Survivor: The Amazon – An Interview with JoAnna

RNO: Did you think that preaching to the others and lecturing them would help you in the game, or did strategy not really come into play – in other words, was it more important for you to win the game or to say what you thought was right?

JoAnna: There are 15 losers in SURVIVOR and 1 winner. I figured if I be myself and I lose, GOOD. If I be myself and win Great! But to be anything less than what and who I am, for any reason – I lose regardless of were I fall in the numbers. Representation and Praising the Lord was and is far more important to me than pleasing people who don't care if I live or die. I never preached to anyone – I don't like that – but if you ask me I will tell you, perhaps more than you'd like to hear, and more of the truth than you have heard. As you can tell in my response to these questions. I really love you guys... you have made all of these comments possible!

RNO: Jeanne said the two of you nominated Deena as leader, hoping she would rub people the wrong way. What went wrong?

JoAnna: It was between me and Deena as leader. You have apparently more information than the general public. I did not want to be the leader and told Jeanne to vote for Deena because she wanted the title. I have been a real leader long enough to know it is not the title that makes you a leader, it is your level of influence, your credibility, and your actions. Even as chosen leader, Deena was still intimidated by my mere presence. Because of who I am, if at anytime I decided to play the game, her position would have been in jeopardy. Even with the strong three, I would have still been a major threat because of my unspoken leadership qualities and power to persuade. As you noticed it wasn't an outright face off, "JoAnna we are voting you off" deal. I know you feel the power I have even in this response. Now imagine having to eat and sleep with it 24/7... If I was to go, I wanted it to be for the reasons that they stated to America – I was just better than they were, not because I was a poor leader. [RNO Note: Regarding her statement that we have more information than the general public, in fact we have no information that was not presented on the show itself – but that’s where Jeanne said she and JoAnna nominated Deena as leader because she could be bossy and would hopefully rub people the wrong way.]

RNO: Was the vote a surprise to you or did you see it coming?

JoAnna: Shawna indicated that her alliance was locking her into the game. I did not know if they would choose logic or emotion. They chose emotion, now Deena can be Alpha female, because she sure couldn't have my title while I was still in the game. SWEET.

RNO: We have seen Heidi and the other younger women talking to the cameras about being cute and all that – did they say something out in the open that caused you to lecture the younger women on beauty being only skin deep?

JoAnna: No, I had no idea they imagined somewhere in their finite minds that they could hold a candle to me in a pitch black dark room. I had no idea we were competing against each other in a beauty contest – if so then let the games begin – I thought we were going against the guys, not trying to get with them. As far as the lecture, again if you were listening you heard Jenna ask us to sit around and talk about our families so that we could keep things in perspective. You also heard me stating that my Mom always has said this too shall pass and that SURVIVOR wasn't the first hard thing I'd done – you were listening right? Just checking – the other thing my Mom taught me was that "favor is deceitful" as in SURVIVOR I was saying to them you smile is my face and praise me, but I know you envy me, you are after a million, and your heart is not with me. "Beauty is vain" I am all that on the outside, but my Mom said have something on the inside too. "But a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised" simply means a woman with virtue, character, integrity, self-worth, self-discipline, one who walks in excellence and uses discretion in her dealings, among other things that most members of our tribe lacked. It is evident in their behavior when the mere "POSSIBILITY" of winning 1 million dollars is waved in their faces. They "are" so vain that my words hit them in their inner most being and stirred the shallow parts of their conscience and have left them with something to think about to this very day. Being in the jungle and hearing those words is one thing, but hearing them again rung around the world in the ears of your students, family, and friends... coworkers, parents, community makes them much more profound and they haunt you for the rest of your AGING life.

I’d like to thank JoAnna for replying to our questions.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at rno@pobox.com.

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