Read on for my interview with Erika, and make sure to check in with Parade.com every day for interviews with this season’s contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 41 premieres on September 22 with a special two-hour episode on CBS. What’s your history with watching Survivor? I’ve been watching Survivor since it first came out. I think I was around 11 years old when the show first premiered, and I’ve been watching it ever since. Everybody I know will not be surprised when they find out I’m on the show. I’m really excited when the secret can finally come out. When I started watching the show, it was actually quite a sad time. When I grew up, my grandparents lived with us. I had my parents and my grandparents, but my parents were always out working a lot. So my grandparents have really played a big role in my life. And around the time the first season premiered, my grandpa had passed away. And at the time, I had never known anybody that I loved who passed away. It was really hard for me to process, and the show was just such an escape. Watching Survivor, I was so inspired by seeing the strength of these people and what they were able to accomplish. In many ways, the show helped me get through a rough time. And even now, as I’ve gone through life, there have been so many times I’ve gone through a challenge or even something as simple as a tough workout. And I would tell myself, “Oh, it’s gonna be way harder once you’re finally on Survivor, so keep going.” For me, it’s still beyond comprehension that I’m here, and I’m actually going to be able to play. Give me one Survivor winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most. I don’t know if there’s a player who I feel is exactly like me. My favorite player of all time is Todd Herzog, from Survivor: China. I’m very small. I know Todd is a shorter guy as well. And when he entered the game, on paper, no one believed that he had what it took to win. He was small; he was just a flight attendant. We don’t know how physical he really was. But he was able to build those relationships that allowed him to make the move he needed to get to the end. He took ownership and allowed his gameplay to make up for any challenges he had in relationships or betrayals. Like, I just loved how he was able to take ownership of everything he did. So I would love to be able to play a game like him. In terms of non-winners, who I identify with, I don’t really have one. What do you think people will perceive you as? Oh my gosh. So I stand at 5'0" on a good day. I look quite young. There are times where I’m at the airport by myself, and I get asked if I’m an unaccompanied minor. I have purple hair. I spent some free time yesterday doing my nails. I think that people around here think that I am not an issue and not a threat at all. But I’m hoping that when I come in and become friends with everyone, people will think that I’m an easy ally. And that’s exactly where I want to be. I want to be seen as an ally, someone people can work with, but not someone they see as a threat. I think that that’s my best bet of being able to navigate undercover. What do you desire in an alliance partner? I will say yes to anybody who wants to work with me! If you want to be my friend, if you want to be in an alliance, if you want to tell me anything, I am down. I will have a smile on my face, and I’m ready. When looking for a trusted alliance partner, I just need someone who’s going to be able to talk about the game on the same level, where we’re going to be able to bounce ideas off of each other. Hopefully, there’s going to be somebody that appears to be a bit more of a threat than me, so I can kind of hide behind them for a while. And I want them to be somebody who honestly just loves the game as much as I do. So then, when I inevitably have to betray them, they’ll understand hopefully. What’s your current game plan for when you touch down on the beach? When I touch down on the beach, number one, I’m ready to talk to people. I can’t believe it’s been weeks of quarantine here, and we haven’t been able to talk to anyone. So I’m just so excited to get to know everyone. I’m so excited to hug people, because I feel like it’s been so long since we’ve been able to hug people. But my plan is just to focus on, you know, building social relationships, learning about people, building trust. I need people to see that I’m like a friendly, open person. And hopefully, they’re going to see that I’m a potential ally. I feel like Survivor is all about understanding where everybody else is at. So I need to understand, you know, as fast as I can, what do these people want? What motivates these people? What’s valuable to them? Because having those bits of information is what’s going to set me up to be able to figure out what my first move and my next move are going to be. Which is more important to your game: Strategy or social? It’s hard to separate strategy and social. In my life and in my career, where I operate strategically, it’s so based on understanding the people around you. When I work in communications, you have to look at, if I want to achieve something, what do people already think of me? What do they think of themselves? What are their challenges; what do they want? And you take all of that information to figure out what to do here to get the outcome I want. How am I going to build my strategy? In Survivor, you’re only going to be able to get that key information to build your strategy through building those social relationships. I don’t think that it serves someone well just to see everybody else as a chess piece. At the same time, you can’t just rely on friendships carrying you through. You have to figure out the marriage of the two of them. I think that I’m capable of doing that. And I think that that’s what’s going to help me get to the end. When you’re at your lowest moment in the game, what’s one happy memory you’ll pull from in your time of need? Honestly, I’m just so excited to be here. The other day while we were taking our cast photos, we all had to sit in this hot tent for hours. I cannot describe how hot and uncomfortable it was. But then I had this moment where I almost started to cry. I realized I could be sitting at home on my couch, or I could be in this hot tent getting ready to play on Survivor. I honestly feel like it’s been such a dream, and it’s been a dream that, for most of my life, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to make come true. I think even the worst damn Survivor is still a dream come true, and I’m not going to forget that. Next, check out our interview with Survivor 41 contestant Danny McCray.
