“Survivor 48” star Stephanie Berger is not rooting for Vula after that Tribal Council

The stars were not aligned for Stephanie Berger on Survivor 48. The astrology enthusiast was accused by tribemate Sai Hughley of looking too much at the sky rather than at the game, but in reality, it was more a personality clash between the two that led to Stephanie being the first person voted off the season.

How has Steph handled being the first one out and what was it like watching her early demise play back on TV? When did the problems with Sai begin? We caught up with the Brooklynite the morning after her televised ouster to snort it… I mean sort it all out.

Related: Survivor 48 premiere recap: Everything you didn't see on TV

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Have you spent more or less time looking at the stars since your time on Survivor?

STEPHANIE BERGER: What if I said the same amount of time? I am regrettably still into astrology TikTok, but talking about the physical stars or astrology stars?

In all seriousness, nobody wants to be the first one out after three days, especially after spending all that time trying to get on the show. How did you cope with that in the immediacy of the vote and then over the months since?

I mean, so you hear me say to Jeff. I look at him and I'm like, “It had to be someone, right?” That's the game. Dalton. Someone has to go out and mathematically somebody has to go out first. I think where I've come to since has been like: It had to be someone, and it got to be me. I get an opportunity that a vanishingly small number of people on planet Earth get to go do. And when you ground yourself in that and when you remember just how special this is, and you also get to experience how special the Survivor community is, you just kind of can't be bummed for very long.

You're devastated and you got to move through all those emotions, right? It is a grieving process, the way you grieve anything. But you get to the end of it and you're just like, “Man, what a cool thing that I got to go do.” And you're in a room full of a hundred people chanting your name, who are so excited, even though you get 18th place in a reality TV game show and you're like, “Well, life is good.”

Related: Survivor 48 host Jeff Probst reveals unaired premiere medical intervention

Hey, everyone says they always want to see the first boot season. No one's talking about a second boot season, Stephanie, so maybe this is your ticket back to the island.

I mean, do I go and play the same strategy? Do I go and play something totally different? Now everybody knows that I'm a girl boss, so I can't hide that part of myself. But yeah, maybe we go back for another season.

You had the big premiere viewing event in New York City last weekend. What were you feeling like going into that? Were you looking forward to watching the premiere? Were you a little worried about how it was all going to come off?

I'm sorry. CBS decided to throw me a party? They threw me a massive party with this fantastic install. I've got Cirie and Tony and Sandra in the audience. That's the coolest thing on the planet! That's incredible! Again, this is something that so few people get to do. What an enormously exciting and cool opportunity.

Of course, you're a little nervous. You're like, “What's about to happen to me on the big screen?” But I trust myself. I trust that I played the way I want to play and I played in a way that I feel proud of. You can be proud of a loss. What does Jeff say right at the start? He's like “Failing in the pursuit of something great — that's still worthy.” And I really felt that. And I think anyone who's ever played the game has that attitude and has that mindset.

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When did you realize that you and Sai were just not clicking? I remember going to visit your camp on day two and I could tell that you guys weren’t clicking, but when did it hit you?

I mean, I felt like honestly, I had a hard time clicking with almost everybody —really having these what I would describe as fruitless conversations. You're going and pulling Justin, and I know how many seats there are at Luigi's. We've Ki-kied, we've chit-chatted. I knew the name of his mom. I had clocked immediately that he perhaps had some secrets that he was holding out on the island.

I spent time with every single person. So I really felt like I was putting in the groundwork to get to know them, but I could never make any moves game-wise. And that was really strange. I couldn't get over why no one would talk game with me. And so it wasn't just Sai, it was basically everybody but Mary and a little bit Kevin that I couldn't make inroads with. And so you're sitting there being like, "What did I do? What's going on?" And what I don't know, and you see in the show, is that she's got an advantage, right? I don't know that. And I think that that is playing a role in solidifying and tightening her alliance and the relationships that she was able to build, particularly around that kind of gameplay.

So it wasn't just Sai, I had a hard time with a lot of people, but I just think the one variable you can't prep for really in Survivor is people. And I get a lot of people exposure in my regular life and I've been in a lot of different scenarios. I practiced fire, I went to swim lessons, I was at CrossFit, I'm pushing weights around, but you don't know the five other people you're going to get handed, and it just is what it is.

Related: Jeff Probst explains how season 46 impacted Survivor 48

You were blamed for the challenge due to the puzzle, but I was there, and you all actually made up time on Civa on the puzzle. You really lost it on the crat,e and you actually even pointed that out during the mat chat after and it didn't make the final cut.

I know! We were so, so far behind, and it's a TV show, it's edited. They have to create some suspense there. They have to make it seem like we're doing better than we are. And then it's a bigger defeat when we don't make it on the last couple pieces. But we were super behind, and Kevin is more injured I think, than what immediately came across in the episode. And then he and I are also the ones on the puzzle. Those puzzle pieces are heavy! It is hard to do that puzzle with four good arms on no food, day three, beating sun, your heart going 175 because you've just lifted all this stuff up to the top. It's already hard. And we were doing it with three arms!

And again, the crate was also so heavy and we had a really hard time. And there's quite a few college athletes on my season. Good for them. I was smoking cigarettes and talking s--- with my friends on the bench outside my dorm for all of college, but none of them are on my tribe.

You all also had a tactical error. When you had to get the crate up the platform, you guys only had two and then three people pushing it when you needed at least four.

We had too many people on the rope and not enough people on the crate.

Exactly.

That is just bad judgment. And I know I was a part of it. And that happens. You're making these decisions so fast and some people say, “I want to go out there and play like it's my second time.” I think one of the benefits you get playing your second time is you look at a challenge and you're like, “Oh, we need to have four people on the crate and then one person at the top.” But that is also not how we did it.

Related: Survivor 48 player promises to not smoke weed for 2 years if voted out first

You seemed to know the vote was coming and used your Shot in the Dark, but Mary appeared legit shocked when your name came up. Why was she so surprised?

You see the clip of me looking at Mary being like, “I'm worried.” And shout out to Mary for looking at me and saying, “Girl, if you're worried, play your shot. I trust you. If you are actually worried I support you.” That is a true ride or die as somebody who says,” I want you to feel comfortable. I don't think votes are coming your way, Steph, but I'm sticking to my guns. I'm voting Sai. But if you want to play your shot, play it.”

Look, as I said, I couldn't make inroads. The first three days you're out there, you are just collecting data on people, and if people are not scheming with you, they are scheming against you. That is the game. And so it was very clear to me they were scheming against me because no one was scheming with me. And I give that little apology when we come back to camp and I do feel bad, but the thing is, it's also a data point. No one was like, “Steph, we've got you. We're not worried.” That is not how they approached it. People can't make eye contact with me while I'm doing that. It was so obvious. And I went out there knowing that there is really decent math on when to play your Shot and when not to play it. And at that point I knew it was time to play it.

After you got your torch snuffed, how were you feeling about your tribe mates? Were you rooting for them in the game or are you rooting for them to get voted out?

I have this distinct memory of not wanting to say anything sassy because I was like, even though they're working together, they are so fractured. And the culture is not like a team culture. It's not a tribe culture. And I was like: If I say something sassy, it's going to give them a thing to rally against. It's going to give them something to root against. And I was like: I'm giving them nothing. Let them all be demolished. Let them f---ing spiral themselves out. Let them Matsing their way to the merge.

And that is also the game, which you guys didn't want to play with me. Okay, then I don't want to play with you and I'm not rooting for you. You leave the game and your allies from the game are your proxies in the game and that's who you're rooting for. And so I was befuddled. I didn't know where the Sai vote came from. I wasn't a hundred percent sure that it was Mary. I was hopeful, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure. But I was not rooting for them. No, they didn't want to play with me. I'm not rooting for them after this. Come on, I'm a big person, but I'm not that big of a person.

Related: Jeff Probst says Survivor 48 is all about partnerships

I predicted a Stephanie Berger snorting montage to happen this season, but you weren’t around long enough for them to put it together. This is the true tragedy here.

Dalton, we were robbed. Honestly, the good news is that there are some really avid Stephanie Berger stands on Twitter and they've got the Stephanie Berger snort GIF cuts. I will send them to you offline.

And I'm not going to make you do your punishment for getting voted out first. You're not going to have to go to the Waffle House for 24 hours or be on the Peloton while everyone's partying. You've suffered enough, Stephanie.

Thank you. And honestly, I'm just glad that we spared Star from not getting to smoke weed for two years. I'm just out here doing a public service.

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