The first thing Utahn Sierra Dawn Thomas wanted to eat after being voted off of “Survivor: Worlds Apart” was a hot dog.
“We have a chef and he said he would cook whatever I wanted,” Thomas said in an interview with the Deseret News after the finale. “All I wanted was a hot dog.”
The 27-year-old barrel racer based in Roy was one of five remaining castaways going into the “Survivor” season finale last Wednesday. She was the first one of the five voted off and became part of the jury on day 37 of the 39-day game where the prize is $1 million.
“I left it all out there, I played the best I knew how then,” Thomas said. “I have not one regret, and I’m proud of the game I played and getting as far as I did.”
Her game appeared to be a quiet one compared to the outbursts of other castaways, and she said most of her strategizing with other players didn’t make it into the episodes shown on TV.
“I’m a very kind person and kind doesn’t make good TV … and kind doesn’t win ‘Survivor,’” Thomas said. “I had genuine relationships with every player.”
Part of her strategy was taking time to know every castaway, none of whom was confrontational.
This season of “Survivor,” the show’s 30th, was set in Nicaragua and divided the 18 castaways by job types — White Collar, Blue Collar and No Collar tribes. The game is marked by challenges for immunity or rewards and Tribal Councils to vote off players along with surviving in a primitive environment. Partway through the game, the tribes are merged and it becomes an individual game to get to the final three. Also at some point after the merge, the voted-off castaways become part of the jury who vote which member of the final three receives the $1 million prize and title of “Sole Survivor.”
The final three were Carolyn “Mama C” Rivera, 52, a corporate executive from Florida; Texan Mike Holloway, 38, an oil driller; and YouTube sensation Will Sims II, 41, of California. They were originally on the White Collar, Blue Collar and No Collar tribes, respectively.
Holloway garnered most of the votes from the eight-member jury and won the $1 million prize.
Of the final three Survivors, Thomas looked at who played an overall better game and voted for Rivera.
“I think she played the better game as a whole,” Thomas said. Rivera had a better social game than Holloway did and she was also a strong competitor in challenges.
One of Thomas’ favorite experiences on “Survivor” was when she, Rivera and Holloway won a challenge and the reward went to an orphanage to deliver toys and supplies, along with having a cultural experience with a large meal.
“To just step away (from the game) and go see beautiful children and just have a beautiful afternoon was honestly one of my favorite parts about being out there,” Thomas said. The three of them agreed to not talk strategy and just enjoy the afternoon.
But Thomas said one of the more difficult parts of the game, aside from physically surviving, was being out of touch with her family for a month or longer.
“I talk to my parents like five times a day. … They are who keep me going,” Thomas said. She found herself questioning herself and others in the game when she didn’t have them to talk things through.
On day 36, the five castaways got to have a loved one visit briefly and the winner of the reward challenge, who was Holloway, got to have their loved one stay the rest of the day with them.
And it was Thomas’ father who came running to see her.
“Seeing him briefly was everything I needed at that moment,” said Thomas, who was close to completing the challenge when Holloway won and his mother came back to their camp with them.
“In this game, there are so many aspects that go into making it far,” Thomas said. “You’re constantly strategizing. You want to be a strong player, but then you don’t because you don’t want to be a target. But you don’t want to be a weak link, because then they’ll want to get rid of you.”
She said so much of that is only understood while playing the game, and it’s hard to communicate how constant and draining it is on television.
“You can’t tell how your mind is working when you’re so hungry and so paranoid,” she added. “You’re trying to watch people and see what is going on and second-guessing everything and second-guessing yourself.”
“It’s exhausting,” she said. “The only word (for it) is exhausting.”
By the last days in the game, Thomas said that her heart rate and blood pressure were so low that she was almost medically evacuated.
After she was voted out, it took awhile for her to keep down solid food and a couple of months to get back to pre-“Survivor” shape because of the fatigue and anxiety.
After the finale, she was planning to go on a cruise with her family and then she’s back on the rodeo circuit.
At the season 30 finale, the castaways for season 31 were announced. All of them are returning players, and 10 men and 10 women were selected through online voting. The season 31 compeititors include two of Thomas’ castmates, Shirin Oskooi, 31, a Yahoo executive, and Joe Anglim, 25, a jewelry designer.
Thomas said that she keeps in touch with many of her fellow season 30 castaways and will be rooting for Oskooi.
Email: rappleye@deseretnews.com, Twitter: CTRappleye