Liana Wallace On 'Survivor' All-Black Alliance Falling Apart: 'Just Wanted Us To Make Top 8, Then We Can Have World War II''
(CBS) - Liana Wallace was the latest Survivor 41 player to have their flame extinguished as she was voted out on episode 11 and will be 12th member of this season's jury.
CBS' Matt Weiss spoke to Liana about her Survivor strengths, alliance break down and the twist that sent her home.
MW- Hello Leanna! Congrats on a great game, unfortunately it ended sooner than you would have liked but take me back to the beginning when you first get to the island. What was your first impression?
LW- As you know I'm a lifelong fan. I couldn't believe I'm playing Survivor. Then you finally get to meet the people in your tribe and it was so cool to meet everyone. I connected with Evvie right off the bat. Tiff was cracking jokes, she was hilarious. Sara and I were both students.
I've seen so many seasons before but now I'm going to play and I'm going to make my relationships and that was the coolest part that it was actually happening.
MW- I imagine as a lifelong fan you always dreamt of things like what your tribe going to be called, what color you'll be, even little things like that.
LW- Super cool and getting to see the trails that you walk on. Finding this is where you get water and it's super cool. It's just like, I'm literally here!
MW- Now in last week's episode Shan was voted off. That was a decision that you weren't a part of that clearly rubbed you the wrong way and I think a lot of people can understand why. What was going through your head when you realized Shan was out?
LW- I was shocked because I knew that there were intense dynamics between Shan and Deshawn and at some point that was going to explode. But I was thinking even if we have this tension and stuff, at eight we are in the majority and it makes no sense to vote out somebody in your core alliance.
I just wanted us to make top eight and then we can have World War II like, whatever at that point you know? It made no sense to me. I really just didn't understand and so I was like please explain this to me, like this makes no sense. I was shocked.
It was anger at first too because I just solidified in my head and I had this conversation with Shannon and I'm like this is someone that I want to go to the end with. I wanted to work with her and even throw she was a threat I wanted to be there with her at the end.
MW- This season has had so many twists and turns. Obviously after that decision you and Deshawn were not necessarily on the same page. So then when you see him go into that Do or Die challenge and he wins.
So now not only is he protected but your odds of going home just got higher. What's going through your head then?
LW- Yeah, I think that was the hardest part that my night was a Do or Die night. I think had that not been the case I might have been able to wiggle my way out of it. Danny had immunity, Deshaun was safe now. I knew I was on the hot seat.
I think that's just an implication of good of a choice that they both made. The fact that I got the short end of the stick was exactly why I wanted to stay together until the final eight.
So at that point I was scrambling trying to point out Ricard is a challenge threat and I was going to take that angle and run with it. It was really disorienting because I went into tribal thinking I would throw Ricard under the bus but there was so much going on I didn't even have a chance to do that.
MW- Everything broke just the wrong way for you at the end but you did make it to the final seven. So as much as we're talking about things that went wrong, you played a great game, you were there for I believe 21 days. What do you feel like was the strongest part of your game?
LW- Yeah, I definitely think it was social relationships. I was able to build connections with a bunch of people on my tribe and I had the information that I needed. I got the Knowledge is Power advantage and I was strategic enough to not let my tribe know about it. Obviously, that changed when I got to the merge.
What I'm most happy with is that I was able to be authentic and build these really real connections that helped me progress in the game. Part of my strategy was I didn't want to come out of the show feel like I didn't go down swinging. I played hard and I'm really proud of that. I didn't want to be dragged to the end, I wanted to play.
MW- And you should be proud you played a very strong game. Last question before I let you go, would you go back for another round?
LW- Yes! know it sounds crazy. We're literally starving we had no rice, this new version of the game is insane. I'm addicted to Survivor though, I love the game and I feel like I won already.
MW- Well Liana, it was so nice to speak to you today. Congratulations again on a well played game and all the best moving forward. Hopefully we get to see out there again!
LW- Thank you so much, so nice to meet you!
Tune in for a new Survivor next Wednesday at 8:00PM ET/PT on CBS or streaming with Paramount+. Check your local listings for more information.