Read on for my interview with Genie, and make sure to check in with Parade.com every day for interviews with this season’s contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 41 premieres on September 22 with a special two-hour episode on CBS. What’s your history with watching Survivor? I started pretty early. I caught the first episode of season one, back when Richard Hatch won. And then I veered away from it because I was starting college, and I was partying it up then. Then after college, I came back to it. I started watching again from 20 on to now. Give me one Survivor winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most. I identify with Cirie a lot. I felt like she was very, very strong socially. Everybody seemed to have a nice warm place for Cirie. And I’m thinking that’s gonna be my gameplay. Everybody’s gonna like me. I mean, I don’t know how to say this without sounding very conceited. But people adore me when they meet me; they just do. And I think that’s gonna really help me socially. However, what I have over Cirie is that I’m a lot more athletic than she is. So I think that would come in handy a lot. Very handy in the physical challenges, especially individual immunity. And one of my favorite winners is Tony. I really admire Tony. I don’t think I’m very similar to Tony because the first time he played, he tried to be somebody he wasn’t. I could never do that. But I do admire his strategies, the way that he’s able to read people and know when they’re lying to him. I would want to have some of Tony in me and be able to tell somebody who’s lying to me. What’s one life experience you feel has prepared you most for the game? To tell you the truth, I don’t think anything I’ve experienced can fully prepare me or anybody else for this game. But I think something that might come close is when I did one of those Alaska fishing canneries in college for one summer. I went to Kenai, Alaska. I thought I was gonna make a million dollars just cleaning fish like salmon. I lived in a tent for two months. So that prepares me mentally for camp life, because it’s gonna be hard. But as far as gameplay, I don’t think there’s really anything that can compare to what Survivor has become. What do you think people will perceive you as? I think my fellow castaways are going to perceive me like most people perceive me when they first meet me. They’re just instantly charmed! (Laughs.) By my sense of humor, my approachability. I’ve worked in the grocery business; I’ve worked in customer service pretty much all my life, ever since my first job, where I worked at a smoothie bar. I know how to make myself approachable and available. I just come off as very helpful where people just want to engage with me. So I think that’s really going to be how other people will see me, as the person where you can say, “Oh, yeah, I’m gonna go to Genie for an alliance!” Or a possible secret or something like that. What do you desire in an alliance partner? What I desire in an alliance partner is just honesty. If I present a move that they don’t agree with, I would rather them just tell me than to say, “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.” And then they vote something else completely, just so I don’t get blindsided, and then that trust starts to deteriorate. And I understand that everybody’s gameplay is not going to be synced up every single time. And going into an alliance, I’m going to have to really think about that. “Okay, I want so and so out for my benefit. Because to me, this person is more of a physical threat.” And maybe my alliance members think, “No, you should get the strategic person out first.” I just want them to be honest with me from go. If they don’t agree with what I want to do, I want them to tell me, and then we can work something out. What’s your current game plan for when you touch down on the beach? My current game plan right now is to really dive into the social aspect of it. Everybody’s dying to have some sort of connection. So the first day is just getting to know people, their stories, where they’re from. At the same time, of course, doing what we need to do. Collecting firewood, shelter building, palm fronds. I do think we need to work hard, but I need to connect with people first. What’s the best advice you received before coming out to play? The best advice that I received before coming out here really is just to enjoy every single moment. I understand it’s a big deal to get here. And I know I beat out a lot of people in just being chosen. But I don’t want to negate the fact that I am in Fiji. I’m on an adventure first and foremost. So I want to enjoy that sense of adventure. Sometimes people go into the game, and they just go hardcore. They don’t even kind of appreciate the beauty around them. They just go straight into playing super hard, looking for an idol, already tagging people to vote off. I just want to take at least one day to just enjoy the moment. And then every moment after that I will enjoy, even bad moments. Not me getting voted off, of course. But like stepping on a stingray or something awful like that. But I’m gonna try to enjoy that too. Next, check out our interview with Survivor 41 contestant Deshawn Radden.
