“Un-fricking-believable!”: An Interview with Survivor: Exile Island’s Cirie

Cirie has become the most popular Survivor of the season, a fact that has amazed her! Indeed, even during this interview, Cirie was interrupted several times by people walking by who just wanted to tell her she should have won or congratulating her on how well she did. But she made the time to talk to RealityNewsOnline.

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Cirie! I know you are all busy, so let’s get right to it. How did you prepare for Survivor?

Cirie: I started working out, and got myself a personal trainer. I changed my diet, and I started running. I never ran before unless someone was chasing me! I really wanted to give it a try. They told me from the first call [for auditions for the show] that I needed to get fit. I wanted to show them I was trying my hardest when I went back for my second interview. So I worked out like a nut. I also got a survival guide book, and actually did look at how to build a fire. But it didn’t stick with me, I forgot all of it.

RNO: Did you study up on strategy or make any plans for the social aspect of the game?

Cirie: I watched every single episode of the show, and as I’m watching the shows, I’m screaming, “No, don’t do that! Don’t say anything!” And that’s where I got most of my strategy, from seeing what people did wrong. I went in there knowing what I didn’t want to do.

RNO: Which makes you smarter than probably 90% of the players.

Cirie: Thank you! When Tina made the comment about what show I thought I had signed up for, I had watched every one. Tina and I were exact opposites. She wondered what game I was playing, but I wondered about her – she didn’t play the social game.

RNO: That was exactly what I thought as well when I watched. Speaking of the social game, what was your original strategy?

Cirie: I knew that there would be challenges, and they would be physical and I wouldn’t win any of them. So I went in to work hard, to be irreplaceable to the team. That way when we had to vote, they would think maybe she’s not great in challenges, but she does everything around here. I wanted to stay out of the drama but form alliances and feel people out to determine who I should trust and who I shouldn’t. Basically I wanted to fly under the radar until I was in a position to make any moves.

RNO: How did you go from being the next person to go on Casaya to having an alliance with the very people who had promised to send you packing?

Cirie: When they told me that [I was going next], at that point, I wouldn’t have been the first person voted off, and Survivor was so much more than I thought it would be. So after Tina went, I figured I could go and it would be okay. But then, I just started working really hard. Shane was pretty much a dictator. He thought he did a lot, but all he really did was the fire. He would ask me to get this and that. I was running around like a maniac, doing anything anybody needed. They noticed that other people weren’t working as hard as I was. At some point, Shane came to me when we lost and said, “you aren’t going anywhere.” I was like Shane’s secretary. Whatever he needed, I got it for him. And that went for anybody. I hated getting water, but I had to do what I had to do to stay around.

RNO: Did you ever have any idea you would become the most popular contestant of the season?

Cirie: Never in my wildest dreams. I mean, I dunno, I’m still in awe. I can’t even fathom why. I know I’m silly and play around a lot. But this is so much more than I anticipated. It’s an honor that people feel that way about me. I never thought it would be like this. Un-fricking-believable!

RNO: Do you think Danielle played the game as well as she seemed to think she did, or was she more of a tool used by other people?

Cirie: The very first day of the new tribes day, Danielle and Courtney were the queens of the tribe – Danielle didn’t do anything at all. Courtney and Shane basically dictated what we needed to do. That was fine with me. But I think Danielle started to realize she might be in some trouble the day Shane asked her why she wasn’t working. I think Danielle said to herself, “I need to start doing something.” But I can’t really blame her because she was safe and comfortable, so she didn’t have to work as hard or really do much of anything. If I was in that position, I might have done the same thing.

RNO: Several times Danielle talked about playing the game in a smart way – what did you think about that?

Cirie: One big move she made was getting rid of Bobby, and she was really smart on that. Outside of that, I didn’t see anything or any power moves Danielle did. Danielle was basically carried most of the time in my opinion.

RNO: She just told me that she played role in Courtney’s ouster [in my interview with Danielle].

Cirie: Yeah, after I convinced her! It was hard, I had to keep convincing her. She kept saying, “Are you sure?” I reassured her, and told her not to question me again after she saw it would go that way. The only way I got her to vote against Courtney was that Courtney had said some things about the final two, and Danielle told me about Terry winning the car. I told Courtney and Courtney said she now had some trust issues with Danielle, which I let Danielle know.

RNO: Did you consider trying to make a deal with Terry to get rid of Danielle at the final four vote?

Cirie: I did not, because I talked with Terry and asked how he would feel about going to the final two with me. He was frank said nobody would be able to beat me, so I didn’t even waste my time.

RNO: Why did you vote for Aras?

Cirie: From about day three, the day Shane told me I would be the next to go, Aras told me he would never write my name down. He kind of took care of me. In a game like this, you’re not trying to help anybody. You want them to break down. I feel like Aras is a really selfless kind of person. He does things for people. The stuff he did for me was not for a jury vote. He didn’t do anything I perceived as just for jury votes. He’s a great guy, he worked hard and he deserved to win.