Survivor’s [Spoiler] Explains Secret Tribal Council Whispers, Something That ‘I Didn’t Feel Right About’ – TVLine

TVLINE | Why do you think people ultimately landed on voting for you instead of Sophie?
I had more social ties. Sophie and I were both seen as physical threats, but I think I was more of a social threat than Sophie was, and that is dangerous because you’re not gonna win every single immunity challenge, but if you do have people on your side socially, that can do a lot for you. It was just unfortunate that all my social people were on the other beach.

TVLINE | You were an alternate for this season. How did it feel to get told that you would actually be on the show, and how much time did you have to mentally prep before filming started?
Two hours. It was insane because the whole week I was like, “A girl is going to drop out. She’s gonna get scared. She’s gonna get sick. Something’s gonna happen where I’m gonna get into the game.” And then the last day came and all the women were standing strong and I was like, “Oh, I guess I’m going home tomorrow.” So I had finally kind of settled in and accepted that fact that I was not getting into the game. And it was literally 30 minutes before we went to bed that the PAs pulled me aside. They were acting like I was supposed to go see our doctor and they take me to this corner. I’m like, “The doctor’s not over here,” and they pull out a camera and they’re like, “How’s it feel to be on ‘Survivor 49′”? The whole week I was imagining this moment, right? I was imagining like, “Oh I’m gonna say this, I’m gonna do that,” but in that moment I was so shocked and mind-blown and literally speechless that it was actually happening. So yeah, it was amazing.

Then the next morning, we wake up at 4 a.m. and I look into the closet — I literally didn’t know what tribe I was on because I had to bring yellow, red and blue clothes. I look into the closet and I’m wearing yellow and I’m like, “OK, it’s getting started.” It’s been a crazy experience.

TVLINE | Anything else you think viewers should know about your time out there, the vote or your exit?
I feel like whenever it comes to this vote, a lot of people will be confused by why I chose to go against Sophie, who was my ally, and kind of go with Jawan. So I hope this makes it more clear of my decision in doing that. I will also say that my goal was still Rizo, but in the case that he played his idol, that’s when I was like, “OK, well, these are the other options.” And some people might say, “OK, well, it’s a game for a million dollars. Don’t make it about race,” and I think unless you are someone like a person of color, you’re not going to fully understand, but that is a chip on your shoulder that you do have to deal with, and I don’t have regrets. I feel like I did my part. Obviously, I did want to play and win and make it all the way to the end. But there was also just something that I didn’t feel right about, putting another Black person in a row on the jury, because it’s so rare for people of color and Black people to even get to this point in the game. So, yeah, I was playing for a million dollars but I was also going for something more too.