'Survivor 46's Moriah Gaynor Was "Fed Up and Annoyed" By Being Targeted for Her Fandom

Moriah Gaynor

Survivor 46 is here! Every week, Parade.com's Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the castaway most recently voted off of the island.

Moriah Gaynor spent 13 days on Survivor struggling to make the leap. That's not just speaking from a literal perspective. After spending almost half the game in safety, the program coordinator thought she had organized a cohesive majority alliance, only to get blindsided in her very first vote. She entered the next day in her own purgatorial state, not sure if she should now jump ship or stick with those who betrayed her. She chose the latter, and it unfortunately led to her taking the bullet on behalf of her former tribe. Despite a last-minute revealing of her position, her jump came up short, causing her to wipe out halfway through the season.

Moriah came onto Survivor as an opportunity to overcome her struggle making friends in her real life, and to show she's not a loner. Unfortunately, those aspirations burst when she was left out of Siga's first vote, which sent Jem Hussain-Adams out with an idol in pocket. Though she felt like a "living fool," everyone affirmed to her the vibe of the tribe was still good. And that was the attitude they carried into the individual stage of the game. Meeting eight new faces, Moriah stuck true to a false narrative to show Siga as a unified front. Unfortunately, it was that cohesion, along with their caginess, that caused everyone else to turn on the former green tribe. And among those left unsafe at "Mergatory," it was Moriah who took the brunt of the blow. Q Burdette found her knowledge of the show dangerous, and the Sigas ultimately let their person on the bottom go to preserve their core. At Tribal Council, knowing the heat on her, Moriah loudly revealed that she was at the bottom of her alliance, and played her Shot in the Dark. But the avid D&D player unfortunately rolled a critical failure in multiple random draws, sending her out near-unanimously.

Now out of the game, Moriah talks with Parade.com about the reasoning behind her Tribal Council gambits, the new connections she made during "Mergatory," and what exactly was going on with her inability to jump.

Related: Read our Survivor 46 pre-game interview with Moriah Gaynor

First thing, has Aubry slid into your Venmo yet to send you reparations?
[Laughs.] No, but I'm not opposed to it. If you've got an in there, I'm not opposed to put a little Venmo action out on my socials.

So let's start with where things ended at Tribal Council. Was the gesture to reveal you were actually on the bottom of Siga and playing your Shot in the Dark premeditated? Did it come from any particular conversation?
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, first of all, getting to camp sucked. And I'm doing my very simple math of, "There's six here and seven there." So whatever name they come back with, 99.9% is going to be the name. I mean, we're 3 v. 3. So whatever Siga name, they say, they're getting three additional votes. And whatever Nami name they say, they're getting three additional votes. It is a majority. So the second they came back with my name, I was like, [Taps front pocket.] "Yep, still in my pocket. Cool. Cool." So I had a pretty good feeling initially, when I knew 100% there is no sway, is when I had other people from other tribes saying, "Our hands are tied. One in six." And when someone from another tribe tells you like, "I want to work with you, but one in six, you know you're beyond gone at that point."

When you reveal what happened at the Jem vote at Tribal Council, what was the reaction? I know it fell on some deaf ears in Hunter, but you also say it hopefully hit some others. And I would imagine the Sigas felt a certain way about their lie being outed.
So I was really surprised. There was not much of a "bomb." If you look over at Q's face, he's just like, "What?" And I'm like, [Sarcastically.] "Oh my God, the name you got from my tribe is on the bottom? That's wild." So I didn't think would be that big of a bomb. But the temperature was definitely a little bit chaotic. I mean, you had the Sigas who, at that point, I knew they were voting for me; they knew that they were voting for me. So I don't think they were shocked that I dropped it. But everyone else was like, "Oh, damn. Not only do they have a bottom, but these players are lying to our faces. And all five of them have been working in a synchronized attack on the other whatever many number of people there are." So it definitely felt like a little bit of a turning point against the Sigas who had been lying. What do you do with that moving forward?

Let's talk about that synchronized attack. The Sigas chose to all mask what happened in the Jem vote to present a united front, yourself included. But there's another world where you all tell the truth about what happened, you play up being on the bottom to get information, and then the Sigas are able to come through. What made you all decide to pursue Mergatory in the way you did?
Well, I think everyone was playing, to some degree, an individual game, even though we're together. And something that I don't think a lot of people really think critically enough about is those journeys. So in the journeys, it's not just about the advantages, it's about the connections that you make over there. Tim is going on this journey with Hunter and Q, and Maria is going on this journey with Tevin. And even Ben is there with Liz and Bhanu. And especially because one tribe which was decimated, most of the people on those journeys are intact. Most of those people in those relationships are now on that beach together.

So because of that, it became a little bit more complicated to navigate. And especially us going in as five with three in the middle. As Yanu, you're not going to look to pick up strays. You're looking to choose a side. Because three people, if you get one or strays, great, you're at [four or five]. That's not really enough in a mess, in a gaggle of 13 castaways, to make that huge difference. So at least for the first vote, it was more about convincing Yanu which way to pull. And who knows later on. But at least for Mergatory, it felt very much like a "we need them to choose a side."

So I mentioned the Aubry comment before. Let's get into it. What was your reaction upon seeing, from our perspective, Q feel you were the most dangerous Siga to take out because of your knowledge of the game and you saying she was your favorite player?
I was so fed up with it. I was so annoyed at it. Because I mean, that's a really big thing for me. People look at me and see I wear glasses, I'm duck-footed, I walk weird, I have a lisp. They see all these things about me. And they put me in this box of, "She has to be the strategy, has to be thinking." And I'm like, "What have I done? What is my offense?" And they're like, "I just get that vibe." And I'm like, "You're gonna lose the game if you're going off of your preconceived notions." If you're going off and just saying, "I think this because I think this," and not listening to what people are showing you, not being perceptive to the way people are acting, not reacting and playing the game, that's a one-way ticket home.

It was also very wild because it was a two-way conversation. And right before I had said Aubry was my favorite player, Q told me his favorite player, which is the very non-intimidating Jeremy Collins. So you could imagine my reaction when I hear the man who told me Jeremy Collins is his favorite player be like, "Yeah, her favorite player's Aubry. That's just too much. That's too much here."

On the note of perceptions, let's talk about all the new people you interacted with in Mergatory. You seemed to immediately click with Venus, only to unfortunately be turned against each other. What other new faces did you vibe with during Migratory?
Well, I really wanted to work with Venus. I sat next to her when we're making our introductions. We were chatting. I really wanted to work with Venus before we got what is the worst rock draw in all history. But apart from that, I really love Tevin. Him and I had a really great connection out there. I could just tell he was very warm. I could tell he was a hard player, but an authentic one. And that's someone who not only I would want to play the game with, but seems really fun to play the game with. Another one, surprisingly, is Hunter. He's a huge gamer. You can tell by just his everything in the game. We're watching this man beast challenges. So clearly, he knows the game. And him and I talked about board games, video games, stuff like that. Because I think we both in that sense had that kind of fun, more introverted, more just thinking about game mindset.

That segues into your doppleganger in Liz. We saw the two of you connect on the sit-out benches back in Episode 2. And you and I talked in the days before the game started about the possibility of the two of you making it to the merge together. So what was that like?
We talked a little bit. But I'll admit I was a little offended she didn't take me on that journey. So I got there and I'm like, "I see you talking to Ben. I'm okay with Ben. But if you're talking to Ben, you're really hard on Ben. I just voted for this man. So maybe that's not my cup of tea at this moment."

So let's talk some Siga here. We were shown that it seemed like the three women were all in lockstep. But Jem told me last week she thought you and Maria were tighter than her and you. How do you feel about that assessment?
Maria out there is really great. From Day One, it was like, "M and M. [The curse of the M], we're not doing that. It's not happening this season." So I can definitely see where that perception came from. And even at the merge, Maria was probably the most upset [that] this tidal wave is coming. One person can't stop. So I definitely see that out there. And it was a little bit like a guns drawn situation. Because we didn't lose, so the strategy was kept on kind of the DL. It wasn't like we ever had an opportunity to go out and test. And we don't want to be like, "You're my mind number one," to have someone to say, "Oh, they told me that." So because of that, I thought that Maria and Jem were very close. Maria thought that Jem and I were close. And Jem thought Maria and me [were close]. So it's this weird circle of no one knows where we stand. 

If you had survived last night's vote, were you planning to go Siga strong? Or would you turned on them, since you were on the bottom of the alliance?
Absolutely. Mergatory is its own beast, because it's such chaos. And when you have a literal majority sitting at a table, whatever happened, the name out is the name out. So for that, my goal was to just be able to survive it. And that the best path forward really looked like--and kind of still does look like--getting those Yanus to choose your side. Because that's ultimately what happened. Yanu went with Nami, and it doesn't matter if I lose by four votes or 10 votes, I still lose. So getting them to at least vote with us for one vote was my goal for Mergatory. But after that, like I said, I liked Tevin, I liked Hunter. According to Jem, Maria and I seemed pretty close. Maybe I could have gotten in with the Q of it all. Probably not, but maybe worked something there. I wouldn't say no.

Did Jem tell you after you were voted out about her having the idol and leading Siga on the wild goose chase to dig it up? If so, what was your reaction?
I was floored. The fan in me was so impressed. I was like, "Damn girl, you got us so good!" And then I remember I had ant bites on me. And I'm like, "Could you have done it somewhere else?" It was so funny. Although I got to the point of, if you look at  everything shown, I am not digging. I am standing there. I want to see people dig and see what they find. But by day two, I was even thinking, "Should I just drop a bead in there so we can be done with this?" If you're gonna plant a fake clue, at least plant a fake idol. So we can call this a wrap. And we can all be like, "We found something! That's so wild." And then never talk about it again.

Talk to me about your relationship with Ben. You called him, "the most charismatic, likable, enjoyable guy I have ever met in my life," which also made him threatening to you. Talk to me about your feelings on him, and how that balanced with you going after him in the Jem vote.
I mean, that's the thing with Siga. We never got tested. Unlike Nami, where at least there's moving and shaking. You're first, but if Hunter's against you, then you're definitely last. We were all kind of even par. So it was tough to get that temperature check of like, "Do I like them as a person? Or do I like them as a player?" And for me, that's where I kind of fell in with Ben. When rubber hit the road, I think Ben is great. We have a really great connection out there. I endured their stong battles. But ultimately, just from him not wanting to talk strategy with me, I'm like, "I can't see this moving forward." So it's kind of separating out, "I'm out here with these incredible, extraordinary humans." But maybe in this context, that's not the best thing to be out here with these extraordinary humans. Because if they're more extraordinary than you, that's not something you want to sit next to.

Finally, we need some clarifications on your jumping. Because anyone who researched your extracurriculars saw you not only participated on Wipeout, but won an episode. So how do you have such a difficult time with your jump?
I did release the footage of Wipeout, and it's very clear that I am going like that. [Angles her arm down.] There is no verticality on Wipeout. It is falling intentionally. And I actually watched that episode with my dad. And I turned to him after the jumping and I'm like, "So what'd you think?" He's just like, "Yeah, I knew that. Supporting you in basketball was one of the toughest things I've had to do when you were a kid." And I'm like, "You could have been nicer on that one, dad."

Well even though you didn't need to smash anything as you feared, you clearly embraced that jump. So it looks like the lessons helped!
Yeah. I mean, adrenaline is a hell of a drug, Mike Bloom

Next, check out our interview with Jem Hussain-Adams, who was voted out in Survivor 46 Episode 5.