Lyrsa Torres was eliminated from Survivor: David vs. Goliath during Wednesday night's Survivor Season 37 episode on CBS.
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Lyrsa, a 36-year-old airline agent from Puerto Rico, who currently resides in Boston, MA, became the seventh castaway to leave the game through a 3-1 vote instead of Angelina Keeley, a 28-year-old financial consultant from Sparks, NV, who currently resides in San Clemente, CA.
Lyrsa was voted out at Tribal Council on Day 17 after her Jabeni tribe lost the Immunity Challenge.
"Well, they voted me out. I didn't see it coming. They played me good. I am super pissed at [Nick Wilson] because I didn't know he was a flip-flopper. Of course it sucks to lose," Lyrsa said following her Survivor ouster.
During an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Lyrsa talked about her Survivor experience and her tribe's decision to get rid of her right before the merge. Below is a portion of what she had to say.
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Reality TV World: When Mike White told you in the ocean before Tribal Council he didn't trust Angelina and was going to vote her out with you, did you believe him? How confident were you he was telling the truth?
Lyrsa Torres: I was 50/50. 50/50. Because in this game, if you have to go to Tribal, it's always 50/50, especially if you've had a target on your back since Day 1. So I really, really, really wanted to trust him, but like Saint Thomas in the Bible, I need to see to believe.
So I was very hesitant, and I felt it was going to be me the whole time. So I was hoping and crossing my fingers, but you feel it, you know? The dynamics change and people are either extremely nice or they just ignore you.
Reality TV World: So walking into Tribal Council, what did you anticipate was going to happen? Did you think Nick and Mike were both voting out Angelina with you? Did you think Nick was the only person on your side and the tribe was going to draw rocks? Or it sounds like you knew you were the target?
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Lyrsa Torres: I thought that possibly -- my first option was, like, "This is going to be a tie and we either have to draw rocks or we are going to make fire." Either one of those. So I was ready to do this, and if not, I knew Angelina was going to vote for me, so if it's not a tie, I'm going to be out.
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Reality TV World: From a viewer's perspective, Mike had nothing against you personally, and if he was voting strategically, he probably would've taken out a big threat like Angelina. So do you think Mike's vote just came down to making sure the Goliaths had the numbers going into the merge?
Lyrsa Torres: I think it was simple and it wasn't. I don't think he was thinking more about numbers. I think it was more of a personal thing for him, like, "If I vote Angelina out, the other Goliaths are not going to like me. They're going to hate me because I didn't bring the numbers in." I feel that it was more of that.
Reality TV World: Right. He felt the need to please his original Goliath tribe and keep the heat off him.
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Lyrsa Torres: He was going to be screwed either way. If he voted for Angelina, the Goliaths were going to hate him, and if he voted me out, the other people were going to hate him and were going to be pissed.
So he was in a tough position, and I really don't blame Mike. He was in a very powerful position, and if I were Mike, I probably would have done the same. You don't want to piss off the people who are possibly going to vote for you in the Final 3. And I get it.
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Reality TV World: Angelina said in a confessional she was "open-minded" about working with you given you're both Latinas, but when she approached you, you told her you were sticking with Nick and will draw rocks. First of all, were you surprised to hear Angelina's desire to work with you?
Lyrsa Torres: I was [surprised], because when she talked to me, I felt she was just trying to get my feedback on what I was about to do and who I was going to vote for. I didn't feel like she wanted to work with me. That's not what I felt.
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And I know this is going to sound repetitive, but I was still thinking about the jacket situation. So I cannot feel you are being honest with me because three days ago, you wanted to vote me out for a jacket.
I tried to carry myself through the game being loyal and honest, so how am I about to trust you when you wanted to take some material from me that's not even worth it instead of keeping me as a person for what I can bring? So I couldn't trust her because of that.
Reality TV World: Secondly, do you regret telling Angelina what you did instead of just playing along and humoring her to potentially save yourself?
Lyrsa Torres: Maybe what I should have done was tell her, like, "Yeah, I'll vote with you," and then don't do that -- tell her what she wanted to [hear].
But I was going to stick with Nick, and maybe that was my mistake, that I was not open to other possibilities or telling Angelina what she wanted to hear and then play my own thing.
Yeah, if I knew it was going to play out like this, I'd be like, "Girl, get my jacket... get my underwear, get everything! If this is going to guarantee me that I'm going to stay in the game, take everything. I will even give you my hair so you can look sassy." But I had no idea.
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Be sure to check back with Reality TV World soon for more from our exclusive Survivor interview with Lyrsa Torres.