"Roxy" Roxanne Morris, a 28-year-old seminary student from Brooklyn, NY, was voted out of her Survivor: Philippines' Matsing tribe during Wednesday night's second episode of the CBS reality series' 25th edition.

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Roxy was voted out of her tribe at the season's second Tribal Council, which was also the second elimination vote for Matsing, after she failed to gain the trust of Denise Stapley -- who had served as the swing vote when determining whether Roxy or Angie Layton should be voted out of the tribe. Roxy and Angie were considered the two weakest players in the tribe, but Angie had the support of Malcolm Freberg, who had previously declared an alliance with Denise. Russell Swan voted to oust Roxy, his ally, as well seemingly as a way to simply blend in with his tribemates despite his own differing opinion.

In an exclusive interview on Thursday, Roxy talked to Reality TV World about her short-lived Survivor: Philippines experience -- including whether she believed it was really Russell's fault for stepping into a leadership role within the tribe or if he was filling a void by default, why she actually got along with Angie from the beginning and when that dynamic changed, whether she was offended by Russell's comment suggesting she lacked strong character, and how she was cast on the show.

Below is the concluding portion of Roxy's interview. Click here to read the first half. 

Reality TV World: Last night's episode made it look like Russell still ended up being the leader again at the challenge. But do you think he was almost kind of the leader by default? Because it looks like even if he wants to take a step back, there was really no one else there looking to step up. It almost seemed like he was filling a void no one else was willing to step into.

"Roxy" Roxanne Morris: Absolutely. I mean, absolutely. And that's why he made a comment in the very beginning of the season, he said, "I'm going to step back and obviously there's always that dummy that ends up saying, 'I'll do it. I'll be the leader.' And I'm just going to let them go ahead."

And unfortunately Russell, I think that the dummy in that situation was you, because every time the void was there, you would step in and you said that you promised you would leave that open for somebody else to do it. But I think you're absolutely right. It was one of those things where, when it would come down to it, nobody's really stepping into that leadership position.

And by default, he just did. I mean, the first time he did it, I think he did it to be slick and make sure that he had the best position that would make him look good. But I think the second time, it was definitely him filling it as a void.

Reality TV World: You clearly didn't seem to have a very high impression of Angie -- and she didn't seem to be your biggest fan either -- by the time you were voted out. Did you two just not hit if off right from the beginning, or was there a time when you did kind of get along and then your opinion of her changed or vice versa?

"Roxy" Roxanne Morris: I think that when you look at the first episode and Russell kind of plays us both, we both have a history of being runners athletically. And so, when we got played by Russell and he didn't allow us to run, I think that created a little bit of a bond there.

However, in our sleeping arrangements, if you've noticed, I slept in the middle of the tribe. Russell and Denise slept on one side and her and Malcolm slept on another side. And so, every single time someone is voted off of your tribe, I don't care what anybody says, in the game of Survivor, it changes the dynamic.

So once we lost [Zane Knight], I felt like Angie was turning up the heat on the "boobie trap" -- like exactly what I said last night. I think she turned up the heat on that, and oh no, I wasn't going to let her get away with that. So I put it on blast.

Reality TV World: Last night's episode showed Russell saying he was surprised you didn't seem to have more strength of character. Did that remark surprise or offend you?

"Roxy" Roxanne Morris: Well, it's not the first time that, you know, Russell says something and then contradicts himself in the very same episode. So yeah, I didn't have strength of character, but then by the end of the episode, we hear him scrambling -- talking about, "I need her, I need her! I need her, I need her to stay!"

I'm not offended whatsoever. I think he put his own foot in his own mouth. At first you say I have no character, but then you need my character in order to stay in the game? Which one is it Russell? I don't think it's reliable and I think that's one of his weaknesses, that he comes off sometimes as a flaky player.

Reality TV World: Russell was also shown last week saying he was bad at puzzles, so he didn't want to do the puzzle in the challenge. But him and Malcolm did the puzzle at this week's challenge, so how did you guys come to that conclusion?

"Roxy" Roxanne Morris: I think it was just the two guys trying to step up, you know, and being men. I think it's a natural, social dynamic -- men stepping up and being like, "We lost last time. I'm not going to let us lose this time!"

I think it was just one of those natural emerging situations where the men were just like, "We're doing the puzzle! That's it! Because we made the women do the puzzle last time and we lost, so it's going to be the two men doing the puzzle this time." And we kind of like let them do it to see -- to fish out where's the weakest link.

And so, yeah, they did it that time around and we still lost. So, hmmm. I mean, I don't really know what his excuse is, really, at that point. But yeah, I would say flaky, flaky playing. There's a lot of flaky playing going on, so I'm absolutely not offended by that coming out of his mouth.

Reality TV World: You ended up on a tribe with a sex therapist and a beauty queen, and you're obviously a seminary student. So at first glance, people would probably think it's an odd combination. Do you think that played a big role in why you ended up being voted out so early -- that you just ended up on a tribe with a couple of other women who maybe aren't the most compatible with you?

"Roxy" Roxanne Morris: I mean, absolutely. I think that, you know, if you look at a lot of the pre-getting to know the players, I noticed Denise made a comment when she said, "Half the game is strategy but the other half is just mere, what I would call, divine falling of the chips -- just the way the game should be played out." And I think it's no mistake that I was placed on a tribe with those two and it is an odd couple-mix, and I don't think that that's gonna be to my advantage.

And I think the reality is, you know, maybe give me a season where there's two tribes about nine people on each tribe and Roxanne would probably still be in the game. But I think three tribes, again, no place to hide. And when you have a tribe that already lost the first time, a bigger target is already on every single person's back in that tribe.

Reality TV World: How were you cast on Survivor: Philippines? How did you end up on the show?

"Roxy" Roxanne Morris: Well, I have a cousin of a cousin who's a huge fanatic. He actually auditions for the show every single year for the last like seven years. And so, he influenced me, because I was always talking about Jesus and church. And he was like, "You know what? You should be on Survivor." And so, I made a 30 or 45-second tape and submitted it, and I got called the very same day I submitted the tape.

Above is the concluding portion of Roxy's interview. Click here to read the first half. 


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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