Chelsea Walker sat down in my jungle office just as the sun was beginning to set over Fiji. Though for organizational purposes this is the twelfth Survivor interview I’m presenting, she was the last contestant from Island of the Idols that I spoke to before the game. Despite the waning light, Chelsea was bristling with energy as she talked to me about the game. It was a dream that had finally become a reality after six dedicated years of applying. And now that she finally has her opportunity to play, the IMDB content creator is ready to add her credit alongside the franchise’s biggest players.

Read on for my chat with Chelsea, and make sure to check in with Parade.com every day for interviews with this season’s contestants and other on-set tidbits. Survivor: Island of the Idols premieres on September 25 with a special 90-minute premiere on CBS.

Tell me about yourself.

I’m a Survivor superfan. But aside from that, I just turned 27. I’m very happy I got on while I’m still in my twenties. I’m from South Jersey, and I now live in L.A. I went to the University of Maryland. I did not compete in any of that Survivor: Maryland stuff, but I hope y’all are happy someone finally got on from Maryland. Go Terps! I was a broadcast journalism major. After graduation, I moved to L.A. I freelanced for a while. Now I’m at IMDB, and I create digital content and videos. I actually created a Survivor video [of the top ten voting confessionals]. Aside from that, I cover a lot of events, everything from the Globes and Oscars to Sundance. Right before I came out here, I did the press junket for South by Southwest. It’s cool to be on the other side.

How does that all translate to Survivor?

A lot of stuff I do is live. When you’re live, anything can happen, so you need to be able to think quickly on your feet. When it comes to Survivor, with all these twists and advantages, you just need to be adaptable and flexible. That’s how I am in my job. I’m also super creative in my job, constantly pitching new ideas and how to do new things. You need that in Survivor. I have some tricks up my sleeves.

What’s one of those tricks?

Let’s see. (Mimes rolling up sleeve.) I was so mad during David vs. Goliath because Nick stole the move I was planning to do, and he didn’t execute it that well. Sorry, Nick, it was a bad execution. He played a fake idol to see everyone’s reaction, then decide what to do with his real idol. I saw it and yelled at the TV, “Nooooo!” I get that he explained it after for the jury. But I was going to make that same move, but do it better.

I’m a lot of talk right now. But when I make it to the Final 4, let’s say I win that final Immunity and I get to pick a person to come to the finals. Let’s say I thought I truly had no chance of winning. Your girl would throw herself into the fire-making challenge. [AUTHOR’S NOTE: The finale for Edge of Extinction, where eventual winner Chris Underwood would do precisely what Chelsea outlined, had not aired at the time of our interview.] I would do what Dom didn’t. I would never let myself get taken to the end. If someone tried, I would be like, “Uh-uh. Hold up, put me in. I’m making the fire.” I’ve been practicing, so I’m good. Everything ignites really quickly. Either I’m a savant, or I’m using super flammable stuff.

What do you think people are going to perceive you as?

I’m definitely going to play down my Survivor fandom. The first audition tape I ever posted is still on YouTube and has a hundred thousand something views. My ego doesn’t let me make it private. (Laughs.) So it’s super easy to find. I’m not worried about what they see in that video because it’s from when I was still in college. It’s more so if someone recognizes me as a superfan. If someone knows about me, I’ll say, “I applied a really long time ago, gave it a break, and now I’m back.”

As much as I want to make big moves, I don’t want to make a big move just for the sake of it. I need to take a step back and remember it’s not smart for my game. In the beginning, as boring as it is, I’ve just got to keep a low profile. It comes down to the social game. I want to make sure I make one-on-one connections with every single tribe member, even if they’re not in my niche group.

What do you desire in an alliance partner?

I want to find someone I need and someone who needs me back. That way you’re insulated on both sides. I would like to align with another superfan, but not to the point where we’ll have to cut each other’s throats. I feel like I can trust a person like that more. The people who don’t know the game are so unpredictable; I don’t trust the recruits around here.

You keep speaking about your superfandom. When did that start?

I’ve been watching since I was eight years old. Back then, my whole family would do the thing where you put the contestants’ names in a hat. If the person you draw wins, you get a whole pot of money. I don’t watch that much TV. Survivor is the one show that’s stuck with me all these years. It’s everything about the game: the lying, the manipulation, the competition. All of these awesome elements. I want it! And now I finally have it. It’s so cool.

So how all-out do you plan to be with that lying and manipulation?

I will lie; I will deceive. I will do anything. People are like, “Oh, my honor!” We’re out here playing Survivor! I lie in my everyday life. So honestly, this should come very easily to me. I think I’m pretty charming. The Jersey me can come out, but I’m also a goofball. I’m hoping that can mask my lying. Honestly, I think deceiving is fun. The important thing is to do it in non-maliciously. That’s the trick to Survivor: Being able to lie to all these people, but getting them to vote for you in the end. I feel like I can do it. I can lie, then do my cute little smile afterward, and hopefully people will forget about it. It’s about time we had some strong females doing that!

You wrote that you feel you’ve been underestimated your whole life. Can you elaborate?

It has to do with my size. I’ve played sports growing up, and I’m not the tallest person in the world. In both sports and school, I had people say, “You can’t do this.” I constantly had to prove to people. They said, “You won’t make the varsity soccer team as a freshman.” I did it. They said, “You can’t get all A’s.” Did it. In Maryland, I go to class and the first thing my professor says is, “Entertainment isn’t real journalism. If you want to do that, get out of here.” And that’s what I wanted to do. In my school, 90% of the people don’t stick with that career path. You end up falling in communications, or you do on-air reporting in the lowest-level market in the boondocks.

But I didn’t let that deter me. I made my dreams a reality. I’m working in entertainment and loving it! I think due to my size, people underestimate me. We’ve got some strong girls here. I was working out two times a day leading up with four gym memberships, thinking, “I’m going to be one of the strongest girls.” Then I got here, and I’m like, “Nope!” Maybe people won’t see me as the biggest threat, and that will help me.

Give me a Survivor winner and non-winner you want to play like.

For winner, I’m going to choose Kim Spradlin and Natalie Anderson. Kim is constantly overlooked because she made it look so easy. Leading up to this, I wanted to rewatch the seasons with my favorite winners. I rewatched One World, and man that season is a doozy! You do not need to watch that twice; that was horrid. (Laughs.) She was a competition beast, had a really good social game, didn’t really have enemies even when she lied to them. Same thing with Natalie. Great social game. She backstabbed people, and they voted for her at the end.

For non-winner, Kelley Wentworth is cool and beast mode. I really like Andrea Boehlke; she’s really funny on Twitter. Michele Fitzgerald has really funny tweets too. Very good tweets, girls. (Laughs.) I feel like when you ask people who they play like you hear the same names over and over again. You won’t hear any recent names in terms of females. That’s what I’m trying to do. At the end of this, I want people to say, “I want to play like Chelsea.”

When your tribe visits Tribal Council, would you rather vote on strength or loyalty?

I would probably vote loyalty and hope that a swap was coming soon. At that point, when you get swapped, I don’t care about strength. I’d rather have someone I can trust than strength.

When you’re at your lowest low, what’s one memory you’ll pull from to boost your spirits?

I’ve been telling myself, “Chelsea, you’ve been trying this for so long. A little rain ain’t gonna hurt you. (Sings.) The sunshine is gonna come out tomorrow!” I’ve put way too much time and effort into getting on this show. The lowest of lows is still not low for me because I’m here. I’m going to have fun with it. The rain is whatever. I know it’s going to be tough. I’m the lightest sleeper ever. If I have a person snoring on my tribe, he’s going to get his ass voted out really quick. (Laughs.) I’m ready for it. That’s all part of the experience.

If I volunteer to sit out an Immunity Challenge for food, slap me in the face. I know it’s a smart move sometimes, like if you know you’re safe. I remember the nachos with the congealed cheese. I don’t want that! I’m here to compete.

If you could bring one celebrity or fictional character out as your loved one, who would you pick?

Larry David! I’ve already been talking about him so much today. He also went to the University of Maryland. I love him; he’s my idol. He’s pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

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