'Survivor 47's Sierra Wright Names Her Biggest Mistake From Working With Andy

Survivor 47 is here! Every week, Parade.com's Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the castaway most recently voted off of the island.

For the first two weeks of the game, chicken sympathizer Sierra Wright was at the top of the pecking order. She had been ruling the roost on Gata, serving as the key swing vote between a battle of the sexes. At a crucial juncture, she and her closest ally Sam Phalen chose to keep Andy Rueda safe, feeling he was less threatening and more loyal. Unfortunately, sparing him eventually made him realize he was nothing but a spare vote. While Andy referenced She's All That for his postmerge transformation, he channeled his best Carrie to get revenge on those who he felt were putting him down. And so, merely one day after enjoying a margarita at the auction and taking an imaginary selfie with Jeff Probst, she was walking her "selfie" out of the game, shocked at how she fell so far.

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One of the reasons behind Sierra's boot was her social power. And we got to see that as soon as she hit the beach. She immediately connected with Anika Dhar and Rachel LaMont for their shared work ethic, striking up an early women's alliance. Simultaneously, though, she was forming a bond with Sam, as the two served as the proverbial head of the snake tribe. Perhaps as a harbinger to come, the duo had their position outed on a journey, as they were perceived to be a power couple (though some put too much emphasis on the "couple" part). But Sierra had bigger fish to fry at the moment, namely being square in the middle of Anika/Rachel and Andy/Sam. Despite how much Andy seemed to be an outsider on paper, he had spent his time building a relationship with Sierra, offering his loyalty and even his Shot in the Dark.

And so Sierra helped choose to bring Andy forward, something that would directly lead to what came next. Despite the Tuku bloc being forced to turn on one another, the Gatas still saw the first jury vote as a war between yellow and blue. Going into Tribal Council, despite Sam losing his vote, Sierra felt confident. She had helped build bonds with the Lavo group caught in the middle, and Andy was "in her pocket." Except that pocket had a hole that had been widening over the past week. When Andy was told that Sam and Sierra threw his name out as a decoy vote at the merge, he was shocked and hurt. He countered Gata's cross-tribe coalition with his own, and the group argued about which of the left-out trio would take the hit. Ultimately, they settled on Sierra as the biggest threat, leaving her shocked and dismayed as she walked into Ponderosa.

Now out of the game, Sierra talks with Parade.com about her relationship with Andy (the reaction to his turn), her decision to turn on the "Breadwinners" before the merge, and how she managed both her relationship with Sam and the perception of their game.

Related: Read our Survivor 47 pre-game interview with Sierra Wright

You were absolutely shocked to get the boot. We saw a couple of times that you and Rachel both felt an uneasiness at camp. And Rachel pulls out her own surprise at Tribal Council by playing his Shot in the Dark. In retrospect, was there anything you noticed that was a warning sign of what was to come?
So I definitely saw the warning signs that something wasn't right and I wasn't in with the plan. But I didn't think the plan was me. I noticed Andy, Genevieve, and I believe teeny was with them, were in the water having this conversation. And I already felt like strange about the conversation. I was watching them from afar, and I'm like, let me go. "Let me go intrude." And we didn't see that on the episode, but you saw me at that time talking with Andy, kind of just breaking things down. But then Genevieve immediately walk away, and I'm like, "Something isn't right." And I said to him, "Andy, Am I still your island sister? Look me in your eyes." He knew I clocked it. I was like, "Something's not right. He's switching, he's flipping." And [later], he was like, "You did. We were talking about, like, the vote that night, and you were a part of it." I just had a feeling in my gut.

And then Teeny also. Teeny was really pulling to keep me there, going around to everybody like, "Somebody freaking explain to me why is it Sierra, not Sam tonight." And right before Tribal, we're all sitting around gathering our stuff. Teeny is not even looking in my eyes. And Teeny and I would have laughing fits out there. We couldn't even sit next to each other, because we just start dying laughing. We formed such a cool bond. And when she stopped doing that, I'm like, "Something's not right. So I mouth to Rachel from across the shelter, and I'm just shaking my head. She was like, "I feel weird." And I'm like, "No, I feel weird!" She was smart at least and took her shot and played the Shot in the Dark. But yeah, we knew something wasn't right.

So let's talk about what led to you talking to me today. And it has to primarily lay at the feet of Andy, your "island brother." We saw a couple of times you talk about his sloppy gameplay and how he was "in your pocket." Talk to me about your relationship. And what was your reaction to him deciding to flip on Gata?
I feel like our relationship wasn't really portrayed the way that I at least felt it was on the island. You see a lot of negativity coming from me, like, "Andy's a sloppy player." It lacked the positive things I talked about Andy, and more so highlighted the negative. And don't get me wrong; Andy knows it himself. He was a little messy. He just simply was, point blank period. But I kind of loved him for that. We just had so many funny moments together. And even though he's an older person–he's like 30–I felt like he was a little brother, and I wanted to see him do well, ultimately.

I felt like he was bringing me information. I did feel safe bringing him information. I knew it would always get back to Sam, but I was okay with that, because we were like a trio. And I thought we were going to go further and longer in the game. But I know I made the mistake of letting him slip through the cracks once we hit the merge. I went into the merge saying, "I've got to keep him close." And I just got off in conversations and this and that, and let him just slip. And that's when he started forming his different alliances with Lavo and Tuku. So I do look back and I'm like, "That was my mistake." Of not touching base more, bringing him information, talking about what other tribes are saying. So that that did it for me.

We see that seemingly the straw that broke the camel's back for Andy was you and Sam letting him be the decoy vote at the merge, and not telling Andy about it. Talk to me about your perspective on that.
I just didn't want everybody else to know that early on at the merge that Sam, Andy, and I were working together. So I just wanted to toss it out there knowing that, at that point, everybody already established it's Rome. It wasn't even a question. But again, Rome could have played an idol. But it seemed like at that point, a lot of us knew that Rome didn't have an advantage or an idol. So I felt confident that Andy would have stayed. But I do wish I just told him, "Hey, your name was being tossed around, and I said willingly, 'Yeah, Andy would be a great backup plan,' just so that they don't know we're still working together tightly. And I thought Andy would want that too. Because Andy already went in saying, "I want them to know I'm on the bottom of Gata." He was kind of like, claiming that characteristic. So I thought in the end, my thinking was just I don't want them to know we're as connected as we were.

Let's rewind one vote to your most pivotal move in the game. You're caught in the middle of two alliances, and ultimately chose to go with Andy and Sam over Anika and Rachel. Talk to me about your thinking behind that decision.
So just starting, I don't even think it was shown as much in the edit that Rachel and Anika were super tight, doing things like walking down the beach together. I always felt I had to go to them and be like, "Are we good?" Like, I felt very left out of that, way more left out than I think it like shows. So I knew by a freaking ocean I was on the bottom of this trio. I did try [to keep Anika]. I said, "Hey, Sam, I really think it'd be a great idea. Let's keep Anika." I kind of pitched him reasonings why. And he was very strong like, "I can't stand her. She's gotta go." And I'm like, "Why ruffle my number one's feathers enough?" I already felt like Anika easily could have turned to me. And she also says that in her own exit interview, where she's like, "I'm more upset because they played me before I could play them."

I felt that out there. I felt that she was a gamer. I'm a very big vibes person. I felt true trust and true relationships, at least with Sam and even Rachel at this point. Andy was always a little red flag. But then Annika, I was like, "I can't read this girl." She wasn't honest to me about the she found the advantage with Sam. So me, Anika, and Rachel end up in the water. And I already saw Sam flash me the advantage. I knew they found something. And I set up Anika, because I'm like, "This is like showing me if I have trust in you right now." I said, "Did you and Sam find anything?" She said, "No, we didn't." And I'm like, "I know you did, so you're lying to me!" So that was a big red flag to me. She's already not giving me this information. The reasoning I was given was they wanted Sam to be able to tell me himself, because that's what he wanted to do. But I'm like, "If we're this true core Breadwinners alliance, screw Sam's feelings. Bring me the information!" So that was it. And then also finding out about, ultimately, she blew up my game at the journey. "Sam and Sierra are running Gata." I mean, she didn't say that. But just she said we're very tight, we have this like core bond. So that blew it up, and that stuck with me for the rest of the game.

Talk to me about your dynamic with Sam. Jon told me it was clear from apparently very early on that the two of you were working together. And we did have some dramatic moments, like your period of "alliance therapy." What drew you two to each other from the beginning?
So Sam and I–which wasn't shown, which also shocked me–on Night One, we all go into the shelter, and we're all laying there. We're trying to go to bed. And then Rachel, Jon, Andy, Anika, they couldn't sleep. So they get up, they go back to the fire. And I'm like, "I am tired!" All the jetlag, everything caught up to me. I'm beat. So I sit up, but then I say to Sam, "Do you think we should go over there? I think we're missing core bonding time. I don't really like this being the two just sitting out as they're all talking, catching up, getting to know each other. And Sam looked at me and was like, "This night, and this moment right here is going to be much more important than what they're doing and talking about the fire." And that's just where we had a great conversation about family, our relationships at home and built this trust that just came naturally.

And that was the night that we just established, "Let's do this. Let's run this game together." And that wasn't really shown how we built that up. But the brought me information. I brought him information. I just felt like Sam was somebody I grew up with, somebody I've known my entire life, one of my boyfriend's friends back at home. It just was easy. It clicked. And again, in the game of Survivor, trust is such a big thing. He didn't even need to do anything for me to realize we get each other. It's just like we didn't even need to communicate. We were always on the same page. It could be a look from across the shelter, anything. And I didn't have that with anybody else out there.

As you mentioned before, you were told a couple of times that you and Sam were being seen as a power couple (and sometimes erroneously a romantic one) who was running the tribe. How did that perception affect the way you approached the merge?
I mean, definitely going in, we were like, "Well, I guess we can't even communicate. We shouldn't even look at each other. We should just do our own thing, go make different alliances, but always know that we come back and bring each other information." So immediately, when Sam started working with Genevieve right off the bat, he said, "I really like her. That could be somebody we could work with in the game." So I just think, definitely splitting up the communication. But apparently, we didn't do a good job. [Laughs.]

But I think I hit the merge, and between Teeny, Sam, Rachel, even Tiyana at that point. I'm like, "I just love these people. I am with my friends out here." And you have to check yourself and remember you were in the game of Survivor, not a game of forming friendships. And I think that also got the best of me, because Sam and I would be goofing off, Teeny and I would be goofing off. And I would just, forget, "Hey, I shouldn't even be looking or talking with Sam." I mean, Sol as like, "I saw it from a mile away. You guys were terrifying together. You guys were just clicking and bonding with everybody, but ultimately coming back to each other."

On that note, had Gata gotten what they wanted and Gabe was taken out, who were you looking to sit in the end with? Were you going to stick with your former tribe members, or were you looking at newer faces like Teeny?
Teeny 1,000%. I would undoubtably go to the end with Teeny. I was always going to stay true and strong with Sam. Rachel, ultimately, I was still shaky on whether or not she was even going to forgive me from Anika vote. Will she ever trust me? So I was still trying to figure her out. But ultimately, that was my go-to girl out there. And then once I started communicating with Teeny more, I'm like, "Oh, this could be really good." I didn't really get a good connection with Genevieve, unfortunately; we just didn't really game together. But Teeny I 100% would have went to the end with.

Next, check out our interview with Tiyana Hallums, who was voted off in Survivor 47 Episode 7.