Survivor: Blood vs. Water eliminated "loved one" Rachel Foulger from the game during Wednesday night's third episode of the CBS reality series' 27th edition.
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Rachel, a 33-year-old cocktail waitress and graphic designer from Provo, UT who is the girlfriend of returning player Tyson Apostol, was ousted permanently from the game after she lost the season's second Redemption Island duel to Marissa Peterson and Candice Cody. She had previously been voted out of the Tadhana newbies tribe.
In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Rachel talked about her Survivor: Blood vs. Water experience and early ouster from the game. Below is the first half of her interview. Check back with us on Friday for the concluding portion.
Reality TV World: So I know you told Tyson it was up to him to decide whether or not he wanted to switch with you on Redemption Island, but deep down, were you really hoping Tyson would switch with you and you just didn't want to be that person that would ask him to do it?
Rachel Foulger: No, not at all. Actually, Tyson was about to jump down in there. He was at the edge of his seat. It was really me saying, "Absolutely not. I'm not going to switch. I don't think it's smart at all." Selfishly, yeah, I could've gone further in the game; I would've lasted longer. But as a couple, I knew it was better for us to get further by keeping him in the game.
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Reality TV World: You just said you thought you could've gone further in the game than Tyson would've? Is that right?
Rachel Foulger: No, I'm saying Tyson can get further in the game. He's a stronger player. That's why I wanted to keep him in the game and keep him on his tribe, so yeah, he has already played twice before. He has more experience than me, and on top of that, I didn't want to do what my tribe wanted.
That's what they wanted. They wanted to switch. They wanted Tyson out of the game, and I was no longer there to help Tadhana. I was there to help Galang. So by keeping Tyson in the game, it's going to keep Galang stronger and ultimately keep Tyson strong as well.
Reality TV World: Were you surprised to be voted off by Brad Culpepper and the other guys, or had you envisioned the possibility that they might try and use you as a pawn to try and get Tyson out? It sounds like you're saying you had envisioned that?
Rachel Foulger: Well, I didn't in the beginning. I definitely thought I was going to make it further in the game than I did. But as soon as that new rule was announced as [Jeff Probst] asked [Marissa Peterson] and [Gervase Peterson] if they wanted to switch places in the arena, that's when I knew there could be a target on my back.
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That's when I knew they could use me to try to get Tyson out. They can now move players on a completely different tribe. So I knew at that point that I could be in trouble.
Reality TV World: Had you and Tyson made any pre-game plans about how you wanted to play the game if you ended up on different tribes, or, given Tyson obviously already knew at least some of the other returning castaways before the game, had you guys made any pre-game alliances with any of the other returning pairs of players?
Rachel Foulger: We really didn't at all. I knew that we would be separate in going out there, but I did not think it was going to be on that very first day. So that was surprising to me. And I think that we both thought we had a little more time to be able to talk things through, but we really didn't. Everything was totally improv.
Reality TV World: Did you feel you were a part of any type of alliance in your own tribe, Tadhana? And at what point had it become clear to you that the five guys had all aligned together and were just planning to pick off the girls?
Rachel Foulger: That was from the very first day. They were so obvious about it. And that's why my strategy was to try to get in with those guys. My alliance was mainly with [John Cody] in the beginning, which was great because he's a very trustworthy person, but it wasn't good because he got the idol and ultimately [it] took him out of the game. He didn't play that idol very well, so.
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Above is the first half of Rachel Foulger's exclusive interview with Reality TV World. Check back with us on Friday for the concluding portion.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski