Survivor 48's [Spoiler] Reacts To Tribemates' Harsh Words: 'I'm A Lion And Lions Do Not Concern Themselves With The Thoughts Of Sheep'
The following contains spoilers from Wednesday's episode of Survivor 48.
The beginning of the merge is the perfect time to take out the game's biggest challenge beasts, but in Wednesday's Survivor, not one, but two of the game's outliers saw their torches snuffed — and neither was named Joe or David.
After Jeff split the tribe up into two teams for the immunity challenge, Sai found herself separated from her original Vulas Cedrek and Mary, and instead sat at Tribal Council alongside Joe, Eva, Chrissy, Star and Mitch. Despite some lofty promises from Chrissy and people's overall wariness of Mitch and his story, the opportunity to eliminate Sai was just too tempting. Mitch blocked her vote and she was voted out 5-0. (Read a full recap here; Cedrek was the other player voted out — check back soon for that Q&A.)
Below, Sai details her reaction (or lack, thereof) to people's negative comments about her, her close ties with Cedrek and her real feelings about her in-game frenemy Mary.
TVLINE | You fell just one vote short of making the jury. How much does that sting?
SAI HUGHLEY | That sucks. I would have been a great juror, but I also am very proud of the game that I played, so I genuinely have no regrets. I feel like me being the 7th boot is the most iconic 7th boot they've had. I've had such a large impact on the game, and I think I would have had more of a somber attitude if I didn't have such an impact on the game. I pretty much am happy with where I ended, happy with what I was able to do and just super grateful.
TVLINE | If this tribe split hadn't happened, what was your plan for navigating the merge?
First of all, if the tribe split didn't happen, I would still be there, for the record, because the vote was Mitch. I was well aware that the vote was Mitch. And I know that's sad to say for him because — adore Mitch, sure, whatever, fine — but I would have still been in the game and that was the next play. But when me and Mitch ended up on the same split tribe and on top of it, I was with people that I wasn't having conversations with prior to, I was like, "Oh man, I'm kinda screwed." I knew it. I saw the writing on the wall, but I also wasn't gonna go out like no simp. I did try to make a move, I just was with the wrong players.
TVLINE | Chrissy spun you a story about voting Mitch out, but did you trust her, really?
No, that was insane. I was just on Civa with you where you were working with Mitch. It doesn't make sense. It's not logical, but I did want to believe that she was gonna make a move. Chrissy's pretty upfront. She's a lot like me, but I could tell in this moment that she was playing [the] game. And you don't get to see that I go up to Mitch afterwards and I'm like — this is right after Chrissy told me that it was Mitch — and I'm like, "I'm gonna play my Shot in the Dark." I'd love to sit up here and play games and go into this Tribal thinking, "Oh my God, it's someone else," but that's just not realistic. And Mitch knew that and so he did the Block a Vote.
Had I known... I don't know why I didn't think... I just didn't think he was gonna use his Block a Vote. It didn't seem like the best play in my eyes. I was someone who didn't have allies. I was someone who didn't have an advantage. He was on the bottom. I tried to tell him the day before. I was like, "You are on the bottom. Do you not realize that you just got blindsided? Your No. 1 is out of the game." That is the biggest sign that you're on the bottom that you could ever get. In all fairness, I don't think I was as clear in the conversation that we had. Y'all didn't get to see it, but it was on a log and I was like, "Hey, I don't know why you keep voting for me because we're both on the bottom." So that's my biggest regret on top of being paired up with that group of people.
TVLINE | People seemed to have very strong opinions about you. A lot of people wanted you gone, even on the other team. Chrissy called you a "pain in the butt at camp." What's your reaction to your fellow cast members' words?
I don't have much reaction at all. I honestly do not care. People's opinions about me do not concern me, OK? I'm a lion and lions do not concern themselves with the thoughts of sheep. I couldn't care less of how you feel, unless I really value your opinions. Cedrek is different. I value his opinion. We built a rapport. I know what's going on. We've had lots of deep, in-depth conversations. So, I really wasn't affected by it, but did I think it was funny? I laughed a lot. I literally would send screen recordings to my sister and we would geek. I was like, "Can you believe she said that? This is funny!" But I also called Chrissy a psychopath. Like, why wouldn't she say I'm a pain in the butt? She's a straight shooter. I respect it.
TVLINE | I want to talk about your relationship with Cedrek for a bit. The guy voted Justin out in order to save you, so why couldn't you two get on the right footing out there?
I think that the audience doesn't get to see that I was telling Cedrek everything. I saved him. They wanted him to be the first vote and I put it all out there. I went above and beyond to keep him safe. So it really hurt me that the one person I was going out of my way to tell all this information to... and people like to forget this. He betrayed me. I did not betray him. I didn't start acting crazy and being petty until you came after me. As you can see with Kevin, after [he] came after me, I got him out. Stephanie came after me. I got her out. I don't make the first move. I react. So if you want to forget what you did beforehand, then so be it. But I'm very reactive and I own that and I love that about me.
TVLINE | How frustrating was it to lose so many challenges in the beginning of this game?
It really does affect morale. You can't get out of the funk on top of not having fire. It's really hard for you to look at the upside when you constantly keep losing and had to keep fighting. I had to keep fighting at every Tribal. I was drained. After the merge, I was going to Tribal with people who had never been there, who are looking around like, "Oh, how beautiful!" At that point I was like, "It's not beautiful. I don't care. I've seen it. I've been here too many times. Let's get to the vote and get this over with."
TVLINE | OK, the game is over, so let's spill some tea. Tell me your real feelings about Mary.
Oh! [Pauses] I think that me and Mary's relationship is very complex. I think that there are levels to Mary that are very soft and very enjoyable to be around, but I also think that there are other aspects of Mary that I just don't vibe with in-game really. She's very gentle and much more reserved in my opinion, not on TV, and I can usually vibe with people who are more reserved. So the TV version of her might not work for me, but the real-life version of her, I think I'm kind of fond of.
TVLINE | Watching this all back, was there anything that unfolded that surprised you?
The boys' alliance! I had no idea they were the priority. I knew because I said it on TV like, "I know I'm the only girl here. I just want to make sure no funny business is going on." I didn't realize Justin and Cedrek were closer than Cedrek and I. I was not out there opening up to everyone, but me and Cedrek had some real conversations that helped solidify, in my mind, that we were each other's No. 1s. The cursive conversation, I didn't know it landed, so that was kind of interesting to see. I loved that it actually worked out, and the petty Cedrek vote, in all of its glory, it really did shake him in his boots. That was kind of fun. All of the things I did were really fun.
TVLINE | Speaking of Justin, what it was like to be in the middle of that chaotic Tribal.
My throat was in my stomach. It was so intense. The TV version of it doesn't even do it enough justice. It was so long. Maybe that's the one thing I wish [viewers] got to see. How intentional I am with my words. I made a lot of great points, and there was a bigger conversation there that needed to be had. And I'm glad that it worked out in my favor, but I was also very upset that I even had to do that. I was mad that my game was in the hands of the one person who just voted for me twice. That was tough. I'm sure there were a few moments where I was like this [puts her hands on her head and looks down], because I had to do that to stop from decking them with my elbow, so that was tough.