The newly crowned winner tells EW she has ‘conflicted’ feelings about her edit.
That strategy paid off with an almost unanimous vote and the million-dollar prize that came with it.
ERIKA CASUPANAN:Oh my goodness.
Erika Casupanan on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
Okay, so how confident were you feeling heading into that final Tribal?
So here’s the thing.
I go back and forth between being super confident, but also being someone who suffered from imposter syndrome.
Erika Casupanan on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
How are you not afraid of anything?"
And according to recent history, when you’re in that position, you never get many votes.
Did any of the votes at the end surprise you?
Erika Casupanan on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
And I remember thinking in Tribal Council: “Oh, I have Naseer on my side.
That is an achievement.
I never thought I was gonna get Naseer.”
I was also nervous about getting Liana’s vote.
I was nervous about getting Shan’s vote because I knew about the existing relationship with Deshawn.
So when everybody was voting, I was thinking.
“Okay, I know I have Heather.
I know I have Ricard.
Naseer has just told everybody that I would get his vote.
Maybe I get Tiffany, and maybe I get Evvie because I know they’re very rational players.”
So in this case, five is enough.
And then when I saw that it ended up being seven, I was totally floored, totally shocked.
I thought that my eyes were gonna fall out of my head.
I really went back and forth, but honestly wanted Heather to be there with me.
We’re gonna show up."
And we did it, this known pair made it to the end.
And I know that there is a previous episode that talked about me being weary of Heather being there.
And I would be put in a position to say mean things about Heather and vice versa.
Let’s play a littleSurvivorWhat If?
What happens if Jeff Probst does not hand you that hourglass?
Do you go home on day 14?
Of course, I’m going to be out on day 14.
Like, there needs to be some pop in of balance between the consequence and the reward.
And I would’ve just been in the game playing those two days that I otherwise spent alone.
So if I was in the game, who knows what could have happened.
Okay, part 2 ofSurvivorWhat If?
What about if Xander does not bring you to the end?
Whom among Heather, Deshawn, and Xander do you think you could have beaten at fire?
I watched the Deshawn and Heather fire from three feet away, and it was a nail biter.
It was super close.
And I know that I’m capable of making fire.
Both of them had a flame going.
There has been a lot of talk this season about your edit.
Do you feel the episodes did a good job of showing your game?
I was really proud of the way I played.
I kind of accepted that whatever was gonna get shown would be shown.
But, at the same time I’ve been a fan of the show for so long.
We haven’t needed to vote."
But the story that they showed of me was really positive.
There’s just no way we can root for her."
So it kind of sucks that the edit made me unrootable for some people in a way.
So what are you going to do with the money, Erika?
Number one, figure up the U.S. to Canadian taxation situation.
But my second priority has always been making sure that I set up my parents with whatever they need.
So my number one priority is my parents.
And then my number three priority is buying some really expensive handbags.
