For much of the early game in Survivorseason 49, viewers barely saw Sophie Segreti — until the merge, when she suddenly became one of the season’s biggest competitors and strategic voices. But her rise made her a target, and her unanimous blindside at the final seven left her stunned. Watching it back, the New York City native, 31, says she understands exactly how the tide turned.
In a conversation with Men’s Journal, Sophie opens up about the revenge that sealed her fate, the alliances she thought she could count on, and why watching the episode back was “illuminating” for her.
Scroll down to read the full exit interview with Sophie.
Men’s Journal: Nice to meet you, Sophie — not Yellow Sophie.
Sophie Segreti: I’ll answer to either, honestly at this point.
MJ: I kinda like Yellow Sophie.
Sophie: I do too. I think that was one where Jeff put his foot down and was like, we’re not going to do this color nonsense, we need another way to distinguish. But yeah, yellow was very in this past season in the world as a color, so I’m down for Yellow Sophie.
MJ: Well, nice to meet you. I know you just watched the episode back — you lived it — but what was it like watching the season and also your boot episode?
Sophie: Watching the season… I guess you probably know this as somebody who records and listens to your voice. You know how when you hear your voice recorded, it doesn’t quite sound like you? That’s what it’s like watching your body on TV. I would be like, I guess that’s me, but that’s not how… you never get to see yourself running from behind or see your profile. So part of watching it back was just adjusting to the weirdness of seeing myself on TV. That was crazy.
The other part was that it was an incredible experience. I’ve been a fan since I was a child. I love the show, but when you’re out there you don’t have any phones, so you don’t have any pictures of it. It almost felt like a dream or a mirage when I first got back — I couldn’t quite remember what Hina beach looked like or how we slept. Did we really sleep in the sand? I forgot how much I rely on photo evidence. So watching it back has been amazing. I’m finally getting to see: oh my God, yes, I did do that. That is what it looked like.
It was so fun to relive the things that, for a bit, I was like: I think this happened, but did it really? And the most fun part was reliving immunity wins with my family. Getting to celebrate things I won with my friends and family was so fun. Rarely do you get to do something like that as an adult. Watching back last night’s episode — where I was completely blindsided — was not quite as fun. Definitely illuminating. It was super helpful to see, oh, I see, this is when it shifted. I really pissed off Sage [Ahrens-Nichols] by voting out Jawan [Pitts]. I underestimated how close they were and how upset she would be.
Watching that Tribal Council was a little rough, knowing what was coming, because I’m a competitor and I don’t like to lose. I lived through the grief of getting voted out and losing again, and that was tough. But at the end I’m just so proud of myself, and to be unanimously voted out is quite flattering at seven. I was a little teary watching it back yesterday.
MJ: You handled your exit really well. And it was interesting, because you were under-edited pre-merge, and then suddenly you emerge: winning immunities and driving strategy. How did you feel about that? Do you think the show accurately reflected your role?
Sophie: I don’t feel like it accurately reflected my role, especially early on. Because the tribes that are winning don’t get time — they’re not going to Tribal Council — it gives the impression I wasn’t making relationships or talking strategy. A big critique of my game is that I didn’t have a ride-or-die No. 1, but I had other alliances. I had other people I was working with, and it was rough not to see that at all. But in hindsight, because I had my coming-out party — my debutante — at the merge, it almost made it more fun. I feel like people were like, “Who’s this chick? What is she doing coming out of nowhere and winning this challenge?” Aside from the fruit comments, I hadn’t gotten to show my personality at all. So it’s been fun to see that, and I do feel like: leave them wanting a little more. That’s maybe what the editors were going for.
MJ: And there were so many women with “S” names — plus two Sophie’s. That probably didn’t help.
Sophie: No, definitely not. And Blue Sophi [Balerdi] was on the tribe that— it would just be so confusing from a character perspective. If you were writing a book and had two main characters named Sophie, an editor would be like, come on, pick another. Even if it was two “X” names. That didn’t help at all. But I have no control over the edit. At this point, now that I’ve gotten some screen time, I’m happy. But had you talked to me in October, I would’ve been quite upset.
MJ: Who did you credit with getting you voted out in the moment? Is that still the same person you credit today?
Sophie: In the moment, Sage, for sure. She must’ve been the mastermind behind it because I knew I was always being thrown out there and it wasn’t beyond the pale that I’d be on the chopping block. I should’ve seen it. But I was banking on Sage’s distaste for Savannah [Louie] and her wanting Savannah out. I thought she and I were aligned enough that it would be the move. And then I thought Kristina [Mills] and Steven [Ramm] would go along with it. Watching it back… it’s Sage. I think I really pissed her off by getting out Jawan. I underestimated that. As a result, she went full revenge — and you’ve got to respect it.
MJ: In that moment, did you see how much Jawan was reacting to your elimination? And where do you stand with Sage and Jawan today?
Sophie: It’s funny because I didn’t see it in the moment — I blacked out. I was so shocked. I understand how Jawan could’ve taken Rizo [Velovic]’s torch because it is shocking to get fully blindsided. I wasn’t looking at the jury at all, so I didn’t see all of his cheering and flexing. But since then, Sage, Jawan and I are on great terms. I really enjoy both of their company. We’re all friends. The wonderful thing about our cast is that we know it’s the game. Wounds are raw in those moments, but with time and space, we all at different points were wielding the knife and backstabbing. If you’ve been apologized to, you’ve also had to apologize. I’m on very good terms with them, and it’s been so fun watching their games back. They’ve been great TV.
MJ: Fans were confused about your long-term plan. You joined a tight alliance, voted with them, but weren’t locked in. What was your ideal path forward?
Sophie: At that point in the game, I had come to terms with: I need to be trying to win a lot of challenges. That had to be part of my strategy, so I was taking it more day to day. I never intended to stick with Savannah and Rizo to the end. I was always planning to flip on them. My hope was that Soph would want a big résumé play and vote one of them out, and then maybe she and I could work together as a duo. I also thought Sage and I could recover from Jawan and move forward together. Ideally it would be the three of us — me, Sage, and Soph — and then I would flip to take out Rizo or Savannah. Steven and Kristina could fall away. From a jury management perspective, they hadn’t wronged anyone except Nate [Moore]. I had gotten every single one of those people out, and that wasn’t lost on me. If people are bitter and cheering when you get voted out, they might not vote for you in the end.
MJ: Strategically, Steven wanting to save his advantage made sense, but voting you out seemed risky for Hina. Do you think it weakened them?
Sophie: I agree. Seven is the last chance to really shake things up because it’s four-three — an odd number. Your next odd number is five, which is too close for comfort, especially with idols in the game. We know Rizo has one, and he’s done a great job holding onto it. I think I was the easy vote at this stage. But for Kristina and Steven, they’re still at the bottom. It’s either three-three or four-two. Those aren’t great numbers. If they had put me aside for a bit, we could’ve gone into six as four. Now, at best, it’s three-three. At worst, it’s four-two and one of them is toast. It was not the best gameplay to get me out, especially since I’d worked with them before. This was their first time working with Savannah. I’d be shocked if they work with her again.
MJ: Had you sensed anything at Tribal, do you think you could have done anything to stay?
Sophie: Maybe I could’ve played my Shot in the Dark, but I like voting. If it kept me another day, I shouldn’t be poo-pooing the Shot in the Dark. If I’d gotten an inkling, I could’ve played it, or made an overt case against Savannah — kind of like I did at the split Tribal. Put all my cards on the table: I’m alone in this game, and yes, I’m a challenge threat, but Savannah is a challenge threat and has two powerful allies, one with an idol. I’m clearly weaker than her in this moment. Maybe that would’ve been enough to get Steven and Kristina. I’m not sure how deep Sage’s anger went. But I could have tried. I would’ve tried.
MJ: Final question — would you play Survivor again?
Sophie: Yeah. There were moments on the beach where I was like, screw this, I’m hungry, I’m tired, I don’t ever want to be back. And two days after getting back, I was like, oh, it was so fun. It was some of the best 21 days of my life. It is incredible. I love to compete — and you don’t get to compete like that as an adult if you’re not an athlete. Competing and winning with actual stakes was amazing. I’m chasing that high.
