Exclusive: 'Survivor: Kaoh Rong' castoff Alecia Holden talks (Part 1)

Survivor: Kaoh Rong -- Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty castaway Alecia Holden was voted out of her To Tang tribe during Wednesday night's broadcast on CBS.


The To Tang tribe (Brawn) ousted Alecia, a 24-year-old real estate agent from Dallas, TX, on Night 11 at the game's fourth Tribal Council session after her tribe lost the Immunity Challenge. Her tribe only has Kyle Jason, Scot Pollard and Cydney Gillon left going forward.

Because Beauty tribe member Caleb Reynolds was medically evacuated from the game at the Reward Challenge, Alecia became the fifth person to leave the game but only the fourth person voted out.

In an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Alecia talked about her Survivor experience and horrible relationship with her tribemates. Below is the first half. Check back with Reality TV World soon for the concluding portion.

Reality TV World: Jeff Probst called the situation with you, Scot and Jason complicated. He said you were a tough talker but there were also moments when the guys made pretty hostile comments. To put it bluntly, did you feel you were a victim of misogynistic bullying out there?


Alecia Holden: You know, they were rude to me, but I mean, it is a game, I was on the Brawn tribe, and I was also a lot more feisty and defending myself a lot more than was portrayed.

After the first challenge, Cydney had rotten fruit down her pants and she pulled it out, and I said it to Scot and Jason. They didn't show some of the funny things that I did behind the scenes, but I mean, they definitely were extremely rude to me, but I didn't let it phase me in the game.

Reality TV World: Your tribemates basically bashed you though in these first few episodes. They've called you absent-minded, dumb, said you can't hold a normal conversation, dubbed you "Blondie" and the list goes on. How much of this shocked you watching it back? Did they actually say these things to your face out there as well?

Alecia Holden: No, that's the thing. In the first couple of episodes, everyone thinks, like, "Oh, poor Alecia!" But they're not saying anything to my face! And I am very opinionated, and I do stand up for myself, and I don't really find myself a bullying victim because in the fourth episode, that's really the first time they start coming around and saying things to my face.

And the minute the stuff is said to my face, I did get in Scot's face and I confronted him! I addressed the situation, and you know, I don't think people should be intimidated by someone's size. Me and Scot were like David and Goliath out there, but I wasn't scared to confront him.


Reality TV World: So it kind of sounds like you're saying the way the guys treated you was justified at times, like you're taking responsibility for a lot of what went down.

Alecia Holden: Well, no, I mean, they definitely were rude and they were bullying me and picking on me. But, you know, in my interviews, I expressed how I felt about Scot and Jason and none of that was really shown. It just showed them calling me dumb and calling me names.

And I expressed how I felt about them as well in a lot of my confessionals, but I definitely think I was stereotyped in the game because I was smaller. So from Day 1, I think I was a target.

Reality TV World: Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. You were put on the Brawn tribe and I think their natural predisposition is respecting physical strength. So clearly you thought you were at a disadvantage because of that. Do you think they stereotyped your looks right away and then never gave you the benefit of the doubt? Almost like they didn't want you to redeem yourself?

Alecia Holden: Yeah, I think they never gave me a chance. Because even in the first episode, Jason said, "Hey, we're voting out Blondie." And so, from Day 1, they wanted me to go home and they didn't even know me then.


The game hadn't even really started, and you know, throughout the game, strength isn't only just physical but also mental. Scot quit on the fire and slept all day and I proved myself by not giving up and continuing to work at it until I got it.

Reality TV World: Do you feel you struggled in the game of Survivor though, with the work around camp, the elements, the social game? Or do you feel your tribe underestimated you, and if you did something right, they'd treat it like a one-time thing and just forget about it?

Alecia Holden: Yeah, like the first episode, I was portrayed in a completely false light. I pulled my weight around camp, I did help, and you know, I got edited like I was just in the corner drinking water. But that definitely wasn't the case.

I did a lot more around camp than Scot and Jason did, and you know, Scot said he didn't want anyone on the tribe that was weak. Well, without water and without food, we're weak. And giving up on the fire and sleeping all day isn't helping us get through those elements that we need to survive.

Reality TV World: When you refused to have Tribal Council right on the beach after you lost the Immunity Challenge, did you refuse to do it only for the sake of your pride and not wanting to quit, or did you think there was actually a chance you could scramble and change someone's mind about the vote?


Alecia Holden: When we got back to camp, I tried to persuade Cydney to write one of the guy's names down, but I knew she wouldn't. So I went into the woods for several hours searching for an immunity idol just thinking maybe there would be a twist and I could find another one. But I wasn't successful in finding another idol, but if you're going to come into this game just to quit, then why play Survivor?

Reality TV World: Right, I wanted to dive into what viewers didn't see after the Immunity Challenge, because the episode brought us right to Tribal Council. So it sounds like you fought for your position. Did more drama and arguments unfold?

Alecia Holden: I went looking for an idol and then I tried talking to Cydney to get one of the guys out to flush the idol and, you know, see if she would align with me, but it was pretty much a done deal by then. Everyone had turned on me, so I was in pretty deep water going back to camp. Getting back from the Immunity Challenge, [Scot] and I still fought with each other. The Brawn tribe was never a happy tribe.

Reality TV World: After the Immunity Challenge, your tribe clearly wanted to vote you out immediately. Do you think their desire to vote you out immediately extended even earlier in time -- like maybe there was a possibility they threw the Immunity Challenge to ensure your ouster?

Alecia Holden: Well, what wasn't shown is when me and Cydney were on the puzzle, I look at Scot and Jason and I said, "Switch!" And they sat there and smiled and laughed at me, and [Jeff Probst] even said, "Alecia's getting no love from the Brawn tribe!" I looked at them and said, "Switch me out! See if you can figure it out."


And they refused to switch, going back to the issue of Scot not playing as a team. They wouldn't switch me out. And at that point, I thought, "I might not be a physical threat, but a social threat, and they know that if the swap does happen tomorrow," -- which it was -- "then I was going to tell people [Jason] had an idol and it would put a target on his back."

So I do think they didn't want to help me with the puzzle because they did want to throw it and they did want to go to Tribal to send me home.

Reality TV World: That makes a lot of sense. Do you think it was unfair to you that Jeff ran with Jason's suggestion of doing Tribal immediately after the challenge? It put pressure on you to be the sole person to prevent it, and because you didn't go along with it, it gave your tribe another reason to be mad at you and become even more resentful and frustrated.

Alecia Holden: Not at all. I didn't mind Jeff saying that at all. It was an idea thrown out there and I think my tribe wanted me to leave right then and there, but like I said, I went into the game from Day 1 not quitting and I'm not going to leave a quitter.

Check back with Reality TV World soon for more from our exclusive Survivor interview with Alecia. Also, click here to begin reading our separate interview with Caleb Reynolds.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski