Sai says she would have been a bitter ‘Survivor 48’ juror and not voted for anyone to win

Sai Hughley wanted to play Survivor, and oh, did she play. Whether making early alliances, or chasing an idol-hunting Mary Zheng, or outrunning Charity Nelms for an advantage, Sai played hard and played fast. Which may be the reason folks wanted so badly to get rid of her.

Sai was cut loose on this week’s double elimination episode of Survivor 48. Making matters even worse, she was voted out just one spot away of the jury — with her frenemy Cedrek McFadden taking the first juror spot when he was voted out shortly after on the same night.

Why was the usually demonstrative Sai so calm and composed on her exit? What would she have given us on the jury? Whom does she wish she had started the game with instead of sad sack Vula? We asked the seventh person out all that and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How many people did you call hoochie mamas while you were on the island?

SAI HUGHLEY: I called about everybody a hoochie mama. It prevented me from saying bad words. It is something that I call my friends in everyday life. It’s a very endearing term for me, so I just do it off the cuff. I don’t think twice when I say it. And I forgot that maybe not everybody’s used to being called a hoochie mama. So maybe that’s something I need to work on in my real life. Maybe.

You were so calm and composed when you got voted out. I wanted some fireworks! I wanted some death stares! What happened?

I know, and that is why I didn’t do it. I was not about to let these hoochie mamas see me go out bad. I was like, “Okay, I’m resolved. I’ve had my name written down on every single Tribal Council. This is a cakewalk for me. And if you think I’m about to flip you off, just know that it’s happening in my head, but it is not going to happen in real life.”

I wanted to really go out the way I came in, which was with my head held high. And I’m very proud of the way I handled myself because the old me, maybe high school version of me, would not have gone out like that. And I know a lot of people were expecting me to be very enraged, but I’m not.

How hard was it to get voted out one spot before the jury, because that may be the toughest spot to go all season long?

It was awful. I know a lot of people say, “I’m so grateful to have played.” Love that for you. But I really went to go play and win. That was the reason. And honestly, I don’t think I would’ve been happy on the jury because I would’ve been helping somebody else win the money. I would’ve been a bitter juror. It would’ve never worked out for any of them. I would’ve gone in there and voted for Jeff to win the money. I would’ve never voted for any of these people, and they would’ve had to have been like, “Somebody voted for Jeff. Please go back and try again.” And we would’ve been there all night. No way any of y’all are about to win.

So we heard some people say something like that. “I don’t want Sai on the jury, I don’t want her anywhere near this.” So you’re basically saying they were right.

They were right! They were 100 percent right. If you let me get too far, I would’ve either been sitting right next to you or I would’ve been making it living hell for you to even potentially win.

You’re telling me that you’re flipping them off in their head and you’re saying how awful it was getting voted out one spot before the jury. So once you got out of their sight line, once you had time to process this, how was that?

I think I was very happy with my game. I think because I played so hard, I didn’t feel like I left anything on the table. I do feel like I had unfinished business, but I also went and gave it my all. I’d much rather be voted out for being me than being voted out and not have done anything at all or not have an impact on the game. So I was really resolved. I was very calm, and even when I got to Ponderosa, they were like, “You’re handling this so well.” I was like, “Yeah, gotcha. I was there for way longer than you guys, and I’m also just pooped.”

What did you think was going to happen when you walked into that Tribal Council?

Okay, so I knew I was on the bottom. I knew I would be the easy vote. What I didn’t realize is that all of these people were going to play the easy game. I knew I would be voted out, but I thought if I was here with real players — I don’t want to say real players, that doesn’t sound very nice — but I just wish they did something that wasn’t so predictable, if that makes sense.

Had you had your vote, what would you have done with it? Would you have voted or would you have played your Shot in the Dark?

I would’ve played my Shot in the Dark. There’s a moment where you don’t see on the show that I say “I’m on the bottom. I’m the easy vote. If I were you, I would do it too if I wanted to play a lame game.” So I would’ve played my Shot in the Dark. And I do tell Mitch that. I say, “I’m going to play my Shot in the Dark.”

I’m that honest. I knew he had a block-a-vote. I didn’t think he would waste it on me using it right now. You still have the numbers, but I get it. I am proud of him for using the block-a-vote. But I definitely would’ve played my Shot in the Dark and it definitely would’ve worked.

Love the confidence. Why did people want you out so quickly after the merge? We saw it at the previous vote and then again here. Why?

I think a lot of people struggled with someone who is not going to play a fake… not fake. Someone who is… how shall I put it? I think people fear people who are real and overly honest about how they feel about you, are not going to play nice and want to learn about your mom and then turn around and vote you out. I understand why they voted me out, because I was a wild card and I love that.

That’s the best way to be voted out. I don’t want to be voted out because she’s easy and boring. I was voted out because I was a wild card and all over the place. Love that for me. Also, I had a massive impact on the game and nobody can take that away from me.

I always say what you want from a great player or personality or character on Survivor is not just what they do, but how they force other people to react to what they’re doing. You were creating story all over the place, not just from what you were doing but the way other people were reacting to it. So I love that as a viewer.

I always say I gave a lot of these hoochie mamas, a lot of these people’s favorite players, their storyline. And I wholeheartedly caused these people to think outside of the box and play harder than I think they would’ve played if I wasn’t there. I had a blast and I’m very grateful to have even been cast.

Had bad was the Vula tribe?

The Vula tribe was awful, and we all knew it. When we first looked at each other, I was like, “This is unfair,” and that is why I hit the ground running. To be honest with you, I had every intention of going in there and being a little bit softer for the first few days, but when I realized it was going to be dog eat dog because we were inevitably going to go to Tribal Council, maybe more than once, I was like, “I got to hit the ground running and I need to make sure these first two votes are not me.” Us being the weaker tribe impacted the way I initiated my game.

You and Cedrek had quite the rocky road over the course of the season. Now having watched everything back, what do you make of all that?

I would not have had the same game if Cedrek were not there being my messy mate. He allowed me to be me and never wanted to change me or tell me to tone it down. He just adapted. He was like, “Okay, I know who she is. She has shown me what she is and I’m willing to accept her for that.” And so it gave me even more permission to just ball out and go all out and do all of the things, and know that I would have somebody who would back me no matter what.

I know it looks different in different moments, but there’s a lot of conversations between me and Cedrek that you guys do not get to see, and I don’t have to explain my relationship to Cedrek to people. I know what it is, Cedrek knows what it is, and that’s really all that matters.

He was on the jury, you were not, so did you get to connect with him out there before you were whisked away?

I did not get to say goodbye to my favorite human on earth, but I think that was for the better. I was like, “Man, that was my spot. I saved this man so many times.” I know he saved me just as much, but it was tough. I would’ve loved to have been on the jury with him because I think I would’ve had more of an impact on the jury than people would’ve liked, and I understand that, and I get that. Because I would’ve been very vocal and I would’ve challenged every single thing somebody said at final Tribal, as you should. It should not be cakewalk. So for their sake, I’m glad that I’m not on the jury.

I wrote about that in my recap last night that I feel like as viewers we were just robbed because Cedrek is very even keeled, very calm, and you’re the complete polar opposite, and that’s what you want to see. You want the jaw dropping, you want the wild gesticulating, you want the eye rolling, and I feel like we were robbed by not getting you on the jury.

100 percent. I would’ve been rolling my eyes the entire time. If I heard “honesty and integrity,” I would’ve thrown up. I would’ve begged somebody for a barf bag because there’s no way that we are on Survivor and talking about honesty and integrity and the main people talking about honesty and integrity literally do not signify any of it. I would’ve had a time on a jury, child. I would’ve been rolling my eyes, I would’ve been dropping. I don’t even intentionally do it. It’s just like “I can’t with this conversation,” and it just happens.

How psyched were you that the cursive handwriting totally worked when you put his name down?

That was so funny and I’m so glad that CBS even aired it because it was very intentional and I loved every moment of it. I went in that booth and I was like, “This man thinks I have the ugliest handwriting.” I did up until that point, I was just going in there and writing whatever, barely spelling people’s names, and I was very intentional. I took my time with this. I won a cursive competition when I was in fifth grade, so I knew it looked good, but I didn’t know it landed. I genuinely was like, “Whatever, he might not notice, but it’s fine.” And he totally took the bait. It was amazing. I loved every moment of it.

I’ve always said that I don’t know why people don’t do that more, like write with your opposite hand or do all caps or all lowercase or just something a little different and throw people off, and you did and it totally worked.

I loved it. You didn’t see this, but the whole day, he was so nervous and trying to figure it out, and I was like, “This is amazing. I love it here.”

Who from the other tribes do you wish you had started the game with, which may have put you in a different position moving forward?

Oh, so many. Kamilla, Shauhin — that would’ve been amazing. Thomas. He’s just as messy. When he said the whole “This could just disappear” — in that moment, I literally would’ve been like, “I dare you to eat it. I dare you to eat it right now.” And it would’ve been glorious. He’s another one I would’ve loved to have started with. Charity, I think if she got to know me instead of listening to somebody else’s perception of me, we would’ve hit it off. I enjoy Charity a lot. All of the messy people I would’ve wanted to start with.

What’s something that happened out there that didn’t make it to TV but you wish we had seen?

I know it’s not a docu-series, but I am fortunate enough for CBS to have taken such good care of me and shown every side of myself. But if I had to give this an answer, maybe more of the intention behind the Steph vote and more of the backstory behind the Justin vote. Steph and I were not the only two that had contention. She had contention with quite a lot of people on the tribe, but I think just me and her were shown as a battle of the divas.

What was it about the Justin vote you wish we’d seen more of?

There were larger conversations that were bigger than the game that I think would’ve let people know that, “Oh my gosh, she’s really thoughtful and she’s extremely intentional with the things that she says and how she approaches situations.” And also, Justin did not say a ton. What you saw was what you got. If he had said more, CBS would’ve shown that. And so I want to just put that out there, that what he said was what was shown.

Do you think that if he had pushed harder to stay, Cedrek would’ve voted you out?

100 percent. The man wrote my name down twice. That’s why I’m like, “If you would’ve said more, Cedrek would’ve kept you.” Let’s keep it up 100%. The narrative is what the narrative is. We cannot now rewrite history because we’re out of the game and we’re seeing how the fans were reacting to it. I stand on everything I did and I stand on everything that I said, and in that moment, there was no more that he said beyond what was shown.

I can’t imagine they would not want you back on the island again. Would you do this whole thing over again?

I’d do it all over again. Would I change who I am? No. Would I scale it back a little bit on the mat? Yes. But I had a time, I had the best experience and I would go back maybe 80 different times just to see if I could win.

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