Survivor 50's Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick Reveals 'Odd' Pregame Messages And The One Shot She Refuses To Take: 'No Way, No How'

The following interview was conducted on location in Fiji before filming began for "Survivor 50."

It had been over a decade since Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick had competed on "Survivor." After famously becoming a tribe of one in "Palau" and falling just short of the win in Guatemala, LaGrossa Kendrick returned for 2010's "Heroes vs. Villains," only to be the second torch snuffed from the game. 

After having children and returning to TV screens with "Snake in the Grass" and "The Traitors," she's back to compete for the million when "Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans" premieres Wednesday, February 25 on CBS. 

So what's her strategy going in, who does she plan on working with, and what's her take on the game's new era? We discussed all of that and more against the beautiful backdrop of Fiji's Mamanuca Islands. (Also check out our on location interview with Jeff Probst here.) 

TVLINE | It's been a minute since we last saw you on "Survivor." What's been happening in your life since then?
STEPHENIE LAGROSSA KENDRICK | So the last time I was on "Survivor" was 30 seasons ago, which equates to almost 16 years. After that, I got married, started having children. I have three, a 13-year-old, 11-year-old, and 6-year-old. And I just said, "You know, I'm done with the reality TV thing now. I'm just gonna be a mom." I'm very involved with my kids and their school and all of their sporting events and things like that. So about 12 years went by. After "Heroes vs. Villains," I got a call to do a show again, and it was called "Snake in the Grass." And I was like, "no," because I haven't done it in so long. I told my husband and the kids, and they were like, "Do it. That's exciting. You should do it!" It was only 10 days. I was in Costa Rica. It was supposed to be a scavenger hunt of some sort, and I was like, "What's the harm? I'll do it." So I did it and I lost, thanks to Cirie because she knows me too well. It was a game about lying, and she knows I can't lie. She knows a lot of information about me and she outed me. 

Then I got the call for "Traitors," and I had my son in the car with me and I had the guy on speakerphone and he was telling me all about it. "It's in a castle in Scotland and it's like a game of Clue and it's so cool and you'll love it." And I said, again, "Thank you for the offer, but I'm sorry, I can't do it." I actually had a family affair for my son the day I was supposed to be leaving, which is why I said no. I hung up the phone and my son said, "Mom, just get on a plane after the luncheon." It was his first Holy Communion. And I'm like, "Kyle, it's 30 days in Scotland. I don't think I can do that." I have never been away from my kids that long. So I went home, told my husband, told my older daughter. They all said I should do it. Call casting director back and I said, "You know what, I'd love to do it if you'll still have me." And so I did "Traitors," and I've done nothing since. 

After "Heroes vs. Villains," I swore I would never do "Survivor" again because I just was so mad. I got voted off second. Didn't even have a fighting chance. James was an a—hole. It was just a whole nightmare. I never even watched the show. Some here and there I watched because I really am a true fan, but I was p-ssed. I was like, "I'm done with 'Survivor.'" I get the call for "50." Here I am. Really, 50 seasons of anything is pretty damn amazing. Like I'm not gonna take that call being a true "Survivor" fan myself? So here I am, 45. Last time I played, I was in my 20s. So I'm an older version of myself, not old, just older, but here I am, and you know what? I came this close and never won, so it is my turn. I'm here to kick ass, take names, literally, write them down, throw them out, and be the last one standing.

TVLINE | There are a lot of familiar faces here, some of which you know or have played with. How is that going to affect your game?
So here's the thing. I have played multiple times. There are familiar faces here. I can be a threat to others because I know some people personally like Cirie, like Colby. I don't know Coach, but he was on "Heroes vs. Villains," but I got voted off so early I never got a chance to meet him, but you know what? Everybody's a threat. You've got Angelina here with two other people she played with. There's Season 48. There's three of them. I mean, I'm not the only one. Then you've got winners. You've got people here that won. There's gonna be a lot bigger threats than 45-year-old mama of three Stephenie out here, OK? So I am here to play my game, to use what I can, which might be the people that I know. There's a lot of twists and turns. It's definitely a new game. It's definitely quicker. It's definitely evolved, but it's still a numbers game. At the end of the day, if you're on the wrong side of the numbers, you're out of Tribal Council. So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm still going to make good alliances, and I hope that those decent alliances will take me far in this game.

TVLINE | Who are you most excited to see here?
Oh wow, I was most excited to see probably Jonathan. I loved him on his season. I just thought he was amazing. He provided for the tribe. He's obviously as strong as an ox. I just think he's a kind heart and a good soul, and he's someone from the new era that I have no connection to. I think that I could work well with him, and I think he would want to work with a girl like me who values loyalty and keeping the tribe strong and good gameplay. So I was really excited to see him.

TVLINE | Who do you think should be the first boot?
The first boot has probably got to be someone like Q only because I don't know him at all and he's messaged me multiple times on Instagram. But never talked about the game, just like, "Hi, how are you?" Then I didn't respond, and then he friended me and then like, "Happy Mother's Day." And then like, "How hot is it in that sauna?" because I was in a sauna once, and "I get mine up to 180." Then I looked it up and they don't really go to 180. Then I got here and we're not allowed to talk to anybody, and everybody's kind of just looking at each other and people are smiling, people are whatever. He has barely even looked at me. Maybe he's mad because I never responded. I did thumbs up a couple of things. I think I said thank you when he said Happy Mother's Day. But it's like, are you trying to pregame? What are you trying to do? It was kind of odd. I just kind of take him for someone who was a little bit of a wild card on his season. And I feel like he's probably tried, if not has talked to a lot of people. So that's a problem. Somebody like that's got to go.

TVLINE | Who isn't here that you expected to see?
I'm actually surprised though, to be honest, that they have Kyle and Kamila here. Joe's awesome. Joe's another one I loved. I loved all three of them, but those two played like an identical game. I'm surprised that somebody like a Mitch isn't here. I would have done a Kyle if you needed another winner because you gotta have a couple of winners. You can't just have one or two. I probably would have had like a Kyle and a Mitch and a Joe. I don't know. I thought that was crazy. Kyle and Kamilla are both here. That's a duo that needs to be broken up for sure.

TVLINE | What's a flaw or misstep in one of your previous games that you're hoping to course correct this time?
Yeah, I mean, definitely "Guatemala." To go all the way to the end and then basically, the jury hated me. I understand that in the new era, that type of gameplay would be rewarded if explained properly, but either I didn't explain it properly enough, or the jury management sucked on my behalf, or they were just bitter, or all of the above. So, just to get that close and then still lose with everything I had against me, literally back up against the wall the entire time, coming back-to-back seasons, huge threat, whole bit, I'm mindful of all of that. So from Day 1, I'm going to try to do that better, if that makes sense.

TVLINE | How big do you think your own target is?
I honestly think, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the No. 1 target, I think I'm in the middle. I really do. I've never won. I played three times, but it was over 16 years ago. I was in my 20s all three times. I'm 45 now. Every time I've played, for the most part, yes, on "Guatemala," I did have to stab a couple of people in the back, but look at the alliance I formed. It was with Rafe [Judkins], and he was calling the shots. I was just going along with it because I was like, s—t, as long as it's not me. Do you know what I mean? And my alliance, I stayed true till the end, and I also did that on "Palau." Bobby Jon was my alliance. It just happened to come down to a fire-making challenge, and he taught me too well how to make fire, I guess, or there was an angel watching over me. I'm not going to say I'm not a threat to a lot of the people here, but it's "50." We're all threats. There are two people here that we have no idea how they ended up, OK? I'll take my chances and hang out with the people at least I know how they played rather than the two that are here that just played. They're here for a reason. You wanna think I'm a big threat? I'm pretty sure they're two of your biggest threats.

TVLINE | Do you think the new era players have an advantage?
I do think the new era players have an advantage. Most of them are younger than me. A lot of them are really good at puzzles, which I'm not, and it's a lot of puzzles now. They've just played. It's fresh in their minds. They know what to expect. They know how to use these advantages to their power. Us older era, I guess you'd call us, we didn't have any of this. It was alliances, numbers, challenges, win or lose. That's it. I think in "Heroes vs. Villains," there was finally a clue. And I was gone by then, so I never even got a clue.

They definitely have an advantage, and that's why I'm not dead-set on only being with the Colbys and the Ciries and the people from the old school. That's why I want to get to know some of these new schoolers and align myself with someone that is cool and fun and that I connect with, and that's good at puzzles. [Laughs] Listen, I'll swim. You do the puzzle.

TVLINE | Do you have any new era hot takes?
My biggest thing, the last word anyone would ever use to describe me is calm. I'm not calm. I've never been calm, but when I went on "The Traitors,"' because it was a whole new ballgame and I'd been out of TV for so long, the whole time, all I said to myself was, "Just remain calm." Stay calm, stay calm. I kept repeating that. And I kind of took a back seat and I was a little quiet in the beginning and I just kind of watched. Because the game now is so different with all the twists and turns and the idols and the all the different things and the excursions and whatever, it's "In the Hands of the Fans" even, who knows what's gonna happen? I'm just going to stay calm. Seriously, like I'm already saying it to myself. "Just stay calm."

TVLINE | How do you think you'll do adapting to all these rapid-fire twists? Have you been watching the new era?
I've been watching. I actually started at "48" and went backwards every single night. My whole family thinks I'm nuts, but I have this room set up with a biomat and a red light, and I sit in front of my red light and I watch, and then I lay on my biomat for hours until I've got to go to bed because I gotta get up in the morning with kids. I've just watched and studied how everybody's played, who's played with who, all the different types of twists and turns and advantages and, you know, I'm gonna do my best. I'm gonna wing it like I did on "Palau," like I did on "Guatemala," and like I did in Samoa, but unfortunately, there was "Heroes vs. Villains." I was just on the wrong side of the numbers. Hopefully that's not the case this time. I had a couple of people [who] I think were a little jealous of me, didn't want me to take their airtime. That's what I heard after the fact. So apparently I had to go. Whatever. They lost like five challenges in a row. Way to get rid of one of your strongest girls, idiots.

TVLINE | So we know the cast isn't allowed to talk before the game officially starts, but what are the lockdown vibes like? Who are you liking? Who's a little sus?
I get a great vibe from Jonathan. I get a good vibe from Joe. Cirie is like family to me. She really is. I know she's smart and she's very witty. Cirie is just the kind of person you've got to get rid of before she gets rid of you, but I'm not leading the charge on that. No way, no how. Somebody else can be that fool. Colby, amazing. Ozzy, I never met him. Never met Jenna. I get a warm vibe from her. Chrissy, I get like a motherly vibe from her. Angelina seems a little odd. She seems like... I loved her on the show. I thought she was a little bit of a messy player on the show, but I feel like she either looks really nervous or she's already in with her crew and she can't be smiling at Stephenie. Christian makes me laugh. Genevieve seems funny. Emily seems quiet, but funny. Q, again. Happy Mother's Day. Hi Q. Hi, hello. Right here! Nope, nothing. The Savannah girl, she's either scared to death or she's got a really good poker face. Same with the Rizo kid. I'm trying to think who else. Kamila is so serious, like super serious, and I really liked her. Kyle seems cool. Kyle's given me a smile.

TVLINE | Coming from "Palau" and "Guatemala," you were the face of the show for a while, following the Jerris and the Colbys and all these other big names. If this is the last time we see you on "Survivor," how do you want to be remembered?
If it's the last time I'm ever on "Survivor," I still want to be remembered as the tough chick, the badass, because even though I'm older now, I really still am the girl that never, ever, ever will give up or quit. I'm literally gonna have to collapse before that happens. Medical is gonna have to take me out of here. And the loyal, honorable girl. I've got three children now watching, and I'm not out here to be the mean girl. I'm out here to play a pretty honorable game. I'm gonna make some moves. Yeah, I might have to lie a little bit. Sure, it's "Survivor," but I hope that that's how I'm remembered. And then of course, last but least, as the winner of Season 50, the Sole Survivor. It's my turn.