After 18 seasons, it's safe to say that a good rule of thumb for Survivor contestants is to spend the first couple of weeks laying low. If any clear leaders come forth, toe the line and go along with them, even if you don't like them – you can get rid of them later when you've developed a better understanding of your tribe's dynamics. If you make your move too early, the rest of your tribe will side with the ostensible leader and you'll find yourself eliminated.

Unfortunately for Candace Smith, she just couldn't bring herself to go along with Coach. She found him pompous and overconfident, especially considering his lackluster performance in challenges. But when Candace voiced her desire to vote Coach out of Timbira, her tribe members immediately relayed this information back to Coach himself, who then orchestrated Candace's surprise exit at Tribal Council, making her the second person voted out of Survivor: Brazil.

The 31-year-old attorney from Dayton, Ohio reveals her feelings about the blindside, why she doesn't like Coach, and whether she would have done anything differently.


You seemed very angry when you were voted off.
Well, I mean, who would be happy? Especially when you're working your butt off in camp and in challenges. No, I wasn't ecstatic to be blindsided after being choked underwater in a challenge and working in camp. No, I wasn't happy.

Was it difficult watching the episode?
Bittersweet. I rocked it! I was definitely proud of myself. I knew that my friends and family would be super proud and I knew they would hit an incredible low. While they're watching it, I'm like, "Oh, you have no idea." People watching the show are like, "Oh, she's a beast! She's phenomenal! She's going to last forever – and, oh, she's gone."

Why do you think the rest of your tribe was so willing to get rid of you instead of Coach?
Oh, come on. Have you seen Coach? Here he is, the Steven Segal of the tribe. He was a cult leader; he had everyone under some hypnotized thing. He had a good thing going there. Everyone seemed to go along with the whole Coach thing except me, which probably led to my demise. I don't know, I mean, if I said something bad about Coach, people looked at me and gasped. "You can't say anything bad about Coach!" The kid made no contribution at camp or in challenges. He talked a great talk, though.

Do you think if you had spoken with different tribe members about it, you could have gotten him out?
I don't know. I've thought about that. Here's the thing: with Brendan and Sierra, they knew I was onto their whole "camp fire" thing, so they weren't my biggest fans. They were probably cursing how intelligent I am and just logical. And then I had Debbie running up after Coach like a little puppy dog all day, and for the most part, everyone else was like, "As long as it's not me, I'm cool." I really didn't have many places to turn.

What do you think will happen if they don't get Coach out in the near future?
They'll all die. [Laughs] Either that or they'll join his cult. It's very dysfunctional over at Timbira. I've been playing sports my whole life and I consider myself to be a team-oriented, competitive person, and there just seemed to be so many underlining [sic] ulterior motives going on from the very beginning. It's not really a team over there. I don't know what's going on.

Did you do any preparation before the show?
I read up on survival skills, but that didn't seem to help me very much. I should have read a book on how to kiss ass, is what I should have done. I increased my endurance so that I would be a beast in challenges; that didn't seem to help. My prep was all off!

Did you have a set strategy going in?
Yeah, it was to work hard and freaking rock the challenges! That was the wrong strategy. Gosh!

You still seem pretty annoyed about that.
Hell, yeah! Yeah, I'm annoyed. It cracked me up about how people are like, "You seem bitter." Yeah, I'm bitter! What's wrong with that? Who would be happy to work their butt off and then get voted off? It's like, hello? I think people need to start embracing bitter. Why is everyone so afraid of bitter? It's OK to be bitter.

Do you wish you had sucked up to Coach more? Would you have done anything else differently?
You know, honestly, I thought about it over and over and over again – and I don't think I could have done it. I don't think I could have pretended to like Coach or to be even remotely interested in some of the complete nonsense that was coming out of Debbie's mouth. I really don't think I had it in me. That's me, love it or hate it. I'm still broke, but I'm happy.

But still bitter.
Still bitter, yes.

Survivor: Brazil airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on Global and CBS.

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