“Nobody Says This Game Is Fair” – An Interview with Survivor: Fiji’s Michelle

It seemed sometimes like Michelle was playing a bit under the radar, but was she ever worried about being the last woman standing on Ravu? What were her plans and strategy? What did she think about her chances walking into that final Tribal Council? Read on to find out all of this and more.

RealityNewsOnline: Hi, Michelle. How are you?

Michelle: I’m doing well.

RNO: What was your strategy going into the game?

Michelle: I just kept an open mind really, because in this game you never know what kind of people you’re going to be put with and what’s going to happen. So it’s best to develop your strategies as you see how everything unfolds.

RNO: What did you do to prepare for being on Survivor?

Michelle: I tried to gain a lot of weight to prepare. Other than that, I’d seen most of the previous seasons and I rock climb anyway. So I just tried to put on a little weight.

RNO: Even when you were giving us your last words, you had a huge smile on your face. Did anything out there get you down?

Michelle: I think if anything got me down it had to be that first seven days with no water. That is the only thing that knocked the smile off my face.

RNO: Did you worry, back on old Ravu, as woman after woman was being voted out?

Michelle: I actually did not worry. It seemed really coincidental, and I at no time felt like I was in danger.

RNO: Why not?

Michelle: I felt like there were definitely people who would be targeted before I would – Anthony for sure and Rocky, and even talk of getting Mookie because he seemed to be a very strong player. I would consistently perform for my team, so there would be no reason to kick me off.

RNO: Did you suspect Yau-Man had the immunity idol?

Michelle: I had my suspicions that he had the idol. After all, I was the only one other than Earl at new Moto that knew the idols were at camp. Getting back from our boat adventure and seeing a lot of newly patted down dirt, I at least suspected he’d been digging, with a good idea he had it.

RNO: Watching at home, it seemed certain that after the merge, you would return to Moto and find everything gone. Did anybody bring up the idea that after the merge, that would happen?

Michelle: We had talked about that. We knew the game was going to start getting serious, because life on Moto was way too easy. Living on Moto was nicer than when I go camping. We had our suspicions and anybody who had been on Ravu was ready for it.

RNO: You talked about being Earl’s spy, and we saw you discussing tactics with him a few times. What else did you do as a spy?

Michelle: As Earl’s spy, I got pretty close with Boo and Stacy to get a feel for what their strategy was and their plans in order to counteract any plays they were trying to pull.

RNO: What other strategic things did you do that we didn’t see?

Michelle: Really in this game, you have to build trust and alliances. In order to get trust you have to give trust. By doing the dirty work for Earl, I knew I would be taken care of by at least Earl and Yau-Man.

RNO: Did you know that you were heading to Tribal Council with a decided disadvantage because of the alliances between the other four?

Michelle: Going into Tribal Council, it was definitely a toss-up between me and Stacy. I knew Mookie was going to try to play both sides for a while after the merge. I knew Alex and Stacy would be together. Dreamz was definitely the swing in this Tribal Council.

RNO: Did you or anybody else try to push people to vote a certain direction in Tribal Council, like Alex did?

Michelle: We didn’t get the opportunity Alex got, straight-up calling out each person in their thoughts. Had we had the chance to call out Stacy, I’m sure the vote might be a little different.

RNO: Why not just throw it out there and not wait to be asked?

Michelle: Tribal Council was extremely short that time. Before you knew it, Jeff said let’s go for the vote. We were shocked. Had I been more of a person like Rocky, perhaps I would have had an outburst. But by then I was already too bewildered to say anything.

RNO: I thought the twist that ended up sending you home was rather unfair. What did you think?

Michelle: Of course I think it’s unfair – it is. But nobody says this game is fair. You have to remember there is a degree of luck. I am many things, lucky is not one of them. Coordinated is probably the other.

RNO: What were your endgame plans?

Michelle: Had the twist not happened and our alliance could follow through, I had full confidence that me, Yau-Man, Earl, Cassandra, and Dreamz would likely be final five. With the numbers on our side, it would be very easy to pick off one-by-one, the rest.

RNO: Since you expected Dreamz to be there, were you surprised by his vote?

Michelle: It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what happened with him. His play was likely a strategic move but maybe a spur of the moment response to Alex. After the incident with Stacy and the coffee press, it wasn’t emotional reasons to keep her. I suspect he knows what he’s doing.

RNO: In your final words, you said you know what kind of person you are and what you’re capable of. Can you expand on that?

Michelle: I feel like I’m prejudged because I’m just a little Asian girl. But I am really actually tough and a competitor and I feel like I can be put through a lot and still come out smiling.

RNO: I think you proved that.

Michelle: (Laughs) Thank you.

RNO: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Survivor: Fiji articles here on RealityNewsOnline:

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