“All of Your Strategies Fly Out the Window”: An Interview with Survivor’s Eliza

As Eliza went through the game of Survivor, many people had questions about her. Why was she so mad at Lisa for jumping ship during a vote right after Eliza had done the same thing? What was her strategy? Why did she trust Chris? I had a chance to ask Eliza those very questions – and here is what she had to say.

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Eliza, and thanks for taking the time to answer these questions from RealityNewsOnline! Your mother didn't seem terribly surprised when you told her that other players found you talkative and annoying – is this something that you thought about before you began on Survivor?

Eliza: Haha... No, I didn't think about that before I began on Survivor, but I am able to laugh at myself and since it was day 30 when my mom was there, we could easily laugh about the fact that I had nearly been voted off on day 6!

RNO: Did you have any particular strategy in mind before you arrived at Vanuatu?

Eliza: I have been a HUGE Survivor fan since the very first season of the show, so I had a bunch of different strategies in mind before I got to Vanuatu. Unfortunately, once you're out there, all of your strategies seem to fly out the window. I had intended to lie and backstab and make multiple alliances and break them if I had to, but then I got there and I developed real feelings for people and my plans of backstabbing were much better in concept than in reality. The one strategic thing I planned to do, that I stuck with, was to be flexible. I knew that if I wanted to stay in the game I was going to have to adapt and that's what I did.

RNO: In the first vote, you sided with the elders to make sure you were not a target. But after the second vote, when Lisa switched sides to make sure she was safe, you became extremely angry with her – an anger that stuck around for quite some time. Can you please explain how her vote was any different from yours?

Eliza: I was very upset with Lisa after she voted for Mia because out of everyone, she was the most furious with me after I voted for Dolly. She was very nasty to me after that vote and told me she could never trust someone who lied and basically that I was a bad person for having done so, though it was to save myself. Then, at the VERY next vote, when Lisa was not even close to being a target, she did exactly what I had done and what she had berated me for. I felt that was hypocritical of her and that's why I was so mad.

RNO: In the episode after Ami, Leann, and Julie tried to vote you out, you kept talking about how bad you felt for voting against Leann. Were you being honest then or was that a ploy to keep on good terms with Ami?

Eliza: I really did feel bad about voting against Leann. I had wanted to be in the final four with Ami, Leann, and Julie, but evidently they had other plans. I did want to stay on good terms with Ami, but I really did feel bad about voting against Leann. (Not bad enough that I would have wanted to go home instead, but bad nonetheless.)

RNO: After having no allies for most of the game, why did you finally trust Chris?

Eliza: Honestly, that's a good question! When I decided to trust Chris, I really felt I had no other options in the game. Ami and Julie had already voted against me and there was no way Scout or Twila would have made a final two pact with me, so Chris was my only option. Also, after he had confided in me, Jules, and Leann about Scout and Twila trying to plot with him and Chad to vote me off, I felt like he was on my side and then he reconfirmed that when he was telling the truth about Leann, Ami, and Julie planning to vote against me at final 7 to get me out of the game.

RNO: More importantly, why did you trust Chris even after he lied to Julie and voted her out?

Eliza: Ha. Yes, why did I trust him after that? Well, Chris is a good BS'er. He told me that Julie was gonna turn on us and he had voted her out "for US." For OUR final two pact. He said she was a player and she was not gonna stick with us. Also, at that point, it was just me, Chris, Scout, and Twila... I wasn't exactly Scout or Twila's favorite, so I felt I had to stick with Chris.

RNO: In your final question to Twila, you said that she had said things about you behind your back. But when you listed some of those things, Twila pointed out that she had said them to your face. What exactly did you think she said behind your back?

Eliza: Twila told me I talked to much and that I "wore her slick" to my face, but she never called me the names that she called me at final tribal council to my face until then.

RNO: Would it have made a difference in the way you voted if Twila had apologized to you at final Tribal Council?

Eliza: I was pretty angry at Chris for going back on his word to me, so if Twila had given me a sincere apology for the way she treated me over the course of the time we were out there, AND Chris had told me to shove it and not apologized, then I think I would have voted for Twila. However, Chris apologized and Twila didn't and that cemented my vote.

RNO: Obviously, you won't be having Twila over for Christmas dinner. Who do you expect to keep in touch with now that the game is over?

Eliza: I will definitely keep in touch with Ami, Leann, Julie, Sarge, Chad, Chris, Brook, and Mia. I made some amazing friends in this game and I'm sure we'll be involved in one another's lives forever.

RNO: Is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers?

Eliza: Thanks for watching and thanks to those of you who were rooting for me!! I encourage you all to apply for Survivor! It was the most amazing experience of my life and I would do it again tomorrow if they asked me!

RNO: Thanks again, Eliza!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other Survivor: Vanuatu interviews:

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

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