Tiffany Nicole Ervin says Q would not let them give up “Survivor” Applebee’s reward to Liz

The ousted player also explains what left her "flabbergasted."

For the third time this season, someone on Survivor went home with a Beware Advantage immunity idol in their pocket, and this time, it was Tiffany Nicole Ervin. What made the lack of usage so surprising in this case is that Tiffany knew that once everyone else knew about her idol that it made her a target and she should just play it to get rid of it. But she didn’t, and now she is the fourth member of the Survivor 46 jury.

What does Tiffany make of her untimely exit? Is she bitter that Q Burdette tried to quit the game but lasted longer than she did? What does she make of Kenzie at one point trying to get her out? And what happened when she arrived at Ponderosa after being voted out? We spoke to the 33-year-old Jersey girl about all that and more… including, yes, Applebee’s. And it seems there was a key moment in that incident that did not make it to air.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Tell me your reaction when you saw your name keep coming up on that parchment?

TIFFANY NICOLE ERVIN: I was gooped and gagged. I was not prepared. I literally felt like a deer in the headlights. When they say blindside, they literally mean blindside. I was not ready for that at all, but it was almost like an immediate shock, and I won't say realization because it didn't really hit me until I was on the boat back to Ponderosa, like, “Damn girl, you really out the game.”

You talked about getting rid of the idol because you knew it made you a target. So why did you ultimately decide to not use it?

So there were a lot of conversations that didn't make the cut, and it was a lot more calculated than just me taking a risk. Obviously, I took a risk. I knew what was going on. But I think one thing that people didn't see is that me and Charlie had a really good working relationship, and they didn't show a lot of it on camera, but Charlie and I had a lot of discussions about possibly using the idol later down the line to blindside Maria. And this is something that was brought to my plate. So I'm like, this is a great idea.

So for me, I told you before when we did our pre-press, I'm out here to play. So I'm like, if this is what we're going to do, let's do it. So I knew it was taking a big risk, but I'm like, this could be a bigger reward. Obviously, it came to bite me in the butt, but there was a lot of planning and conversations, and then coupled with the fact that everybody at camp was really fed up with Q at that point. You guys didn't get to see a lot of it, but people were so annoyed. So I'm like: Either these people are Oscar worthy actors or they're really tired of this guy. So I put my chips all in one spot. Obviously, I didn't hit the jackpot with that one, but it was definitely an educated guess.

How frustrating was it for Q — who tried to quit — making it further than you in the game?

Oh my gosh. I don't even know how to describe the level of frustration because more than anything, I'm like, “You don't even want to be here. You've been trying to quit since Yanu days.” And sometimes he'll make it seem like this facade like, “Oh, it's just to test everybody.” How many times do you need to test us? Please! It was extremely frustrating for me.

But then at some point I kind of came to the realization — of course, this is my own opinion — but I realized I think he was just getting dragged along for votes. This is something that I said really early on in the game, and of course this is me breaking my own Survivor rule: People would rather deal with a nuisance than a threat. In that moment, I did not realize that I was the threat and Q was the nuisance. People wanted to keep the nuisance and get rid of the threat. So what are you going to do?

You say we only saw some of how annoyed everyone was with Q. What were some of the other things happening there we didn't get to see in the edit?

Well, for one, he was constantly going at it with Ben. And I don't really know what his issue with Ben was, but there was a lot of — I'm not going to use the term bullying because I feel like that's a lot — but he and Ben used to go at it, and I really just couldn't understand what the beef was there. Of course, you already saw it with Liz, and him and Venus used to constantly get at it, and I think that's just because Venus is an opinionated girl. She's not going to let somebody tell her what to do, no matter who you are.

And the problem was that Q kind of wanted to take on this leadership role around camp, and you're playing with a bunch of people who are also leaders in real life, so that's not going to fly out here. And it was just a lot of clashing of personalities and a lot of people who just were tired of trying to pet this ego and make him feel like he was the coach. Like, dude, you're not our coach! Go coach whatever little league team you do at home, that's not going to fly out here.

Is it true Q told you that Hunter was the one that told Maria you were after her?

He did say Hunter went back to Maria and told her that I said her name, which kind of ticked me off and really turned me sour on Hunter. But what a lot of people don't know is that Q also went to Hunter and told him that I was trying to get Hunter out. So he essentially turned me and Hunter on each other, which I think is terrible gameplay, by the way.

You got a number one in me, a number one in Hunter. Both people who are loyal, we both have idols that you know about, and instead of working with us and bringing us together as some strong trio, you turn us on each other, get us both to the point where other people want to get us out of the game only so that you could be on the bottom of somebody else's alliance. Where's the strategy in that? I don't get it.

Sounds like a big mistake.

A big mistake, as he would say.

What was it like when you got to Ponderosa with Hunter, Tevin, and Soda? What was the vibe like?

I literally said before I got off the boat to get on Ponderosa, “I'm not in the mood. I don't want to talk to anybody. I just want to go and be a sour puss in my room.” I got off the boat, Hunter, Soda, and Tevin are there clapping and singing and screaming, and there’s this big glorious welcome to Ponderosa. And then I was like, “Okay, well it seems like I'm going to have to be social now.”

And then I went and I sat down and I ate dinner, and ultimately I'm happy that they gave me that warm reception because it kind of changed my mood almost immediately. And then, of course, me and Hunter almost immediately trauma bonded over the fact that we both went home with idols in our pockets, but it was a very warm reception from them, and it helped soften the blow for sure.

One of the most surprising things for me watching the season was when all of a sudden Kenzie's trying to get you out. She eventually flipped back, but was that surprising to you that she at least for a day or two wanted to get you out?

That was a big shock for me. First of all, I didn't understand her or Q's mentality around that. I guess Kenzie's a little bit more, alright, you're trying to differentiate, but I don't think it's ever smart to turn on your number one with that many people left in the game. Dude, there's like 10 people still here on the beach! Why are you guys acting like nuts? I knew Q turned on me because it was more of his ego just being upset that I didn't want to do what he told me to do. Kenzie, I was flabbergasted. I'm like, girl! I mean, yeah, of course there's only one number one prize, but this soon? Gagged.

All right, we got to get into Applebee's-gate. What was your reaction as you’re standing there waiting to go feast on some Bourbon Street Chicken or whatever, and Liz just loses it?

Child, that was so awkward. I didn't know what to do. And it's so funny because you guys didn't get to see this on camera, but there was a moment where both Kenzie and Maria volunteered to give up their spot at Applebee's and I was just sitting there [thinking] I'm not giving up my spot. And then Q was like “Nobody's given up their spot. I chose who I chose, let's go.” And I was like: This is the most awkward thing because in that moment, yeah, you feel for her, but also girl! Girl, I know we all love Applebee's, but calm down.

So it sounds like they're volunteering to go out for Liz and then does Jeff ask Q if that's okay or did  Q, just jump in and be like, “Nope, these are the people I picked”?

Jeff didn't even have to ask Q. Q was like, “Uh, no. I said what I said. This is who I chose. This is who I'm going to go to Applebee's with. Y'all are not giving up y'all spots.” I mean it was great TV. I'll tell you this: Liz is probably one of the most unintentionally funny people I have ever met in my life. And I know she didn't mean for this to happen, but that girl is about to go down in Survivor history after that meltdown.

What happened in that last immunity challenge. You seemed so solid, and then just lost your grip?

That's literally what happened, and I've literally lost sleep over this because when I tell you I could have gone another 15 minutes. I was so solid. There was really no fatigue in my arms at that point. My grip was good, but I went to readjust because I started feeling weird in my hips. So when I did that little bend down thing, I guess I moved, and because of that slight adjustment, I allowed sweat to get in between my hand and the bar and that messed me up. I lost it almost in an instant and I was so pissed. I'm like, “Dude, this was my challenge to win!” I was focused. I was locked in. I'm singing Beyonce lyrics in my head. I'm like, “Oh yeah, I got this for sure.” That one little readjustment messed me up.

Well, at least you didn't pee on yourself like that cross-country race.

Oh my God. Listen, I was very intentional about relieving myself before every challenge on Survivor because I did not need a repeat of that situation.

What’s something that happened out there that didn’t make it to TV that you wish we had a chance to see?

I kind of wish that you guys saw more of my relationship with Charlie off camera. I know Maria was his number one, but Charlie and I were really cool. We even had this Harry Potter alliance. He was Prongs, I was Padfoot. We’re both big Potter heads and I felt like we had a really good bond out there, but a lot of that just didn't get shown on camera. And I think it would've been even more important if people saw that because then it would've been just an added context to why I didn't play my idol. A lot of conversations were had, and me and Charlie were really cool out there. We had some fun moments.

Things couldn't have gotten worse for you all on Yanu pre-merge. But then you guys find yourself in this power position where you're in the middle and you're kind of in a weird way controlling the game if you can just stay together. And then it all gets blown up with Q coming after you and telling people things. So how much do you replay that in your mind that there was a path where you win this game maybe?

Oh, I play daily on the wake up and right before I go to sleep, because it just will never make sense to me. Q, Kenzie and I were in the perfect position had we actually been a solid three, right? We're in the middle of two tribes that are essentially warring with each other because Nami was focused on Siga and Siga was focused on Nami.

Both of them were focused on getting Yanu on their side. We are a solid voting block of three had we remained unshakeable. And then we have an idol between the three of us because had it gotten down to it, if I needed to progress in the game, I would've used that idol on one of our number one allies. It's been done before and successfully. So to see all of that go to dust just over ego and poor decisions is absolutely insane.

I'm not sure if you've noticed this or not, but a lot of Survivor players are kind of starting to freak out about Survivor 50. If you get that call, are you going to go back to the island?

Absolutely. It's without question. I'm so surprised that Jeff announced it early, but if I get that call, I might be in Fiji before I even hang up the phone.

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