TVGuide.ca: Hey Stephenie, what a rough elimination. I’m sure you’re sick and tired of talking about what a jerk James was, but how did you take it at the time: extremely disappointed or glad to be rid of that tribe?
Stephenie LaGrossa: Obviously disappointed, but I knew it was coming, it wasn’t a shock. There was nothing I could do about it, we couldn’t switch Cirie and Candace. We’ll see moving forward that they made a mistake.
TVG: What do you think of the way Survivor has evolved over the years?
SL: It’s a great show, you can’t take that away. It’s the most successful reality show in the history of reality television. But when you have an all-star season, it’s unfair — it really is. Especially if you’re not in with the in-clique. These people live in L.A., they hang out, they hook up, they all are connected. I wasn’t a part of that, and neither was Tom really. It was unfortunate.
TVG: Do you think there’s a way to nip that for an all-star season, maybe by CBS? Or are these contestants so aware of their popularity that they assume they’ll be on and they can start scrambling on assumptions?
SL: It has a little bit to do with the casting. A lot of shady stuff went down before this season, and it was worse this time around than on the last one — from what I’m hearing of the stuff that’s actually coming out now. I think there might have been some help from the producers this time around, and that’s really upsetting.
TVG: At this point do you think people still love an all-star season or is it tired?
SL: No, everybody loves an all-star season, people want to root for the people they once loved and cheered for. As a fan of the show myself, before I was ever even on it, I love an all-star season. It just sucks for the people who do go back. But fans don’t look at it like that, ‘Oh there were pre-alliances made.’ They don’t care.
TVG: Of all the people that played this game so many times, my judgment of you is that you’re still one of the most grounded contestants, despite knowing your own popularity. Is it hard not to have a bit of an ego, being escalated to fame overnight?
SL: No, there are a lot of people that really didn’t make themselves become Survivor. Me, Colby, Tom and Cirie, who are people that I know well, are people that are popular, did well, but went back to their regular lives — a job and their life without Survivor. And they can still live.
Then there are people like Rupert and James, and everybody else that lived out in L.A. and was trying to become famous off it, their life is Survivor. It’s sad, and that’s what happened on the Heroes tribe, is that these people let their ego get in the way. It was unfortunate because they think they’re really more important than they really are.
TVG: From what I understand, some of the Heroes members would talk about free stuff and endorsements they had around the camp.
SL: Yeah, to the point where that actually came up at tribal council. Of course a lot wasn’t shown, but it was like, ‘We’re so sick of hearing you talk about the free stuff you get at this restaurant, and how you bring in hundreds of people and rip them off. We’re sick of hearing about you, Rupert, talk about how much money you’ve made and the car deal you got, and this and that.’
Colby’s been in movies, he’s been in commercials, he was the Schick guy for crying out loud. Tom’s done things in his own right, so have I, haven’t we all? But do we need to talk about it and prove ourselves and brag about it? That’s embarrassing.
TVG: Do you think if that same group had of been labelled the Villains, maybe they would have handled it a bit differently?
SL: Yeah, they were playing it up a little bit. Still, I think they were a better group of people to be around anyway, those Villains.
TVG: Really, why?
SL: Because they didn’t have the egos. I was only out there for what — six days — but come on! From what I could see they were actually having a decent time, whereas our camp was unbearable to be around because James and Rupert were so annoying, talking about God knows what.
TVG: Do think the thing with Rupert was that he was threatened by the fact you were the most popular female contestant?
SL: I don’t know. I’ve never met Rupert (but) someone told me he didn’t like me from an event. The only time I’ve ever seen the guy was when I flew in on an all-nighter from L.A. after losing the finale to Danni in Guatemala and we had to be on The Early Show. Rupert was there to present the cheque to Danni. Obviously I wasn’t the most happy person to sit next to her and watch her receive the million-dollar cheque when I should have had it. But that’s the only time I’ve met the guy and I don’t know where he’s coming from with that attitude.
TVG: I met Rupert at the Survivor All-Stars party CBS threw you guys in January, and he’s quite different than he appears on TV, isn’t he?
SL: Oh yeah. If it’s just you and him talking he’s totally cool. But then all of a sudden the cameras come around and he puts on this pirate act. Unless his agent was there, was his agent there?
TVG: Not that I saw, but probably.
SL: That’s the other thing. We all went to New York for Letterman and press. First of all you weren’t even supposed to bring a guest or I would have brought my fiancé (Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick). Some people brought their husbands or wives for the one dinner. But this guy stayed with Rupert the whole time — he brought his agent. We were on Letterman for like, a second. Everyone was like, ‘Really, you brought your agent? Come on.’
TVG: You clearly need surgery on your shoulder, and dislocated it and popped it back in before competing with Parvati in the first reward challenge, when she held your hands behind your back. That was a bit out of sequence to viewers; can you remember any other clever edits from your two episodes?
SL: Obviously it didn’t happen how it happened, but a lot of stuff is taken out of context — it’s hard to even talk about it all. Tonight’s there’s some editing; Tom says to James, ‘You could have been a little more gentle,’ and it looks like he’s talking about the challenge, because apparently James bashes someone’s head in, but really he’s talking about when they got back from tribal council with me. They mix things up like that a lot.
TVG: Well it sounds as though you have a lot of positive things coming up, including your wedding. Is there any chance we’ll be seeing that on TV?
SL: There was an option, it could be on TV, but it would depend on the offer and stipulation. There are a lot of print magazines interested as well, but we don’t want our wedding to be this big publicized event. But Kyle is a new baseball player and he doesn’t have a huge contract yet, and I obviously never won the million, so we’re paying for it. It’s in Napa, so it’s pretty expensive and any help that we can get as far as paying for it we will take it in account, but we want it to just be about us.
TVG: You and Jen Lyon were friends, I was curious if you could share one of your favourite memories of her?
SL: Just her spirit. I saw her out in L.A. and her days were numbered. She was in liver failure, and she still, still was the most beautiful, strong, kind-hearted person I’ve ever been around. I went through a divorce a couple of years ago and I met up with Jen and she was incredible and so strong. She really helped me through that time. She was just an amazing girl. She’s gone physically but I don’t think she’ll ever be gone spiritually or emotionally.
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