Survivor’s [Spoiler] Says Q Wouldn’t Bring Liz to Sanctuary Even After Others Offered Up Spots: ‘It Was Hella Awkward’

The following contains spoilers from Wednesday’s episode of Survivor 46.

Unreliable allies and public knowledge about her idol was more than enough to sink Tiffany’s game. But at least she scored some of Applebee’s Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp?

In Wednesday’s episode of Survivor, Q continued to dodge bullets after almost all of his tribemates seemingly wanted to kick the Tennessee real estate agent to the curb. After Tiff narrowly lost the immunity challenge to Charlie, her name continued to float throughout camp, spearheaded by Maria who was itching to flush the idol (and a major threat) out of the game. Feeling more than comfortable that Q was the vote, Tiff did not play her immunity idol — and it proved to be a $1 million mistake. (Read our full recap here.)

So how much does she regret the move, how hard was it to experience Liz’s meltdown and how’d she feel watching Q and Kenzie’s deception back on TV? We asked Tiffany all of this and more.

TVLINE | So you had an idol, knew you should play it, but ultimately didn’t. How much has that decision haunted you since you got back from filming?  
TIFFANY ERVIN | [Laughs] Oh my God! I don’t think a day has gone by where I haven’t thought about what my life would look like right now if I had played that idol. It’s a whole bunch of should have, could have, would haves and they have been beating my ass since I got home. Oh, man.

TVLINE | What was your reaction when you watched last week’s episode and learned that Kenzie was gunning for you?  
I was shocked! I was shocked. Not so much the fact that she would, because it’s Survivor. There can only be one winner. I was just really shocked how soon it happened because there were still so many people left in the game and, not for nothing, I was her strongest ally out there. At one point, they show a scene of Q trying to tell Kenzie about the six and she’s like, “I already know about the six.” They have their little back and forth, but I told her about the six. There was nothing that was going on out there on the island that I wasn’t sharing and having a free exchange of information with Kenzie. So to want to get rid of that line to everything that’s going on behind your back so soon? It blew me away.

TVLINE | Kenzie said she wanted to beat you to the punch because she “knew it was coming.” Would you have voted Kenzie out?  
Honestly, I can’t say that I would have done that. Again, this is me like speaking on what I would have and could have done. But in that moment right then and there, I don’t think I would have voted her out only because I was confident in the game that I played. Kenzie and I had done a lot of things together up until that point. But also, I didn’t look at backstabbing my No. 1 super early in the game as some gold star that was gonna get me to the end. I knew that other things had to have taken place, other puzzle pieces had to be moved around, and ultimately, it’s about the relationships you build and the relationships you keep that are going to get you that million dollars. I wasn’t scared of her in that moment, so no, I wouldn’t have written her name down.

TVLINE | I need to get your take on Liz’s meltdown. How hard was that to watch in person?  
I don’t think it was hard, but it was awkward as hell. I’m like, “I don’t know what to do,” and I’m just a naturally awkward person. It was even more awkward because both Maria and Kenzie volunteered to give up their spot so that Liz could come and Q was like, “No, I don’t want her to come. We’re going to Applebee’s and I chose who I chose,” and I was just there like, “Oh, this is so awkward!”

Now, I’m not trying to make fun of Liz in any way, but I think that she is just one of the most unintentionally funny people I have ever met in my life. And no, it wasn’t funny in that moment, but boy, we have had some laughs about that s–t since then. Like, girl get your s–t off queen, but it was hella awkward to watch it go down.

TVLINE | I may or may not have called it a “temper tantrum” in my recap.
I mean, it was, low key. You’re not wrong!

TVLINE | Tell me what it felt like to eat that glorious meal at the Sanctuary after starving for so many days. 
It was so good! The one thing that people don’t think about is how quickly your stomach fills up after you haven’t eaten in so long. I took like three bites and I was full, but it was like the best three bites I ever had. I hadn’t eaten in probably 18 days, like a proper meal, and then we get this and I’m like, “OK, this is the time to shut my brain off temporarily, only for a moment.” But it was worth it.

Also, I felt a little nostalgic because me and my homegirls, when we were young, we would go to Applebee’s every week, especially in high school. Sometimes we would be so broke we would scrape up change out of our cars to go in there and just get half-off appetizers. It felt like a little piece of home when I got out there. That’s what Liz said she wanted, and she wasn’t wrong because that’s what I felt when I went out there.

TVLINE | And for real, no one touched the burgers? Not even a single bite? 
Not one bite. By that point, we were so full! I do want to address one thing about the edit. I felt really bad. So there’s a point where we come back to the island and it shows me just going off about how great the food was and how much we didn’t eat and [how] nobody touched the burgers. We were very intentional when we got back to camp about not doing that. We were like, “OK, we’re gonna go back, we’re not even gonna talk about how awesome the food was.” So we were giving them minimal effort when we got back like, “Oh, it was cool. We ate. It was great,” but they were hounding us! They were like, “No, please, indulge us! We wanna know every little detail. What kind of cheese was it? Was it a strong cheese pull? We need to know everything!” Obviously, Liz was the only one who didn’t say that. But in that moment where I was doing all that descriptive talking, I was just doing what everybody was asking for. So it made me look like kind of a jerk. But y’all, I would not do that on purpose.

TVLINE | Tell me a bit about that immunity challenge. You seemed statuesque! How hard was it and what caused you to drop?  
That challenge was not hard for me at all. The only thing that was hard for me is looking back on where I messed up. I was solid. My grip was solid. The thing that messed me up was when I tried to re-adjust. I really didn’t have any fatigue in my arms or my wrists, but my hip started hurting a bit. So that point where you saw me lower down, I was trying to just get a little re-adjustment and stand back up. And by doing that, I moved my grip on the bar which allowed sweat and stuff to kind of get between, and then I just completely lost control. But I promise you, I could have gone at least another 15 minutes. I was chilling! I was singing Beyoncé in my head like, “Yeah, this is my challenge to win,” and that one little mistake just ruined it all. I’ve been having sleepless nights thinking about that moment ever since I got home.

TVLINE | Had Q not spilled the beans about your idol, would the Yanu 3 have stuck together, or were his antics all around just too much to work with?   
I think that definitely would have changed things for the Yanu 3 because it was Q spilling the beans that caused that rupture in our relationship. Me being a Survivor player, a strategy girl, I understand there’s always a possibility that somebody can use your information against you. I knew it was a possibility that Q could use that against me. But the difficult thing for me to accept was there was no reason for it in that moment when he did it. It was like, “Dude, there are so many people left in the game!” We are a solid voting block of three. We have a idol between the three of us that we could use if things get thick and on top of that, we have two warring tribes that are vying for our attention. We are the belles of the ball right now! Why on earth would you ruin that? Because you’re upset that we don’t wanna do what you tell us to do. It was maddening.

TVLINE | What’s something you wish was shown on TV but wasn’t?  
I have a couple of things. One, Charlie and I had a really good relationship out there. A really fun one. We had our little Harry Potter alliance because we are both big Harry Potter fans and we had a really good working relationship. A lot of people didn’t get to see that and I feel like that went into my decision to not play my idol as well because Charlie and I were making plans. Ultimately he decided to be a good ally to his No. 1. I can’t blame him because my No. 1 didn’t do the same for me.

Also, Maria and I had a talk and to this day, I still don’t really understand why she was so dead set and pressed to get me out. I told her, “Maria, I’m not coming for you. I want to work with you. Yeah, I did have that conversation where I casually said your name to Q, but it wasn’t just your name. I listed a bunch of other things and Q also said things to me, but that was me just casually talking to my No. 1 like Day 1 or 2 of the merge before we even got to vibe together. I was just spitting things out. I’m not against you,” but she literally could not let it go and I just lived in her head rent free for the rest of the game. I wish people would have seen that because I did try to make amends with Maria. She just was closed off to it.

TVLINE | Had you made it to the end, did you have an ideal Final 3 in mind?  
I had a couple of different ones. It would have either been me, Kenzie and Ben; me, Venus and Ben; or me, Ben and Liz. I feel like I walk away with the money in any of those scenarios.

TVLINE | Jeff announced that Season 50 is going to be all returnees. If your phone rings, are you picking up the call? 
Without a doubt! I’m picking up the call, and it’s funny because I’ve been asked this question before I left Fiji. Jeff asked me, “Would you do it again?” I’m like, “Of course! Absolutely I would do it again. Are you mad?” I had the time of my life out there. It didn’t work out how I thought it would, but don’t put me out here for a second time because I’m really gonna show my ass!