You're reading it here first.
I can bring you the VERY FIRST independent exit interview with Survivor SA Santa Carolina celebitant Lady Lea who got voted out in a shocking tribal council twist earlier this evening in episode 4. In a tribal council shocker, the tribe wanted to vote for Darren Maule but couldn't - he found the immunity idol and was safe from being ousted.
When I spoke with Lady Lea, she told me how utterly shocked and blindsided she was. She lets loose about Darren and why she doesn't like him, where she thinks she made a mistake and has some very surprising things to say about Proverb and Louw Venter. She shares her strategy with me, who she thinks could make it far, and what she's learned from her island experience.
For my full interview with Lady Lea, click on READ MORE below!
How did you feel when you got voted out?
I felt very upset, betrayed and shocked. It was very unexpected and I just felt betrayed because I just won an immunity challenge. So I really don't know why they voted me off to be honest.
So you didn't expect anything obviously, because of the whole immunity idol being in play?
No.
Who do you think would have been next on the chopping block if not you?
Definitely Darren.
Okay. And then he got taken out of the possible choices because of the immunity idol.
Yes. But I thought the order was Darren, Proverb and Kas.
Right. And what went through your brain the moment after the upset when you realized ''Oh my goodness, it's now me''.
Well, I only started realizing that when I started seeing my name on the little pieces of paper. And I was SHOCKED. I couldn't understand it.
If you stayed longer, if you've stayed in the game and after tribal council – like when you walk back, you talk – what would you have – let's say it was Darren who got voted out – would you have told the tribe?
I would have straight away have made an alliance. I was actually getting to that point.
With whom?
With Ashley Hayden and Louw Venter.
And why particularly with them?
Because I thought they were very strong contenders. Louw caught all the fish, but I knew he wouldn't last to the end because he's too strong. Ashley was playing the game because she was friends with everyone and had the sort of motherly, caring role that was helping her a lot. And she's also very aware of who was doing what around her with regard to alliances. And they were just fun people to be with. I really enjoyed both of their company. It was literally – that day – that evening – I would have had an alliance with them.
Besides those alliances, did you have a personal game plan?
Yes. I wanted to stay under the radar for at least the first half. I didn't want to be too strong or too weak, or too outspoken. I just didn't want people to think of my name when they had to write a vote down. And obviously when I won the challenge, suddenly they went ''Oh that girl's name is Lady Lea.''
After the merge I wanted to definitely step my game up and start forming very strong alliances, catching fish and being a little bit more outspoken.
I think I was laying a little bit too low. It's Survivor but it's celebrity Survivor, so a lot of the people already knew each other before the game, so that already gave those people the upper hand – like some of the actors who've worked together. So you can't just really treat it like a normal Survivor. You have to make early alliances . . .which I where I went wrong I think.
When you got chosen, what did you think was something from your professional life would be a strength that would make you better than the other contestants?
Because I have to travel a lot and because get along with a lot of different people I thought that it would be pretty easy for me to make friends with everybody. I deal with kids, I deal with people from different races and I just have a personality where I really get along with people. So I thought that would be a plus point. And as a female, I consider myself to be pretty strong, physically. And also, mentally I'm very strong. I've overcome a lot of things in my life. And I'm not a very scared person. I don't get scared of the dark, or little sounds at night.
I forgot to ask you something about tribal council. Why did you think that the next one voted out would be Darren Maule?
Because we all discussed it. We were all getting irritated with Darren because he's very cocky a lot of the time, trying to make jokes. But it's always aimed at somebody. It's never just the kind of general ''Knock, knock'' jokes. It would always be attacking someone in a sense. And he was also very unhygienic and I brought it up a lot with the other contestants – not in front of his face. And he was also running around very desperate, trying to get everyone on his side, which started to irritate people.
Definitely. I was just starting and I was handling it very well, it wasn't bothering me not having food and doing the challenges and stuff. I knew it was a game, I knew it would be over and I was still strong, I knew I would have been able to make it to the end.
What was the worst experience for you on the island?
The storm and not being able to catch fish because I've only caught fish in a dam. Everyone made me out to be this kingfisher, but I've never fished in the sea which is a whole different story. And not being in contact with my family. Not being away from them, but not being able to speak to them was difficult.
Who did you like the least?
Darren.
Who did you like the most?
I would say Louw Venter because he was very, very funny. Funny in a very non-direct sense. The night of the storm when things would be uncomfortable, he would just crack a random joke and make us all laugh. He broke the tension a lot and he helped a lot when it came to just doing what had to be done and he was very sensible. He was obviously also making alliances and saying things behind everyone's back and saying things behind my back, but that's the game.
He's just such a funny, likeable guy. He wasn't trying to be someone he's not. Darren constantly tried too hard to be funny and at someone else's expense. Louw's funniness was never at someone else's expense.
Who should viewers watch?
Mmm. I would say…Ashley Hayden and Izak Davel, maybe. Because Izak's very quiet.
What or who surprised you?
Well, ja. I think maybe Proverb. He comes across as this gangsta rapper dude and meanwhile he's a real softie. He's really very soft. Everything he does is from the heart and he's scared of little things. He takes things very personally. He's very, very soft. And he had very life changing moments where he would say ''Ag, I'm going to do this differently from now on''. That's cool to see. People who comes across as very, very tough are actually often very, very soft at the end of the day.
Just that's its really real. We don't get help in terms of food and where to sleep – it is real. And there's quite a lot you don't get to see because there is so much video footage. There is a lot they don't show you. It's real. And it's difficult.
Something you've learned?
I would say that what society has trained us to think is right and wrong isn't necessarily true. Especially when it comes to people's images and stuff. At the end of the day you don't need to be this big muscle man or this skinny little girl to make it in life, because in life it doesn't really mean anything to be honest. All the pretentiousness and what society says about people is actually not true.
Survivor SA Santa Carolina, Wednesdays, M-Net, 19:30
