“I Didn’t Want Them to Catch Me Talking to Her” – An Interview with Survivor: China’s Sherea

There was more hope for Sherea sticking around when Fei Long lost immunity than there was the previous week for Aaron, as at least some of the tribe wanted to get rid of Jean-Robert instead. But in the end, she fell prey to the tribal swap. What was her strategy? What does she have to say about doing so little work on Zhan Hu? Sherea was not shy about voicing her opinions on the show, so you can expect the same here!

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Sherea, and thanks for taking the time to talk to RealityNewsOnline! Starting at the beginning, what was your strategy coming into the game?

Sherea: My strategy coming into the game was to play a social game and get to know the people on my tribe, and try to feel them out and be very sociable.

RNO: How did that strategy change once you got into the game?

Sherea: It changed because the dynamics of the tribe. You think you’re going to be with certain people and you get there and you fit in with other people. I actually got along with people who were more on the fringes of the tribes. I did pretty well befriending people, but some people get on your nerves and you don’t click with them as well as you think you may.

RNO: Which people didn’t you get along with in particular?

Sherea: Dave (laughs). He was the one I didn’t get along with the most. I held my tongue for a while before I got into it with him. But he was the one from day one.

RNO: We didn’t really see much of you since you went to Fei Long – what were you doing while there in terms of strategy?

Sherea: Actually, my social game really worked in Fei Long as far as strategy. My first day there I was approached by Amanda and Todd and Courtney and asked to be in an alliance with them. With Jean-Robert and Denise, I didn’t talk to them much. But Courtney and I were together at Fei Long.

RNO: Did Fei Long realize that the Zhan Hus threw the previous challenge?

Sherea: Actually, right after the water challenge, Fei Long did suspect they threw it, just because of the way Jeff was talking. Afterwards, they asked Frosti and I, and we said we didn’t think they threw it, even though we knew they did.

RNO: Why didn’t you acknowledge what Peih-Gee was saying during the reward challenge?

Sherea: At that point, I just really wasn’t sure. I knew from the doorway of that challenge, the Fei Long members could see me, and I didn’t want them to catch me talking to her.

RNO: So if you made it to the merge, would you have likely flipped back to your old Zhan Hu allies?

Sherea: More than likely yes, but I really kind of flip-flopped and had no idea. I really trusted Todd and Amanda, but I wanted to be back with Peih-Gee and Jaime. After that challenge, I was like, they have my back, so after that challenge, more than likely I would have gone back to my original Zhan Hu members.

RNO: What did you think the twist of swapping two people from each tribe?

Sherea: I thought that the twist was good in a way because I got to know the other tribe. But at the same time it was like starting over in the game. It had its bad sides and good sides. I had to start over, but at the same time, if I had stayed at Zhan Hu, I would’ve been the next to go if we’d lost the challenge.

RNO: In your final words, you talked about the Fei Long people screwing you. How did they screw you, given that you were the outsider among them?

Sherea: Some of the members of Fei Long, the whole time before and after the challenge, they said it was going to be Frosti. After we lost the challenge, they said it was going to be Frosti. Todd told me, “if it’s you I’m going to tell you before we go to Tribal Council.” He ended up not letting me know and none of them would look me in the eyes. They screwed me because they told me it would be Frosti and I’m fighting for Frosti, but in the end he goes with the Fei Long members.

RNO: What did you mean when you said voting you out due to numbers showed Fei Long was being played?

Sherea: I was convincing them to vote out Jean-Robert. If you notice on last night’s episode, Todd changing was due to me and Courtney saying I would stay with them. Because they told me Frosti was going and I said to get out Jean-Robert, it was confusing things. I think that’s one reason they were worried about me – because I tried to flip the tribe and get Jean-Robert out.

RNO: Were you blasting Jean-Robert at Tribal Council because you pretty much knew you were leaving at that point?

Sherea: Actually, yes. I remembered something Jeff said about never leaving Tribal Council without saying what you want to say. So I figured if I’m leaving, let me get it out here. So I definitely put him on blast before I stepped out and got everything off my chest before I left.

RNO: Can you explain your thoughts on why you didn’t do much around camp at Zhan Hu?

Sherea: After the first couple days it rained really hard. We were working in mud and water every day. Once we got in our daily routine, I realized we were physically tired when it came to the challenges. Not that we’re doing anything new. I needed to conserve my energy, it’s hot and we had no food and no water. For me to get up and do those same tasks, it wasn’t working for me, and my body needed to come first.

RNO: But the challenges were for the whole tribe, so if you conserved energy, other people on your team had to expend it. So how did that help?

Sherea: That was just my way of playing the game. What’s funny is after Dave worked so hard every day, we realized we didn’t have to do as much as we were doing. During that time, people like Erik realized he couldn’t do it anymore. It kind of paid off that I got Dave sent home, because once he was gone, we realized we didn’t have to do so much and we could save some energy and have a good time because we didn’t have to work all day, every day.

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

Sherea: I don’t think people realized I did have good relationships with people out there. Ashley, Jaime, and myself bonded well, and then Courtney and Todd and I bonded well. They didn’t show I did have some good alliances out there. That’s part of the reason Jaime and Peih-Gee threw the challenge – we talked about that as soon as we found out I was going to Fei Long. That’s what saved me a couple days.

RNO: Thanks again, Sherea!

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