“I Thought They Would Take the Strong Over the Beauty, and They Didn’t” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: Tocantins’ Sandy

RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Sandy, and thanks for taking the time to talk to RealityNewsOnline! I have to start by asking – have you figured out what a pace is?

Sandy: Yes, I know what a pace is. I’m kind of a character and love to tease and have fun. I actually knew what a pace was. They played that up pretty good and I liked it.

RNO: Do you feel you were close to finding it?

Sandy: I really do – I felt like I was really close at finding the idol. In the note, though, that I kept sticking in my bra and kept swimming with it, it got faded and I didn’t actually [notice] the part of the note where it said the idol was only good the first time we went to Tribal Council. I didn’t really realize that, the hyper person I am – and I am hyper, everybody knows that – I read the note really fast and didn’t let that part sink in.

RNO: Did you keep looking for it after the first Tribal Council?

Sandy: I did because my strategy was going to be once I found it, I could use it on another player. It would be a real idol, not one I fabricated.

RNO: What do you mean, you could use it?

Sandy: Convincing somebody else that it was – that I had the idol and either giving it to somebody and tricking them or using it to keep them from voting me out of the game.

RNO: Going back to the beginning, what was your strategy coming into the game?

Sandy: My strategy coming into the game was to play middle of the road and my excitement got the best of me. I should have knocked it down about five or six notches instead of two or three. I tend to get on people’s nerves. I get on my own nerves! I’m not a fly under the radar kind of the girl. Everybody that knows me knows that I’m not that kind of person. What I planned on doing actually didn’t work so much (laughs). Once you’re in the game, oh my gosh, it’s a minute by minute thing. It’s a game from the get-go.

RNO: You talked in Tribal Council about being a mother figure. Was that part of your strategy?

Sandy: I thought I could be a little mother hen with the tribe I had; I thought I could play that card pretty well. But these are kids that are living on their own – they don’t need that so much or they wouldn’t be away from home. I wanted to use that but these weren’t the type of tribemates that I could use it on. When Spencer got hurt and cut his finger, I held his hand the whole time because I am a mama and I was pretty protective about that.

RNO: Did you know going to Tribal Council that you would be leaving?

Sandy: Yes, I did. I actually took everything with me. Actually, I don’t want to say yes I did – I thought it would be the case. I was really hoping that they were sticking with the original plan with Taj and J.T. and Stephen when we were in the water, we were going to vote Sydney out. As you saw in the challenges, I really kicked butt. Whatever position you put me in, I will do you all good, and I did. I thought Sydney getting that last puzzle piece down, it took forever. I thought they would take the strong over the beauty, and they didn’t.

RNO: Any idea why Taj voted for Joe?

Sandy: I can tell you this – she told me she would never write my name down on a piece of paper, and I thought that was so cool. I was really hoping that to be the truth and it was.

CBS P.R. Guy Brett: The voting videos are available on CBS.com now.

Sandy: I saw those this morning and I had tears in my eyes because each of my tribe members were so kind – they had nothing bad to say when they voted. All of my tribemates were so kind and I really did appreciate that and I was honored that they would respect me enough to be very nice – and they were, every one of them.

RNO: What did you do in terms of strategy that we didn’t get to see?

Sandy: Oh my god. I had thought initially that I’d beat ‘em with the brains. If there’s a way I could get different types of water in their bottles, I could get them sick, it would be a great strategy. I was trying to get water from other places and thinking I could give them belly aches enough to not to kill ‘em but to make ‘em sick enough like Jerry.

I also looked for critters I could gather up. There was a big boa constrictor in the tree and I made it a point to let them know. I was trying to find spiders to put some of those around camp. It’s awful, ain’t it!

RNO: What about plotting and scheming type of strategy?

Sandy: The only thing I plotted was the night I thought I might be leaving, and I was really going towards Sydney and I worked really hard to get there and I didn’t want to leave this game. I pushed hard trying to get them to keep me and it just didn’t work. Strategically, I didn’t do real good, obviously.

RNO: Who were you closest to in the game?

Sandy: I don’t know, honey, we all got along so well. I think Stephen – I loved him to death. He was totally out of his element and I loved it. He’s never fished and I was so mesmerized by him, he is a great guy. But for the most part, we were really a happy tribe.

RNO: Do you regret looking for the idol on the first day instead of building camp?

Sandy: No. No, I do not. I thought I was playing the game and the game is all about me. I would never change that – I would do the exact same thing.

RNO: Earlier you mentioned that you tend to get on people’s nerves. Did you realize you were annoying some of your tribemates?

Sandy: No. in all honesty, because I get carried away. When I’m acting silly, I had no clue I was annoying them. Joe and Sydney said I would repeat things, and that is the truth. A lot of times I do, but sometimes I don’t think they hear me the first time. With this tribe, with a 30-year difference, it was hard to acclimate to what they were talking about. I didn’t think at the time I was annoying, but now I know I was!

RNO: Do you think that is the reason you went, or were there other causes?

Sandy: I don’t think they voted me out at all because I was annoying or because they had anything against me. A couple of them wanted to go with Sydney, a couple wanted to go with me. It was a toss-up and I lost it. It’s like heads or tails, 50/50.

RNO: What was the most eye-opening thing you saw on TV that you didn’t know about while you were there?

Sandy: Probably Joe, when I seen the video of him this morning talking about how agitated he got at me over the palm fronds. When I saw that, I was kind of shocked because we were discussing how to make this bed, I was like do it this way and they said another way, and after five minutes, I said do it your way. I didn’t know he was so upset [about the debate].

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

Sandy: I’m just so glad I had the chance to take part in this game and that I was really blessed with the tribe that I was on and for the most part we were really happy campers. I was just blessed to have been chosen to participate in this game.

RNO: Thanks again, Sandy!

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

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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