TV

TV Database

EW Presents...

Exclusive star interviews

EW Games

Television News

Ab Driver

If all you remember is how strong she looked and acted, that's cool with the N.Y. personal trainer

More

''Survivor'''s Alicia defends her strategy | alicia_l

PITCH A FIT Alicia might've played it differently given a second chance

All About

Survivor

By Jessica Shaw

Within the first five minutes of the March 14 ''Survivor'' you thought you knew exactly who was getting the boot. Yet after 53 minutes of all signs pointing to scheming Jerri's torch being extinguished, it was personal trainer Alicia Callaway (she of the six pack abs) who was sent packing. EW.com asked her to talk about how it went down.

Guess we all fell for the whole ''Jerri's gonna go'' manipulation. Did you?
No. I absolutely knew. I knew I was a physical threat. I was looking around at the rest of my tribe. The only other threat was Nick, which I don't think really came across on the show. But Nick was sick and really not feeling well. He was the first one to jump off that post. Everyone kind of got the feeling that we're not really worried about Nick.

If you had it to do over again, would you have given up on the Immunity Challenge sooner?
I should have jumped down after 10 minutes. Hard headed me was up there 10 HOURS later. That strength was my asset in the first half and my liability in the second half. Looking back I wish Kucha would have jumped down in the first second and watched who was the last one of Ogakor to get down. The last one down would have been the one with the votes.

Was it your physical strength or your forceful personality that you're referring to as being a liability?
I do come off with a strong personality, but I think it was my physical strength that they were seeing. When we merged I was being pretty quiet. I was taking it much more than I was giving it out. The one thing you can't hide is....

Your abs?
Yeah, well that. My abs have gotten so much attention. I had no idea. I better stay on that rice and fish diet to keep them!

So there was no Outback exercise regimen?
We didn't eat enough to have energy to work out. Working out wasn't even an issue. I would do sit-ups a couple of times, but I never really did them seriously.

Back to the challenges: did you set yourself up as a target?
Every time we went to a challenge, I always sat at the head of the pack. I'm very, very competitive and I'm sure that came off to them. When we merged and just met each other, Colby came up to me and said, ''You're the one I want to beat. You and me.'' I'm thinking, ''There's four guys here and you're challenging me? Thank you very much, I'm flattered, but come on.''

What was your toughest challenge?
That damn pole. You know, I'm so stubborn. It got really mentally painful after a while. I was freezing. The water was black. There were things swimming all around you, and you're standing out there thinking, ''I just want to get warm and get in a boat.'' When Jeff said those two magic words of ''boat'' and ''hot,'' as in chocolate, I was in.

Would you advise future Survivor wannabes to act a little weak?
I would advise future contestants about being careful about setting themselves apart from the rest of the tribe. If it makes you stand out, it could end up being something really bad at the end. You can be the best person in your tribe, but once the tribes merge you don't want to be the strongest or anything else that makes you stand out.

What did you think about Jerri's comments about guys AND women being scared of you?
I loved Jerri's comments. That was the coolest. If you're gonna get voted off, that's the way to go. Everyone being scared of you. That was cool.

Watching the show now, do you feel you've been portrayed accurately?
Yes. At the beginning I was coming off very serious and very stern. Very, very focused. That was the only thing that kind of bothered me. I mean, there were times like that, definitely. But there were a lot of fun times, specifically with Jeff, that I wish I could have seen more of. But basically, they're showing things that happened. It's not like they made anything up.

So once you got kicked off, where did you go?
When we went to Australia before the show, we were brought to a ranch and separated. When we got voted off, they bring you back. Everyone was catering to me. It was fabulous. And food, any food was good food. I ate, showered as many times as I possibly could. You kind of sit back and reminisce about what happened, but you're kind of in a fog for a while. And three days later you're going back but under different circumstances. If you got kicked off but you're in the jury you go back for every tribal council.

What was it like to revisit your old rivals?
It was the sweetest revenge ever. It was so nice and cute that I got the respect kick-off vote. But when I was back I was all clean and I was fed and I smelled nice. I could tell by the look on everyone's face that they were all thinking, that is not right.

Is it weird to suddenly NOT have cameras following you around everywhere?
In the first week you're aware of the cameras because it's so new. Then you become completely desensitized to the whole camera thing. Because you're not really aware of them, you don't really go through camera withdrawal. And of course you can't miss them because every three days you're back at tribal council with cameras on you again.

About your confrontation with Kimmi over vegetarianism and those chickens: Did we see everything or was there more?
I have to be honest, yeah, there was more. Even the argument we had was a little more in depth. I'm sure I swore more times. The tension between Kimmi and me from day 1 was there. I just knew this is the kind of person I'll never get along with no matter what situation we were in. I just wish when I started to get into that argument that I walked away. But at least now I have a legacy. Now I'm the famous finger waver. That's my claim to fame.

So what's up with the rumors of you doing Playboy?
They're just rumors. But I absolutely have no problem with posing for Playboy.

So I take it then that you're back working out and training clients?
I barely have time for my poor clients. I've definitely gotten some new requests from people to be trained by me, but right now I have to see where my life is going to take me.