Sherri Biethman talks about 'Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites'

Sherri Biethman finished tied for second place with Dawn Meehan during the live portion of Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites' Sunday night finale broadcast on CBS from CBS Studio Center in Studio City, CA.


Sherri, a 41-year-old fast food franchisee from Boise, ID, and Dawn, a 42-year-old English professor from South Jordan, UT, finished behind winner John Cochran -- who, with Dawn, previously competed on Survivor: South Pacific and returned this season as "Favorites" -- in the season's final jury voting results. Sherri entered the game as a "Fan" and newbie player.

Cochran received every single vote from the jury members comprised of previously-eliminated castaways and therefore won Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites and walked away with the $1 million grand prize.

During a Monday conference call with reporters, Sherri talked to Reality TV World about her Survivor experience. Visit our Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites homepage for more interviews with this season's castaways. 
 
Reality TV World: Were you surprised you didn't get any jury votes? It seemed like you went into jury questioning pretty confident you had a shot of some kind at winning the game, so was that really the case?

Sherri Biethman: No, (laughs) I didn't think I had a shot at all walking into that jury of winning. So, no, I wasn't surprised at all that I didn't get any jury votes. I mean, the only person I could possibly -- just because he was on my, he was a "Fan" from the beginning -- was [Michael Snow].


I thought possibly Michael would throw me a vote because he played with me at the beginning. He saw I was strong at the beginning, so he saw at the beginning that -- I mean, he saw my game at the beginning and he knew I was playing hard and he knew I was strategic.

So I thought he possibly would remember that and see and know what it took and how hard it was to overcome the odds that I had to go against coming into the merge, you know, eight "Favorites" and four "Fans." And so, I thought maybe he would respect that.

And then [Phillip Sheppard], I thought, "Possibly," that he could respect me because he saw that I was coming in to -- that I was able to align myself and get into this alliance. But then again, I knew Phillip was so close to Cochran, so you know, I was delusional a little bit maybe, hoping. But yeah, I honestly didn't think I had [a chance].

Reality TV World: Had there been a point a little earlier in the game, like maybe when Erik Reichenbach and Edward "Eddie" Fox were still in the game where you thought you could go to the Final 3 with some combination and win, and if so, what was that combination?

Sherri Biethman: I mean, I went through every scenario trying to think of what was laid in front of me of how I could win with the jury I had. The guys for whatever reason liked Erik at one point because he was kind of a bros kind of guy, so he would hang out with them and play cards with them, so they would bond over that.


And then everybody loved Eddie, the fact of just because he was likable. He was just kind of a goofy guy and he wasn't playing, he wasn't making anybody mad. He was doing that, you know? So I mean, I could, no. I couldn't honestly think of a scenario where I would win that jury.

Reality TV World: When Erik spoke to you at jury questioning, he said you did basically absolutely nothing in the game and were like a "seashell on the beach." Did it surprise you how confrontational he got with you and what do you think was his motive behind that?

Sherri Biethman: I think Erik was pissed because I made it further than he did. He was expecting to be sitting his little butt on that stump beside Dawn and [Brenda Lowe] and his world got rocked like the night before or whatever when he left and went home -- that [medical evacuation].

And I think he was just bitter because I was sitting there and he wasn't, so was I surprised that he was so personal? It did surprise me, yeah, that he was kind of angry, because he didn't ever seem angry towards me in the game.

Reality TV World: During the Tribal Council in which Eddie was eliminated, you told the group you didn't say a lot but took in a lot. While it became apparent the jury kind of agreed you did very little during the game, Cochran kind of stuck up for you and said you probably did more in the game than was apparent to anyone. Why do you think Cochran was the only person to have that perspective?


Sherri Biethman: That's because me and Cochran spent a lot of time together running strategy. They never show us talking. I mean, I spent lots of time with Cochran and we would argue how much I did and how I was sitting next to him and Dawn, and no one really saw that happening around them.

Reality TV World: Similar to Erik, Reynold Toepfer and Eddie really disliked you out there and made that very clear both during the game and in their post-show interviews as well. Could you talk about why there was such bad blood between you and the two guys and what your opinion is of them?

Sherri Biethman: Reynold and Eddie, from Day 1, I mean, this is what Reynold says about me. He said that I was playing the game really hard and he didn't like that. Okay, well that's what I came out to do, so right off the bat, he didn't like me because I broke up his "cool kids" alliance. He could not stand that I sent [Alexandra "Allie" Pohevitz] home, [Hope Driskill] home, and that I was beating him.

Because I mean, Reynold is a guy who, I think, is used to getting his way in life and he was realizing, "Wait a minute. This is out of my control and you people aren't doing what I want them to do and they're listening to this lady, who's 40-years-old and should not be running the show," or should basically not be beating him.

And I think he took it very personal, because from that day on, we could never work together. I tried several times when we would be together -- when the "Fans" would have a shot at trying to win against the "Favorites" -- and he just could not get over that I broke up the alliance.


Reality TV World: So did you ever come close to joining the three amigos alliance then consisting of Reynold, Eddie and Malcolm Freberg, along with Erik, or was that out of the question for you?

Sherri Biethman: That wasn't going to happen. I mean, anybody that calls themselves "the three amigos plus Sherri," it just doesn't work. That was never really going to happen -- the three amigos plus Sherri. 

Above is what Sherri had to tell Reality TV World during a Monday conference call with reporters. Visit our Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites homepage for more interviews with this season's castaways. 






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski