By John Powell – GlobalTV.com

She couldn’t escape that shadow that blanketed her game since she stepped foot on the island. Sierra Wright, a former Miss Delaware USA, just couldn’t shake the connection that she had to her ride or die, Sam Phalen. In many ways their relationship was a determent to her game and in many ways it was blessing.

John Powell: Sierra, how are you today?

Sierra Wright: John, you know, I’m doing well. I just re-watched quite the epic blindside back so I I’m feeling good though and feeling proud and happy and just honored to have been there in the first place.

John Powell: What was it like reliving that back? You and Sam must have been shocked at the time.

Sierra Wright: We were very surprised to say the least. I mean, when I say I had zero idea…I always was just like, I have a good grasp on everything. I feel like I have a good read on people. I’m like: They’re never going to sneak one by me and then when you start to watch it unfold and it was happening, I was like: Sure, this is how they got me. It was wild watching it back. It was very emotional. I think it’s been enough time for now to sit with it but then you watch it back and you just kind of go back to those same emotions you felt that night, which were just…You’re a whirlwind of emotions and you’re just filled with sadness, happiness with the game, but also just like defeat at that point.

John Powell: When things went to that revote how did you feel about your chances?

Sierra Wright: I thought, I thought I had it! I’m like: I’m voting on the revote. Sam is a goner, not that I would would have wanted it to go that way, but you’re at that point in the game where you’re saving yourself, of course. So, I definitely thought Sam was gone with me being able to vote. Why wouldn’t they get Sam out over me? The word on the street was he was a bigger threat everybody had their eye on but again, a lot of different explanations from people whether he was the meat shield, whether it was me kind of holding Rachel and Sam together. I was told I was the glue of the the Gata tribe. They needed to split that, remove that glue. I got a lot of different answers but it still just doesn’t make sense. You can’t make it make sense. You’re like: Why me? How did it end up being me?

John Powell: You have to take some pride though that some thought you were the mastermind of Gata.

Sierra Wright: That’s always good to hear. If anything you’re hearing you’re a big threat…I’m honored if I’m the biggest threat. I’m honored.

John Powell: When you watched everything back, everything you didn’t get to see, what surprised you the most about your blindside?

Sierra Wright: I would say what surprised me the most was I didn’t realize how close Genevieve and Andy had gotten. I saw them from afar right before tribal. They’re in the water and they’re talking. It was after the challenge and I’m like: Something doesn’t feel bright and I start walking over to them and they immediately shut up and stop talking. I knew they were talking about me. That’s Andy right there, somebody I was viewing as one of my alliance members. Genevieve gets up and walks away. I was like, kind of like, just  a weird, cold, eerie feeling. What is going on?…I knew the vibes were off, like with Teeny. I keep thinking we’re great. We formed this awesome bond together where I will go to the end with Teeny. Then, she stopped even looking me in my eyes and we went from not even being able to be with each other on the same bench dying laughing to her not even looking at me. So, that was where I knew something’s not right.

John Powell: In your relationship with Andy ‘Survivor sister’ was mentioned. How was your relationship out there and were you surprised that he turned on you because of what happened earlier with him being like that decoy vote?

Sierra Wright: Looking back at it, I get it. I think I ultimately can take the blame. I let Andy slip through my fingers. I felt like I wasn’t being a good alliance member heading into the merge. I got too distracted with all of the other relationships and people to bond with…I thought we were going further in the game together but it did shock me to see him turn on me that quickly. But again, it made sense. He had his reasoning. They (the editors) caught me speaking more negatively about Andy versus the positive because I had great things to say about Andy. He knew himself that he was a sloppy player. He would be the first one to tell you, but again, I think it ended up being part of his strategy.

John Powell: Speaking of relationships, you were very close to Sam. At the very beginning you got word that the other tribes were thinking you were more than that, how did you guys react? Did you formulate some kind of plan to offset all of that?

Sierra Wright: Well, it was interesting. We kind of like took it like a joke, because, for one, Rome and Kyle, they are clearly making this judgment based on our appearance. We were called ‘Barbie and Ken’ and I’m like: They’ve only seen us on the beach, on the mat for like, five seconds. Where are they getting this from? They don’t even know us as individuals. So we kind of like laughed it off but Sue even approached Sam at the social hour and was like: We hear like you and Sierra are running the show. I was like, well, darn! Thanks Anika. I guess she didn’t shut that down like enough. We were just like: Alright, going into the merge, we need to do our own thing, make different alliances. Still always bring information back to one another but definitely form that like gap in that space so that we didn’t have a target on our back. But ultimately, once you have that, like title of a duo, I don’t think you’re getting out of it. I don’t think we were going to be able to fool anybody no matter how hard we tried. It was just like the target was there and that was it.

John Powell: Speaking of Anika, your relationship was up and down. Looking back how do you see things and how they evolved?

Sierra Wright: I would say looking back there’s not much I would have or could have changed. It was really challenging situation to be in. It is hard to put into words because Anika didn’t have a vote. That’s where it all went wrong. Anika and Rachel were a tight duo. I was on the bottom of that. I was kind of trailing along with them. Why jeopardize being in this great position with Sam and ruffle his feathers even more about trying to keep Anika. For the life of me it didn’t really make sense at that time…I felt good with my decision of making just not pushing any harder for Anika…I felt that trust and connection with Sam more than I did with Anika and the same thing with Andy. Andy at the time, he’s a wild card, but at this point I’m tied with him with Sam. I felt good and in a good position with those two way more than the girls at this point.

John Powell: You got to see everything that you know was going on behind your back. What has surprised you the most of about a person’s gameplay or whatever, watching back the episodes? What has shocked you the most?

Sierra Wright: I felt like I had a really good grasp on the game all along but then just seeing that Andy and Genevieve bond start to form, I’m like: So this is where things like took a turn. Just watching how he plotted, was the one pushing my name more so than anybody out there…Andy had that strong influence of pushing me over Sam because he wanted to keep Sam and work with him more long term. I think it wasn’t exactly shocking. I knew he played a big part in my vote out but it was just like watching it, how it all unfolded, like seeing how close him and Genevieve got, and when they got close, it’s like, I didn’t catch that.

John Powell: Was there any part of your Survivor journey that you wished viewers, fans got to see?

Sierra Wright: One, I don’t think it was shown nearly as much as how close Rachel and I were. Rachel was another one where she’s my go to girl.  I look back at leaving her out of the Anika vote. If I could have done things differently I would have at least told her right before tribal…As far as how it was shown, I just don’t think our relationship really shined through. I felt like all my trust in Rachel almost as much as I felt like that with Sam.

Survivor 47 Fantasy Tribe