“It’s Sad That She Has That Much Bitterness” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: Samoa’s Laura

I wasn’t sure what to expect in interviewing Laura. Would she be the “viper queen” described by Shambo or the tribemate most of her cohorts got along with? I am happy to say she is definitely the latter. So let’s get right to it.

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Laura, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at RealityNewsOnline! Jumping straight to the Tribal Council we saw last night, leading up to that final vote of the revote, was there any doubt in your mind that it would be a tie and you would be safe?

Laura: I knew from the first vote that I was going home, because I knew about the John plan. The minute the second Laura vote came up, I knew it wasn’t just Shambo. I knew the whole plan Monica and Brett had put into play didn’t work. I knew it would be a tie so I knew John would flip.

RNO: How did you know John would flip?

Laura: One thing that nobody knew is Brett and I got out there, saw each other when we started playing, and realized we knew each other from church. Brett and I therefore had a really tight alliance and he told me everything. Nobody knew this. Everything the Galu four boys would say, Brett would come and tell me. Therefore, I knew John was gunning for me back in Russell Swan days, when John and Dave and Erik were talking and John was saying that. I knew all that. So John thinks he’s kind of under the radar but I knew it all.

RNO: What did you try to do to counter John’s plans against you?

Laura: We knew one of the boys had to go, and we got out Erik. We weren’t too worried – when I came back from Foa Foa, Brett leans over and says they’re going to try to throw the challenge and vote you out, but Dave and I aren’t going to do it. When Shambo sits me out, I was like, “Oh shoot, they’re really going to do this.” That challenge took so long, I was thinking they were doing it, but it was just a tough challenge. That again confirmed John was coming after me.

We didn’t really do anything to counter it because I knew Brett would never vote against me and neither would Dave. I wasn’t too worried at that point about John until the merge came. When the merge came, I knew Russell was coming for me, I knew Shambo was, I knew John was, I knew Erik was.

RNO: Were you surprised at how much hostility Shambo had for you, or did you know it was that bad?

Laura: I knew it was that bad just because she was always coming after me. I think that’s where she got the whole “90210” thing and she was always coming after me and my tribe. She would accuse me of things I didn’t do and when my tribe would try to correct her, she felt this whole “90210” thing that they were sticking up for me. I think that made her even madder and made her feel even more she was on the outskirts.

She was constantly irritated with me for something. It’s frustrating to watch because if you go back and watch, there’s not one thing I did to Shambo. You see her calling me names and being really mean. Trust me, if there was footage of me being mean to Shambo, CBS would show it. Okay, I called her a Gilligan, but that’s a little different from [the names she called me]. It’s sad that she has that much bitterness towards somebody.

RNO: Based on what you just said, you’ll probably disagree with my next question, but in retrospect, do you wish you, Monica, and Kelly had treated Shambo differently?

Laura: I guess my question would be what did you see us doing mean to her?

RNO: Excluding her.

Laura: That would be what? Not to be combative with you, but I can’t answer a question I feel we didn’t do. We didn’t exclude her – she chose to sleep in the tree. What else did we exclude her from?

RNO: I don’t know, I wasn’t there!

Laura: (Laughs) That’s just what the fact of it is. I know that’s what people are thinking. Just tell me one thing we excluded her from. There isn’t because we never did. To the contrary, we would invite her [to do various things] and she would say her back hurts or her neck hurts. They showed it from the very first scene, we were in the water and she was on the beach complaining. We included her time and time again but they don’t show that.

(Writer’s Note: I know the above reads as being combative, but I want to be sure readers know Laura’s tone the whole time was quite jovial. She was not arguing or getting upset, she just wanted to make her points about the Shambo situation, and tone is hard to read in a printed interview.)

RNO: I know you can’t read minds, but any idea why she didn’t like you?

Laura: I’m glad you said that because I don’t know, I can’t read her mind. I can only tell you what my tribemates said and from determining myself. I think when Shambo came in the game, she wanted to be the strong female in the tribe, and time and time again we would go to the challenges and I would be [designated as] the strong female. Great, she hates me even more!

Also, I’m from the islands so I know about them, and [our tribemates] would ask me questions. I think – I’m assuming – it all culminated together. She wanted to be the one people asked questions to and the strong female. I got along with everybody – the two girls are like my daughter’s age. It sounds like a mother, but I think she was just jealous. I was the strong one, I am her age, I knew how to do a lot of things, I got along with everybody – I think that’s what she wanted her role to be.