“The Loser Here is Still Russell” – RealityNewsOnline’s Exclusive Interview with Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Winner, Sandra
by David Bloomberg -- 05/17/2010
Sandra won another million dollars Sunday night. What does she say to those who don’t respect her game? Why did she seem defensive on the reunion? What did we see regarding herself and Rupert that may have helped her secure the Heroes’ votes at the end? Sandra discusses all of this and more, right here!
Sandra won it all – again! I had so many questions to ask Sandra, but was only able to get in maybe half of them in the time allotted to me! Still, I think we hit the major points here and we definitely find out a couple things we didn’t previously know about. Read on to find it all out!
RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Sandra. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at RealityNewsOnline and congratulations!
Sandra: Thank you very much.
RNO: How does it feel to be the first two-time winner?
Sandra: It’s amazing, it’s crazy, unbelievable, it hasn’t sunk in yet – I guess because I haven’t received my check yet.
RNO: When you do get it, what will you do with the money?
Sandra: The first thing is pay my taxes!
RNO: Ha! And after that?
Sandra: I’m going to Germany with my kids.
RNO: You mentioned near the end and several other times that not a day went by when you didn’t wonder what the best way was to get rid of Russell. Why were you so focused on going against him?
Sandra: Early on in the game, I felt like they were after me simply because I had won. I blamed Russell for my alliance going home one by one, week after week. I felt like before I went home, if I could get rid of Russell, I would be happy. I made it my mission to take him out.
After a certain point, everyone wanted to go up against him, he was the perfect goat. At some point I just decided I had to make it to the end and go against him. I loved going against him, he knew I was coming after him. He would tell me to my face, “I’m not worried about you.” I would tell him, “Good, good, you shouldn’t be.”
RNO: Did you really think you couldn't win or was that just a ploy so Russell would keep you around?
Sandra: By the time I made the jury and started looking – Courtney was my buddy. You start playing the numbers. Amanda knew I was actively trying to save her and things with her and Parvati were kind of rocky. They weren’t even on speaking terms. Anything that had to do with Russell or Parvati got attached to both of them. So anything like that, I benefited from that but wasn’t blamed, like the J.T. move.
Russell owes Jerri, Parvati, and Danielle a thank you. If any of them would have ever gave him up, he wouldn’t have made it to the end. But he was our goat. Parvati says he’s our dragon, but she had a rope around his neck the whole time. He was our goat.
RNO: I wondered as I watched and then had readers write in to me with the same question. Why did you bring up at final Tribal Council that you had repeatedly tried and been unable to get rid of Russell? It seemed like you were pointing out a failure rather than successful strategy?
Sandra: No, because by then everyone hated Russell. Rupert – what they didn’t show on TV was, the morning [of the day] Rupert went, I had decided to give him my idol. But Russell was coming so the conversation had ended. So I spent the day thinking, “When should I give him my idol?” By then he had told Russell on me. Even with that, I still wanted to give him my idol. But I didn’t want to give away my idol and then go home like an Erik move. I knew Rupert hated Russell, but I knew he was like me and would do whatever he could to stay in the game. So I felt like, “You guys [the Heroes] messed up time and time and time again…” So me saying, “You guys screwed it up,” plus Parvati and Russell are a snake with two heads, that got me all five Hero votes.
What do you say to those who do not respect your style of play?
Sandra: They don’t have to respect my style of play. Everyone cannot like me and I understand that. I take a lot of things into account, I’m versatile, I move around. Me being a weak player is actually a strategy, though I am weak so it’s natural.
I felt like Colby’s strategy was to be weak – as Jeff pointed out, Colby had won the most challenges at one point. The second time he played he was a physical threat and they got rid of him. By the time we merged, we were going to get rid of Colby last because [wasn’t a threat]. That worked for him – that was the reason he made it to the end, because they saw him as a weak player.
You can be strong when the tribe is a tribe but the minute you’re an individual, you’re not going to win every challenge. Me being a weak player was strategy. People who want to play should write that down and remember – if you’re strong, be careful. If you’re weak… that’s how I play.
RNO: You seemed much more active this season than your first. Was that driven by necessity or by plan?
Sandra: When I played this second time around, I was already a target because I had won. I didn’t have to be quiet and swallow my words and tippy-toe around camp. Either you liked me or you didn’t. I felt I had an advantage because Russell had only seen on one DVD. He didn’t have any idea what kind of game I played.
RNO: At the reunion, you said you learned from other seasons and players about what to do and what not to do. What were some of the most important things you learned and put to use this season?
Sandra: Not only to have one alliance but to have two good alliances. And to make sure I’m in the majority. If you have an idol, don’t tell anybody. If you have immunity, don’t give it away. Don’t fall for a stick like Eliza had. A lot of things you do and don’t do. I’ve taken a little bit from everybody. I just made them a winning combination.
RNO: You seemed almost defensive on the reunion show last night. Why was that?
Sandra: I was defensive because we had been together since 12:30. Russell never spoke to me but he would tell everybody, “Yeah, she better bring her game because I’m going to make her look stupid.” I was like, he’s the only stupid one. He did the same thing in Heroes vs. Villains that he did in Samoa. After watching his finale from Samoa, I don’t see how he came back and played Heroes vs. Villains. I knew he had lost just from watching the questions he was asked at final Tribal Council. I swear, with his arrogance, I’m almost certain he thought he was a winner when he played with us.
He may not respect my game but I don’t respect his either. After a certain time, I was like, “This guy is a goat.” He said, “Nobody would vote for you,” and I said, “I know. That’s why you have to take me with you.”
At the end of the day, the loser here is still Russell. He’s still furious.
RNO: Unfortunately, I’m being told we’re out of time – you’re a very busy person today! So is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your time on Survivor?
Sandra: There’s a lot of things that weren’t shown like me planning to give Rupert my idol. They didn’t even show me and Rupert going on for a couple minutes. It was short on TV. We went back and forth but I knew he’d give me her his vote at the end.
RNO: Thanks again, Sandra – and congratulations once again!
And one of his votes was from Shambozo, enough said. It's not hard to see why America buys his shit when the show has crammed him down our throats at the expense of the rest of Samoa's cast and many members of HvV's cast. But him losing twice to awesome winners makes it all worth it, and Sandra was having none of his shit at the reunion, which is why Sandra is fucking awesome.
