“I Stayed True to Myself” – An Interview with Survivor: Cook Islands’ Sundra

RNO: Why did you decide against going with Adam’s plan to get rid of Yul’s immunity idol?

Sundra: For basically the same reasons. It was a stupid plan, in my opinion. When you got a good thing going, why? I know he was on the way out, and he wanted to have that last bit of glory. But no, we went through so much in the mutiny, that really solidified us. That was the defining moment of my Survivor experience. To say you had to be there really applies. Yul and Becky are people I consider friends for life. That, to me, is more than anything.

RNO: Who did you vote for and why?

Sundra: I voted for Yul. Because nothing against Ozzy, I love Ozzy, but Yul and I had a closer bond from our early days before the merge. And there were a lot of times Yul and I spent alone that they never showed. We had a great bond a great friendship. I got to know Yul the person and his heart is huge. I don’t know anybody else who has as big a heart as that man does. We have similar values and similar ambitions and concerns. Yul’s a little bit older than Ozzy, and there’s an appreciation that Yul doesn’t take lightly. Yul’s the type of person where I know he will make it benefit a lot of people. I know that as much as I know my name. There couldn’t have been a more deserving person.

RNO: If you could go back in time, what would you do differently?

Sundra: The only thing I would ever do differently is at the beginning when I started the game, I would have believed in myself a little bit more. I was very much very green. I knew nothing about the game. I came on the show a little overweight, very unsure of myself, but I prayed for the distraction that came in the form of Survivor. I was really intimidated a bit by people who had watched the game from day one, knew the different contestants, it kind of blew me away. But I said I’m not going to let anybody know I’m scared. I didn’t even like coconut going into the game, and now I’m addicted. That’s the only thing I would have done – there is nothing else I would have changed. I stayed true to myself the whole time, which was really important to me.

RNO: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?

Sundra: I have yet to find the right words to describe my experience. It would do a disservice to even try to explain it. I wish they had shown a little bit more of our interactions with each other. It wasn’t just all seriousness, just sitting there contemplating and scheming. We joked and laughed and there were private times I had with Becky and Yul that really formed the foundation of a friendship that blooms every day. I wish they had shown that a little bit more, but I think I’m one of the luckiest girls ever to have the opportunity to play that game.

RNO: Thanks, Sundra!

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