Using flirtation in a game like Survivor can have its advantages and disadvantages. If your charm works, you have brought several key players to your side without doing much strategic planning at all, but you also run the risk of appearing superficial, manipulative and, worst of all, useless.

Presented as this season's flirt, blonde model Sydney Wheeler won friends and made enemies with her social strategy. Her allies on Jalapao found her a pleasant presence to have around camp, while her critics pointed out that she contributed little to challenges, which may have led to the tribe's recent losing streak. For a while, Sydney's friendly demeanor kept her safe, but after yet another loss for Jalapao, she could no longer depend on her charisma to keep her in the game as her tribe mates voted her off of Survivor: Brazil.


How has it been to watch the show after having lived through it a few months ago?
Oh, gosh, last week I was on the edge of my seat, just watching myself, hoping I wasn't going to get voted off! It's all a surprise because we obviously don't get to see the editing before it airs, so it's all very interesting to watch, to relive it. It's fun; I really enjoy it.

The show has portrayed you as the big flirt from this season. Would you say it's an accurate portrayal?
I would agree with it just because that's my personality. I'm very friendly and bubbly and giggly, so I like to have fun. I don't take myself too seriously, so I laugh at myself a lot. I think out there, you have to have some kind of sense of humour or you're not going to have fun. We have to amuse ourselves so I definitely try to pick up people's spirits and, yeah, flirt – just to have fun. And it worked; the guys had fun and Taj enjoyed it – we flirted a little bit. But nothing too serious. It's kind of hard because with my boyfriend, I don't want him to think anything, but he trusts me completely and understands that it's just a game and I was just out there to have fun.

Do you think any of the show's portrayals of the other contestants are inaccurate?
They're hitting the nail on the head with Stephen. He's so goofy and such a great person. Looking back, I don't think anyone – well, maybe Carolina, but you only got three days of her. There was a lot to her that they don't show. There was a lot more craziness that went on – Sandy took her buff and then tried to deny it. It's a long story, but they got in this huge fight and I'm surprised they didn't show it. It was a big dramatic thing that ended up getting Carolina kicked off because she made such a big deal of it when it wasn't a big deal. But she's a good person and I wish they had captured that a bit more.

You weren't on the same tribe as him, but did Coach really appear as crazy as he seems on the show?
I don't know because, with editing, I can understand how editing changes a lot. But wow, can you really be such a douchebag on TV? I don't know; he's not coming across as a great person. They're not showing any good qualities. Maybe they're not there; maybe they are and they're just not showing them. I don't know.

Did you see any of that while you were on the show?
First impressions, with Coach, he definitely came across as a leader, as a guy who thinks highly of himself, but he also laughed and smiled. He wasn't so uptight, like some people were. First impression, I wouldn't have pegged him the way they're editing. I don't know; I guess we'll see.

Sandy and Spencer, the two people voted out before you, were really gunning for you to go home instead. Did you decide to fight back, or was it just that people liked you better?
Well, Sandy was kind of a freebie for us, so she was going home no matter what. I approached her at that point and told her, "You know what? Just vote for me because I'm voting for you." I told her straight up and she didn't appreciate that, but I would want someone to tell me to my face if they were voting for me, so I was trying to give her that respect. I think, at that point, she just got pissed at me and wanted me gone. So she was a freebie, but with Spencer it was a little bit harder because I had made an alliance with him and I couldn't even look him in the eye that day. It was hard and I know he would have much preferred that I went home, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do.

You say that Sandy was a "freebie." Why didn't people like her?
Did you watch the show?

She seemed a little eccentric, sure, but harmless.
Oh, my gosh, she was probably 100 per cent worse than what they showed on TV. Ugh. It was nonstop craziness. I swear she was on drugs up there. To be serious, she would contradict herself consistently, she would not stop talking and she was just the annoying person who, I think, almost wanted to get under your skin. It was very strange. She would try to be helpful and I think she means well, but she got on my last nerve and, I think, everyone else's, too. Yes, she was harmless, but very annoying.

Would you have been angry with your alliance member Joe if he had voted you out, even though it probably would have helped him strategically?
Yeah. I was angry at JT because JT and I had somewhat of an alliance. He told me that morning that he was voting for Taj; I get now why he voted for me, because of the idol, but at that time, I tried to bite my tongue and tell JT I wasn't upset, but I was pissed. And if Joe had voted for me, I mean, I don't know. He was part of my alliance! Of course I'd be upset. But he was loyal, so that says a lot about him and his character.

The show presented it as though you had Joe wrapped around your finger.
[Laughs] That's such a crack up! No, we were just in an alliance together since day two. For some reason, I trusted him more than anyone else out there and spent more time with him. He was like my Survivor big brother. I appreciated his genuine… genuinality. Genuinality? Whatever it is. He was just a good guy and we got along really well.

What was your strategy going into the game?
I'm probably the smallest girl on the tribe. So physically, I was beat, and I knew I had to do something else and make an alliance from the get-go. Joe and Spencer, I found them to be the most informative alpha males and physical presences. And Spencer knew everything about the game, so I knew I wanted to be with him, alliance-wise. And I wanted to play under the radar; not to draw attention to myself like Carolina or Sandy. Just smooth sailing for me, but it didn't work out.

Do you wish you had done anything differently?
If I could replay it, Taj. I made a friendship with Taj out there and I could have made an alliance and I never thought to go to her and try to build something more than a friendship. I went into it looking at the guys, to build alliances with the guys, and not her, and I really regret not trying to go to Taj first. She kept saying to us, "Well, no one's come to me for an alliance; no one's come to me." I totally regret not going to her.

Who do you want to see voted out next?
Ooh, that's a good question. JT. I want JT voted out next. I want to see him cry. [Laughs] Oh, gosh. We'll see. Hopefully he doesn't get individual immunity.

Who do you want to win?
I'd love to see Taj win. As much as she doesn't need the money, I know she'll do great things with it. I think she's playing smart; I mean, I had no idea about her secret alliance. Obviously, I'm not a great strategic player. I think she's doing great out there and I'm rooting for her. Also, Stephen, because I think he's riding the coattails of both JT and Taj and he's close on their tails. It's pretty funny to watch. And how can you not like Stephen? He was the big spoon with him and Brendan, so it was pretty funny when they were spooning on Exile.

Survivor: Brazil airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on Global and CBS.

Related Links:
• Survivor: Brazil Interview: Spencer
• Survivor: Brazil Interview: Sandy
• Survivor: Brazil Interview: Jerry
• Survivor: Brazil Interview: Candace
• Survivor:Brazil Interview: Carolina
• Survivor's Best Twists

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