I was absolutely blindsided seeing Aysha Welch in front of me during my Survivor 47 preseason interviews. Full disclosure, she and I have worked together for years talking reality TV, including Survivor , on "Rob Has a Podcast." And the senior consultant has made the leap from behind the mic to show she can walk the walk after plenty of talking the talk. But the 32-year-old isn't just relying on her knowledge of the game to succeed, as she prides herself on relationship building through curiosity. And the first bond she plans to build? Finding an on-island brother among the men that are stonewalling her in the preseason.
Read on for my interview with Aysha, and check in with Parade.com daily for interviews with this season's contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 47 premieres on September 18 with a two-hour premiere on CBS.
Related: Meet the Full Cast of Survivor 47
Interview with Aysha from Survivor 47
The first question I have for you is, what the hell?! What are you doing there?!
[ Laughs .] Yeah, one thing led to another. I decided to apply, and here I am! [ Laughs .]
"One thing led to another" is putting it mildly! Well, we're gonna get into all that. First, give me your name, age, and occupation.
Okay, so I'm Aysha Welch. And that's Aysha like the continent. Because constantly when people see the spelling of my name, I get every variation but Aysha. [ Laughs .]
Be prepared. I assume that's going to continue in this game.
[ Laughs .] I know. I am 32 years old. I live in Houston, Texas, and I am a senior consultant at an HR IT company.
Do you work more on the HR or IT side of things?
More on the IT side. I constantly get people [who] are like, "Oh, so you hire and fire people?" No, no, no, no. When people need to hire and fire people, but they can't figure out how to do it in the system, that's when they come to us and are like, "Hey, I tried to hire somebody, but it's not working properly." So I'm like, "Oh, let me go look at the configuration, and let me figure it out." So it's a lot of problem-solving. So I'm constantly problem-solving every single day. Which is why I've been in this career for 11 years, which blows my mind. But, yeah, I love it, because it pays the bills. [ Laughs .]
Well, let's talk about a career change that could bring a very large payday at the end of the day. Obviously, people who follow your podcasting know you're a fan of Survivor . But talk with me about your history with the show and what led you to go from a fan and content producer to actually becoming a player.
Mike, I'm still trying to get over looking at you right now. [ Laughs .] It's still blowing my mind. So I've been watching Survivor since I was 12 years old, and it was something my mom watched since day one. And then at 12, I was watching, and she put me on. And so then me, my brother, her, and my dad, we would always watch. And it just became one of those things with a family event. First [on] Thursdays, and then it turned into Wednesdays, you were watching Survivor every week. Couldn't wait. And so for me, growing up, it was like, " Survivor looks so hard. Who wants to go outside and live like that?" And I've never been camping. [ Laughs .] I've never done anything that has made me live outside. I mean, I didn't even grow up going to summer camps or anything like that. I was inside, okay?[ Laughs .] And so for me, Survivor always seems so, so, so, so hard.
But now that I'm 32 years old, I'm at this point in my life where I have everything in a really good place. I have two dogs that I love and adore. I have a beautiful home that I bought for us. I'm in a great place in my career. There was so long I was like, "Okay, what's the next level? What's the next level?" And I'm finally at a point where I'm coasting. I'm in a really great place. And then I get to have my creative outlet with podcasting; that's really fun. And I'm in a place where I feel like I really know myself more than I ever have. And I said, "You know what? Let me apply and see what happens. What's the worst that can happen? I don't hear back?"
But then I kept hearing back, and I kept hearing back, and I kept hearing back. [ Laughs .] And I was like, "What? How is this happening? I'm so confused how this is happening." And so I was just on cloud nine throughout the entire casting process. And now I'm actually in Fiji, and it still hasn't hit. I'm still on cloud nine. I wake up every morning pinching myself because I'm in Fiji. I'm like, "When is it going to hit me?" Probably when my toes are in the sand and I'm seeing Jeff. Then I'll just be like, "I'm playing the game of Survivor . But right now, it still feels like I'm dreaming.
Give me one Survivor winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most.
That is such an easy question! So one winner is Natalie Anderson. I loved her game. I love how she was so just confident in herself, so physically strong. She is who you would want to be as a woman–I mean, probably some men, too, would want to be her [ Laughs .]--to just go out there and kill it, right? And she's just so unapologetically herself and confident. I've been in the gym consistently for six months, preparing for, if I need to be the strong woman of my tribe, I can do it. So I did a lot of weight lifting, a lot of strength conditioning leading into this. So I feel like I can relate to Natalie in that way.
And then her even having that tight bond with Jeremy as a brother. I'm looking for a brother out here. Me and my little brother, we are so close. He is six years younger than me, but he is one of my best friends. People look at us, and they're like, "Wait, who's older?" I'm like, "Well, I don't know if that's a compliment or what." [ Laughs .] Because he's six years younger. But I'm looking for somebody who can fill in the role as my brother, somebody that I can really rely on. And so when I think of that, I think of Natalie.
But then a non-winner I relate to is definitely Cirie. Love Cirie. And I feel like my relationships in the game are going to be what drives me to the end. I love people. I love learning about people. I have friends of all different types. I'm so interested in how people became who they are. Why do they do what they do? Why do they behave the way that they behave? What has happened in their life to get them to where they are today? People fascinate me. I took a flight some months ago where the girl next to me, I was like, "We look the same age." I talked to her for the entire three hour flight. [ Laughs .] I was just so curious about her life. And we ended up following each other on Instagram. I literally have at least six or seven contacts in my phone that are like, "So and So, met on flight." [ Laughs .] Because if I'm on a flight and you don't have headphones in your ear, I'm in the clear. We need to have a conversation. [ Laughs .] I'm just so intrigued.
So I'm here seeing everybody, and I'm so interested in their stories. Obviously, we can't talk right now. But I'm like, "I know I'm here for a reason. You're all here for a reason. What is it that Survivor saw in you [and] said, 'You should play this game'?" That's what I want to know about everyone. And of course, some people we might not find out because it's a secret they want to carry forward. But I want to get to know where are you from? This one guy, he wore a San Antonio Spurs hat one day. Today, he's wearing an Oklahoma sweatshirt. So I'm like, "Where are you from? Are you from Texas? Are you from Oklahoma?" I don't understand. Watch he be from New York or something. [ Laughs .]
And so I'm so curious about learning about people. And also I want it to be genuine. That's something that Cirie was able to do masterfully, was connect with people on a genuine level. I want them to feel like it's not my strategy. Because I am smart. What I do for a living, it requires a certain level of intelligence. And I believe that I would be a physical threat because I've played basketball my entire life. I can lift pretty heavy, and so I have endurance. And so I feel like that part of myself I want to be able to utilize, especially to help my tribe. But I don't want them to think that my social game is my strategy. Because then I feel like it will help people genuinely like me, maybe even love me. I want people to fall in love in the shortest amount of time ever. [ Laughs .]
I mean, you podcast about Married at First Sight . You're all about finding love right there in the moment!
[ Laughs .] Yeah. Fall in love with me in 10 days, and then you don't want to vote me out!
Related: Everything to Know About Survivor 47
There you go! Now let's get to the 500-pound microphone in the room. You are someone who knows about these types of shows deeply and podcasts many hours about them. On the one hand, your knowledge could give you an advantage over others. On the other hand, the trail of Survivor history is laid with plenty of superfans who came in thinking they knew everything, and they pretty much didn't. How much are you balancing your expectations of your gameplay versus the reality of what might happen?
That's why I'm relying so heavily on my personal relationships. I could know so much about this show. I know every season in order; I know every winner. Last season, they did [putting the seasons in order]; maybe they're gonna do winners this season. [ Laughs .] I'm banking on me going on that journey. But I feel like you can know so much about this game and still fall flat on your face. We've seen it time and time again. So that's why, even coming into this, it wasn't even something that I leaned into heavily. I didn't lean into the, like, "They know I'm a superfan." That wasn't my why.
My why is because of who I am as a person and the personal relationships that I can form, the strength that I can bring, the awareness of myself to be able to navigate myself with different kinds of people. Because I've worked with so many different kinds of people of all political affiliations, of all religions, of all everything. And so I feel like, because I'm leaning into who I am as a person, that's going to help me. Whereas, my knowledge of the game is secondary and can hopefully come into play. Obviously I don't want to repeat mistakes like Season 46 in not playing idols when you need to be playing idols. [ Laughs .] But being able to just have the awareness, like, "Wait, people are moving differently. Okay, maybe, if I do have an idol, I should play it." Never feel too safe. And so I think maybe my knowledge of history is not to repeat past mistakes. But I think my strength in the game will be who I am as a person and what I'm able to bring to relationships.
Well, you talk about wanting to find that little brother in the game, as well as a guy you saw of very confusing geography. As you've been hanging out in this silent sphere, talk to me about who you're picking up good or not-so-good vibes from.
I do want to find a brother, and that's because the men are so hard to read this season! I don't know what it is. But when we are all together, they're just stone-faced. I'm like, "Give me a smile! Show me you're happy to be here." The women are smiling, just grins. I swear we're hurting our cheeks smiling at each other. [ Laughs .] And so I'm like, "Okay, this is positive vibes." Within the guys, I'm just like, "I know it's gonna be a challenge." So that's what makes me want to engage in playing with them even more. I'm like, "I see you don't want it, so that's why I'm gonna want it for you." [ Laughs .] I want you to be like, "Wow, this girl, I did not think we were going to have a connection." I don't know; that has been my strength in life. No matter the differences, we're going to find a connection in some way, some type, some shape or form.
And the other thing that I was concerned about, obviously [with] my relation to RHAP, who would recognize me? So obviously, I know that some people have recognized me. One person in particular I do know has recognized me, just the look on his face. There's another person, KP. I feel like he recognizes me because, when we first saw each other, he looked at me in a way that felt like, "Do I know you?" But I know I don't know him from somewhere.
And so, yeah, that's one thing that's going to be interesting to see if that plays a part. Our love for RHAP, are we going to have a connection? Are you going to think, just because I do the draft, that I'm a threat? [ Laughs .] Which shouldn't be the case. I want to be able to form connections so they know, look, it's a hobby. [ Laughs .] That's not anything that's threatening, please! This is all of our first time playing Survivor . We have no idea what we're about to face. We have no idea what Jeff and Survivor are going to throw at us. We have to navigate that. We have to be ready for the unknown, be adaptable, and we're all doing that. No one is on any kind of different playing field just because they talk too much about something.
What's your hottest Survivor take?
Okay, so I feel like people are hard on the wacky phrases from Season 41 to 42. Bring them back! I feel like there's so much you could do with it. Mat chats are a thing, right? So do something that maybe Jeff isn't aware of. Make Jeff laugh. Make Jeff belly laugh, and if you have the ability to do that, next time you go cast a vote, you have an extra vote, or you have an idol or something. Or call someone out on a different tribe. Yeah, that's risky. But it's going to be a big payoff if you can get an idol.
So basically you want a Survivor version of America's Player or Team America from Big Brother in doing secret tasks.
[ Laughs .] Right! I need people to be able to say a thing at the mat chats, and then get a reward from it. That's why I really like the wacky phrases. Obviously, what they had with the bunny rabbit, that's too obvious. Do something [like] "several"; say something that people will remember. Imagine if Jelinsky was able to get something from that. That had a lasting impact. We're on Survivor Forty-Several! I think there's so much you could do with it, and they should just revisit that.
Finally, what celebrity or fictional character would you bring out for a Loved Ones visit?
I've thought a lot about this. And it definitely has to do with what I feel like I'm going to need. I'm a person that believes a day without laughter is a day wasted. I've hung on to that quote from wherever I saw it for a year. [ Laughs .] I love laughing. When I can find something that makes someone else laugh, oh, I'm sticking to it. That's my thing, right? And so I have two people that just always make me laugh: Issa Rae, the creator of Insecure , and Quinta Brunson, the creator of Abbott Elementary . I feel like they have just such a gift. I feel like, if they were to come out, they would just make me laugh, and it would just be all the healing I need for this hard 26-day game.
Next, check out our interview with Survivor 47 contestant Terran "TK" Foster .
Local News
Comments / 0