TVGuide.ca: Jeff Probst said in Entertainment Weekly that you were an “innocent bystander who played a quiet game.” Do you agree with what he said?
Kelly Sharbaugh: Yeah, I do. I kind of feel like I was an innocent bystander. I think I was the last person that I expected to be kicked out, so it was a huge blindside. I was playing a pretty quiet game. My strategy was to be more of an observer and listener, and not necessarily be the one in the spotlight all the time, and calling the shots and everything.

TVG: But you’d think that it wouldn’t make you a target…
KS: I think that the guys were so afraid of the women teaming up all along that my name got thrown out there as an emotional vote. They were going after Laura and they couldn’t get her, and they wanted to get someone close to her. And I guess I was more of a threat than Monica was.

TVG: What was the ultimate plan? Was it going to be you, Laura and Monica to the end?
KS: My alliances were with Laura and Brett. I was hoping to go to the end with them. We just wanted to keep six strong players in there and then battle it out at the end.

TVG: Jeff also called Russell the next Richard Hatch. How do you feel about that statement?
KS: I think Russell is in a league of his own. Him finding two immunity idols with no clues, and the things that he’s doing behind everyone’s back on-camera that I was unaware of. The burning of the socks, pouring out canteens. Even the day that I went to tribal, I put on my boots and fire ants had set up a nest in there. And I thought Russell may have had something to do with that! He was laughing at me as I was getting bit!

TVG: How soon after you voted out Erik did you regret it?
KS: Immediately. From the very beginning, something told me to trust Erik, and unfortunately I went against my gut instinct. I wanted to trust him, but he kept being so sneaky.

TVG: Was there open resentment towards Shambo, or was that kept to confessional?
KS: It was just in confessional. It was our way to vent about things. The interesting thing is that you see Shambo talking about how attacked she felt, and you never see us doing that. You just see her talking about it. We gave it our all and tried to make her feel included.

TVG: Did you know that you were called the “90210 Tribe”?
KS: I didn’t, and you know what? I don’t mind! [Laughs.]

TVG: What was Ponderosa with Erik like?
KS: Erik and I had a great time. I’m really glad that we got to spend time together for a couple of days and talk about the stuff you don’t get a chance to talk about in the game.

TVG: It must have been nice to have a roof over your head.
KS: My first night back I was laying in bed in my cabin and I hear rain falling on the tin roof, and I pulled the blankets up over my head because I was expecting to get soaked. I think I did that for at least a month after that.

Thoughts? greg@tvguide.ca Follow Greg on Twitter
 

Survivor: Samoa airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global/CBS

Video: Kelly gets back to the swing of things at Ponderosa

 

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