“Survivor 47” star Caroline Vidmar says she told Sue to not play idol on her

There are so many ways Caroline Vidmar could still be playing Survivor. She and her allies could have not split the vote onto Sam Phalen and Genevieve Mushaluk. Bestie Sue Smey could have played her immunity idol for her. Accomplice Rachel LaMont could have used her Block-a-Vote to dwindle the opposition’s numbers. But none of these things happened, and Caroline became the victim of Operation: Italy.

How close was Sue to playing that idol? What was Caroline’s reaction when she saw her name keep coming up on that parchment? And how much has she second guessed those Tribal Council decisions over the past six months? We asked the fifth member of the Survivor 47 jury all that and more as we conducted Operation: Exit Interview. And we got a heaping helping of intel along the way.

Related: Survivor 47 recap: Operation: What Just Happened?

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s start with the important stuff. Were you Tweedledee or Tweedledum?

CAROLINE VIDMAR: I would like to think that I was Tweedledee, but honestly, you know what? The whole point is they are supposed to be the exact same carbon copy, so I guess I should be equally offended by either. But in all honesty, I heard about that comment a few days before Sue. I didn't care about it whatsoever. If anything, I thought it was kind of like an amusing take, and in my opinion, a bit of an incorrect read on Kyle's part. So I was like, if people thinking that we're just a carbon copy lowers our threat level, I'm fine with it.

Is that the thing that Rome was talking about when he spoke to me? Because he's like, “Kyle said something, Caroline and Sue know about it. It was terrible. I'd get canceled if I said it.” Kyle thought it was Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Was that it or was it something else?

So full transparency, there were some middle school insults that were said on the island, and in general, middle school insults for me did not bother me whatsoever. Again, we're all starving out there, we're all kind of grouchy. I just kind of attributed it to that.

But also, and I don't know how in the weeds we want to get into this, but Tuku actually had a plan before we went into the merge that we were really going to act like Kyle was on the outs. He wasn't clicking with us, and granted, there was some truth there and that's how the plan was designed. It was kind of designed to be like a fail-safe, where Kyle says not so great stuff about us and we have an excuse to still work together, or we say some not so great things about Kyle. It's all according to plan.

So what's funny is in that episode where Kyle has explained to all of us why he was saying those things, when everyone leaves, Kyle just says, “Yeah, that was all according to the plan. Don't worry, guys. We're solid.” So if anything, I was like, “Yeah, totally makes sense. Good move, Kyle.” All of that was not only water under the bridge, but kind of according to plan.

Related: Survivor 47 recap: Operation: What Just Happened?

Alright, I'm glad we finally got that cleared up. So what was your reaction when you saw your name come up not once or twice, but three times at Tribal Council?

It was a blindside, and it's okay. It's interesting because that Tribal Council was the very first time I had a bad feeling in my gut. I walked into that Tribal Council, and I was like, “I think I'm safe, but I need to take in this moment because I know that there is a genuine risk here.” And while I was feeling confident throughout the Tribal Council, my confidence decreased to 70 percent. So it was a shock, and just the feeling that radiates from your body when that happens, it feels almost out of body. It genuinely became like an out of body experience, but my gut was worried about this. But no, got to give him credit. It was a total blindside.

How close was Sue to playing her idol on you and why did she ultimately not do it?

It's crazy looking back at that because we knew it in the moment, but really when you watch the episode, there were so many things in our toolkit and opportunities we could have used to have this vote not happen. And Dalton, the wildest part is I was the biggest advocate to not use those advantages. I was the one telling Sue, “Do not play your idol on me,” and really encouraging Rachel, “I don't think you need to use your advantage on us.”

And when Andy was proposing the split vote, I'm like, “Great job, Andy. Good idea." And I'm so happy I can explain why. Because from my perspective, this vote was purely Andy management. It was really palpable, and I could tell, especially after the Kyle vote, Andy wanted to leave his mark on this game. Andy wanted to make a big move. He wanted to do something that really felt like his. And before the reward challenge, what I was going through in my head is “I really want Andy to feel like he has a lot of agency here.”

And so when he comes back proposing Genevieve, I'm like, “Great job, Andy. That is a big move. You're taking out the biggest threat!” So I wanted him in this vote to feel like he had total control and agency. I knew it was a calculated risk. It was a calculated risk where my name was on the other line, but I really felt if Andy didn't make a big move this round, things were going to get chaotic. Things were going to get messy. So I wanted to be the one that he was making that big move with. I wanted to be the one helping push his agenda.

Turns out the agenda was flipped, and it was against me, but I'm proud that I had the right read that he really wanted to do something. So Sue not playing her idol, Rachel not playing the Steal-a-Vote, us not messing with [his] vote split, it all had to do with making Andy feel like he had total agency, total control, and this was his move.

Wow. I mean you could play that two ways, right? I get it where you're coming from. And the other way to look at it it was “He needs to make a big move. We only have a one vote cushion. That's a scary time to split the vote.”

Yes.

Related: Teeny feels the pressure in Survivor 47 exclusive deleted scene

Andy's been such a fascinating character and I'd like to touch on him a little more because we've seen a lot of confessional interviews from him talking about being the master manipulator and the puppet-master and spinning the web, and we're seeing the web, and your face is on the web, and all that stuff. While you were in the game — because this could change as a member of the jury, and there's more game to be played, and we obviously don't want to look ahead — but while you were playing, did you or anyone view him that way? I've never heard any confessional interviews from anyone saying, “We’ve got to keep our eye on Andy.” And I think that's an important distinction in terms of how he sees himself and how you all at this point saw him.

Absolutely. I'm happy to talk more about how I feel like Andy portrayed himself while he was in the game. So obviously, our first impression of Andy is day three on the challenge mat where he does say some things where we're like “Not too strategic there,” or things that we were just kind of surprised by. And granted, Andy gave an explanation for me at the Journey and afterwards at the merge where that came from.

But what was interesting is once we hit the merge, Andy was very big about talking about his emotions during the game. He talked a lot about how he felt really excluded by Gata. He really felt like he was on the outs. When he felt like he was connecting with you from an alliance perspective, he was always talking about how comfortable he felt with you, how comforting it was to be with you. It was all very emotionally driven. And so I think the way he talked and acted once we hit the merge, I was clocking him for being more of an emotional player — or not totally emotional, but really driven by his emotions.

His decision to flip on Gata, he portrayed as really like, “Oh my gosh, I felt so disrespected and unincluded. I feel included with you guys.” And so I think a lot of us were viewing his plays as being: Who does he feel most comfortable with? Who does he feel most respected by? And so I think we were trying to persuade him, but also work with him. It felt like he was more emotionally driven. So I think a lot of our responses and who we kind of clocked as threats, we tend to err on the side of who is being more analytical and cunning versus more emotionally driven. So I think that's kind of the response you're seeing there.

Related: Jeff Probst explains why gender alliances don't work on Survivor

How much have you revisited those decisions we talked about a minute ago in terms of whether to use the Block-a-Vote or the idol or not split the vote over the past six months?

What's fascinating is when I left the game and I woke up the next day, just so much was going through my head, but the main thing I kept telling myself is, “Honestly, do not beat yourself up over this.” And the main reason why is that the main signal I had that something was going wrong was my gut. But the thing is, I kept thinking through from my perspective that I know from Andy's game and all the information I have, the best move is to go after Genevieve.

From my perspective of Andy's game, it’s brilliant to go after Genevieve. Though he changed the plan for our underdog alliance, he crafted it, Genevieve from our perspective was the biggest threat in the game and so I was continuously thinking “Andy could flip, he could do these things,” but I thought genuinely the best, smartest move was Genevieve. And so the way I tried to play my game is thinking through learning about the other players: What's the best move for them? And do I think that they're a player that knows that they should do the best move for them, or are they driven by other emotions?

While Andy was emotionally driven, I really thought that from my knowledge of the game, he would be making my perceived best move for him. I now know that there's other calculations at play and I'm sure he'll talk more about it, but you can't just always predict chaos and moves that might not be the best for your game from a player you think will play it the best.

What was your reunion with Gabe like at Ponderosa after you turned on him in the game?

He was the first person to give me a huge hug. I just still remember walking over, and granted, I'm honestly kind of nervous going to Ponderosa because the jury was mean mugging. The jury was looking angry, and I'm like, “Damnit, does Sierra really hate me? What's going on here?” But I got the warmest reception, the biggest hugs, and honestly, it was a really wonderful moment where I just felt so at home and so thrilled to be able to spend this time with my other castmates. It was a really heartwarming experience I remember fondly. So it was great.

Related: Survivor 47 star Kyle Ostwald reveals current status with Sue

Whom did you want to sit with at the end?

There were a few people who I was comfortable with. Sue, I absolutely wanted to sit in the final three with. She was someone who I would've been thrilled to sit with. Sue was actually someone where the day before I got voted out, she was telling me how proud she was of me and my game. She actually told me, “If I go to the end, I think you should win and I'll try to sneak in ways to advocate for you at the end.” So I'm like, “Thank you, Sue. Sure, why not? That sounds great!”

So I felt great up sitting next to Sue, and I felt that I'd be really proud to sit next to Teeny. There's a lot of people I was happy with. I would say I was also happy with Andy or Sam. I wasn't sold on either of them because I was really proud to go to the final four with all women, but in Survivor, you have to be adaptable. So I had not ruled out sitting next to Andy, hadn't ruled out sitting next to Sam. I did not want to sit next to Genevieve, and I was wary of sitting next to Rachel.

What’s something that happened out there that didn’t make it to TV that you wish we had seen?

It's a bit nuanced, and I think you could read behind the lines, but I do want to specify that for the Gabe vote-out, I was really pushing for Gabe to go home and I was pushing for Gabe to go home the day before he went home. So while Kyle's on the reward pitching Gabe's name, I was back at camp pitching Gabe's name. So I understand how the episode is a lot more exciting if it seems like I'm kind of like, “I don't know what to do, there's some debate,” but in my mind, my mind was made up the night after Sol went home.

Related: Sue builds a Christmas tree in Survivor 47 exclusive deleted scene

How much did you think about telling Sue before you did that?

Sue was the biggest question mark where I felt really confident I could repair my relationship with her. I kind of knew how to speak Sue. I knew that if I could speak from the heart and wear my heart on my sleeve like she did, we'd be able to repair our relationship. I thought about telling Sue when I felt like there was no other good backup option, and, in fact, I actually did.

I told Sue, “You know what, Sue? It's either you, me, or Gabe. They're coming after Tuku, and we need to make sure it's Gabe. Let's give him a fake idol. Let's wrap it up in the clue that you have, and we are going after Gabe to protect us, Sue. We got it!” Sue was not thrilled. Sue really didn't like the idea of using her note to help get rid of Gabe, but she was down for it, down to protect the two of us.

So when we felt like our backs were against the wall, Sue was comfortable with it, but once Gabe was like, “It's Genevieve guys, we're good. Don't worry.” Then I'm like, “There's no way I can tell her right now that I'm flipping on Gabe. There's too high of a risk that she's going to play her idol on Gabe.” So that was where I was really worried about Sue knowing, and I was very confident that I could repair the relationship after.

You all were so close out there. Did she ever tell you her real age?

I never asked! I never asked, and I was never a part of the conversations where we heard the fake age. I was hearing her fake age numbers after the game, but for me, I just didn't care. Like, “You are such a badass out there and you're killing it at challenges. I wonder when people are going to realize you're stronger than me at Tuku.” So I was like, “Whatever your age is, I want to be like you when I'm your age.” From the strength perspective, I'm training at the gym to try to be as strong as Sue. She's great.

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