Murtzcellanious: Murtz Jaffer Interviews Survivor: China's Sherea Lloyd

It was definitely a long interview when I spoke with Sherea Lloyd. We discussed his ejection from the game, Frosti’s turning on her and her friendship with Courtney. We also talked about Halloween costumes. Check it out!

Murtz Jaffer: Hey Sherea, it’s Murtz, how are you?

Sherea Lloyd: Good, how are you?

MJ: Good, are you ready to rock?

SL: I am. Let’s go!

MJ: Alright. Did you think that the twist that sent you over to Fei Long was fair?

SL: You know, I didn’t think that it was necessarily fair. I guess because I was the one going but at the same time it was a nice twist to the game to shake it up.

MJ: Why did you guys vote Chicken off first?

SL: We voted Chicken off first because he was not really giving us any opinion of what we should be doing as far as building our camplife the first couple of days. With him being a chicken farmer and him acting like he knew so much, he never gave us any opinions. But at the same time, he tried to call a few of us girls out… myself, Jaime and Ashley, call us out about having an alliance and telling me that Jaime was going to vote me out when that wasn’t true.

MJ: Do you think that he got along with the women there (because he kind of seemed to be on the outside to me)?

SL: He definitely was on the outside as far as the women were concerned. The guys really looked up to him because he was older but no, he wasn’t really in with the girls.

MJ: Right, right. You had a pretty strong alliance at Zhan Hu with Jaime and PG. What was your initial strategy when you first got to Fei Long?

SL: My initial strategy was of course to try and stay as loyal as possible to the girls if and when I made it to the merge but at the same time, I wanted to get to know the Fei Long crew and I wanted them to know that they could trust me too.

MJ: When PG tried to tell you that Zhan Hu was still with you at the reward challenge, you didn’t seem to respond. Why was this?

SL: That’s because through the doorway at the challenge, I knew that the Fei Long members could see me and they were a little bit weary about the challenge before (when Zhan Hu threw it) and I didn’t want to give them a reason not to trust me.

MJ: Do you think that they could hear through the doorway? Because I don’t think that we really got a sense of that on TV.

SL: Yeah, they could tell. I could look behind me and I could see them sitting right there looking at me.

MJ: (Laughs). So did you give PG any kind of head nod or anything or was it just total silence.

SL: I tried to talk to her as I was taking the knot out with my teeth and you know, I am looking at her… but I just really didn’t want to be too loud because they were looking directly at me.

MJ: What would you have told her if you could say something?

SL: That I am definitely still with them.

MJ: Would you have gone back to them if you had made the merge or was your whole plan just to stick with the majority, stick with Fei Long.

SL: I don’t know. My mind kept going back and forth. I wasn’t sure if I could trust Todd and the crew over there but at the same time, I wanted to stay loyal to my Zhan Hu tribe because they’re throwing the challenge, they need three more days. So I wasn’t really exactly sure until the merge was going to happen.

MJ: What’s interesting to me is that James and Aaron didn’t seem to pick up on the fact that Zhan Hu threw the challenge, but I am sure that you and Frosti did. Did you notice right away what they were doing in that immunity challenge? What was your reaction when you saw it?

SL: Yes, right before myself and Frosti left to go to Fei Long, we briefly discussed that they were probably going to try and throw the two challenges to save us, so I knew it was going to happen. And then at the challenge, Jaime and PG looked over to me and they mouthed to me that they were throwing it so I knew right before the challenge even started that they were definitely going to do it.

MJ: Wow, so they must have done it pretty discreetly because we didn’t see any of that.

SL: They did. The only thing that you probably did see but you probably didn’t really notice is when Jaime throws the puzzle piece away and Jeff hands it back to her later.

MJ: Yeah, because we didn’t see anything that showed her mouthing to you?

SL: No, they didn’t show any of that but I knew before the challenge and I was like ‘okay, as long as it saves me three more days!’

MJ: Now, I have read some other interviews that you have done where you said that they talked to you about the whole strategy of them throwing challenges, but when we saw it, it was just PG coming up to Jaime like right before and saying ‘okay, we gotta throw this and get rid of the two strong guys.’ Did you and Frosti know that the plan was to throw the challenges and get rid of them?

SL: Yes, we knew that they were going to throw the next two immunity challenges to try and get rid of the Fei Long members because they had more of the numbers at Zhan Hu. Three versus two. And that it was me and Frosti on the outs at Fei Long.

MJ: So that must have been planned pretty quickly because it must have happened right before you left.

SL: Right, as soon as we got the letter saying that it was myself and Frosti, we talked about that within like two minutes before we left.

MJ: I have also heard you say that Todd and Amanda approached you to be in an alliance as soon as you got there. Is that true and did you think that this was strange, considering they had the numbers to get rid of you whenever they wanted? So why would they come up to you for an alliance?

SL: That is true. It was Courtney, Amanda and Todd that approached myself and Frosti and I guess they were trying to feel us out to see if they could trust us. So that’s all that did happen.

MJ: Yeah, but isn’t that fishy to you? I know they didn’t like Jean-Robert, but why wouldn’t they stick with Denise? I don’t understand why they would come up to you and Frosti if you guys were the big outsiders.

SL: Right, well I think that Denise… her alliance was more with James. And she wasn’t necessarily in the ‘in crowd’ with Todd and Amanda even though she was in Fei Long.

MJ: And so do you think that it was just a way for them to capitalize on you and Frosti doing whatever, saying whatever and voting whatever to stay?

SL: That’s correct. They wanted to see which one of us would vote the other out and see which one of us would not flip on them if we made it to the merge.

MJ: That’s a good question right there. Who do you think was more likely to flip? Obviously, it was Frosti right?

SL: Exactly. It was Frosti. He was there when they found the immunity idol, of course. So they really had no choice but to vote me off at that point. But at the same time, they told us ‘are you willing to vote Frosti off? Are you willing to vote Sherea off?’ and he was the one that said yes.

MJ: And what did you say when they asked you the same question? You just said no?

SL: I told them, I said ‘no, at this time I do not want to vote Frosti out, I want to vote Jean-Robert out and I promise that if you guys do this, then I will go with you the next time.’

MJ: Gotcha. Now, I am sure that the Fei Long plan was to get rid of Frosti before you, but that was before he saw the hidden immunity idol. Did you know that he had seen it? Did he tell you? Or did you just see that on TV?

SL: No, I did not know that he had seen it, but the funny part is that I was sitting literally five feet away. The rest of us are sitting by the fire as they are taking this immunity idol down. Because we thought they were taking the shingles down for the fire.

MJ: Did he tell you that he saw it or was he completely stone-wall about it?

SL: He did not tell me anything at all. I had no idea!

MJ: (Laughs). Did it surprise you that he voted for you?

SL: You know, it surprised me a little bit. They didn’t show this of course also. Me and him got into it because I was like ‘just tell me, what are you going to do. Tell me if you are with me or if you are with the rest of the group’ and he did not tell me so I wasn’t surprised by the time that we got to tribal council.

MJ: Did you ever get sick out there and how bad was the heat?

SL: No, I never got sick out there and the heat was excruciating but the rain was even worse though.

MJ: So you would say the rain was the worst part?

SL: The rain was definitely the worst. The first three days, it flooded our camp over at Zhan Hu and we were just walking in mud and water for the first three to five days.

MJ: Who had more fun around camp because you were at both. Zhan Hu or Fei Long?

SL: Oooh! I don’t know! You know what? I am going to have to go with Zhan Hu. We had more fun. We had limbo contests and we had jokes all the time. We had fun at Fei Long but it just wasn’t the same.

MJ: (Laughs). Now some would say that if you are having fun, and playing games, and doing limbo contests that you guys weren’t really playing Survivor. Do you agree or do you think that having fun and doing stuff like that is basically what the game is about? Isn’t that how you build relationships?

SL: Exactly what you said. That’s how you build relationships. But at the same time, the days were so long in China that there is no way you are talking strategy 24 hours a day.

MJ: Was there anything else that you guys did for fun, because it sounds like Zhan Hu was a pretty fun tribe. Limbo contest… I saw a little bit of dancing in the first episode?

SL: Yeah and then Erik sang for us too out there so we always told stories, we had jokes and we danced (you saw that the first day out there), so we always had fun.

MJ: You know what was very funny to me? When you initially got the treemail about the switch happening, almost all of Zhan Hu thought that you were just going to get to steal two members. Was it a little embarrassing when you saw that back on TV because they just made you look like ‘oh my god, what are these people thinking?’

SL: Yeah, it was funny to see on TV because we really had no idea. And I guess it’s because we were down two members so we were thinking that they were going to shake it up a little bit. But we had no clue at all.

MJ: Yeah, that’s true because when you think about it that way, it makes sense. You seemed to clash with some of the guys out there. First there was Dave and then there was Jean-Robert. Did either of them remind you of the fourth graders you teach?

SL: Oh yes. I referred to that actually in the last tribal council, but they didn’t show that. I said that Jean-Robert was like one of those kids in school who likes to pick on people. But you know what? Jean-Robert and I, we didn’t have any personal conflicts as far as at camp. The problem was that he picked on everybody else and I just happened to want to speak up about it. But we didn’t get into it at camp like Dave and myself did.

MJ: Are you used to kids bullying other kids? I just felt like you were totally the teacher. The one who stood up when he was picking on Courtney and whatever. You were the one who stood right up to him.

SL: That’s exactly right. I was like I couldn’t believe that they weren’t sticking up for themselves. I was like, ‘I am not having this.’ I am going to stick up for you guys. I know it’s going to put a target on my back but you just can’t sit around and let people be cruel to other people.

MJ: What did you think you think when he said to James and Frosti that they should jump up in that tub with Amanda and Courtney?

SL: I was thinking that Jean-Robert is very full of himself. That’s what we thought about him the whole time out there. As long as he’s not in the tub with us, I didn’t care what he thought about anybody else.

MJ: You seemed to click with Courtney right away. Was there any reason for that? Did you guys have a lot in common? Why did you guys get along so well?

SL: I don’t know. We just had similar personalities as far as being out of our element. Both city girls and not really feeling the whole outdoors side. But at the same time, she was kind of on the outs over on her tribe so we clicked with each other when we got over there and of course not liking Jean-Robert at the same time helped.

MJ: It was interesting because she was sort of fighting for you to stay and your own tribemate from the beginning (Frosti) was the one turning on you, so that was kind of surprising don’t you think?

SL: Yeah, it was very surprising but I knew that she didn’t care for Jean-Robert, he didn’t care for her. She knew I was not going to vote her out before Jean-Robert so that’s why I think that she stuck up for me so much.

MJ: You were very strong in the challenges. Can you tell me about your athletic background because I didn’t get a sense of that in your bio?

SL: You know what? I didn’t play sports all my life. I played ’em off and on but I am very competition, so I think that is what drove me during the challenges. Even with my kids at school, I am trying to get them to be more competitive when it comes to field day. So that’s what drove me during the challenges. I don’t like to lose.

MJ: (Laughs). I guess that answers my next question. I was very surprised when Fei Long picked you to join them instead of Erik. Because usually when you have a switch like that, you know obviously Zhan Hu picked the two strong guys… I thought Fei Long would have picked the two strong guys as well. Why do you think they picked you and not Erik?

SL: Because I think they saw me as stronger than Erik physically of course, because you know he’s smaller. But at the same time, they had their guys and personality-wise, you can kind of get a feel for people when you’re around them at the challenges and I think that’s something that they saw in me.

MJ: One of the things we didn’t really see was this whole female thing at Zhan Hu. You seemed to be very close with Jaime, PG and Ashley. If Ashley had stayed, do you think she would have gone a lot further in the game? Clearly you guys were all connected.

SL: That’s correct. At that point, they really did not like her and we were still early in the game. The guys, Frosti, Erik and PG really wanted to keep Dave around because of his work ethic around camp, so I think that was the argument that was happening. And with her being sick, somewhere in there Dave could have probably convinced them.

MJ: Do you think that it was a mistake to listen to Dave?

SL: Yeah, I would have rather kept Ashley around than Dave. I mean it was good especially for the first few days because he did a lot around camp. But his leadership skills were not good for us as a whole.

MJ: The whole deal with Ashley being a wrestler, that never really came up. I would think that if she has been on TV, if she has made money, that’s why you would get rid of her. Did you guys know about that? Did that affect your thinking at all or was she just another regular tribe member?

SL: We knew that she was a wrestler and that didn’t come up, not once as far as a reason to send her home at all. We just thought of her as just another competitor out there.

MJ: One of the things that I also wanted to ask you about was when Jaime got kidnapped, I heard that she brought all this stuff back to Zhan Hu like limes and fish hooks and stuff like that. Is that true and how tricky is that girl?

SL: That’s very true. She brought us some limes. She stole their fish hooks. We got all of that when she came back. And yes, don’t let the blonde hair fool you. She’s playing the game and she’s very smart. She knows what she is doing.

MJ: A lot of people thought that it was in poor sportsmanship for her to throw that challenge. I wanted to know what your take on it was.

SL: Well my take is that it may have been in poor sportsmanship, but they are playing the game. It’s their strategy on how to get further in the game. And it saved me for three more days with them doing so I didn’t have a problem with it at all. It’s the game. That’s how it works. You have to find your way to get further in the game.

MJ: In your final words, you said that you hoped that half of them got screwed since some of them screwed you. What did you mean?

SL: Well, I think that was more directed toward Frosti because he turned on me and at the same time, I got screwed because the other members of Fei Long like Todd and Amanda didn’t really see that Jean-Robert was more of a threat than me at that time. And of course that was directed at Frosti for turning on me.

MJ: And finally, tomorrow is Halloween, so I want to know if you’re going out and what you’re dressing up as.

SL: I am going out, but I am not dressing up. I am going to be myself. Sherea the Survivor!

MJ: (Laughs). So there’s not going to be like a tree outfit for the whole Survivor thing?

SL: No, no. I have my dress, but I don’t know if I am going to throw that back on!

MJ: I don’t know if I like girls like you when I go to Halloween parties. I don’t like those girls that come to costume parties and don’t dress up.

SL: You know what? I really would dress up but because I am going with some of my friends’ children, they don’t need to see me like that.

MJ: (Laughs). That’s funny. What’s next for you?

SL: I am back in the classes because I have to finish out the year with my students and then hopefully something comes my way that’s good.

MJ: Nice. You didn’t even ask what I am going to be for Halloween!

SL: What are you going to be?

MJ: You know the Tin-Man from the Wizard of Oz?

SL: I do.

MJ: Instead of being the Tin-Man, I am going to be the Tin-Murtz.

SL: (Laughs)!

MJ: It’s going to be hilarious.

SL: You’re going to have to send me that so that I can check it out!

MJ: I definitely will. Thanks a lot!

SL: Thank you.

MJ: Bye.

SL: Bye bye.

Sherea Lloyd was born in Pontiac, Michigan. Her family moved around a lot, as she spent her early years living in Maryland, middle school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and high school in Dallas, Texas. She received her undergraduate degree from Florida A & M University and her master’s degree from Florida State University.

– Survivor: China airs on CBS on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

– Survivor: China airs on the Global network in Canada on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Sir Linksalot: Survivor: China

Please credit Murtz Jaffer & RealityDish.com when using this interview. If reposting, please post just an excerpt and link back to the rest of the piece.