'Survivor 47's Aysha Welch Says Talking With Rome Was 'Like Giving an Interview'

Survivor 47 is here! Every week, Parade.com's Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the castaway most recently voted off of the island.

The first thing Aysha Welch told us in her Survivor journey is that she marches to the beat of her own drum. Indeed, as a reality TV podcaster, she has built an online career making opinions about social strategy games, the rare commentator to make a jump from behind the mic to the beach. While she attempted to form tight bonds early on, there was one person who was not on her cohost shortlist: Rome Cooney . And so, when Lavo when to Tribal Council, the decision seemed to come down to which beat to follow between the red rivals. And unfortunately, much like the days of Emperor Augustus Caesar, Rome conquered Aysha.

Despite her vast knowledge of the show, Day 1 of Survivor 47 was far from ideal for Aysha. After losing the first challenge, she stepped up to go on a cross-tribal journey with TK Foster . There, she was quite literally boxed out of getting supplies, coming back to camp empty-handed. At the same time, a soft foursome was already beginning to form without her. Luckily, she was placed on a tribe with Teeny Chirichillo . Teeny had been a fan of Aysha's work, immediately recognizing her and offering to work together. The same couldn't be said for Rome, as the two had a clear tension that would only develop as the game went on.

While Lavo basked in safety for the first week of the game, it became increasingly apparent that Rome's braggadocious behavior and attitude were beginning to wear on the tribe. The issue was, though, he had found an idol, guaranteeing his safety at the upcoming vote. After also netting a Vote Steal from the journey, Teeny and Kishan Patel felt that Rome was was the more powerful person to move forward with, putting Aysha and Sol Yi in the crosshairs. Initially, Teeny's protection of Aysha was pulling through, as they were able to put the target onto Sol. But when Aysha was told the plan, and pushed against getting rid of her ally, red flags were raised (besides the one on their beach). The argument that she would be more cooperative with the majority than Sol was losing credibility. Clearly feeling something is amiss, Aysha put out a last-minute plea to an anonymous person at Tribal Council. Unfortunately, the Lavo group chat left her on read, as she was voted out, prompting a reaction that was equal parts furious and defeated.

Now out of the game, Aysha talks with Parade.com about the intention behind her last words before the vote, why she chose not to go along with the Sol plan, and the biggest thing she's bringing from her Survivor experience into her podcasting.

Related: Read our Survivor 47 pre-game interview with Aysha Welch

I have to start with a question I asked to you five months ago. What the hell are you doing here?! How did this happen?!
[ Laughs .] I know! I just feel like, honestly, I got so unlucky with this tribe. In what world are you on a tribe with someone who you just, in a simulation of 100 different lives, you wouldn't get along with them? So it's just like, "Okay, now my options are four other people." I felt like I was in a no win situation where it felt like it was out of my hands. I know that it felt very clear cut on the episode, which I'm excited to get into. But I just feel like it wasn't as simple as me not wanting to turn on Sol. Which might seem out of the blue, but I felt like a huge part of the social dynamics on Lavo were the clear cut duos. There were Rome and Genevieve, there was Kishan and Teeny ,and then there was me and Sol. Me and Saul hit it off from Day 1. Were super, super close personally, and then also telling each other everything from a strategic standpoint. And so it I felt like it was just out of nowhere that I'm like, "No, I don't want to write down Sol's name." Not just because he's this big, strong guy who's helping us with every challenge. But also it's just, by voting out Saul, that's revealing my true position in the tribe.

The last thing you say before the vote is, "I don't want to call anybody out. But I hope the person who agreed to vote with me sticks to that. Otherwise, I know I can be at risk of going home, or an ally can be at risk of going home." Who was that comment referring to, and how did you feel the vote was going to go at Tribal Council?
That statement was specifically so that Rome would play the idol on himself. So when had that conversation with Teeny and Kishan at camp, they were telling me, "We think the safest thing to play is the safest thing to do is to vote for Sol, because we don't know who Rome is going to play the idol on." I said, "Okay, what if we just make sure he plays it on himself?" Rome is a selfish player. He's not going to get up there play the idol on Genevieve and go home himself. He wants that moment where he thinks he's going home, he plays the idol, it's a top 10 move in Survivor history. That's what he wants. And so I was like, "What if we just make sure Rome plays the idol on himself?" Kishan and Teeny agreed. They said, "We'll think about it. We'll sit on it."

And right before Tribal, they came up to me and said, "We will vote three one on Genevieve." And I was like, "Are you sure?" They're like, "Yes, we like that, we're cool with that. We're down doing a vote split. "And I said, "Okay, I'm just going to make sure that Rome uses his idol. So if I say anything at Tribal, I'm trying to make sure he's using his idol on himself." And so I even told Genevieve right before Tribal, "Hey, I don't want you out of the loop. But me and Sol got a third person to vote out Rome." Because I was like, "She's just gonna run and tell him." So I was like, "Okay, just in case she didn't, last chance at Tribal Council. 'Third person, whoever is agreeing to vote with us, please vote with me.'" And that was so that Rome got scared enough to play his idol, thinking that Kishan or Teeny was not going to be loyal to him. And so then I was like, "Okay, he played his idol. Whoop dee doo. He thinks it's a big moment. Good for him." But then the missing piece of that was Kishan and Teeny's willingness to vote for Genevieve.

You mentioned that, to you, your vote-out was not as clear-cut as you refusing to vote for Sol. Talk to me more about that. Why do you think you're talking with me today?
So here's what it boils down to. They did not need my vote to vote out Sol. They had four votes. They didn't need me to agree. So the fact that they thought, "Okay, we're bringing you in on this vote to vote Sol," it felt like a loyalty test. And I'm not too prideful to be like, "Okay, I'm not going to agree to your loyalty test." But, knowing the dynamics of the tribe, everyone knew the duos. It was so clear. We knew Kishan and Teeny were in the middle. We knew they could just pick whoever they wanted to pick. And so it was kind of like, "If you're willing to get rid of Sol, then I'm next." Not only are we going to be in a worse position going up up against these other two tribes who are who have strong guys. But you know that we're a duo. So it's not like you're gonna be like, "Okay, well now Sol's gone, we're good with you." No, if you're telling me, "Oh, we're so scared for you. We think that if he plays idol, you're going home," the only way I'm going home is if y'all are voting me! So you're already in a position where you think you want me out, or I'm in consideration if it's not Sol. And so it was already showing me that they were more loyal to Genevieve and Rome.

And I just couldn't wrap my head around why they were siding with Rome. Because, to me, the advantages are not enough. Kishan and Teeny told me he only had one tribal to use [the idol]. And so I'm like, "He uses his idol. All he has is an advantage moving forward. Whether that's a Steal-a-Vote or extra vote, that's all he has. Either way, we have the majority with the four of us." So that's why I couldn't wrap my head around  why they weren't willing to turn on Genevieve when I initially brought it up. But then, when we were about to go to Tribal, and they said we're willing to, I'm like, "Okay, still packed all of my stuff. This is me just putting all my eggs in their basket and hoping they side with me. There's obviously missing information that is not here, so I'm just hoping for the best. But if they do go with my plan, I need my vote." Which is why I didn't play my Shot in the Dark.

💃💃 SIGN UP for our Dancing with the Stars newsletter to get access to exclusive news, interviews, songs, recaps and more 🕺🕺

The premiere was far from a walk in the park with you. You volunteer on Day 1 to go on a journey to get supplies, where you come back winless. And it seems, from our perspective, that this is where, as Kishan puts it, the "core four" begins to form. Why did you choose to step up, and did you feel you had to make up ground when you got to camp?
So when Jeff said, "Hey, one person has to go," we turn around like, "Who wants to go? Oh, I don't want to go. I don't want to go." Sol was willing to do it if it was pure strength, but we didn't know if it would be. Kishan was like, "I could ..." So Jeff's like, "Alright, who's going?" We're like, "We don't have a person." Jeff said, "You have to pick a person. Turn back around and pick a person." So we're like, "Okay, we're just trying to figure out who wants to do it." And I'm like, "Someone has to do it. We can't just sit here and pick draw rocks to go. Then it's just going to be somebody who isn't confident going." Whether it's strength or whether it's a puzzle, I felt confident going into it. Little did I know it was going to be finding a needle in a haystack!

And I was already feeling the defeat of not winning the camp supplies in that challenge. So I was just like, "Look, if I can go and get this win, that will be great." And so that's the whole reason I stepped up. I mean, even applying for Survivor , I believed in myself. So it was just like, "Okay, I'm gonna volunteer. I believe in myself. If there's an advantage there, maybe that I could get something there. But [we need] camp supplies. We can have flint tonight." So it wasn't a lose/lose situation, because I felt confident in my social abilities. Also, right before I left, Teeny turned to me and said, "I can't wait to talk to you when you get to back to camp." I said, "Okay, that's good. Teeny might know who I am. This is a good thing." And then Sol turned to me, grabbed my hand, and said, "Asians for Aysha." So at the very least, Sol and Teeny, I'm looking forward to getting to know them. And then I was just like, "Okay, I have ground to make up with the other three." But it felt, with those first couple of days at camp, with Rome being off doing his idol stuff, I felt like I was making up a lot of ground and getting to know the other members of my tribe.

Let's get into some of those relationships. You and I spoke in the preseason about the possibility of you getting recognized from your podcasting. And that happens immediately with Teeny, who says they want to work with you, though ultimately it doesn't bear out. Talk to me about your dynamic.
So it was so one of the things that I went into pregame thinking, "No matter who's on my tribe, no matter how different we are, I'm going to try to work with them." Little did I know we would be basically painted as the Rome and the Genevieve on my tribe, where I just couldn't scratch the surface and trying to get to know them. It just felt like me and Genevieve stayed so surface level for some reason. And then with Rome, there was just an inability of desire on his part and wanting to get to know me. He was always very annoying to talk to, because it was felt like I was giving an interview. And you can only talk to someone so much when all they want to do is brag about themselves, and then you're just like, "Okay, you don't care to get to know me at all. It's very apparent. It's very evident. But I see you talking to other people, so I know it's possible. So it's a me thing." And clearly from the confessionals, it is a me thing, that he had something against me. I don't know what it was. Y'all can figure that out.

And so when I'm thinking about Teeny, I felt like, "Okay, someone knows me." I felt like I was going to be locked in and having to work with that person. It worked out in the first few days, because Teeny is so likable. I was like, "This is somebody I would have worked with anyway!" Whether Teeny knew or didn't know, I think me and Teeny would have hit it off. We loved talking about Chipotle out there. Obviously loved talking about RHAP. But it was like, "Okay, this is somebody I already would have worked with." And so then I was just trying to focus on getting our strategic relationship to a point where Teeny really trusted me beyond just knowing or thinking that I'm a threat because of what they knew about me.

But then, once things started to transpire and I recognized there was a middle duo, I'm just like, "Well, isn't the move to take out the middle duo?" But then, anytime I talked to Genevieve and Rome about this situation, it was like, "Oh, I love Kishan, I love Teeny. We would never want to get rid of them." Okay, so we are going against each other? There's no wiggle room here. I can't say, "Well, what about Kishan and Teeny?" There was just never that door open. So it was like, "Okay, I have to go all in. I have to put all of my eggs in this basket. And all I can do is reassure these two that I'm with this four like that. It doesn't matter what happens, this is the four that I'm rocking with, until our tribe is at four."

And so the problem was me and Kishan had a conversation the day of Tribal where Kishan was like, "I'm going to be honest with you. I think if we got to four, I would be the first one to go. I think you would prioritize Sol and you would prioritize Teeny." I'm like, "We're not there yet! Why are y'all worried about that?! We could literally not lose again. What are you talking about? Why are we focused on that? Let's get through this vote! Why are you worried about it when it gets to four? Let's just not lose again." I know you can't plan for that, but me and Sol were always so focused on trying to win. Me and Sol are just very competitive people. So we were just like, "Okay, we get through this. Let's just focus on winning. We try our hardest to win, and we can win. We have that winner mindset. We don't have to think about the next Tribal." I know that may be realistic, but it was just like, "No, we gotta have confidence in ourselves." And so that's what really threw me off with Kishan. I was hurt, but I wasn't surprised that Kishan wrote my name down, because we had had that conversation.

I have to go back to Rome. I know you, Aysha. You're usually a very calm and measured person. But the reactions you had to him on the island were palpable. Talk to me about that.
Mike, do you understand how annoyed I have to be to not only express it, but  vocalize how annoyed I am? I swear, after my confessionals of venting about Rome, I just felt so much better. I just wasn't saying to everybody else. But, when Rome was gone on his journey, do you know how much we got done at camp? We were moving, we were cooking, we were being productive. We built a swing. We were having a great time, laughs, giggles. Vibes were great when this man was not at camp. It's just like, I understand he's excited. We're playing Survivor ; we're excited. But he was just overconfident, so overbearing. Even in that scene where he asked us, "Hey, can you work on the fire, because I'm catching these little tadpoles?" We're like, "Okay, yeah, sure." And then it's just like, the minute we don't jump out of the water and sprint to go get firewood...

I mean, he complained about everything. So just because we don't jump, when you say jump, now you're mad. And then he vented to me and Teeny one morning about no one caring about going to get firewood. And I think it had even rained the night before. We're like, "Dude, what is what's that gonna do?" It was so annoying because he was always focused on the fire at the wrong parts of the day. if we weren't running camp like he wanted to run camp, then he wasn't having it. And so that's why it was so frustrating, because he he wanted to be the provider, but he wasn't a provider. So it just was so annoying in every possible way. And so Sol was my safety blanket out there. We got to know each other so well. I went to UT, he went to OU. So we had that rivalry going. But it was just like, "We're going to show that a Longhorn and a Sooner can get along." And so me and Sol just had the same frustrations in the moment with Rome. Oh my God. I don't want to be talking about him right now, Mike.

Well, let's finish on a brighter subject. You mentioned this briefly in your Final Words, but obviously experiencing Survivor is very different than watching and commentating on it. What is the biggest thing you're going to bring behind the mic moving forward when looking at the show?
I think the biggest thing is like having grace for the players. Because it's so easy to criticize. One common thing I am seeing after last night's vote was like, "Why not do 2-2-2. It would have been so clear!" Listen, if you're planning against an extra vote–because, in my knowledge, not knowing if he had an extra vote or Steal-a-Vote–that's seven votes. Then 2-2-2, I'm going home anyway. That's clear as day. From the edit, I feel like it makes it seem as if they were gung-ho Sol until I was not willing to get rid of Sol. I'm sorry, if I came to you and said, "Hey Teeny, let's vote out Kishan," or, "Kishan, let's vote out Teeny," would you have done that? No. So why am I being punished for not wanting out Sol? You didn't need my vote! You could have voted out Sol if you wanted to vote out Sol.

And so I just feel like, with now having played, I feel like it puts me in a position to understand how much you don't see and also how little cognitive skills you have at that point. People say Day 7, Day 8 are the worst days where the hunger is setting in  at its worst, then maybe you adjust after that. But it was hard to think through things logically. And so it was kind of like, "Okay, right now, what I can figure out is a 3-1 against Genevieve. That's, that's as far as I can get. That's what my brain has going based on this coconut. At this point, all we've eaten is coconut and a sliver of fish. Can I just say I don't even like seafood! I don't even eat fish. So the fact that I was the one personally pointed out from Rome about not wanting this fish that he was "providing" for the tribe. I don't even like fish! I was settling for just a different taste. I could have picked up sand and did that. So, whatever.

.Next, check out our interview with Terran "TK" Foster, who was voted off in Survivor 47 Episode 2 .