Survivor's Peih Gee Law: My Feud with Abi Maria Was 'One-Sided'

If you need a reminder that Survivor is a social game, look no further than Peih Gee Law.

The 37-year-old jewelry designer should have been safe in last week’s episode of Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance. After all, a tribe swap gave her alliance the numbers. If that weren’t enough, fellow contestant Jeff Varner had a meltdown after losing the immunity challenge.

But Survivor is nothing if not unpredictable. Law found herself on the chopping block after her umpteenth disagreement with Abi Maria Gomez, and became the third person voted off the season.

A good-natured Law tells PEOPLE all about her tribesmates – and sounds off on what went wrong.

The first time you played Survivor, you had a fantastic story arc that took you to the final five. This time, it felt like you never got off the ground. What happened?
Abi Maria happened. (Laughs) It’s…um…man. Abi Maria, um…(sighs)

You’re trying to be diplomatic, aren’t you?
(Laughs) Yeah. (Pauses) I think that it’s too bad that Abi Maria became such a big part of my story. The feud I had with her was kind of one-sided. It was very difficult playing with someone who decides from the start that they hate you for really no reason.

There was the whole bracelet-gate scandal, when her bracelet ended up in my bag. I wish she had just come to me at the beginning, rather than running around behind my back and telling everyone that I was a thief. So people kept coming up to me and saying ‘Abi’s telling everyone that you stole her bracelet. We don’t believe it, but we just wanted you to know.’

How thoughtful of them.
(Laughs) I know! That created some friction between me and Abi Maria. I was (sighs) at the end of my patience by this point, but I really tried to talk with her, and she kept taking everything the wrong way. It was just so demoralizing.

Let’s set the record straight. Did you steal her bracelet
(Long Pause) Oh, come on. (Laughs) No, I almost wish I could say that I did, and I planned it all to drive her crazy! But I didn’t. It was in a bag that didn’t have a name tag on it. That was it.

So you’re not a fan of Abi Maria.
I don’t know what she’s like at home. This is purely based on her in-game persona, which from what I hear is like night and day from how she is outside of this game.

You’re actually a jewelry designer, and rumor has it that you used that to your advantage this time.
I did! I had fishhook earrings. And I had buttons that were made out of flint. I just had fun with it. This is Survivor. You do whatever you can do to get ahead. It actually inspired me to come up with a line of stylish survival jewelry. My family business is called Lo Rador Jewelry.

Okay, let’s move on. What happened with Jeff Varner after the challenge?
He had this meltdown, where he called me and Woo out. So we were going to vote him off, but that would have been bad, too. Abi had told Woo and I that she wasn’t with us, so if I voted for Varner, then Abi would side with Andrew Savage and Tasha to get rid of us next.

But couldn’t you all have rallied to take out Andrew or Tasha?
We weren’t together as a group, so that probably wasn’t going to happen. My biggest regret is that I didn’t go to Tasha and Andrew immediately and tell them that I was with them and just focused on getting rid of Abi. If I had planted that seed with them, then maybe Tasha wouldn’t have tried to befriend Abi.

You voted for Vytas over Abi in the first episode. Regret that?
Sure, I should have. But I was in an alliance with Spencer and Shirin, and it made sense to get rid of him. You can only go by what made sense at the time. But yes, I should have done that differently.

So you were the third one out. Are you still glad you came back?
Oh, absolutely. I enjoyed the survival aspect of the game a lot. I have a great relationship with everyone else in the game other than Abi. It was definitely worth it!

Want to hear more from Peih Gee Lawi? Check out the audio interview below to hear her exit interview with two-time Survivor contestant Rob Cesternino!