Eliza told Chen. "He played me (well). That's for sure"

"Chris started this game really weak," Scout recalled. "He finished so strong. He was likeable. He developed good rapport with everybody. He deserves it."

Twila said simply, "He outplayed everybody."

Twila, who gets $100,000, says she'll use the prize money for "bills," though, after taxes, it won't quite cover what she owes.