I found out Tijuana was on the Early Show this morning right before she was on--I'm glad I caught her because her interview was interesting:
Early Show: You were given the opportunity, you and Sandra go off and listen to this conversation and you find out that the end is near for you, you have a chance to turn the tables--why weren't you able to do it?
T: You know, some things that happened that you wouldn't actually see that didn't come out on camera, but she did approach me and say, "Hey, listen to this." And I listened and foudn out that myself and Darrah would eventually be the next to go and I wasn't wanting to be the next to go and I wasn't wanting to have that. So instead we decided that as girls we would get together and take Burton down. But Jon behind my back as you saw on camera did some things and actually lied to Christa, said that I hated her, that I wanted her gone, and as a result I was the next person out.
ES: Were you shocked when the vote came down?
T: I was. I really thought Burton was going to go. I was all excited and I played it off as if I didn't think that one way or the other I could or could not, but in the end once I saw the first parchment paper I knew I was out because there should be no reason why my name was on the paper.
ES: I know it's different there from watching at home, but from maybe the first or second episode, we've all been sitting there saying Jon, he seems like such an easy person to dislike, to put it mildly. Why haven't you all turned on him and pushed that guy out of the picture?
T: I still don't know. I think at the time he just sounds so convincing, and especially for say Christa and Sandra, they really thought that what he was saying was gift as gold and as a result, we paid the price.
This is where I think she says something very interesting--"we" paid the price. Is she revealing that Sandra was betrayed by Jon?
ES: Every week as his character unfolds, he becomes more and more despicable, and if he ends up as one of the final two he'll end up one of the greatest players ever to play. Also the most reviled of course. But at the same time, in case people didn't see the show last week, we want to show folks at home just what happened during one of the challenges. This is one of the greatest acts of deception ever to happen.
(shows clip of reward challenge)
ES: Your loved ones were brought on as part of the challenge and he goes to his friend and says, "How's Grandma?" and the guy says, "She died, dude." And you all bought it.
T: Yeah, yeah. And I'm pissed off about that, too. Just because I supported him, I wanted him to--man, he's lost his grandmother, I know how that is to lose a family member myself, let's support him, let's all stick together, forget the game, let's morally and ethically as humans stick by him. He played us.
ES: Boy did he play you big time. And you didn't really know it then about any of this until you saw the show last week?
T: I kind of, when I heard different interviews that maybe something was going on about who would lie and that Jon would be the big liar--but at the same time I didn't know what it was. So I was blown away.
They go to callers:
Caller: I was just blown away. You know when he said that I was just like, I bet his grandmother is still alive and I said, he is such a snake in the grass. I was just shocked. And then when you got voted off I was like, oh no. Why didn't you guys get rid of Jon a long time ago?
T: I wish we had.
C: Is his character, when he's off camera with you guys, is he sincere and a real nice guy or is he kind of off or another world or what?
T: Jon's pretty obnoxious as he seems on television. He's just as obnoxious when we're sitting with him at the tribal and sitting everywhere with Jon.
C: I'm wondering why didn't you, Christa, Darrah and Sandra say to Burton, Jon and Lil, one of you is going home tonight and we haven't decided which one yet? And just switch the alliance to all girls since you knew, you heard what they were saying in the bushes.
T: We did, that was our goal and Christa and Sandra, they went with Jon. As you saw on television, Jon took them over to another side of the island and decided, let me change the story around. He didn't want Burton gone, so he did some lies and Christa and Sandra believed him.
ES: Sandra has turned out to be one of the best players in this game. You didn't have that appreciation for her when you were playing out there with her.
T: Not at all. Just because Sandra did a lot of kind of just doing--she didn't do too much work on the island and it was kind of frustrating but at the same time now looking at the game and looking at it, I have a great respect for her. She's playing the game big time.
ES: And the big twist in the whole game was bringing back these people from the kicked out trie, the outcast tribe. What's your response to Burton and Lil.
T: I respect CBS and the fact of them bring back new change of the game, but as far as the concept, I hated it. Because they have it up on us. They get to figure things out, what did I do wrong, what could I do differently. They've got one up. I wish that I could do things differently.
Tijuana looked great--really beautiful, beautiful smile, very sweet.