“I Was Truly Planning to Stick with the Women”: An Interview with Survivor’s Lisa

We went into last week’s episode expecting that Rory was in the most danger on Yasur. Then we saw Eliza and Leann fail in challenges. However, it was Lisa who was sent packing! We had a chance to ask Lisa some questions about her time on Survivor and the path that led her off.

RealityNewsOnline: Starting at the beginning, how did you end up on the “youngin’” alliance?

Lisa: I ended up on the "youngin" alliance just by luck. On the second day, Mia, Eliza, and I were walking on the beach and Mia said that we needed to form an alliance just in case we lost the immunity challenge. She suggested that the three of us along with Dolly and Julie become an alliance. Of course I agreed thinking all along that I needed to get in an alliance but didn't want to be the one to suggest it. I was actually flattered that they were coming to me since I did notice it was such a young crowd and I was one of the "older" ones. Who would say no to that!

RNO: After Eliza helped vote off Dolly, you said you had a backup plan – was your plan simply to vote against Mia, or was there more to it that we didn’t see?

Lisa: My backup plan after Eliza voted Dolly out was to go with the other alliance. Scout approached me and said she wanted to play the game with me all along and wished I would go with them. I really DID NOT want to vote Mia out, but I didn't trust Eliza at that point and I certainly didn't want there to be a tie. I was most concerned about that. It seemed at the time that was the only thing to do. I was secretly hoping though that Mia would get immunity from John and I wouldn't have to make that decision. But oh well.

RNO: When you voted off Mia, you commented that you didn’t think she would be going. If that’s the case, who DID you think would be going and why did you vote against Mia?

Lisa: At tribal council I got this strange feeling that it may not be Mia to go after all. After Ami's speech to Twila about getting in touch with her feminine side, I thought, "oh my, Ami is turning on Twila and not voting for Mia." It concerned me because I knew if I continued to vote for Mia and she wasn't voted out, then I'd have a lot of explaining to do. I think that's why I made that comment. Deep down I was secretly hoping Mia was not going to go.

RNO: What went into your decision on which tribe to join when they were mixed up – and do you regret that decision?

Lisa: Hindsight is 20/20 and I totally regret my decision about choosing Yasur tribe after the split. My decision was basically based on numbers and trusting the women. How ironic is that! I thought that if I went with Yasur then the women had the numbers. Even if we lost the next three challenges before a possible merge then surely it would be the men to go first then Eliza. I figured because I switched alliances to go with Scout, Leann, and Ami then they would stick with me. I did look at the Lopevi tribe for an instant and thought of course they would be stronger and last longer. However, my concern there was that it they decided to throw the challenges and get rid of the women, then they would go into a merge with the men having the numbers. I was totally wrong! That decision definitely cost me the game.

RNO: Was Ami as moody as we’ve seen her on the show?

Lisa: Ami was hard to read. She tried to come across as analytical about people and their ways, but I'm a very discerning person and I could see her insecurity all over the place. I did feel like I got along with her for the most part, but there was definitely something unsettling about her personality. Looking back I remember some pretty clear signs of her insecurities especially where it concerned me. I'm pretty sure she was threatened by my strength in challenges and my good relationships with the others. However, I'm out and she's not. She seems to be playing a mean game. Ha.