“I Knew Parvati Was Going to Receive My Vote” – An Interview with Survivor: Micronesia’s Natalie

As you could probably guess by Natalie’s one-on-one chats with the camera as the endgame drew nearer, she has plenty to say in an interview. But she’s not talking about ripping out anybody’s throat now – indeed, she has quite a few nice things to say. So read on to find out why she thought Parvati played the better game, what Natalie’s own strategy was, and much more.

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Natalie, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at RealityNewsOnline. Starting at the beginning, what was your strategy coming into the game?

Natalie: Coming into the game, I kinda was a little freaked out. My friends have known me for years, and my family is thinking with my attitude, I’m off on day one or I may go pretty far because I’m a thinker. I knew I had to check my ego and get my attitude under wraps. I’m opinionated and vocal and I knew I had to button-fly my lip and play under the radar. In the beginning of a game like this, you have to earn your keep, so I went in and kept my head down and stayed behind the scenes and worked and played a quiet game. That was my strategy going in.

Once I realized it’s a lot harder to control 19 people than ten, nine, eight, seven, six… so I knew if I could keep my head down, once the numbers got lower, I would have a little more control and they would get to know me better and I would have a little more freedom with my mouth and my personality. You get to know people more thoroughly in a small group rather than large numbers.

RNO: How did your strategy change as you got into the game, especially when you found out it was Fans vs. Favorites?

Natalie: I think I was the last – some of the other fans kinda realized what was going on. Once I saw Parvati and Amanda and Ozzy, I thought, oh man this doesn’t look good. I was literally on the mat when Jeff was explaining things that it finally hit me – I was probably a little slow on the uptake. I was like, man if they don’t mix up right now, we’re screwed.

RNO: How much of a hand did you have in the early Fan votes?

Natalie: Actually, I had quite a bit of control in those, because I was the swing vote. There were three vs. seven, even though the numbers are there, people were afraid Alexis would vote my way, so that was contingent on what my opinion was. So Joel would come my way. But I also really liked the older three – Kathy, Chet, and Tracy – and they got a lot of grief. I had a lot of power because I could have been a swing vote, but I went along with the flow.

RNO: Why did you guys vote out the strong players early?

Natalie: I think because we went with Joel – it essentially came down to Joel fighting Mikey B and everybody falling in between and what side everybody was on. In the beginning of the game, I didn’t 100% trust Mikey B. He was rallying so hard and seemed so threatened and ruthless and in dire need of doing what it takes. I didn’t trust him, so I went along with Joel. So he had to go down with Mary, who was a strong, solid girl, very intelligent, which was a threat to me. She had to go at some point. I would like to say Mikey B is an extraordinary individual, an amazing human being.

RNO: What do you feel you learned as a fan of the show that you took with you into the game?

Natalie: The question is asked so many times, who had the upper hand, Fans or Favorites. I think I went in having watched all the seasons, knowing people’s downfalls and where people make wrong decisions. So I kind of kept my cards close and played a quiet game and took a lot in, and as a fan I kind of went in very humbled because I’m playing against players who have already played and very alert to my surroundings.

RNO: To what do you mostly attribute Erik’s dumbest move ever – your ability to convince him or his own naïveté?

Natalie: I don’t even know how that went down. I don’t know how the stars aligned so beautifully to make that situation go down. In his defense, he is so beautifully pure and innocent, that I admire it. It’s naïveté, but the girls shook it down – Cirie was running around the beach trying to find everybody and warning us when he was coming. Amanda would go, “Erik you did this,” and blast him and then he got so emotional because he had four girls coming down on him so hard, he’s never experienced anything like it, nor will he ever again.

He was so frazzled and like, take the damn necklace. It’s so sad but sweet at the same time. He’s amazing. I think he’ll smarten up real quick.

RNO: Or he’ll never trust a woman again!

Natalie: He comes from such a small town that being final five, he didn’t do so damn bad! There’s something going on! You don’t get that lucky that late in the game. There are moves made and you have to be a good player to be that far in the game.

RNO: Who was the best at manipulating people in this season?

Natalie: I think that I would say myself, obviously, that’s what I’m getting coined as, the queen manipulator. Cirie, sitting back on her laurels, she can play kingpin from the top, that’s pretty gangster. I would have to say the heads were the four girls left. Amanda did herself right on Erik, he was spinning his wheels on her and she would twist him on an emotional heartstring level. Cirie would let everyone else freak out as she was the puppetmaster on top. She was good at planting seeds, like saying, “I wonder if…” People would run with it, she’s just brilliant that way. Parvati was a true leader and powerhouse in the game. Probably after she survived Jonathan wanting to vote her out, she was pretty much the powerhouse of the game. And then myself, I got my hands dirty a little bit.

RNO: Why were you so graphic in some of your chats with the camera, such as referring to Jason as a “little bitch” and talking about ripping out his throat and flossing with his veins?

Natalie: I am from the South and I think we are animated and women are sometimes – it’s a joke that women can [talk about people] with a backwards comment and a backhanded slap. It’s somehow okay and a cute thing. It’s just part of my personality and where I come from. People that know me totally get my personality and know I’m joking 100%. Was there a little seriousness to it? Yeah a little, but it’s all done out of love and fun.

My one-on-ones were my only time to vent and not have it held against me. If I say something like that in front of my tribe, obviously that could be very detrimental to me. So my one-on-ones, I would just let it out. The camera guys are egging me on, it was my chance to be animated. I was pretty under the radar throughout the show, so once I was able to let some steam off, it felt great. No harm, no foul.