“Survivor 47” star Sierra Wright was 'pissed' after being voted out

The ousted player also reveals the person's vote that hurt the most

Living up to her name, everything seemed to be going right for Sierra Wright on this week’s episode of Survivor 47. She found the most money leading into the Survivor auction, and then overcame some questionable math to parlay that money into a margarita, chips with salsa and guacamole, and as much chocolate and peanut butter as she could shove into her mouth in three minutes. Everything was going great! Until it wasn’t.

The Tuku and Lavo tribes joined forces to take out a Gata member — with disgruntled Gata afterthought Andy Rueda joining them. The only question was where the votes would go, and after an initial split-vote tie on Sierra and Sam Phalen to protect against an immunity idol, the former Miss Delaware was sent to the jury on the revote.

How did it go so wrong so fast for Sierra? How much does she blame Andy for her dismissal? And why was she so emotional after her exit? We caught up with the first jury member to ask all that and more.

Related: Survivor 47 recap: Andy has his sweet revenge

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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Tell me what’s going through your mind when you see your and Sam’s names coming up on all those parchments at Tribal Council.

SIERRA WRIGHT: I just remember putting my head down, and you're just in so much disbelief, and it is such a whirlwind of an experience. Even being at Tribal, I was still letting it set in that Jeff Probst was sitting in front of me each time I walked into Tribal Council. I'm like, "This is just a wild out of mind experience."

So then I started hearing Sam's name and I'm like, “This isn't a part of the plan. What's going on?” And then I heard mine. And when you hear your name, you're like, “Ouch.” I had no words, and I just already knew something was going to go wrong and I thought I had the trust in my core alliances and felt really great and confident, which you can't in the game of Survivor. And then here we are.

What did you think was going to happen on the revote?

So I thought Sam was going. I'm like, “Listen, I have a vote. I'm voting on the revote” — which was an incredible wild thing itself. So I'm like, “Oh, Sam's out of here. I've got my people I built core alliances with” — thinking Teeny. I was even thinking Sol. I didn't realize Sol was kind of against me at that time. So that was also a shock. But I felt so good and I was like, “I guess Sam's going home.” And Sam did too. Sam whispered to me. He said, “Good luck in the rest of the game.” He thought he was out. So I was certain it was going to be Sam, especially with me voting on the revote.

Related: Survivor 47 recap: Andy has his sweet revenge

Which person voting you out surprised or hurt you the most?

I knew Rachel didn't have a vote since she played her Shot in the Dark, and I knew Sam already lost his vote. So those two, I'm like, thank God they weren't a part of it, because I would've been very devastated about that. But I would say on the revote — with Teeny voting for Sam originally — I was like, “Darn, I thought she was with me no matter what.” But at that point, I guess she realized she didn't have the numbers. But I would say that would've been the most hurtful.

But even watching it back the whole Tribal and leading up to Tribal, it's still not really making sense to me as to why me over Sam. I got my answers on the side from people. Kyle's main topic was “You were the glue between Rachel and Sam. They were constantly coming to you, bringing you information. I wanted them to split up. I wanted them as two vulnerable individuals.” So that was Kyle's explanation.

And then I heard the meat shield explanation, and then Andy just felt strategically he could go longer and further in the game with Sam and without more emotional ties. So yeah, it was just interesting and still watching back, I still don't understand why I went, but here we are.

Related: Survivor 47 exclusive deleted scene shows Sol dunking on Rome… in Rome's shirt

We heard some tears creeping in there during your final words. What happened after the cameras cut off there in terms of what you were feeling and doing?

So initially, I was pissed. I'm just purely pissed, angry, frustrated. And then when I walk off, it just hits you. You're walking down that platform and you're like, “Holy s---, I'm out of the game of Survivor.” And I felt like my game just got going. So I was just getting my feet under me, and then I start thinking about my family and my boyfriend, Justin, and my family at home and I'm like, “Gosh, I feel like I'm letting people down and I let myself down.”

You go through all these emotions, but ultimately looking back, I'm like, I played my game the way I wanted to. I'm proud of it. And walking away I'm like, I feel like I won. So I feel really, really good with it. But it was just all those emotions being like, “What's my family going to think? How did this happen?” I mean, proud to be a part of the jury, but then so many different emotions.

It's amazing how often I hear that where people say they were worried about letting down friends and family back home, which I always find kind of fascinating because they're going to be proud of you no matter how you do. So Andy was giving himself a lot of props for taking you down. What do you make of that?

I think where this all went wrong was I knew from day two at the merge beach I screwed up. I already went to Sam, which wasn't really shown, and I'm like, “I feel like we just let him slip from our fingers.” I felt like I wasn't really touching base with Andy as much as I wanted to and as much as I promised myself going into the merge that “I need to keep him with me and by my side.”

But as far as taking responsibility with it, I would say he was the one pushing for me. And again, that is hurtful, but then you're watching it back and I'm like, “He's such a sloppy player” and this and that about Andy — which, don't get me wrong, I felt that way out there. I definitely was like, “He is such a sketchy alliance member to have” and just freaked me out from the start to be with somebody like that. But I would just say, yeah, it was his choice. It was in his ballpark and he got the home run, so he sure did win.

I definitely I let him slip through the cracks, and I am getting all of these comments: “Why did you not share the chocolate with Andy?” Things like that, which ultimately I have a whole explanation for that. They didn't show why I randomly chose Gabe and Caroline to share the chocolate with.

Related: Survivor host Jeff Probst explains why he ate contestants' food

I assumed that was because they got screwed on the auction items that they picked. Was that it?

They did, and they both haven't eaten at all. Gabe didn't have the barbecue reward, the merge feast, none of that. And I felt like I didn't have that connection with Tuku members yet. So I was like, “Let me try to build different alliances.” And I felt pretty good with Andy. I was like, “He's not going to turn on me. I'm not sharing chocolate with him. He just ate. He got food already.”

So who is responsible for you sitting here talking to me? Was it Andy or was it Lavo deciding to side with Tuku?

I would say Andy is 100 percent responsible for me sitting here today. Looking back, you hear Genevieve and Caroline, they're tossing out Rachel's name. You don't even hear my name be thrown around until the very end right before Tribal where it's like, “Okay, so Sam or Sierra?” And I know Andy was the one who was like, “Sierra.” He wanted to keep Sam because he felt like it was better for his game. It was a closer alliance to him.

So it was just Andy going around. Everybody was kind of on that fence, and Teeny was sold on me and was trying to get everybody and was going over to Andy and everybody being like “Tell me one more time, why is it not Sam? Why is it Sierra?” And Andy was the one who just kind of brought Lavo in, brought Sol in, and then here I am.

Related: Survivor 47 star Sierra won't eat hermit crabs in exclusive deleted scene

The producers love it so much when they get someone on camera in a confessional interview saying like, “Oh yeah, this person, I'm not worried about him in the game. We'll drag him along a little longer” — and then the person saying that gets voted out. But what is it like for you to watch that on TV knowing what's going to happen about 20 minutes later?

It's so cringey. I'm like, dammit! I mean, yeah, it makes you look stupid. You're like, “Oh he played me, he got me.” But it was just something in that moment, you're so confident, you're like, “Okay, nobody's worried about him. I'm sure as hell not worried about him. And lo and behold, he was the one to be worried about.

First off, congrats for getting all that money for the auction, but you have to help me out on this one: Why bid only $800 on the margarita and chips, leaving you with $260 and a real chance of losing your vote had that auction ended earlier? I'm screaming at the TV, Sierra!

I don't have that answer, Dalton. I wanted so many different items! I'm like, “Why did I freaking choose $800?” I think I was just that eager. Prior to the auction, I was like, “I am going to get a spicy margarita, chips, salsa.” I was craving that, I said it, and then it was like I manifested it. I got so excited, but did not think about the numbers. I'm not a freaking numbers girl. I'll be the first one to say it over and over.

I'm like: Why didn't I even just do $500 or something to leve me with more wiggle room and be able to bid higher on another item? So I don't know. That's a great question, and I have a lot of questions looking back at the game of Survivor, but when you're in the moment, you're just doing it.

How buzzed did you get off that margarita?

I was pretty buzzed. I was really, really excited. It was a really good margarita. I'm a picky margarita girl and that was a fire margarita.

Related: Survivor 47 star Anika Dhar was flabbergasted by brutal elimination

Did you have to mend any fences with Anika after the game for siding with Sam over her and Rachel? She clearly was very upset when she left Tribal Council. What about later?

This is a great question and topic. I will say, when I came home, I knew Anika was the first person I had to hash things out with. We had a very nice two-hour FaceTime just kind of breaking down the game and what my thought processes were. I I thought we were good. We talked it through.

But I'm somebody where I couldn't come home and recite the entire game day by day, and some individuals could. To me, it all seemed like a whirlwind, which kind of made it come of like I was giving false information, or lying, or holding information out when walking back this all through with Anika. So I think she got a little mixed vibes of whether I was being truthful or not. But honestly it was just, I did not remember each second and day of the game and where we stand.

I stuck with Sam for a reason. They didn't show that Sam and I formed with this close alliance on night one. Everybody was sitting by the fire, Sam and I were still in the shelter just trying to go to sleep, and we sat up and I'm like, “Oh shoot, I feel like we should go by the fire. I feel like we're really missing some good core bonding time.” And he looked at me and he was like, “Sierra, this moment right here is way more important than what they're doing by the fire.”

And that was where we established this sense of trust. And that's the thing in the game of Survivor — with Sam, we didn't even need to communicate without knowing that we trusted each other. I didn't feel that way with anybody else out there. It was just like, got it. We could give each other a look and it'd be like, we're good, we're aligned. But then I felt differently about others. And I would say as far as I went with Anika, I was just in a pinch in that vote. I really was. If I went against Sam and ended up being stuck with the girls and Sam, Sam would've likely have came firing back at me later down in the game. And that wasn't an alliance that I wanted to break, and I just wanted to stay strong, and Anika didn't have a vote.

So there was a lot of different factors that had nothing to do with choosing Sam over Anika in the sense of who I liked more. I found a great bond with Anika. I found a great bond with Sam, but it was simply, I was in a tough situation. I didn't want to already be the third of their duo, Anika and Rachel, which I was at the bottom of that duo. You don't see it on camera, but they were bonding and going off down the beach and doing things by themselves way more than was shown. I'm such a vibes person and I'm like, “They are really tight, those girls”. And I was like, "Why side with them when I am not at the bottom of this trio between Andy and Sam?"

Related: Survivor 47 star Andy Rueda details comeback from meltdown to merge

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

I don't think it showed how much I genuinely did have a great connection with Andy. Even though he is older than me, I kind of felt like he was a little brother out there. We had so many funny moments, we're laying in the shelter and there was some little ball in the tree and I'm like, “Andy, do you see what I'm looking at?” And I felt like I was hallucinating. He could not see what I was seeing. And I'm like, “Oh, I think it's a lime right there.” And I'm trying to explain to Andy for the longest time what I'm seeing. And he's like, “Sierra, I have no idea what you're talking about!” So anyway, we had this bonding moment.

You see a lot of me being like, “Andy's a sloppy player. Andy's this, Andy's that.” But ultimately, Andy and I, we had a great relationship. So that's why, looking back, I'm like: that hurt seeing that how much control he had over my vote-out. Because we saw a lot more of negativity coming from me in regards to Andy than the positives that I had to say about Andy.

I know in confessionals I did kind of break this down where I'm like, “I do trust him,” and I wanted him to do well in the auction when we're running throughout the jungle to find the money, and I felt so terrible that he had no dollars. And I'm like, “Let me help you.” I stop what I'm doing and I'm like, “Let's try to look together.” But then I didn't share my chocolate with him and that kind of bit me in the ass. But we had a much closer relationship I thought out there than was shown.