The ousted contestant also reacts to her nemesis revealing he had a crush on her out on the island.
Liana Wallace knew what had to be done.
She just couldn’t get the people she needed to go along with it.
Liana Wallace on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You chose not to partake in the challenge rather than risk the Do or Die twist.
I think that was definitely the right call.
What went into your decision on that, and were you surprised more people did not sit out?
Liana Wallace on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
I don’t want to take a 1-in-3 chance."
And we didn’t even know what the percentage chance was.
So I was like, “This is a no for me.
Liana Wallace on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
And so I felt good about that decision, and I still feel good about it.
I stand by that decision.
How worried were you heading into Tribal that if Deshawn survived you would be voted out?
I knew immediately after that eighth vote with Shan going home, I’m in the bottom now.
So I give a shot to pull in as many folks as I can.
Ricard is a bigger threat than me.
I’m not a threat in immunity challenges.”
I’m pushing that to Erika and my Spidey senses are going off.
I’m like, “Okay, well, do I use my Shot in the Dark?”
I’m not going to do that."
And I was pushing Erika to c’mon vote with me.
Erika did seem like she wanted to keep you.
And she was like, “Yes.”
I had no cards to pull at that point.
Let’s talk about Xander’s face.
What are your current thoughts on it?
[Laughs]Yes.
It provides some things that led to that relationship and dynamic between us.
So at Yase camp, I think there are three things that contributed to me and Xander’s relationship.
He finds the idol, fine.
You know, that’s the game.
From day one, for whatever reason, Xander never wanted to work with me.
So for me, when you show me your true colors, I believe you.
And on top of that, now he has all these advantages.
I was like, “Let’s play that up.”
And so for the 14 days that I’m at camp, I’m downplaying my relationship with Evvie.
I’m acting like I don’t have any social connections in the game.
I don’t even think Tiff knew how close me and Evvie were.
And so that just followed me throughout the game.
I’m like, “Come on!”
All of this just led up to this moment.
And so I was irritated in that moment for sure.
I totally get it.
As I wrote in my recap, it seemed like mounting frustration.
So I respect the hell out of him.
Take me through that sinking feeling as we watch your heart break on national television.
Because there’s a couple of things that led up to that moment.
I genuinely thought Xander had that idol on his body.
I said all the right things and created a story and everyone believed me.
But as soon as they get to merge, Shan spills the beans.
And I’m like, “All right, I got to do damage control.
That’s not super great for my game.”
Furthermore, she told Tiff instead of the person I was closest with on my tribe in Evvie.
So I do go ahead and tell Evvie about it because I want to mend that relationship.
And I’m like, “I really want you to stay!
I’m going to do whatever it takes!”
I’m with them the entire day.
And so I know it’s a gamble, right?
Everybody knows about it.
How powerful is it?
And does it become a liability if I don’t play it right now?
If I would have asked Evvie, “Do you have the idol?”
and it’s not on Evvie and Xander has it, then I look like an idiot again.
So, it was gambling the entire time.
But I still stand by my decision.
I wanted to play a hard game and I did, and, you know, it happens.
[Laughs]Yeah, I was just laughing at that.
But at that point, I’m so fed up with him.
So that was a funny dynamic.
I was like, “Oh my God, this game.”
It made a lot of other people laugh as well.
Okay, let’s talk about the decision to tell Shan that Deshawn and Danny were targeting Ricard.
Was that a strategic move, a personal move, or both?
Something really important to me coming into the game was that I played with authenticity.
And anytime you’re giving truths to another player, you’re taking risks, right?
So, I knew that, and I really value this connection.
So I went ahead and told her, and, you know, that ended up backfiring.
But when you get out there, it’s a different beast entirely.
That’s the way I played the game, and I wanted to have that authenticity.
That’s something that, again, I gambled with.
Did you want to sit with Shan at the end?
I did want to sit with Shan at the end.
That’s a risk I’m willing to take sitting with you at the end."
And so I did want to go to the end with her.
At that point in time, it was a decision I made.
My values were important going into the game.
They brought that tome.
So I was like, “You know, I value this.
This is something I take seriously.
If you say that, then I assume you’re gonna mean that.”
We’re in the majority!
We can have this vote and then have World War II after that.
But you’d be really silly not to.
Andwe’dbe silly to write Deshawn me and Shan.
I’m like, “They’re not going to do that.
That doesn’t make sense.
That’s emotional.”
But they did the opposite.
And so, like I said, I valued what they said when we came to merge.
So it was hard to see that dynamic onBig Brother and that contrast.
Values you have outside the game are hard to bring through when you’re competing and blindsiding people essentially.
Just Yase camp life.
We were just so fun.
I wish they showed me and Evvie’s first interaction.
If you don’t write my name down, I’m not going to write your name down."
And we were like,boom,solid.
And we all built the shelter together, and were so proud we had created it.
We felt so good about that.
I think viewers would have really, really loved to see that.
Finally, what’s it been like on the Georgetown campus being on national TV every week?
It’s so wild.
And so this kid walks over and he’s like, “Liana, we were rooting for you.
We love you so much!”
Just random people know I’m onSurvivorand know my name.
It’s just crazy.
And it’s really cool to see that kind of culture of being created at Georgetown.
I’m so excited I got to be a part of it.
