Survivor 50's Aubry Bracco Is Never Saying The Word 'Dialogue' Again, Says Social Game And Scrappiness Will Solidify Her Win

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

One of the best players to never win "Survivor" is back to try, try again.  

In "Survivor: Kaôh Rōng," Aubry Bracco fell victim to one of the most bitter juries the game has ever seen. After losing her freshman season to Michele Fitzgerald and making it super deep in "Game Changers," the former runner-up was the fifth player out of her third season, "Edge of Extinction." But after that shaky run, Bracco is feeling better than ever, having had the chance to step away from the game and mentally reset. After all, playing such a cutthroat game three times in four calendar years is a lot. 

"I have stepped away from 'Survivor' and integrated the lessons that I've learned from this game I love into my real life, and I have become more grounded," she tells TVLine. "I've returned to myself. I've had a chance to breathe and I think I'm gonna come back with better perspective and better intuition than I have before."

In our latest deep-dive pre-game interview, Aubry details what went wrong for her in the past, reviving her excellent social game (which she says gets a bad rap), and why she will not dare utter the phrase, "Start a dialogue." (Click here to view the rest of our "Survivor 50" pre-season coverage.)

TVLINE | Honestly, Aubry, after "Edge of Extinction," I didn't think we'd see you back ever again!  
AUBRY BRACCO | Oh yeah, after the "Edge of Extinction" I was p*ssed. I was so mad. I mean, I played "Survivor" three times in four calendar years. So after the "Edge of Extinction," I was done with "Survivor." I was exhausted. I hadn't had time to recalibrate to normal life, and I was done. But then I stepped away. I did the work and now I'm back and ready to go.

TVLINE | Who were you most excited to see once you landed here in Fiji?
It's hard to pinpoint one specific person that I'm most excited to see here. I love Cirie. I gotta watch out for her. She could be my Achilles' heel. I'm always excited to see Cirie. I'm excited to see Coach. I mean, to see the Dragon Slayer in person is like, "Damn, that's the Dragon Slayer!" I've been waiting to see you since my favorite "Survivor" season, which always has been and always will be "South Pacific." What a bizarre season. I stand by that.

And from the new era, there are some amazing people like Emily Flippen. I wish I had more time to vibe with her. I can't wait to talk because I've never met her and she seems amazing. Who else am I excited to see? Dee is incredible to see in person. You can just see that bubbly personality about to come out. I mean, Kyle, Joe, you name it. I mean, come on! Q in the flesh after he voted me out by voting out Mariah. It's pretty wild. I know Q has my name on a wanted poster plastered to his kitchen, but I think Q... I'm proceeding with caution, like I'm dismantling a bomb, but I think you and I might have some common ground. Anything is possible in "Survivor 50." There are so many pre-existing relationships. If you think that they're gonna help get you far, they're probably gonna be your Achilles' heel.

TVLINE | Who has to be the first boot?
So Q has to be the first boot because he already voted against me by voting out Mariah.

TVLINE | Tell me about either a flaw or a misstep in your game that you're hoping to fix here on "50."
So a flaw or misstep in my game is, I'm never saying the word "dialogue" ever again, OK? I really want to go back to the basics that got me far in "Kaôh Rōng," which is making really distinct one-on-one relationships. I know this game is going to move fast, but I want to trust my gut when it comes to vibing with the people I should vibe with.

TVLINE | Speaking of vibing, I know you're locked down. You aren't allowed to speak to the other players just yet, but who are you getting good feelings from?
When you cannot talk in "Survivor" pregame, it is so bizarre because you try to sit far away from the people that you know because you don't wanna give any weird impression. But then you're away from them for a long time and you're like, "Oh my gosh, what's going on? This is so weird." I've been kind of observing a lot, trying not to stay in any one place. It's hard to say, but I feel some very stable energies coming from Emily Flippen, Colby, Joe, Christian... I love Christian. He's so great. Devens. I know Devens. He's trying to burst out of his newscaster suit and talk to everybody. So there's a lot of good vibes, a lot of kind of scary vibes. I really want to play with Genevieve, but she scares me so much. I think she's like "Gone Girl." She'd commit a crime and she'd cover it up so perfectly that I would never even call her into the police station to question her.

TVLINE | Who isn't here that you 100% thought would be?
So I think anything was possible with Season 50. There are so many incredible players and so many people were worthy of the spot, but I have to say my girl Kelley Wentworth should be here, and Omar from Season 42. He was an amazing player. He should be here. And I have to give a shoutout to my girl Reem Daly, just by nature of her suffering, she should be on Season 50.

TVLINE | I love Reem! Reem shoutout, for sure. Now, did you vote in the fan vote? Do you have any strong feelings about any category in particular?
Of course, I voted in the fan vote, but I'm not hoping for any particular category because I came into the season telling myself I was not getting my heart or mind set on anything because the minute you think "Survivor" is a concrete sidewalk, you're falling through quicksand. Something I am hoping for though is the live finale in LA, for old time's sake.

TVLINE | You touched upon like Devens and the Wentworth of it all. Pre-existing relationships...
You're saying it like she's here. You're breaking my heart.

TVLINE | [Laughs] But pre-existing relationships...
OK, can I tell you having this microphone makes me cut you off just because I'm like, "I have the power!" I'm really sorry.

TVLINE | [Laughs] Pre-existing relationships are going to be super important in "Survivor 50," yes? What are your thoughts on that?
I think something very interesting is that we just came off secret duos in "Survivor 48." [I'm] really interested to see how that plays in "Survivor 50," but in terms of pre-existing relationships in "Survivor 50," they can hurt you or they can help you in a clutch moment. So, I think that there are so many pre-existing relationships that it might not be a liability to have people that you know. But that really depends on the situation. They could go one of two ways. It's the luck of the draw. That's the new era, baby.

TVLINE | Let's talk more about the new era. I'm curious how much you've kept up with the new seasons, what you know, who you are familiar with, etc.
I have kept up with the new seasons of "Survivor" and the new era. I can't say that I'm buddies with anybody from the new era, but I've watched everything. I've listened to all their exit interviews. I know I don't want to volunteer for a journey. Hell no. The new era is fast. It's a lot more luck and you better be on your toes. So I'm really curious to see how players from the 30s and even way before that are going to adapt to this pace of gameplay.

TVLINE | Well, that's my next question. How are you going to adapt to this?
In order to adapt to this fast pace, I am coming in so receptive. I am willing to work with anyone. I'm gonna forge those one-on-one relationships quickly and I'm not gonna get my heart set on anything. You're not gonna see me being in an alliance that is glued to the very end because that's not gonna work. You're probably gonna see more of "Kaôh Rōng" Aubry here on "Survivor 50." In some ways, I think some people would laugh at me if I said this, but so much in "Kaôh Rōng" did go wrong that I was like, "Oh, this is a new era before it was new era." I loved playing when my back was against the wall and there was a problem to figure out every day. An infection, a MedEvac. Someone ate red meat and couldn't go to the bathroom and had to be MedEvac'd. There were not as many twists, but sufficient twists in that game, so I think I can keep up.

TVLINE | Any new era hot takes you'd like to share?
I may have played 39 days, but I think they played just as hard a game in 26 days. I don't think all the old school players want to give those new era players the cred they deserve.

TVLINE | Do the new era players have an advantage in "50"?
Oh, the new era players do have a big advantage. They know how fast this game moves. They know how quickly you have to make relationships. They know how to separate their hearts and their minds maybe a little bit more efficiently. But something that the older school players might have that they don't have, especially the multi-timers, is the luxury of knowing what it feels like to be blindsided. Not every new era player here knows that sting, and I feel really lucky that I know what it's like when things are going well. When I had a plan and it's not working out and Sandra is gunning for me and all my allies get killed off and what it's like to be blindsided.

TVLINE | What are you most anticipating about this season?
I am most anticipating that I can't anticipate anything about "Survivor 50." What I am anticipating about "Survivor 50" is that the winner of this season will be a "Survivor" legend who crawled and clawed their way to the top to get there.

TVLINE | Let's say, hypothetically, that Probst stands at the starting mat and tells you that the Edge of Extinction is back. What's your response? 
If Probst is standing at the mat and told me the Edge of Extinction was back, I would not be surprised. I've been thinking it's going to be back. I don't know if that's the trauma or just what's gonna happen. I've been living out there for over 1,000 days waiting to come back, so what's another 1,000 more?

TVLINE | You're known for your strategy game. You said you're gonna play more like a "Kaôh Rōng" game...
My social game gets a bad rap.

TVLINE | Why do you think that is?
Because Michelle won, yeah.

TVLINE | How will people's perception of your strategic game affect things for you this season?
I've always had a big threat level on my back, but the funny thing is, if you ask someone's opinion of me, you'll hear eight different answers. Zeke Smith once told me people see whatever they want to see in you, so I think that my threat level really depends on who I'm talking to. But I want to mitigate that by making real human relationships as quickly as possible.

TVLINE | So starting a bunch of dialogues.
I'm not starting any dialogues.

TVLINE | What are you most looking forward to in terms of the challenges and actually competing?
Oh, I'm just looking forward to seeing what Jeff and the challenge team, the Dream Team, have cooked up. It's always something new.

TVLINE | You got any tips?
For who?

TVLINE | For me. We're testing out a challenge later today.
Don't ask me about dialogues again. I'll murder you. [Laughs] Trust me, I've thought about dialogue for a long f–king time and I don't like it anymore either.

TVLINE | But I have it in my notes. [Shows her the notebook] We need to start a dialogue!
We're not starting any f**king dialogues! It's not a discourse. Yeah, that was bad. That was real bad.

TVLINE | OK, we can move on.
Yes, please, can we? Because you're triggering me.

TVLINE | Any other thoughts on some of these older era players who haven't been on the show in a while?
Yeah, I'm really curious to see how some of the older era players play. I'm hoping they can keep up to the pace because I do have a good vibe about some of them. Back to pre-existing relationships, like Devens. Devens and I have such an interesting relationship. We lived together on the Edge of Extinction for a few days and then I was rooting for him from the jury. So Devens and I never really played "Survivor" with one another, but we get along really well in life. I really like Devens as a person. Do I trust him as a player? I don't think so. I don't think so, but perhaps I could.

TVLINE | How do you think your game compared in "Game Changers" to that of your original season, because your edit the second time around was fairly minimal.
Yeah, so the reason why you didn't see me in "Survivor: Game Changers" compared to "Survivor: Kaôh Rōng" was that I had to be constantly lowering my threat level at every turn. I aligned with Tony. That didn't work out. My biggest ally was Malcolm. That didn't work out. I was working with JT. That didn't work out. I was working with Andrea. That didn't work out. I was always finding my way next to the person who got killed. Next, I was on the run from the beginning because Sandra had me in her crosshairs, but I would contend that "Game Changers" might be the best I ever played the game. My social game and my one-on-one relationships in "Game Changers" are the reason why I stayed till [Final] 5, even though I was rarely in control of the vote. I made relationships with Brad Culpepper. I made enough of a relationship with Sandra that I got out of her sights, and Michaela and I had an interesting up and down relationship. We didn't work together, then we did. Then, Tai played an idol on me! That's because I am good at starting some dialogues.

TVLINE | You brought it up that time, not me!
I did. [Laughs]

TVLINE | Alright, so a stellar strategic game in "​​Kaôh Rōng," plus an excellent social game in "Game Changers" equals a "Survivor 50" Aubry win?
Yeah, you know, I did play a good social game in "Kaôh Rōng," otherwise I would not have been able to get Tai to not hand over the super idol. I think that my strategic game in "Kaôh Rōng" and my scrappiness combined with my social game in "Game Changers" are the perfect mix I need to win "Survivor 50."

TVLINE | Any other reasons why Aubry will be the Season 50 victor?
I think I will be the Season 50 victor because I have stepped away from "Survivor" and integrated the lessons that I've learned from this game I love into my real life, and I have become more grounded. I've returned to myself. I've had a chance to breathe and I think I'm gonna come back with better perspective and better intuition than I have before.

TVLINE | You stepped away for a bit. Others like the 49ers came right back to play just 9 or 10 days after wrapping "49."
The "Survivor 49"-ers, I'd imagine they're absolutely terrified, but I think they're in a really good spot.

TVLINE | Why is that?
The "Survivor 49"-ers don't have any broken hearts, any reputations. They can start fresh right here on Season 50. I think that they might be the talk of the town for the first few days and then just ease right in.