Miami's Dee Valladares wins Survivor
MIAMI - Miami's own Dee Valladares won Survivor's 45th season.
The 27-year-old, who was born in Havana, said she is living the American Dream here and won for her family.
"I went in there with my head in the game saying I'm going to take care of my family. Like every immigrant knows how hard that is, right, seeing your parents struggle. So my thing is to give back to them and make sure they are okay. To be able to do that is unbelievable," she said.
Survivor is a CBS series that places a group of strangers in an isolated location, where they must provide food, fire, and shelter for themselves.
When the season premiered on Sept. 27th, Valladares spoke with CBS Miami's Lisa Petrillo about how she was prepared to outwit, outplay and outlast her fellow contestants.
"I think first and foremost, it was basically like home for me because I am from Miami," she said. "So, I think for me, it was a little bit easier in the sense that I'm used to the humidity. But I think I brought a little fire energy in there as I was the only Latina in the cast. So yeah, that would be one thing I say I brought to the game."
Her toughest challenge had to do with eating.
"So, for me, it was being hungry," Valladares said. "Honestly, I didn't train for that. I just said, I guess once I'm in the game, I'll figure it out and survival instincts will pop up. And we have croquettas here. We have everything in Miami. We don't get anything over there!"
She believes her ability to connect with people, stemming from Miami's rich diversity, worked to her advantage.