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 permanently ousted 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.
Tyson, however, still remains in the game and is playing with the opposing Galang 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 concluding portion of her interview. Click here to read the first half.
Reality TV World: Had you ever applied for Survivor on your own before this season, or was it something you had just never been interested in before?
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Rachel Foulger: You know, I had never applied. I always thought it was out of the question for me mostly though, just because Tyson had done it, and they don't really love to bring on people that are so kind of knowledgeable, I think, about the game -- or so close. That's kind of what I had heard anyway. So, I just didn't think it was ever really even an option for me to go on the show.
Reality TV World: So how did you end up getting cast on the show, how did that happen? Was it something where the producers were initially interested in bringing Tyson back again and then asked him for a list of possibilities for his "loved one" partner, or was it a situation where they were already familiar with you and that played a role in why they were initially interested in him?
Rachel Foulger: Yeah, they had called Tyson and asked him if he wanted to do the show, which he wasn't sure if he wanted to, and then they said, "Well, what if you can take Rachel with you?" And he said, "Well, you're going to have to ask her." (Laughs) So they gave me a call and we thought about it and decided to go for it.
Reality TV World: So it sounds like right from the beginning, the producers weren't like, "Tyson, pick your mom, dad, sister, brother..." or anything like that. The idea was you and Tyson as a pair right off the bat?
Rachel Foulger: Yeah, it was always him just taking me. That was the only option. It wasn't ever really debated.
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Reality TV World: How long have you and Tyson been together?
Rachel Foulger: Five years now!
Reality TV World: Wow. So what's the status of your relationship now? Do you think we'll see an engagement ring during the reunion show or anything like that? (Laughs)
Rachel Foulger: That's definitely the next step. I don't know if it's going to be on the show or anything like that, but that's the next step for sure!
Reality TV World: Okay. What do you think you would have done if Tyson got voted out of his tribe before you? Would you have definitely swapped with him on Redemption Island since you thought he was the stronger player?
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Rachel Foulger: You know what? I really wouldn't have worried about Tyson that much because he's such a challenge dominator. I think that he could have stayed on Redemption Island. I still don't think that we would have switched because it would've been better for me to be with my tribe and him winning all the challenges in the arena.
Reality TV World: Were you surprised to see the five-guys alliance in your tribe already turn on John Cody this week, or had you kind of seen that coming?
Rachel Foulger: I was surprised just because they took out a strong player physically. They're losing all the challenges. But I also wasn't surprised because he was posing kind of a threat and making everybody feel uncomfortable with how he was going off and trying to find the idol and keeping that so secret.
Reality TV World: If you look at the tribes, your Tadhana tribe seems to have more physical strength. It doesn't seem to be the reason why you guys kept losing the Immunity Challenges. So do you have any thoughts on why they've been losing? Do you think the prior experience of the returning castaways has been the big difference, or do you think it's something else?
Rachel Foulger: I don't know if it's that. I don't think those challenges really cater to just muscle. They also cater to doing puzzles and things like that. And we didn't have anybody that could really do those. (Laughs)
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Reality TV World: What is your opinion about Brad Culpepper? Do you agree with the idea he's playing the game too hard, too early?
Rachel Foulger: Oh yeah, definitely. He did that from Day 1, so it'll be interesting to see how that pans out.
Reality TV World: Were you a little surprised that the guys didn't turn on Brad before/instead of John?
Rachel Foulger: Yeah, I was. It was a surprise, but I think that Brad still had a lot of say in what was going on out there.
Reality TV World: Do you think you ever could've written Tyson's name down at Tribal Council if you had to?
Rachel Foulger: I don't think there would be a situation where I ever would have to do that, so no.
Above is the concluding portion of Rachel's exclusive interview with Reality TV World. Click here to read the first half.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski