“I Would Have Been One of the Final Five” – An Interview with Survivor: Fiji’s Liliana

The Liliana we saw on TV and the one who spoke to me on the phone seemed to be two different people – which is one of the things we talked about. What did we miss? Why does Liliana think she could have easily made it to the final five? Read on for a lot of insight.

RealityNewsOnline: What was your strategy going into the game?

Liliana: I can’t really say I had a strategy. I basically wanted to just go with the flow. Initially, I knew I didn’t want to come off too strong – that went down the drain because that’s naturally who I am. I didn’t want to step on any toes, I wanted to work for my position and not be carried. If that meant being voted out, I wanted to be as real as possible.

I did have one lie that they didn’t show. I think I played with as much integrity as possible, but the one big lie was I said I was a single mother of a three-year-old boy. And I never milked it for the game. That was just meant for the best-case scenario at the very end – who are they going to give it to? The single mother. I didn’t want pity, so it was just for strategy. It was the only strategy I had, which was meant for the end of the game. I just tried to be one of the guys, which is comfortable for me. I was really shocked by the outcome.

RNO: What did you do, either physically or mentally, to prepare yourself for Survivor?

Liliana: Honestly, I didn’t really do much. My background is very athletic, very strong-minded, very in-your-face. I could do it even if I’d never done it before. So if you asked if I wanted to climb Mt. Whitney, I’d say sure, even if I didn’t know how.

One thing I did do was gain 20 pounds for the show. I was prepared for starving. I never would have expect to live in the Taj Mahal in fiji. I just pretty much ate a lot.

RNO: Was it a unanimous vote to choose staying at camp over immunity?

Liliana: Pretty much, yes, it was. I raised my hand. Of course, that was our upper hand, I didn’t want to give that up. I was thinking, regardless of these girls not liking me, I didn’t know they had the guys wrapped around their fingers. I thought, “Why would you get rid of somebody that strong?” That didn’t make any sense to me.

RNO: You mentioned something to Cassandra about wanting to stay on the good side of the main group. Was the five-person alliance that obvious in the tribe?

Liliana: They didn’t show a part where Edgardo came up to me at the top of the hill, saying there is a five-person alliance and we want you to be a part of it, but we’re worried you might connect with Rocky. But I said no way. I was worried about Stacy, and he said they’re just keeping her along because they need a small person for the challenges.

I thought I was part of the alliance. That’s why Lisi said that comment [at the voting booth] about it being a five-person alliance, not six. I wanted to stick was the majority. I thought we previously agreed that it was going to be Cassandra if Gary wasn’t ill. But before we knew he was going to leave, we were going to vote him off. He couldn’t hold out until the next day. If he would have been able to hang out a day longer, we would have voted him out instead of me.

RNO: We didn’t get to see much of you because Moto kept winning. But the little we saw from you appeared to involve backrubs and flirting. What else did you do to try to form alliances?

Liliana: The flirting part is very very VERY super-minor compared to everything else I did. It wasn’t even major flirting. It started with Lisi and Alex giving each other massages! So her comment about me being diabolical and bringing my culture into it…

The flirting was nothing. For me to stand out and be important was by kicking ass on the challenges, which I totally did. They said they couldn’t sit me out – “We need Liliana, we need her strength.” You heard what Alex said, “she’s like one of the guys.” That’s how I pretty much tried to establish myself as a strong player.

RNO: Speaking of Lisi and her comment, did you see that side of her on the show?

Liliana: I did, but I never thought it was going to be towards me. In the beginning I was intrigued by her because she seemed crazy and I wanted to see what she was about. I was like, she’s probably a cool person. But for her to say those things about me, I was totally shocked. I knew she was intimidated by me.

There was a time that the couch was in the way and we had to move it. It was just me and Alex and the rest of the girls. She said let’s wait for the guys. I said why, let’s move it, and Alex and I did. She muttered under her breath, “Who do you think you are, She-Ra?” She thought I was trying to do it up and be something I wasn’t, but that was totally me. I knew she was intimidated by me, but I didn’t know I got under her skin that much. It totally came from her and Stacy being insecure about my presence. Even though it didn’t show it that much, I definitely was a strong presence in that tribe.