Meet the 'Survivor 47' Cast! Sierra Wright Calls Herself a "Smart Gullible"

Even before hopefully stacking her Survivor resumé, Sierra Wright has a fleshed-out CV of her own. The 27-year-old has lived a storied life, from performing on the stages of American Idol and Miss USA to pursuing broadcast journalism before finding her current career in nursing. Despite her vast life experience, Sierra does have a self-admitted naivete. But she welcomes being underestimated for it, as she hopes her observational skills and years of preparation will make her a million dollars richer.

Read on for my interview with Sierra, and check in with Parade.com daily for interviews with this season's contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 47 premieres on September 18 with a two-hour premiere on CBS.

Related: Meet the Full Cast of Survivor 47

Interview with Sierra from Survivor 47

To start, give me your name, age, and occupation.
So my name is Sierra Wright, and I'm 26 years old, and I am a registered nurse.

Was nursing something you found your way into? Or did you always want to be a nurse?
So nursing, I mean, it's definitely something that came natural to me. I was always the one who would my family would call on. If somebody got sick, I would be the one going to take care of them. But I actually started off as a news reporter. That was my first career. I moved to upstate New York the day after I graduated college, and then I played that out for a little bit. But, I mean, you don't make any money in that industry. And I don't think anybody tells you it's not as glamorous as it looks. I mean, I was lugging around a big-ass camera. I'm doing all this stuff, and it's not a glamorous thing. And, for the pay, it was tough. It was hard to even afford my rent. So I'm like, "Okay, we gotta make a switch. We gotta change something up." I come from a family of nurses. My mom's a nurse. My cousins are nurses. So then I went back to school and took the chance. I did an accelerated nursing program, 17 months. Pretty brutal 17 months, but we did it. And now, I love being a nurse.

Well, let's talk about another career transition you're making, from broadcast journalist to nurse to Survivor player. What's your history with the show, and what made you decide to go from fan to castaway?
One, I think I was just born for this game. There's no other way to put it. My physical abilities, my social abilities, I'm like, "We're gonna thrive out here." It's something that my family, it brought us together. Growing up, we watched since I was four years old. I kind of fell out of it when I got to college, didn't have cable. But got back into it at COVID. So this is where we're at now. And I just shot my shot and sent in a video.

And then they got back to me three years later. So it was waiting. I'm like, "Okay, I guess I'm not cut out." Kept sending a video in, and then finally I heard back. I got a call, literally the first week I started my nursing job. So I'm like, "Shit, I can't do this!" But then my job was great and flexible, and they were like, "Go for it!" I work for a private practice, so I had to speak with the doctor. I'm like, "Listen, if I'm going to keep moving forward, I could have had a baby at this point, [that's] how long this process has been. It's pretty intense. I'm not going to keep going if you tell me I'm not going to have a job when I come home." And then it worked out, and then we're here in freaking Fiji! This is crazy. And the background I can't get over. I'm telling you, it's, like, animated.

I mean, get used to it. You're going to hopefully be waking up to this for the next 26 days!
I know! When we're watching the sunset, it was a pretty wild moment, watching everybody lined up. We're all just sitting there watching the sun go down. And I'm like, "Whoa. I have chills. This is wild." This is what you dream of, and then now it's here, and now it's a reality. I'm excited to make my family proud.

Well let's pull on your deep-seeded knowledge of the show. Give me one Survivor winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most.
So I would say, J.T., strangely enough, I just love that he truly played the game with his heart. He was well-liked by the tribe. He was very underestimated because he was little gullible. And I feel like I definitely can be gullible. It's kind of my middle name here.

That's interesting. Is that gullibility just a facet of who you are? Are you nervous to have that in a game of deception?
No, not at all. I'm not nervous at all about that. Let them doubt me. Let them underestimate me and think, "Oh, she's just a stupid, smiley blonde." But I have a very strong intuition. It typically doesn't lead me wrong. And I am a lot more intelligent than apparently I come across, which is okay. I'll let them underestimate me, and I'm good with that.

Going back to the initial question, what about the non-winner?
Let's see. You know what? I'm gonna go with Stephenie LaGrossa. I love a "Delco" girl. I'm from Delaware, but I work in Philadelphia; I'm only 30 minutes outside of the city. So I gotta support her. And she's tough. She's resilient. She was a huge inspiration to so many girls around the world, just showing, whatever you put your mind to, if you do it with perseverance and some toughness, you can do it. And she crushed it, especially Season 10, she dominated. So that's, that's what I hope to do.

It seems like you have done so much already at only 26. You mentioned being a broadcast journalist and a nurse. But you also talked in your bio about winning Miss Delaware and competing in Miss USA, and you made it to one of the final rounds "before the big stage" on American Idol. But what's the one life experience you feel has prepared you most for the game?
I would say, actually, one that I don't have on there is that I've been in the service industry for over 12 years now. Being a server and dealing with such a wide population, you really have to learn how to effectively communicate with so many different groups. I think that's key for being out here in Survivor. Also, there's so many changes and things that happen in that industry that you have to adapt. If you have a shitty customer or somebody who's not being the nicest person, you have to deal with it and throw on that smile. If you want to make money, you gotta keep going. Otherwise, you won't make it through the shift. So just really learning, how do you adapt? How to communicate well with others from all different spaces and groups and backgrounds. I think that's definitely what set me up to be out here.

Related: Everything to Know About Survivor 47

What is your biggest superpower in life?
I really do think it's just going to end up being my strong intuition. I know that that's not like a stereotypical superpower. But I just think I can literally read through people. Maybe that's it. I feel like I can look at somebody. I'm writing down all these nonverbal cues. I could probably tell you somebody's story based off of what I've learned. So I'm very analytical and just pick up on a lot of things. When I'm at home, I'll say, "Mom, did you see that?" And she was like, "How the hell did you see that? Out of everything that person brought to the table, that's what you notice?" So I feel like I just can pick up on things that a lot of people can't.

What about your biggest piece of kryptonite? Does it go back to that gullibility?
Definitely being a little gullible. But I'm a smart gullible. I feel like I come across as gullible, where I can look a little airhead, I'll be honest. But I'm always sharp. I'm always like, "I know what you're talking about. What are you guys saying?" I got my eyes on people. Like I said, I have a really good read, and I know when something's going wrong or something's headed in a certain direction.

As you mentioned, you've got your eyes on people. How does that apply to your competition? Who are you picking up good vibes from in the preseason?
There's this woman here. She has long blonde hair. She seems like she's a little older. She's a MILF; she's a hot mom. You can tell she looks like she's like a surfer, yoga instructor. She's smiling, and she looks like a free spirit. And I just think she looks like a badass. And I think we could definitely dominate together. I see a kid, he's a taller kid, he looks strong and just athletic. And I'm like, "You know what? Let's crush it. Let's kill the challenges together." There's a lot of smiles out here. There's only a few, where you're like, "Oh, alright, I'll go in the next direction."

Name names! Well, you don't know their names. But describe them to me.
You know what's so funny? So I have, in my notebook, a list. I'm like, "There's a mini Austin out here." He looks literally like Austin, but a little shorter. I'm like, "There's a mini Sabiyah here." She's almost like a replica. I don't know; it's definitely been interesting. There's a really tall guy. He looks like he could literally be in the NFL, and you can just tell he's a goofball. And I think we would definitely get along too and just kick it and just be funny and shoot the shit together. But it's funny. In my notebook, I'm like, "This person has a tattoo. This person's painting out here. This person's reading. This person I noticed was awake at three in the morning when I went to the bathroom." So you pick up on these little cues where you're like, "Huh, okay." We know who the early risers are. We knew who's a lilttle more difficult to get up out of bed. So it's little things like that I'm definitely picking up on.

You mention names like Austin and Sabiyah. What is your biggest takeaway from the past two Survivor seasons that you plan to bring into your own game?
I've noticed that, the past two seasons, I really feel like I can relate with them. There's been all different wide variety of casting. But the past two seasons, I'm like, "Yeah, I could see me working with them in a ton of them, which I didn't really have for some of the past seasons. So I think I was, really cool to see. And I can already tell this upcoming season, I'm like, "Yeah, you, you, you. Shoot, everybody's smiling. Everybody looks pleasant. But I'll be onto you." [Laughs.]

Dee, to me, is an inspiration since Season 45. I freaking love her. I called it [in] one of my first casting interviews. I'm like, "That girl Dee. Come on, that's a girl to watch. I really think she's going to take it." Because she's just great. She's athletic; she crushed it in the challenges. She came ready. I've been preparing the last year. I've been in this whole process since August. I've been at the gym at 5:00 a.m. every day. Came strong, ready for that. But then also just being a likable person and being myself. I think that's the coolest thing about Survivor and this whole process. You don't need to be afraid to curse! That's not something I'm proud of, but a curse word might slip here and there. But just being able to be your real self and just let go and be like, "Take it or leave it." And that's exactly what Dee did, too. So I think just socially and having good tribe morale, what I noticed, is what's leading people in the right direction.

What's your hottest Survivor take?
I really want the live [final] Tribal back. When you go home, and you can have that moment with your loved ones, give them a big hug. And I feel like that is a high. A lot of people are like, "What? No, the emotions are so high and fresh when you're out here on the island," which I get too. But, a little selfishly, I would love to hug my family when I get crowned the 47 winner and just have them there.

Finally, if you could bring a celebrity or a fictional character out for a Loved Ones visit, who would it be and why?
Hmm…here we go again. Getting me stumped with this.

Listen, these are softballs compared to the Probstmaster general!
I thought I was ready! I came prepared. And I'm like, "Shit. Maybe I didn't." I love Carrie Underwood. I was a singer growing up, and I still love to sing. And she's my inspiration as a singer. She's so freaking strong and fit and motivating. So I feel like having that sort of energy come out, especially when you're feeling your lowest, I'd call on her and be like, "Come on girl, pick me up. Give me some little arm workouts. Give me something to do." And she has such a great heart and uplifting spirit. So, yeah, I would say she's definitely my go-to celebrity,

Next, check out our interview with Survivor 47 contestant Sam Phalen.