Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty's sixth episode concluded with the new merged Solarrion tribe voting out Sarah Lacina.
 
Sarah, a 29-year-old police officer from Cedar Rapids, IA, was voted out of her Solarrion tribe -- named after the former Aparri and Solana tribes -- at the season's seventh Tribal Council session during Wednesday night's broadcast of the CBS reality series' 28th edition.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sarah was voted out of the game after Kassandra "Kass" McQuillen flipped on her alliance of six to ultimately giving the opposing alliance the numbers. Kass jumped ship because of tension that was building between the two women over who had the control in the game.

In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Sarah talked about her blindside and Survivor experience. Below is the first half of Sarah's interview. Check back with us soon for the concluding portion.

Reality TV World: Were you surprised to see that you were the vote target of Tony Vlachos' alliance when Jeff Probst started revealing the votes, or had your expected that?

Sarah Lacina: You know, I didn't know for sure, but I was pretty sure I was going to see my name written down. Once they found out I was not going to vote with them, I figured that I was going to be targeted. So I definitely expected to see my name written down five times, not six.

Reality TV World: Why had you been so honest with both sides? Why didn't you opt to take -- what I think is probably the more common approach -- the approach of lying to both sides and letting them both think you were with them?

Sarah Lacina: You know, that's what I tried to do. I wanted to play the double agent and totally tell Tony and those guys, "Yeah, I'm with you," because I can overcome that lie. It wasn't going to cost me jury votes in the end, but I knew that I wasn't going to flip and I was managing the people out there. All eyes were on me the whole time.

When I talked to anybody, it was assumed I was talking strategy. I had members in my alliance, you know, asking me, "Hey, what are you doing? What were you guys talking about?" And what not. It just got to a point where I didn't even want to talk to the other tribe, because before I know it, I'm going to have 10 votes against me.

And so, [Spencer Bledsoe] and I were very close. I had confided in him about stuff, and I said to him, "Spencer, I need to play this double agent role but I won't flip. I promise you I'm not going to flip, but I don't trust that someone else won't." And I can take the heat. I don't want someone else to have to take it.

So he advised me, "No, I don't think that's a good idea," so on and so forth. And I let him convince me to not play that role when, in reality, that's what I needed to have done. Because flipping obviously was not an option, because we, as the six, had all said, "Whoever flips will not get five jury votes."

I wasn't there to sit out there for 39 days and get second or third place when I knew it from Day 19, "Okay, well I'm not going to win now because I flipped. So let me be miserable now for the next however long [of days]." So, no, it wasn't an option for me and I'm definitely just shocked that someone else would make that decision.

Reality TV World: I'm not sure how much Survivor you watched before going on the show, but being the swing vote between two alliances has tended to backfire in previous seasons, with members of the two alliances just deciding to vote off the person who was dragging their feet on picking a side or trying to use that position to take control of the game. Had you been aware of that before you went on Survivor or had that possibility crossed your mind while you were out there?

Sarah Lacina: Yeah, absolutely, and they [show] me talking about being "the president" and "Queen Sarah" or whatever, but you know, there's also a portion where I talk and I say, "This is a very bad position to be in because before I know it, the target is going to be on me. And if I do survive through this vote, now going forward, I have five people that are mad at me."

Because I was the only one with relationships on both sides. And so, Tony and those guys were going to be mad at me if I didn't go with them, and then, you know, my new Aparri was going to be mad. So I definitely knew at the time it was a very powerful position, but in the long run, it's like the worst position to be in.

Reality TV World: Why do you think Kass flipped? Do you think it was a completely emotional decision where she just felt you were being a bully in wanting to control who was going home and she just kind of resented that, or do you think she had some game strategy in mind -- and if so, what strategy could you envision?

Sarah Lacina: Yeah, no, I think it was completely emotional. If you could explain to me the strategy behind it, I would appreciate it, because I've tried to figure it out for the last six months and I still can't figure out the strategy behind it.

So, no, I don't think you can come up with a logical decision on how there was strategy involved in flipping. Now, can it ensure that you potentially make it to the end? Absolutely.

Reality TV World: Yes, that's what I was going to say. There's the idea Kass would be the perfect person to take to the end because now everyone feels she'll get no jury votes.

Sarah Lacina: But I didn't want that for me personally. I could care less about sitting in a Final 3, sitting there knowing I'm not going to win. Big deal, you know what I mean? I mean, I want to win the million.

Reality TV World: Do you think with Kass being an attorney maybe she thought she could just come up with a great argument in the end to convince the jury to see her side and vote for her?

Sarah Lacina: Well my personal opinion is, I think she felt that she had a dislike for me and didn't care. I don't think you've seen a strategic move out of her. Like the Spencer vote with [J'Tia Taylor], clearly J'Tia -- I mean, I'm glad they kept Spencer absolutely -- but J'Tia's the one you kind of want to keep because she's a great goat at this point and she's going to be loyal and she's going to stick with you guys.

Spencer is going to look other places, and that's where some animosity [from] Kass was coming, because Spencer and I were like best buddies out there and she could see that I was pulling him in. And so, definitely, I still cannot find the strategic logic behind it, so if you figure it out, I would like to know.

Reality TV World: (Laughs) Okay. Do you think Kass still would've flipped on you if you hadn't been so insistent on getting to control whom the alliance was going to vote off and instead just went along with majority's plan to vote out either Jefra Bland or Trish Hegarty?

Sarah Lacina: Yes and no. I feel she's one of those people that if you would approach her and flatter her, like, "Oh, well, we need you and like you," she'll be like, "Oh, okay!" And then she'll go with them. So, you know, the part that I wish wouldn't have happened was them seeing that Kass and I weren't getting along.

And I said something to her about it, like, "Look, we need to keep our family issues in-house and we don't need to be portraying it to the other tribe because that's where they're going to get their fuel and be able to crack us," and that's exactly what happened.

So I don't think, at that point, it mattered who we were going to vote for. I think she just got wrapped up in the idea with, "Okay, well, I can take you out." And unfortunately, the name of the game isn't like "Who Can You Take Out?" It's being "the Sole Survivor" and winning the million dollars, and she got blinded by that.  

Reality TV World: Last night's episode showed Kass explaining the reason she didn't fully trust you yet was because you had only voted off a Beauty and hadn't proved your loyalty by voting against a former Brawn ally at your first Tribal Council with new Aparri. You seemed really offended by that and didn't think there was anything left for you to do to prove your loyalty. Thinking about it now, do you understand the point she was trying to make or do you still feel the same way?

Sarah Lacina: I mean, I guess I think that was the editing. I had done nothing to -- I can honestly say the only lie I told out there was to [Alexis Maxwell], and you know, I feel terrible about that. But that was a lie that I told, was, "No Alexis, we'll keep you." Otherwise, I was completely honest and upfront with everyone, and I was completely genuine and everything.

So I was so offended because she continued to question me, and it's like, "What more do I have to do? Do you want to go write down my vote for me? Is that what I have to do for you to trust me?" And it just got annoying.

It got to the point where, like, you can't win with her. You're out there with nothing to do and it just, like I said, it got aggravating and irritating and I just kind of was like, "Enough! Look, if you don't like me, then just don't talk to me. But stop bantering me about, 'You're going to flip and I don't trust you.' Like okay, don't trust me then. Get over it. Stop talking to me." 

Above is the first half of Sarah Lacina's exclusive interview with Reality TV World. Check back with us soon for the concluding portion.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS