Laura Morett talks about 'Survivor: Blood vs. Water'

Laura Morett finished Survivor: Blood vs. Water in sixth place during the first half of Sunday night's special two-hour finale broadcast on CBS.


Laura M., a 43-year-old returning player and construction company co-owner from Salem, OR, was eliminated from the game after she lost the season's final Redemption Island duel to Tina Wesson. Her daughter Ciera Eastin was still in the game at this point but got ousted shortly afterwards in fifth place.

During a Monday conference call with reporters, Laura M. -- who previously competed on Survivor: Samoa -- talked to Reality TV World about her Survivor: Blood vs. Water experience. Check our Survivor show page for more interviews with the season's finale castaways.

Reality TV World: After Hayden Moss dropped out of the final duel, you asked Tina to quit the duel and let you be the one to go back into the game. Did you have some reason to think there was any chance she was actually going to agree to that, or what was going on there?

Laura Morett: I was desperate at that point. I was going to do whatever I could to get further. I knew that I couldn't stand up there much longer and I was hoping to play on her, "Tina, come on! I helped you last time and my daughter is still in the game! And I have a better shot of going on."


Because I knew I wasn't going to last much longer. So, it wouldn't hurt to ask, right? I'm like, "Tina, come on! Let me have it." I was very confident that she wasn't going to because that's just not her DNA. She's a fighter. But you got to ask, right?!

Reality TV World: So like you pointed out, you had obviously helped Tina out in the duel when Vytas Baskauskas got eliminated from the game, and she definitely wasn't in the position to beat you if you hadn't helped her knock out Vytas. What are your thoughts on that? Do you have any regrets about that decision?

Laura Morett: Not for one second. Not for one second at all. I mean, going back to the Vytas [elimination] and helping Tina with that, Vytas was looking over -- I hadn't planned on doing that going into the challenge because who would've -- I didn't know that I was going to finish first.

You can't really plan on something like that, but when I saw Vytas like looking over and trying to see my puzzle, you could see me, I was trying to turn it, like, "Quit looking!" And then when I saw that he was continuing to look and Tina wasn't -- Tina was just focused on her puzzle -- and I thought, "This is my opportunity. Those Baskauskas brothers have been gunning for me and my daughter from Day 1."

[Aras Baskauskas] blindsided me, Vytas had been writing Ciera's name down, I thought, "This is it! This is my chance. I can get rid of him." And so, it was a matter of somebody started the battle and we'll finish the war.


So, I mean, I can totally understand why he's upset -- totally understand. Was it cheating? Absolutely not, it's within the rules to do. But I get why he's mad. But I'm so glad I did that. Tina and I had a great time on Redemption Island together and she won the rest of the challenges! She deserved to go back in. 

Reality TV World: Do you think the end of the game might've been any different if you had gone back into the game instead of Tina, or do you think it would've ended up the same result with Monica Culpepper sticking with Tyson Apostol and Gervase Peterson and you would've just finished the game in the same spot Tina did?

Laura Morett: I think given just the odds and my track record -- and okay, so I'll just say this with confidence and not arrogance, so please take it as such. I was pretty confident I could go in and win the challenges, and all I had to do was just win two.

I had already won six, and I'm like, "I can just win two." The difference is then obviously Ciera would've been sent home one person sooner. But yeah, believe me, I replay that in my head again and again. It's like, "Morett, all you had to do was just [win] two more challenges."

Reality TV World: So who would you have taken to the end at that point? Who did you envision in the Final 3 with you, and do you think you would've walked away the winner or still lost to Tyson?


Laura Morett: I hopefully would've found some way to get rid of Tyson, but it would've been hard because he had the idol. But there was one time, the last one, once he played it, I would've like to have gone up against Gervase and Monica -- easily Gervase and Monica. I mean if Ciera couldn't be there, Gervase and Monica.

Reality TV World: Who do you think could've beaten Tyson in the end based on the jury vote. What combination of Final 3 members could you imagine that might've made the game turn out differently?

Laura Morett: Whoever -- well, no, because he'd have to be in there. Whoever made a move to try to get rid of him would've gotten my respect and would've gotten a vote. So whether it was spoiled or not and they were still in the game, but whoever tried to make that move to get rid of him would've earned my vote. So whoever would've tried doing that, I would've given my vote to.

Check our Survivor show page for more interviews with the season's finale castaways.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski