“Every Little Thing You Say Is Going to Change the Game” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor Hero Amanda

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

Amanda: Sure.

RNO: To jump right into things, you had the clue in your hands and Danielle practically tackling you to get it, while Colby gave you no support. What do you think you could have done differently, other than maybe clawing out Danielle’s eyes or something?

Amanda: (Laughs) Oh my gosh, the thing is you can’t play this game by yourself. If you don’t have a good wingman – J.T. was mine for a while, James was supposed to be mine the whole game – if you don’t have somebody who has your back, you can’t play it. There were Survivors who came back who didn’t play it like we did – the game has evolved.

I don’t know what I could have done. I was looking for it, Colby was having a party and excited to eat popcorn and watch a movie. You have to be careful who you pick on your side. It was kind of hard to play with some people this time. I felt like, if we don’t get this clue we’re done. No matter what. Obviously, Colby had different thoughts in his head.

What I should have done was taken the clue and taken it to the bathroom and then read it and flushed it down the toilet. Colby was on my side and I thought we were working together. I was shocked when he wouldn’t help me. He made me feel so bad about it and I was like, “Are you kidding me?” Sometimes you just have to take things in your own hands and I should have.

RNO: In your final words, you said you made too many mistakes. Other than the clue at the reward, what mistakes were you talking about?

Amanda: Quite a few, actually. I was sitting pretty until we merged – I could have gone with Candice and Colby or with J.T. and Rupert. I put myself in the best position possible. I had everything pretty much handled. Then we merged and I didn’t think enough about it – I wanted to work with Parvati but we had a discussion in the jungle and then she told Russell everything I said, so I didn’t trust her anymore. I played a little messy.

Maybe I should have done something different – I don’t think I should have tried to get Parvati to play her idol. I should have thought about it more, to be honest. But when we merged, it was pure chaos.

RNO: How did you know Parvati told Russell everything?

Amanda: Because Russell told me everything she said. There was a lot that happened. [Parvati and I] didn’t trust each other and my trying to get her to play her idol was a mistake. There was a lot they didn’t show that happened between me and Russell that shouldn’t have happened. Like we read off each other and I told him too much information at one point and that led to other things that happened. I can’t really go into everything because they didn’t show everything on the show. You have to be careful what you tell people because every little thing you say is going to change the game in some way.

RNO: When you tried to convince Parvati that the Heroes were after her and to use her immunity idol, how much of that was real concern for her and how much was game play?

Amanda: It was kind of a mixture of both because I didn’t know if I could trust her or not. I wanted to work with her again because she plays the game and a lot of people on my tribe like Rupert and Colby aren’t that strategic. They can’t lie very well. There were a lot of times where we would talk about who we were voting out and Rupert would lip who we were voting for and Russell would see it, so we’d have to change the vote. It was pretty much me and Russell trying to trick each other into who we were voting for.

RNO: Did you realize at the time that you had accidentally tipped off Parvati last week, allowing her to use the two immunity idols the way she did?

Amanda: I was trying to do too many things at once. I knew she wasn’t going to believe me. Part of me wanted her to play it and part wanted her to save it if I was going to work with her. We were going to vote for Parvati and then we weren’t, so it was really difficult, I didn’t know what to tell her. Everyone wanted Parvati off, so there were times when she was definitely going to be voted off.

RNO: When I spoke to J.T. last week, he said everybody was on board with the idea of handing the idol to Russell before the merge – though he did note that you spoke up for a few minutes about it. Why didn’t somebody smack him upside the head and argue against the move?

Amanda: That’s another mistake I made. They didn’t show this either, but I was searching for the idol for a while before J.T. found it – I didn’t put my hand in the hole deep enough to find it. I felt so stupid, J.T. found it and it was the worst mistake ever.

I was against it from the start but when someone else has the idol… I tried to talk to him but he thought it was the best idea ever and he was very proud of it and there was really nothing anyone could say. He was gung ho. He was really excited about this.

RNO: On last night’s show, Candice told Russell that you’d crossed her too often. Do you know what she was talking about?

Amanda: At the beginning, Candice and I didn’t really like each other or trust each other. But I’m surprised she said that then because we had kind of patched things up. I’m not sure why she said that. I wanted her out a lot of the time at the beginning because of her previous season when she flipped all the time. J.T. wanted her out and we talked everything out and I kind of stuck up for her. Obviously, I shouldn’t have.

RNO: Why didn’t any of the Heroes seem to even consider the possibility that Candice was flipping, even as Sandra was telling you?

Amanda: I did because I saw Candice running around and that’s always dangerous. I talked to her so many times. She’d talk to Russell and I’d pull her away and ask if everything’s good and tell her we have to do this. I’d get her all pumped up about our side and Russell would grab her again. It was like a tug of war with Candice. At the last minute, I knew Sandra was on board and I really thought they were going to vote our way because I pretty much explained she was going to be voted out if she didn’t vote our way.

RNO: If the opportunity somehow arose, would you play the game a fourth time?

Amanda: No.

RNO: I’m being told we’re out of time. So is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?

Amanda: It was just really great. I’m starting my own fragrance line called Wild – a women’s organic fragrance. It’s kind of led into some avenues I’ve never imagined myself getting into. It’s been a blessing.

RNO: Is that available yet?

Amanda: It will be done in about a month.

RNO: OK, be sure to let us know when and where we can find it. Thanks again, Amanda!

Now you can follow RealityNewsOnline on Twitter and on Facebook! On Twitter, you can get up to the minute notifications on article postings and other reality TV news by following us. So head on over to RealityNewsOnline’s Twitter page! On Facebook, you can become a fan, join discussions, and more!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains articles here on RealityNewsOnline:

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com. You can also follow him on Twitter!

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! Don’t forget to take a look at the rest of the site and buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about Survivor, be sure to check out SirLinksALot: Survivor and Survivor Fever!