“We Never Came Close on That Puzzle” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor Hero Stephenie

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Stephenie, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here once again at RealityNewsOnline!

Stephenie: No problem, thanks for talking to me.

RNO: After all you’ve been through in this game, did you ever think you’d be the second person voted out of Heroes vs. Villains?

Stephenie: Honestly, I thought there was a chance I could’ve went first – I knew that coming into the game. I played the game twice and I did very well both times. I knew I’d be a target. And I’ve been out of the Survivor scene. I have my own life and am getting married (to Philadelphia Philly Kyle Kendrick) and keep to myself and don’t try to make a living out of Survivor. I had a feeling it would be a lot of people who live in L.A. and know each other – that I’d possibly be on the outs. And I was, like Tom and Colby – even though Colby lives out there, he’s older and out of that scene. And that’s exactly what happened.

RNO: So is that where your and Tom's alliance with Colby came from?

Stephenie: Tom and I have always been close since our first season. For me to be on his tribe this time and with a guy who is so genuine and so honest and such a gentleman, it was a no-brainer. It was kind of apparent that James and Amanda were tied together. J.T. was all over the place – though we found out later that he had alliances going in.

I just loved Colby and was a fan of his so I was immediately drawn to him. It was a no-brainer to join with Colby. It was us three against the tribe. We just couldn’t pull in the floaters and couldn’t figure it out. Cirie told me she wasn’t tied with James and Amada, but we didn’t know. Candice was a floater. It was a matter of trying to pull in J.T., Cirie, and Candice.

RNO: You know we have to ask this one. Before the immunity challenge, everyone agreed to listen to J.T. since he had done this challenge before. During the challenge, we could hear you say several times, "that's not right," or "it's not right." We saw the challenge and heard from other players – especially James – what they thought went wrong. Can you tell us what happened from your own perspective?

Stephenie: We were listening to J.T. and there were numerous times where there was no talking and the Villains were moving forward. Of course they show me saying, “it’s not right,” because me and James ultimately get in this blowout fight. Me, Amanda, Cirie – at one point Candice was leading the puzzle. Yes, it’s one voice, but if that one voice doesn’t lead, do we all shut up?

As I was watching with my fiancé, I said to him, “I wonder if they are just replaying it over and over because I said it exactly the same each time.” I don’t think I said it that much. They were trying to make a point.

But we never came close on that puzzle. The Villains were like one away and we had one right. The whole time he’s yelling, “Shut up, shut the f up!” which I understand – we’re in the heat of the battle. After the competition, he said, “If y’all would just shut up, we would’ve won.” He was looking right at me, I said to him, “Me? First of all, it wasn’t just me talking. We weren’t even close. It’s over, calm down.”

As he pointed out, I have experience in losing, though I don’t think it’s this omen I give off. Move forward. We can talk about it like adults or flip out like a big lunatic. It just escalated from there. Colby got in his face on the beach – they almost got in a fist fight. Tom got in his face. They didn’t show the half of it.

He was in with Amanda, Rupert didn’t like me from day one. It was just one more reason to vote me off. It was interesting how he chose to spin it. The result was getting rid of Stephenie, but let’s see what the end result is.

RNO: We’ve seen a lot of talk about pre-existing friendships and alliances, and you mentioned it a bit earlier. Did your planned strategy coming into the game involve that or were you looking to start anew?

Stephenie: I was looking to start anew. I knew Tom would be back – who wouldn’t want to have him back? I knew if I was on his tribe, I was aligning with him. But not just him, I was willing to sit down and get to know people. I was a fan of James – until I met him. I was a fan of Rupert – until I met him. It’s not going to be a true Survivor because people know each other, but let’s try to get to know each other and try to figure out what’s going to be the best alliance for us and what’s going to take us furthest in the game, which I think the Heroes lost track of.

Still, if there’s somebody that makes you feel comfortable in that lonely environment, why wouldn’t you stick by that person?