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

RNO: Going back to the beginning, what was your strategy coming in to Survivor?

Laura: One of the first things was I needed to prove I was strong. Being one of the older ones and being small, I didn’t want to be perceived as being weak. My second was to align with somebody – unfortunately, Russell was on the other team because he was my prefect quarterback – somebody to drive the ball and I would not ride coattails but would be their wingman. Then, on the very last play of the game, go to the superbowl, step to the side, your quarterback gets taken out.

So I wanted to align with somebody who was really aggressive in the game and was ready to play. But we didn’t really have anybody like that on our team. Not in a bad way, but we didn’t have a stir-up-trouble Russell on our team. So we all went into it together. But at this point in the game, I knew I had to win immunity. I needed to win every one to stay in the game.

The really frustrating part is that Brett would have given me that necklace had he hit that target and won. He told me because he knew he was safe and Shambo would not write his name down. It was really disheartening when I didn’t get a chance to go for the necklace and when Mick put his arrow inside of Brett’s. It’s hard and I was like, “There goes my shot.”

RNO: Speaking of Russell and how you would have liked to have an ally like him, when you went to Foa Foa, you seemed to bond with Russell and Natalie. After the merge, you did a full 180 and decided that Russell was the biggest snake since the Garden of Eden. What precipitated such a change of heart?

Laura: There wasn’t a change of heart – I never had a bond with him on the island. It shows me when we’re shaking hands but I don’t know if you heard the sarcasm in my voice – I had no intention of going to the final two with him. I totally bonded with Natalie. But Russell is just creepy – you can’t hide creepy. He was very aggressive. I knew he was a huge player. What do you do when somebody says, “Me and you, alliance?” You’re not going to say, “Sorry, I have one already.”

But then when we merged and he showed me the idol, I knew he was a liar because he had told me on Foa Foa that Ben had it. You see when I tell him no that’s not going to happen, he gets really, really upset and he gets in my face and says, “Look, little girl,” and said, “I’m the reason…” and he named off all the victims in his tribe. First off, I don’t need somebody telling me what to do, I’m not a 22-year-old girl. I said, “Look, don’t threaten me.” It almost got personal, beyond game play, and I said, “Don’t threaten me.” He didn’t like that, it was just a culmination of things – he was frustrated and I think he just came after me hard and I wouldn’t change a thing. I know it sounds funny to say because it could have cost me the million dollars, but there are some things money just can’t buy.

RNO: Did it surprise you to see that you were the latest in a string of strong women who stood up to Russell and whom he therefore targeted in return?

Laura: I knew I was his next target the minute I said no. Even at Foa Foa, Natalie told me, “Russell’s in charge of everything here.” I knew he was the head of that family and was the one that was going to come over and try to sway people. The minute I told him, “You’re not the boss of me,” he got upset. I thought, here we go, I’d better start winning some challenges. I knew Shambo had flipped. Do you make a deal with the devil or hold my own? Like Dave said, let’s roll the dice, let’s go.

RNO: What was the first thought that went through your mind last week when Russell stood up with the immunity idol for the second Tribal Council in a row?

Laura: I wanted to know where he found it because I was at that bridge all day. I was looking under it, I was looking all over. I was looking for the idol that Erik left with because I didn’t know he had it and I was still assuming we had an idol on our beach. I was at that bridge – there are only a certain amount of landmarks at camp. I’d been searching all over, so I wonder when it got placed there – it was just kind of suspicious to me.

RNO: Before seeing it on TV last night, did you know he had found his third idol?

Laura: We knew he had the third. Even though we didn’t see him find it. It was kind of hilarious, him playing the cat and mouse game – that was hilarious, him running and jumping through the jungle. It was hilarious. Then all of a sudden, you see him lying on the swing. It’s like the cat that just ate the mouse, he just about had the fur hanging out of my mouth. We were like, that sucker has it.

RNO: Unfortunately, I’m being told we’re out of time, so do you have anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?

Laura: It was a very rewarding thing to do because your whole life you always see these things. To actually do it and prove, okay I did it, that was awesome. To be kicked off because I was a threat, I can hold my head high and say yeah, that’s okay. It was an amazing experience and I’m so thankful and so blessed I got the opportunity to do that.

RNO: Thanks again, Laura!

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