Early Show Transcript
May 30, 2005
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The Early Show Prologue

--Warning - Includes Some Explicit Content (Bad Julie!)--

*Fade in to a scene of Julie Chen in the Early Show studio, wearing a tight but smart navy blue pantsuit with 5" high heels, standing slightly aslant, holding some papers and looking directly into the camera, speaking in a deep and almost monotone voice, nearing the end of a segment*

"And it will only be a matter of time before it is clear what is true and what is not. Renee, back to you."

The show itself cuts away from Julie, but our scene stays focused on her. She smiles somewhat robotically for another second or two to be certain the camera is off of her, then breathes in as she walks off to the side of the set to a chair and sits down. A make-up artist immediately sets about insuring Julie's hair and make-up are still in perfect order, and a young man walks over to Julie, looking somewhat timid and small. Julie notices him.

"What is it, Tim?"

"Well, I, uh, I just wanted to make sure you're prepared for the Isabella interview later on. She's, uh, you know, you, uh, you set up the interview for today."

"Of course I did, fool. Don't you think I know my schedule for today?"

"Well, you had asked me, um, to remind -"

"I know I did," Julie cut in with a sharp tone, "Go fetch me some water - NOW!" Tim almost jumped back in his fear and scuttled off to obey. Julie continued talking, basically to herself, but directed towards the silent make-up woman.

"It's so hard to find good help these days, but he's right, I've got that damn Isabella interview today to deal with. Why did she have to come back at all? I'm sick of dealing with her ego, and I've never even met her yet. All these damn prissy reality show people," Julie sighed, "They can be such a pain in the ass. I had the interview all set up nine months ago, but could she deem us worthy enough to come and do it then? Hell no, that bitch. She's just back to get another last-minute dose of attention, that p*#sy slut."

Tim returned with the a small bottle of Evian, and Julie snatched it from him and drank some as she continued, "And where is she? Her call is at 7:00 and it's 6:55 now - Is she here?" Julie glared at Tim.

"Um, uh, um, no, I don't think so."

"That f*#$in whore-ass bitch! Doesn't she understand what a call time is? Her call time is 7:00! Early show interviews just don't fall off of trees, you know! There's work, preparation involved! I can't believe it's 6:55 and she's not here yet! What nerve, what laziness! Such a damn slacker."

"But, Miss Chen, she uh, she still has five more minutes before she's late." Tim gulped. The make-up artist just kept working.

"I told you to call me Master Chen!"

"I'm sorry, Master Chen."

"That's better, infidel. Now you say she has five more minutes, but is that any way to act in a professional setting? Most people come as soon as they get the news, but oh no, Isabella can't. She has to wait til the last minute."

"But, uh, Master Chen, she um, hasn't done anything wrong really, I mean, uh, call, c-c-c-call times are when you're supposed to be here, they don't mean you have to, uh, have to be here before them, as long as she's here by it. Maybe she, um, has a reason for not being here yet."

Julie gave him a look of death. "SILENCE! Don't you understand how these things work?! Fool! Idiot! Crack-whore! What she doesn't understand is how much easier it is on the rest of us if she got here before the call time, that's what it's all about!"

Tim cowered but still butted in for a moment, "B-b-but, I don't understand, her call time is 7:00 and as long as she's here before - OWWW!" Julie had taken off her left high heel and flung it at Tim, and it had hit him in the forehead and made a small cut that was now trickling blood. "Next time it'll be your eye, you little twat!" The make-up artist just kept working.

Seeing blood and being satisfied, Julie calmed down a little. "Anyway, she's lucky we gave her this interview at all. I mean, we are planning on being completely finished with everything Okinawa by March 1st. Our year-long 'Behind the Scenes of Okinawa' series just finished and we'd already advertised that that's it - nothing else after. She's lucky she came back in time."

"Well, uh, from what I can, uh, gather, I don't think she was really thinking about all that in her decision to come back right now. I mean, it seems like she, um, wasn't expecting to come back to do this and be presented with another deadline." Tim must have been a glutton for punishment, and he covered his face in case another shoe came his way, but none did - yet.

Julie stroked her chin in evil contemplation, but not too hard, because she didn't want to mess her make-up. "Yes, yes, but no matter, because we are generous here at the Early Show. I, in all my glory, have given this whore-ass skank c*nt-lipped ghetto-slut mother-f#*@in crack-whore bitch an extension past March 1st to do this because of the rati..." Julie almost said something, then caught and corrected herself, "because of the things you say." Tim slowly took his hands away and sighed in relief that he wasn't hurt again, and actually gave a little smile at being agreed with. The make-up artist just kept working.

Another person with a clipboard and a headset came over to Julie. "Miss Chen, it's 6:59 and you're on in a minute....oh, and so you know, Isabella just arrived."

"Thank you, Roger," Julie smiled and he walked away. Julie got up, looked around and saw the make-up artist's coffee sitting on the table. She picked it up, took off the lid and threw it at Tim, scalding his face. "And that's for talking back to me!" Tim shreiked and ran out as Julie brushed off the make-up artist and walked to her spot in the studio.

"And we're on in 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 -"

Julie smiled, "Hello, and welcome back to the Early Show. Just a reminder that later in the day I will be sitting down to chat with the lovely Isabella, who is here to do a final interview on Okinawa, but first...."

*The scene fades to black*

The Early Show

Fade in to the Early Show set. Julie is sitting on the right facing mostly inwards, and Isabella is sitting on the left, also facing mostly inwards. Julie is wearing the same outfit as before, her legs are crossed and she's smiling. Isabella is wearing one of her favorite outfits - a somewhat tight pair of tan capri pants and a collared light pink button-up shirt. The shirt is also tight-fitting, but the sleeves are cut halfway up the forearm and the cuffs aren't buttoned, so the bottom of the sleeves look slightly larger and part of her forearm is visible. The front of the shirt is also unbuttoned four buttons down, not low enough to show cleavage but low enough to reveal an upside-down triangle of skin on the upper part of her chest. The only jewelry she's wearing is a delicate gold chain with a locket, which is resting on the naked part of her chest. To finish off the outfit, she's wearing a simple pair of open-toed ankle-strap heels, with a thin ankle-strap and a thin strap across her toes as the only covering. Her nails are short and she has a simple french manicure on her hands and feet, her make-up is light and natural, and her hair is styled but natural, parted in the middle and coming down in soft waves. Her legs are also crossed and her forearms are resting on the arms of the chair.

The set is the usual cheesy Early Show type of set for Survivor interviews - shrubbery, rocks, etc, a lit torch and the Survivor logo on the set behind Julie and Isabella. As the generic Survivor music plays, the camera pans closer into Julie and Isabella. As the music fades out, Julie looks at the camera and begins to speak.


Julie: Hello, and welcome back to the Early Show. Isabella is joining us here in the studio to talk about her time in Okinawa.

Julie turns to look at Isabella.

So nice to have you. Isabella, by most people's calculations this interview is almost a year overdue. Why?

Isabella: I almost never did one. The host broke a very important promise to me, which caused me to not only stop caring about this project but also to leave the community for a long time. I didn't feel I had a responsibility to him to do an interview after that, and I didn't want to help him or his project anymore. However, I always hated that I left the fans hanging. Whether one million or one, they'd invested a lot of time in us, and I felt I left them hanging. I still would rather not help the host, and I don't like the fact this helps him complete his story, but for me my responsibility to my fans has ultimately proven stronger.

Julie: What was the promise the host had broken?

Isabella: I was planning to run a Survivor game partly made up of cast members from Tonga and Okinawa. I would have never even started planning it unless he agreed to play, and I told him so when mentioning the idea to him. I told him point blank, as he'd told me before Okinawa, that I wouldn't run the game without him in the cast, and if he wanted to play, I'd need a promise from him so I'd feel secure in continuing the planning. He thought about it and promised me he'd definitely play.

Julie: And he broke it?

Isabella: Yes. The timeline for the game was going to be very tight due to other people's availability, and it had to start at a very specific time, which would be soon after Okinawa was supposed to finish. He was well aware of this, but he slowed down anyway. All of a sudden, the end of Okinawa would overlap the beginning of my game. This in itself created a lot of problems, but since there was nothing I could do about it besides urging him to hurry up, I grinned and beared it, looking for creative ways to solve the problems. But the day the silence period was going to start, he broke his promise to me and dropped out of the game at the last minute, saying he couldn't let it interfere with his ability to speak freely with a few of the Okinawans as he finished his late project. He'd rather choose speaking freely to them regarding his overdue project over keeping his promise to me. That hurt me incredibly and was devastating.

I also thought he was being immature, childish and ridiculous. I completely understood how important Okinawa was to him and how determined he was to finish it to the best of his ability, but he was the one who'd made the promise to me, he was the one who was late finishing his project, the reason for breaking the promise was lame because he still could've had a quality final product in Okinawa and gotten everything done he needed to get done, and he was taking the easy way out instead of sucking it up and dealing with it since he'd put himself in that situation.

Julie: What did you do after that?

Isabella: First, I dropped the game, and that was a mistake. I felt that if he'd dropped out after the silence period, thus the game, had begun, I would've had no choice but to finish it and make the best of it. However, since he'd dropped out before then, even if it was only hours before then, I felt my responsibilities were lessened and we could still leave or cancel the game and not be at fault.

I sent an e-mail telling the players to wait for more news. It took a few days to make the final decision to leave the game and community, and I left the option in Matt and Ryan's hands (my partners in running the game) of whether they wanted to continue without me. They both ultimately chose not to. I left without ever sending the players more news, which was a mistake.

Now I see my mistakes and I've learned from them. I shouldn't have let my trust in one person be the basis for the game, I should have bit the bullet and ran the game anyway for the sake of everyone else who'd put their trust in me, and at the least I should've sent them final e-mails explaining everything. Since I've returned, I've tried to right as much as I can the wrongs. I e-mailed all the players with an explanation and apology.

Julie: Do you think you'd ever host another game now?

Isabella: Maybe.

Isabella smiles.

I want to. It's an incredibly hard labor of love, but it's incredibly rewarding and I want to take on the challenge and do it successfully. If I decide to do it, I will stick with it from the day I start planning it til the final episode is posted, no matter what. I'm considering the possibilities right now, and if I can plan out the time needed to devote to it. It would be a massive project. As well, I'd never run it alone, so I'd need at least one hard-working, trustworthy and committed partner, and that's a consideration. I will say this though - If I ever do decide to do it, I'm confident it will be an incredible experience for everyone involved and the best Survivor game and story on the internet - bar none.

Julie: And what about the host of Okinawa?

Isabella: I broke off our friendship for good. He'd abused my trust beyond repair. In Survivor I might lie and backstab, but in real life I put high stock in trust and integrity, and I hope all my friends feel they can put a great deal of trust in me. Before that, I thought outside of Survivor he was an honest and trustworthy person, and will say that I still think he is for the most part, but what he did was such a colossal betrayal that I'll never view him in the same light again. I've said before that the true test of a man is not how he acts normally, but how he acts in extraordinary circumstances. If that were a test, he failed miserably.

Despite it all, I've forgiven him in my heart. This will probably be the first he's heard of it. Grudges are like cancer - they just eat away at all that's good inside of you. I try not to keep them if I can help it. What he did was immense, but I choose to believe in karma and feel that like a boomerang the actions we take will come back to us in one way or another.

That doesn't mean I want to be friends with him again. There's a difference between forgiving someone for robbing you and deciding to let them into your house again. I'm protecting myself. First of all, I don't see how he's changed any. Second of all, even if he had, he'd have to do something spectacular enough to make up for his mistake - and I'm not talking about presents or ass-kissing. I'm talking about an action of such magnitude that it makes up for the bad he's done. Seeing as I don't even see one happening, we'll probably never be friends again.

Julie: Alright, we have a lot of callers waiting to ask you questions. The first caller we have on the line is raylim; what questions do you have for Isabella?

raylim: Isabella, great game.

Isabella smiles.

Isabella: Hi raylim, and thanks. I appreciate it.

raylim: I've 2 questions: 1. Had you not revealed your true identity, do you think the jurors would have voted differently? Would you have lobbied harder to get the votes you needed to win?

Isabella: If I hadn't revealed my true identity, then yes, I think the jurors might've voted differently, but I've never considered it. First, even if I hadn't revealed myself, there were jurors who already knew I was Isabella, which was unfair but reality. Second, I never would've not revealed who I was before the game was over. It was my plan all along and I was determined to. And no, I wouldn't have lobbied harder to get the votes I needed because I gave it my all as it is, and I tried to lobby as hard as I knew how. That wouldn't change a bit.

raylim: 2. Was it frutstrating to lose a second time by the same margin? It always seem that the money and title were within your reach only to be forcefully jerked away from you when it came down to the wire.

Isabella laughs.

Isabella: I like your imaging. You're right, but if it was forcefully jerked away from me at the last minute, then c'est la vie. What caused that result, it's done, and I'll pick myself up and become stronger for it. As for being frustrating, it was frustrating to lose a second time in the Final 2 when I thought I should've won, but I didn't really mind the margin. If anything, I'm happier losing by a larger margin because anyone who believes I should've won can see the disparity of it clearer.

Julie: Next up is a caller by the name of brekkfust; what's your questions for Isabella?

brekkfust: As a whole, was getting to the final 2 in Tonga harder or in Okinawa?

Isabella: Hi brekkfust - Thanks for waiting; I hope it was worth it.

Isabella smiles.

One wasn't harder than the other. They were both very difficult and I'm proud of what I accomplished in both and all the work I put in both. Okinawa had more challenges for me throughout; I mean, it was designed from beginning to end to be as tough as possible on me, but that doesn't mean it was harder. Tonga had its own obstacles and in the end seemed just as exhausting and challenging. To choose one would lessen my work in the other, so as a whole, I'll say they were equally difficult. But if you asked me which one I enjoyed playing more, I'd have a definite answer...

Isabella, finished, gives a mischievous grin.

brekkfust: Who do you still remain in contact with/Who are you still good friends with today?

Isabella: Well, I've been away from the internet for a long time, and I didn't speak to anyone during that period. Even now I've barely been around to foster and resume old friendships. I can say that after Okinawa was over, I kept in the most contact with Matt, Amy, Michelle, Beth and somewhat with Joni, and I'd consider them all friends.

Julie: Next up is Texas Kelly. Texas Kelly, what would you like to ask Isabella?

Texas Kelly: Hi Isabella. Was pulling for you all the way.

Isabella smiles appreciatively.

Isabella: Hi Texas Kelly, and thanks so much for the support.

Texas Kelly: Throughout the game, you made a point of always being the last person to vote - the last person to have a say. But at the final TC, you abandoned that when you let Mike go first with his opening statement (and with it, let him have the final say as well) and (in my opinion at least) this change hurt you in a big way when you were unable to rebut Mike "real" speech and lost at least one vote (Hogan) directly because of it. So my question is a two-parter: 1) How do you think Mike would have reacted if you had gone first and dropped the big bombshell before he'd had a chance to say anything?

Isabella: Wow, excellent question, and very perceptive. First of all, I agree with your statement except for one particular point - My going first in closing arguments definitely hurt me, but I don't think I lost any one vote directly because of Mike speaking last. Also, no matter the order we went in, the Ultimate Survivor should be able to win going in either position, so if I couldn't win going first in closing rather than second, then I didn't deserve to win anyway.

That being said, I didn't know I was going to have to go first in closing arguments and abandon being the one to have the final say. In the real show, sometimes whoever goes last in opening goes last in closing, and sometimes whoever goes last in opening goes first in closing. I'm not sure how they decide it each season - if they just assign it or let the Final 2 decide. But I do know what the host told me, because I asked him specifically before the TC. He wouldn't tell me how the order would be decided, but it seemed that it wasn't that important to him and it'd probably be in some random way like flipping a coin or he'd let us decide ourselves.

I knew my opening statement would be huge, and I instinctively wanted to go last for a few reasons, thinking if we were allowed to choose ourselves I'd just get Mike to let me go last both times, and if we flipped a coin and I won, I'd choose to go last both times. Because of knowing that people have gone last in both opening and closing in some real seasons, I thought it would be reasonable and fair.

When the TC started, the host asked us who'd rather go first. Neither of us wanted to, but I got Mike to, thinking I'd do the same for closing. The host had a right to do as he wanted, but I was suspicous that he might not have already pre-determined that whoever chose to go first in opening would go last in closing; rather, it seemed possible that he was slightly annoyed that I consistently got Mike to do as I wanted and go first in answering whenever I could, so he decided mid-TC to have me go first in closing arguments to "make up" for all the times I went last and "help" poor Mike out a little. I mean, after all, he thought I was going to win so it makes sense. He would've thought it wouldn't matter. And he would've been right.

Isabella laughs.

OK, now to answer your question. My best guess is that I would've mostly obliterated Mike's planned opening statement, especially the parts about Emma. He probably would've been outraged, taken off guard and came down on me hard, talking about how much I'd lied and how dishonorable I was compared to how honest and honorable he'd been (as he did most of the first half of the TC after he found out who I was). Basically, I think his opening speech would've been much worse than it was going after me.

Texas Kelly: 2) What would you have said to the jury if you had had last say and been able to respond to Mike's "real" speech?

Isabella: I probably would've said most of the same things I already said, and blown his speech out of the water at the same time. His was a great speech, but there were some malicious points I could have specifically contradicted and defended, namely the constant reference to me not being "real".

Julie: Our next caller is Kevin W.; what are your questions for Isabella?

Kevin W. : Hey Isabella, Great game played, very great. However, I just have one simple question. What was your fatal flaw? What did you in again? Asking cause, I don't know myself...I thought you had it in the bag!?!

Isabella smiles.

Isabella: Thank you so much, Kevin. I thought I did too - That's a jury for you! I don't think anything did me in "again". I think different, separate things created similar outcomes in Tonga and Okinawa. But my fatal flaw this time....playing Okinawa in the first place?

Really, I don't think I had a fatal flaw in Okinawa. What "did me in", that's another story. Members of the jury unfairly knew my real identity beforehand and could've pre-judged me and my role in this game before the TC, and could've even been prepared to be unimpressed, angry and derogatory toward my revelation (which could've then fueled and guided other jury member's emotions and reactions to my revelation). I'll also say many jury members talked to and could've influenced eachother throughout the TC, which was expressly forbidden.

Whether I'd won or lost, some things regarding the jury really bothered me. If I lose, even if I'm voted out first, I'm OK as long as no rules are broken and everything is fair in that regard, but I have to think that if things were fair surrounding the Final TC and those rules weren't broken, I might've won.

And I wanna add that some people have called me the best 38-Day player ever. That might be true, but I'd add a day.

Isabella smiles.

They point to Tonga and Okinawa for proof that I can get to the end, but I can't win a jury vote. Well, those people should consider LTS3. It was my first game (That's right jury! If you're so worried about how I did my first game, I won it!). It wasn't run very professionally and was nothing compared to Tonga or Okinawa or the like. However, after I made the Final 2, what does it matter how professionally the game has been designed or run? Once there, it's all about convincing at least four out of seven people you deserve the title. And I did. My first time around. And I was up against a competitor (her name was Dee) that I'd consider better than Ronan and somewhat similar to Mike's game skill. And that's with one of my best friends of the game (BMH) voting against me for Dee. OK, I just had to get that out.

Isabella laughs.

Julie: Our next caller is someone who's been on the Early Show herself - Beth Sowles. Hello Beth, what're your questions for Isabella?

Beth: Bella, How disappointed were you when you found out you lost to Mike?

Isabella: Hi Beth; I was really disappointed!

Isabella laughs.

I found out right after the Final TC, and it just seemed strange, surreal. I wanted to win so badly and I believed I should've.

Beth: Why, oh why didn't you send in that Michelle vote *grin*?

Isabella: Why didn't you send in that Ryan vote? Enough said.

Isabella winks at the camera.

Beth: What was the point in your game that you are most proud of? The point you are most embarrassed about? The thing that makes you cringe? What one thing would you never do in a game again?

Isabella: Good questions. Let's see - I am most proud of my Final TC performance. I think it's the best one I've given (even better than the one I won) and was a great cumulation of the past 38 days. Although...

Isabella grins.

Voting Ryan out would be up there.

There isn't a point I'm most embarrassed of. I've been embarrassed before in my life, but nothing I did in this game embarrasses me.

The thing that makes me cringe..... Thinking about some of the questionable things regarding the jury. If I can add more, I'd also say some of the things said to Danielle at the TC in which she was voted out and the glee with which Ryan, Michelle and Mike inflicted unnecessary cruelty on you, Matt and David. I would add watching Michelle self-destruct in the Final 4, but that was entertaining and she didn't seem to mind.

The one thing I would never do in a game again is play under an alias. For me, it was a one-time experiment and I was completely successful; I'm content. Other than that, anything's possible.

Isabella smiles.

Julie: Next we have a caller named markymar. What questions do you have for Isabella?

markymar: Isabella, Emma...what a way to finish... u and will always be the best for me in this game...it was not an easy feat... i think you have revealed who you are...they will beat you in an instant...

Isabella smiles.

Isabella: Hi markymar. Thank you; it really feels good to hear something like that, and by the way - I like your accent - it's sexy.

Isabella grins and winks at the camera.

markymar: My question goes: 1. What do you think was the biggest mistake you have committed in the game?

Isabella: I really don't think I made any big mistakes throughout the game.

markymar: 2. Did you perceive that the jury will be very emotional? 3. If yes, would you have revealed yourself?

Isabella: Yes! I thought the jury would be emotional no matter what and rightly so. The game was incredibly intense and produces strong emotions, which is part of the point, and all of the jury had to recently deal with getting voted out before the Final TC. About the last part of your question - I would have revealed myself no matter what.

Julie: Next in line is the host of Okinawa; what would you like to ask Isabella?

Okinawa Host: How would the game have ended differently had Matt accepted your final two deal?

Isabella: Anything could've happened; the only sure thing is that the game would've ended differently. However, my hope is that Matt and I would've been the Final 2, and I would've won. No matter what happened, if the story had went in that direction it would've been very interesteing, but so was the direction it really went in, so que sera, sera.

Okinawa Host: Do you think you could have beaten Michelle in the jury?

Isabella: Yes. I'm eternally optimistic that way, and I really think I could've. I think I could've beaten Mike in many circumstances too.

Okinawa Host: Do you think you played better in Okinawa or Tonga?

Isabella: I think I played a great game in both and I don't think I played either one better than the other.

Okinawa Host: Which season was more difficult?

Isabella: Considering how exhausting, draining and hard both were, they were both equally difficult in their own way.

Okinawa Host: Were the players any different?

Isabella: Every person is unique, but I think in general the level of "players" was higher in Okinawa, but it could be because they had the chance to study Tonga first.

Okinawa Host: What was your reaction to Michelle taking the dagger at F4?

Isabella: I was surprised and amused. She ruined my Final 2 plan, but oh well. I was confident I was going to win anyway, so I just saw it as her loss. I always like fresh challenges to overcome.

Okinawa Host: How different would your game have been had you started on Sato? Who would you have gravitated towards?

Isabella: I think it would've been much easier for me and less challenging, though I probably would've still used a similar strategy as I did on Kamiya. My best guess is that I would've gravitated towards Matt the most, possibly Beth and Lance as well, maybe David or Elisabeth. I would've viewed Amy as my main competition but would've worked to form a bond with her so I could use her to my advantage until I could vote her out. So, basically, pretty much how I gravitated towards them as I met them through the game anyway.

Okinawa Host: Why did you choose to side with Beth and Matt over the rest of Kamiya? Was it just out of spite, or was their a strategic reason as well?

Isabella: It was not out of spite, but it wasn't that strategic either. Basically, it's because I'm not a robot in this game. I wanted to help Beth and Matt, who I both liked and felt deserved it, and partly strategy in that I knew I needed Ryan gone anyway. He was like a zit on my butt that I couldn't wait to pop.

Okinawa Host: What was the most difficult moment of Okinawa for you?

Isabella: The most difficult moment was the Final TC. I knew it would be beforehand, and I was prepared, but it's still very tough. I don't mind having to stand up to seven bitter people with control and having to defend myself - I can go toe-to-toe with the best - but I knew from two other experiences that it's perhaps the most stressful situation of the game, and the point of the game where I'd have the least amount of control, and where I'd have to make many snap decisions about what to say and how to react to defend myself and prove that I am deserving. In Okinawa, it made it even more difficult that charges were brought against me that I had an unfair advantage, that the host was "on my side" and that I shouldn't have been allowed to play in the first place. I can only try in vain to defend myself against bias like that. Prejudice can be stronger than anything I can say or do.

Okinawa Host: Were there any times when you knew for sure you were in danger? Or did you just breeze through it all?

Isabella: There weren't any times when I knew for sure I was in danger, but I didn't just breeze through it all. Immunity really had a lot to do with it. I knew I could've been in danger had I not won immunity in the Final 8, but I wasn't in danger because I voted Ryan out knowing I'd have a very good chance of getting immunity. I mean, really, I could've laid around naked and had someone feed me grapes and fan me from Day 24 until Day 38 and there wasn't a thing anyone could've done about it. But I didn't. I put a lot of work into the game. I wasn't always in the safest of positions, but I always felt in control enough to prevent myself from getting voted out.

Okinawa Host: What was the deal with you and Ryan? Why were you two so wary of one another? And what about the Rob C thing...?

Isabella: Aaah, Ryan. I was wary of Ryan because he seemed like a sneaky little bastard and highly intelligent. That's a deadly combination. I suppose we both saw the danger in eachother. I respect him a lot as a person and a player, but I conquered him because he seemed to forget about me, while I never forgot about him.

I think it would've been awesome if I were playing against - and beat! - Rob C. And you can't deny all the similarities between him and Ryan, as well as the fact you know Rob C. But it wasn't meant to be.

Okinawa Host: How did you feel when you heard that Dave Roth was in fact Murtz? Were you surprised?

Isabella: Yes, I was surprised and also amused. It finally confirmed my suspicions that other people were playing under false names. It would've been nice if he'd made the jury - he would've been sensible about me playing.

Okinawa Host: Was there anything you could have said or done in the jury to get them to vote your way?

Isabella: Yes, because when I consider "what ifs", I believe most variables would lead to me winning. Let's see..... Maybe if I wrote a sequel to "War and Peace", found a cure for cancer and did an erotic striptease I could've gotten them to vote my way.

Okinawa Host: Which vote or votes were most surprising out of all the final seven jurors. Were you sure you had Amy or Ryan in the bag?

Isabella: Hogan, Amy and Ryan. I wasn't sure I had Amy or Ryan in the bag, but I thought it was likely I could get their votes. I would've thought I'd have the best chance of having Ryan's vote if anyone's. After the TC, I thought I had Hogan's.

Okinawa Host: What was your opinion on the way Kamiya treated Dani? Or the way they treated Beth/Matt/David?

Isabella: A large part of Kamiya was having fun in being malicious. It's like when we were all kids in school and the group realizes they have a scapegoat, someone who's weak enough and unpopular enough to bully and make fun of to make themselves feel better. Besides Ryan and Murtz, I don't think any of them are evil enough to do it by themselves, but it's always easier to be evil if the group approves. It shows strength and class to be able to resist group mentality like that, which some did. It's the mark of a hero to stand up and defend someone in Danielle's position, and none of us did that, but what would you expect from the "evil" team?

My opinion of the way Ryan, Mike and Michelle treated Beth, Matt and David was pretty obvious in the story - I didn't like it either. If I'd wanted to I could've been heroic in both instances, just as anyone could've, but being heroic doesn't equal surviving. There's a reason the show isn't called "Hero".

Okinawa Host: Do you think you were portrayed fairly in the story?

Isabella: I would've liked some things shown that weren't and the editor to understand and edit me better, but yes, I was definitely portrayed fairly in the story.

Okinawa Host: Do you think the jury was jealous of you? How much do you think spite played into it?

Isabella: Some members of the jury might've been jealous of me. As for spite, a number of voting comments seemed spiteful towards me, so I do think it played into it.

Okinawa Host: Who was it hardest to influence in the story?

Isabella: Matt.

Okinawa Host: Who was the easiest?

Isabella: The easiest person to influence was actually Mike. Everything I tried to get him to do throughout the game, he did.

Okinawa Host: Were you able to influence most everybody to do what you wanted?

Isabella: No, I wouldn't say most everybody, but I was able to influence many of them to do a lot of what I wanted.

Okinawa Host: What was the hardest thing about playing under an alias?

Isabella: Everything! What wasn't hard about it? It was hard to lie non-stop, it was incredibly difficult to constantly keep my story straight, it was hard to sometimes have to make things up on the spot. Even though I'm very private online anyway, it was frustrating not being able to tell people things about myself when I wanted to. I'm happy and proud I pulled it off though - I guess it's good training if I ever want to be a spy. Otherwise, it was very difficult all-around and a one-time thing.

Okinawa Host: Is it true you almost told Matt your real identity during the game?

Isabella: Yes, I was on the verge of telling Matt my true identity when I was tyring to make a secret pact with him. I wanted him to trust me and I was very tempted in the heat of the moment and all the other truths I was telling him, but I resisted. It was my plan to make it all the way through telling no one, and I did.

Okinawa Host: Did you almost tell anyone else?

Isabella: No, it didn't even cross my mind to tell anyone else during the game. However, it was one of my back-up plans had I ever found out anyone knew who I was or was suspicous enough and was going to try and expose me. I'd beat them to it and tell everyone myself. It would've been a drastic measure for drastic circumstances. Near the end, when Amy was being so inquisitive about my "real self", I thought I might have to deal with it, but I correctly perceived that my best bet was to not do anything about it then.

Okinawa Host: If you couldn't win, who would you most have wanted it to be?

Isabella: Matt.

Okinawa Host: Were you happy with it being Mike? Could you justify a Mike win from your point of view?

Isabella: No, I would've been happy if it were me, but I was happy for Mike, which is very different. As far as being justified, concerning the jury, there's doubt there. In our circumstances, I can't say it's definitely justifiable, but I could justify a Mike win in other circumstances. If I knew the jury's decision had nothing to do with unfairness, rule-breaking or spite that I got to play in Okinawa at all, then it could be justifiable.

Okinawa Host: Do you think you had an unfair advantage at any point in the game?

Isabella: Absolutely not. It's been said many times that if anything, I had disadvantages throughout the game, but some people will stick to faulty reasoning til the death because it's the only justification they have left to hold their decisions up with.

Okinawa Host: Why are you so good at never getting voted out?

Isabella: Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off.

Okinawa Host: What was your single biggest mistake in Okinawa (if any). Thanks Isabella!

Isabella: Hmm..... None.

Julie: Our next caller is someone Isabella knows very well - Michelle. Michelle, what questions are on your mind?

Michelle: How upset, surprised or pissed off were you when you learned I voted for Amy and then forced the tie by voting for her again?

Isabella grins.

Isabella: Hi Michelle. I wasn't upset or pissed off at all, but I was surprised to learn you voted for Amy and forced the tie. I didn't think you'd cut off your own thumb to spite your hand.

Michelle: Did you really think I would change my vote?

Isabella laughs.

Isabella: I thought you could change your vote, but after your actions leading up to the re-vote, I thought it was more likely you'd force the tie - but I gave my all trying to change your mind! Just know I gave you my all!

Michelle: Why do you think you lost to Mike? Do you think the cast was jealous you played twice and voted for Mike to spite you?

Isabella: Honest assessment - I think I lost to Mike because certain people were mad I had played in another similar game, because certain people were mad I had played under an alias, because certain people thought it was unfair I was allowed to play under an alias, because certain people thought it was unfair I was allowed to play this game at all, because certain people wanted to spite me, because certain people like me less than Mike, because certain people liked the way I played less than the way Mike played, because certain people knew who I was beforehand and were prepared to be unimpressed and angry, because certain people thought I was the more evil, untruthful and morally corrupt of the Final 2, because certain people thought Mike was a better player than me and finally because certain people were persuaded by other people behind the scenes to change the vote they had intended.

As for the second part, maybe somewhat for some jury members.

Michelle: How do you respond to people saying you forgot the human factor in your strategy?

Isabella: I respond by saying I never forgot the human factor in my strategy. The "human factor" is a key component of why many people lose at this game, and it's a key component of why I do so well. I believe I'm very good at playing strategically and unemotionally while having connections and bonds and closeness with other players. I can be viewed as cold, calculating and unsympathetic, but I can also be warm, tender and caring, and I have been many times in the game, such as caring about Beth and Matt, caring about Amy's kids, hugging Mike before he had to leave our tribe, which wasn't only strategy, getting close to different people during the game, including you, and sharing tender moments - Those moments are special for me and I hold them dear. In fact, I think I'm one of the best players at understanding we're all real people with real feelings and trying to temper any lying, backstabbing and betraying I do with a compassion and empathy towards the others as necessary.

Michelle: What makes you a good player?

Isabella: I'm smart, strategic, subtle, determined, patient, adaptable, perceptive, persistent, friendly, socially aware, a good liar, a good communicator, a good relator, persuasive, hopeful, faithful, strong-willed, a fighter, I never give up and I have the ability to separate emotion from strategy when needed.

Michelle: Were you upset when you found out you lost?

Isabella laughs.

Isabella: Of course I was upset!

I've alluded to some things regarding the jury and such and I think it's time to explain everything in detail. You might find it interesting.

When I found out I'd lost, I was naturally upset, but it just didn't seem right to me. Things just seemed off and for a while I wondered if it was just me wishing I would've won, which it could've been. There were two separate circumstances that could've come into play that cost me the game. One is a possibility I thought of that has a lot of odd coincidences, the other is a circumstance that is true regardless whether the first one is or not. Even if only the second were true, which it is, it proves I could've and probably would've won. But let me begin with the first.

A few days after when the results were revealed to me and Mike at the Final TC,

Isabella laughs.

I thought of the possibility that I might've actually won. You see, after the Final TC, the host pulled Mike and I into a private chat room to reveal the results. He was only going to reveal them to us and no one else, basically as a gift so we wouldn't spend months wondering if we'd won or lost. Well, he began and started with Matt's vote, with reasons, then Michelle's, then Lance's. He was going, I think, in the order he'd had them vote. But then he suddenly said he had something important to take care of and he'd be back in about five or so minutes. No problem; after all, the TC had just ended and everyone was online and giddy.

When he returned, he continued the reveal of the votes, one by one, but now he'd decided not to put the reasons anymore - to be honest, to this day, I still don't know why he stopped giving us the reasons. I mean, even if he were in a hurry, the comments are just as easy to copy and paste really fast. But anyway, that was fine, I wanted to see the reasons but I moreso just wanted to know who'd won.

Since Joni's hadn't come in yet (she wasn't there and wouldn't be able to send hers in til later), every vote after Matt's came up for Mike. I wasn't suspicous at all, but I was confused, thinking I'd just given the TC of my life while Mike had bombed most of the entire TC except his closing statement, and I had thought I had such a good shot at winning regardless of the sour grapes on the jury, but I sucked it up and I congratulated Mike. I asked the host if I could see the other voting comments, and he told me he'd let me see them all later, sometime after he got Joni's vote and reasons, which we'd assumed would be for me.

I got the voting comments about three days later (it was Christmastime and the host had a lot going on). The votes plus comments were one after another, in this order: Joni, Matt, Michelle, Lance, Amy, Hogan, and Ryan's was last. From the TC transcript I know it's mostly the order they voted in. The only two exceptions were Amy, whom the host hadn't asked to vote in the TC transcript (obviously she must've sent him her vote before he asked or something; no big deal, I'm only mentioning it for the sake of clarity) and Joni, who voted last but he put on top (again, not a big deal; he probably already had them all together and just added Joni's to the top when he got it).

When I read all the comments, I was surprised. Most made enough sense, whether I liked it or not, except for the last three - Amy, Hogan and Ryan. I'll talk about these votes in more detail a little later but for now it's enough to say they confused me, especially Hogan's. As I've said before, something just didn't seem right, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

That's when, a few days after that, I thought of this possibility - What if Hogan's vote were false? It made such sense! It all started from that. It would explain his actions during the TC and his vote, which aren't easily explainable otherwise. But if his vote were false, then why? What reason would there be to show me a false vote from Hogan?

It would have to be because I'd really won and Mario wanted to hide it from me, and I was shocked how perfectly everything fit together in this scenario. First, Mario had always said he'd love to pull one over on me in some great way. What if he'd known I'd won after the Final TC, was about to post it to me and Mike, then came up with the idea to keep it from me until the finale? Not only would he be pulling one over on me, he'd be protecting his finale because both finalists would've thought they'd lost.

You see, if he'd had that idea then, he could've told me and Mike that he'd be back in a minute, then pulled Mike into a separate chat and told him the news that he'd lost but he wanted me to think I'd lost too. So back he comes to tell me the news but there's a problem. Now he can't post all the comments, and I already know who Matt, Michelle and Lance really voted for. So, the only solution is to say he's just going to give us the votes and not the reasons for the others.

He'd had to have told whoever's votes he changed as well, letting them in on the secret. Now, he had no reason to deny me everyone's voting reasons without arousing suspicion, so he'd have to come up with fake votes. Either he'd have to ask those people to make fake votes for Mike to show me, or he'd have to make them himself. Whichever way, it'd have to be two or three votes. Either all three left from that night were changed - Amy, Hogan and Ryan, or two were, because I would've needed at least two more to win. One would have to be Hogan's because his was the most unbelievable. If there were only one more, it'd probably be Ryan, as he seemed more likely to vote for me than Amy and his voting comments were odder.

To help this theory even more, after the game Ryan and Hogan both began laying really low, not talking to anybody. If they knew they were the two "secret" votes that would protect the outcome of the game should it leak Mike had won, then maybe they wouldn't want to chance accidentally telling someone the secret. Of course, I'm not saying they'd purposely be around a lot less often just for this reason, but in the context of everything else, it made sense that it could be part of their reasons.

In fact, I'm still really amazed how well it all fits together. There isn't really any glaring contradictions or pieces that fit jaggedly. Every piece is there and fits nice and smoothly. To be sure, things seem to make less sense if it weren't true.

So, I thought I'd stumbled across something that might be meant to surprise me down the road. I mean, if the host were putting all this effort into pulling one over on me (and keeping the outcome of his game secret), then I didn't want to spoil it for him that I'd figured it out anyway. I also knew how much it could sound like I was just trying to find a way to think I'd won if it weren't true. So, with this in mind but even regardless of all this, I decided to tell no one and go along as if I'd lost and I was sure of it. Even in my own mind, I decided to think as if I'd lost, because should I win, I'd still be pleasantly surprised, and should I lose, I wouldn't be more disappointed.

In fact, sometimes I decided to play with the host should it be true. I really did think he wasn't showing as much of me as he could've in the episodes, but instead of thinking it's definitely because he wanted to make Mike seem a better winner, I thought maybe it's because he really wanted to keep my win a secret and not obvious. And as for Mike's editing, I thought it was pretty fair, but if he were trying to make him look better, I thought it might be because, well, he felt sorry for the guy, being so oblivious all the way through and then losing. He knew how sensitive Mike was anyway and was maybe trying to lessen the sting for him a bit as a kindness. Because the host would've known that even if he were cutting back on my editing and making Mike look a little better, that most of the audience will still clearly see that I was the better player.

So, I'd talk to him about the editing, really meaning what I said, but being sure to mention many times how he's doing it to make Mike a better winner and me a better loser. If this theory were true, I thought saying that would be funny because that was the opposite of what he was really doing, and, well, if this theory weren't true, then saying that would be true. And I'd be sure to tell him a million times, with as much wistfulness and as many sighs I could muster, that I wish I could've won but that I was happy for Mike anyway; that he'll enjoy the experience. Basically, what I was saying to him would be true anyway if I really lost, but if I knew I'd really lost for certain, I wouldn't have said those things over and over to him. Many times I only did it in case all this were true, to play with him. If he were going to try to pull one over on me and give me hell until the finale, then I was going to give him a little bit of hell until then as well. I didn't want him to ever take it off his mind. And if none of it were true? Well, it'd still be fun to give him hell anyway.

Isabella laughs.

Near the end, I told Matt, Ryan Crist and Murtz about the theory. When everything was happening and falling apart, an idea came into my head that if I were leaving and if I had really won, maybe I could try to get the host to just post to the world that Mike had actually won. Theoretically, the only people who'd ever really know would be the host, Mike and the juror's votes that were changed. I really didn't care at all about the game at that point, and I thought that if I'd really won, even if Mike really knew he lost, that he'd enjoy the feeling of winning to the audience. Basically, I was trying to hedge the bets of someone getting some kind of joy out of this on the possibility the theory was true.

So, I told Matt that even if it were true, it's almost a shame Mike couldn't just win anyway, that I wouldn't mind. I didn't want to tell him outright my idea, just let him know without a doubt that since I didn't care about Okinawa, even if I really won I'd rather Mike win to experience the feeling. I was positive he'd tell the host what I'd said, and I was hoping that maybe the host would then know he wouldn't have to worry about me trying to contradict the results down the road and risk anything by having Mike win.

Obviously the big thing would've been making sure everyone involved in the secret - the host, Mike and the changed votes - would be willing to have the ending happen that way and never tell a soul the truth. In my mind, it'd seem the hardest people to convince would be those jurors whose votes were changed. But the host could be persuasive, and with the way I acted towards the game I was planning that included said jurors, the way I left the scene at the time and the way I was refusing to have anything more to do with Okinawa, they could possibly be angry enough at me and my actions to be willing to do it. And with that, I left.

I didn't think about it again for a long time. In fact, by the time I returned and read over everything, I convinvced myself the theory had been too far-fetched and wasn't true. If I just took into account the circumstances before the host dropped out of my game, I'd say there's still a very good case for it. But that he'd deliberately change the ending after I left to have a winner who's there over a winner he preferred, and really that all involved would be able to keep such a big secret is all hard to believe.

To play the devil's advocate, Hogan has disappeared from the scene and Ryan is barely ever around, so the secret would be relatively easy for them to keep. And even though the host before and after has said I should've won and I was the better player, he spends the entire final section of his notes saying over and over and over and over how Mike was the right winner. I mean, why doesn't he just take a hammer out and hit us all over the head with it? It'd be easier. You could play a drinking game with the times he declares Mike is the right winner in that last section. So why does he feel so compelled to try to drill it into everyone's brains that Mike was the right winner?

So, after telling all that, do I now believe I really won?

Isabella laughs.

No.

Just listening to myself tell it, I've almost convinced myself again and I suppose this will make other people wonder, but no. It's a fun idea, and it makes a lot of sense, but it doesn't mean it's right. I choose not to believe it. Why? Because I want finality. Anything you can't prove, you can either choose to believe, choose to not believe or be indecisive. I don't want to be indecisive and always wonder if I might've won, and I'm not going to choose to believe it because for me there's too much doubt and not enough proof to feel confident in my decision. So, I choose to not believe it.

If I had believed it, I wouldn't have told the story here. I would have felt some responsibility in them ultimately deciding to change the votes for good and keep Mike the winner, so I wouldn't have thought it was right of me to expose it all.

Isabella laughs.

But it's bullshit, right? So I feel free to tell it all and let everyone know what I was thinking.

That was the first thing. However, what I'm about to say - the second thing - is true, I've always known was true and I have proof.

For this we're going to have to go all the way back to the very beginning of this game, even before Day One. The host began talking seriously about hosting a game on the condition that I'd play, and I agreed to play and promised him I would. At that time I didn't know I'd play under an alias, but even so the host wanted to keep my involvement in it a secret from anyone not involved. Of course, Anna was involved, so she had to know. As the time for the game to begin came closer, the idea came to me to play under an alias. It'd be a new challenge for me, and assuming Tonga had never "aired", no one should know what I look like. Even thinking of the first episode, that did air, I figured that it would mean I'd have to keep my physical description to the others exactly the same, except for anything I could change, such as hair colour.

So, I could fairly go into the game pretending to be someone else from somewhere else, and I'd even have "paid" a vocal coach to teach me a subtle Southern accent, which is plausible and fair. After all, I've been a performer - I should be able to pull it off. And though writing in an accent on IM is different than speaking in one all the time, I figured it was enough of a challenge to do consistently to make it fair. I'd look and describe myself exactly the same to everyone, except I'd have dyed my hair blonde. I'd already considered that my roots would probably show over the course of the game, but many women dye their hair anyway, even women who play internet Survivor games, and if this were real people would think I just liked to dye my hair, but even though this was on the internet, I'm sure other women dye their hair but tell their dyed hair colour without always saying it's dyed, so it'd be fair. I was very strict about it - I could never lie about my appearance if anyone asked. Anyone could have looked at my strategy and actions and my physical appearance minus the hair color and put two and two together if they knew about me in Tonga; it was a big risk and it would've been easy for anyone who knew about Tonga to figure it out, so it was fair.

Talking it over with the host and Anna and assuring it was fair, I decided to do it. I was a little put off by the idea of having to lie the entire way through the game and not being able to play as myself, but I figured I was really playing with my own personality and being as much like my real self as I could under the alias. I also thought it'd be great for the story no matter what happened and if I made it to the end, it'd be great for the Final TC. It'd be an added challenge to prove that not only could I get to the end of another game, I could get to the end under an alias. And, to be honest, I knew the host had played in Tonga under an alias and failed, only being able to keep it for half the game. I wanted to do it better than him and show him I could not only make it to the end, but make it to the end without anyone figuring out or me telling anyone who I was.

I like to keep an eye on hosts to make sure everything is being done fairly and properly, and I knew how important my alias was not only to me but to the host and his story should someone find out from a source outside of the game. So I talked it over with him more than once, emphasizing the importance of him not letting a soul other than Anna know, no matter how much he trusted them. He assured me he had already planned on not letting anyone else know because it was just as important to him. I also mentioned to him to please drill the importance of it into Anna's head, because she might tell a good friend of hers from Tonga named Jenne, or someone else, thinking she could trust them with it, and he said he was on top of it and not to worry. We had a quite a few conversations like this, just because it was such an important issue for both of us and very important to my chances in the game being fair. I mean, assuming this were real, we'd be playing the game on an island, unable to talk to anyone but our tribemates. But on the internet, you can talk to anyone outside of the game while you're playing.

Well, one day he had to talk to me and I knew something was up. He told me he'd found out from Anna that she'd told Jenne, but not to worry. He said he was already on top of it, that Anna had assured him she'd only told Jenne and no one else, and that Jenne had assured him she had told no one else and would tell no one else.

My stomach sank. I knew Jenne wasn't a big fan of mine, I knew she loved to talk, and I knew this was huge, juicy gossip for her. Already the host, and more specifically Anna, had let me down. But really, short of just completely dropping everything, I had no choice but to hope Jenne wouldn't tell anyone else. I didn't feel confident in her doing it for me, but I hoped she'd do it for Anna and the host and the work they were putting into this game. So, I wasn't very confident it wouldn't leak, but I had to tell myself what will be, will be, and that I'd just have to play in hopes no one on the cast knows or will find out from a leak, and just not to worry about it unless something arises.

So, I made it all the way through the game without getting voted out or anyone exposing me, but there were two incidents that happened throughout the game related to all this. First, I found out Murtz was also playing this game, and also under an alias. I'd already surmised that there might be others playing under an alias as well, but this confirmed it. This gave me confidence in a few ways. One, that I'd already outlasted at least one alias in the game. Two, that now all the others knew there could be aliases in the game, so I wouldn't have to be as worried that they'll be angry that there were aliases in the game down the road because they already knew there was at least one and that should've made them suspicous there could've been others. And three, that even though I'd suspected some of the things he'd said's truthfulness, I hadn't suspected Murtz was an alias and I'm pretty good at figuring things out. That gave me more confidence that others less perceptive than me wouldn't figure out that I was using an alias.

The second incident that happened during the game was Amy questioning me near the end about who I really was, trying to play with me as a cat would play with a mouse. Obviously, as she'd probably intended, red flags went up in my mind immediately and I had to put the possibility of taking drastic measures as a back-up plan should something come of that. I knew that one of three things was possible. Amy either suspected who Emma was but didn't know who I really was, Amy had figured out herself that I was Isabella but for some reason wasn't going to come out and tell me or use it against me to her advantage, or that someone had leaked to her that I was Isabella. I didn't know which it was, but I could tell she probably wasn't going to use the information to her advantage or against me. I wondered why she wouldn't; I mean, if she figured it out on her own she'd have every right to and it could help her out a lot, but nonetheless I could tell she probably wasn't going to and that's all I needed to figure out for then.

But then came the Final TC. This is where it all comes crashing down, for a lot of people. Of course, we all know what happened on the surface - by many people's accounts I gave a great final TC overall, Mike gave an OK one, doing pretty bad in the beginning and on a lot of his answers but giving a great closing speech, some jurors seemed mad I had played twice and thought I might have had an unfair advantage in doing so, and in the end I got two votes while Mike got five. You know I was like, "What the fuck?", and I know many in the audience felt the same way. As I mentioned in an earlier answer, it seemed liked there was nothing I could do to win. I'd given my all and done what I thought was an amazing job throughout, while up against a contestant who'd had a few moments but for the most part was oblivious through most of the game, was hypocritcal and and who everyone knew was an ass-kisser. Flabbergasted is I suppose the best way to describe my initial reaction.

Again, what kept getting at me after the TC was Hogan's vote, which I couldn't even ask him about. Anyone can do it - just go back and compare what he says in the TC to his vote and you'll see. In trying to find an answer, I came upon the above "fake votes" theory as a solution, but it wasn't the right one. This is the right one. It took me awhile to put it all together, but the pieces are now in place and they all fit, and it really all boils down to one person. One person who was determined to make sure I lose by the end. One person who was unfairly leaked the information that Isabella was in Okinawa. One person who, instead of informing the host about what to do about knowing this, kept it under wraps. One person who then, themselves, decided to break rules, all in the pursuit of making sure I lost. One person who has a much darker side to them than they'd like you to believe. One person who I have proof of all this for. And that person's name? None other than Amy Twieg.

Let's start with the Loser's Lodge, those who didn't make it to the jury. Most of them, if not all, knew I was Isabella before the Final TC. I had no idea at the time. There is a transcript of the Loser's Lodge conversing as they "watched" the Final TC by way of, I think, somebody cutting and pasting for them, which was allowed. During the transcript, before I reveal myself, some assorted people in the Lodge ask the others, "So, is this the part where Isabella says who she is?" and the like. No one is suprised in the transcript by those comments, which, putting two and two together, means at least everyone in that transcript, which included David, was privy to the fact.

Now let's rewind back to the beginning, when Anna told Jenne I was playing. Someone squealed like a fat pig over a fire, and chances are their name starts with a "J" and ends with an "enne". Word got out. Eventually, most of the Tongan cast who was still around knew I was playing in this new game, including CJ. Many people don't know this, but Amy and CJ have been, and for all I know may still be, very good online friends.

Going back to the game, some of you might've heard or read about the Amy and David incident during the game. He was voted out, but she still really needed to speak with him, so the host made an exception (which I myself was furious about when I heard it, but told myself the situation was very serious and I wasn't privy enough to make any informed judgements) and let them talk on the condition they didn't speak of the game and e-mail him every chat. The host eventually found out they'd been speaking with eachother without sending him the chats, and Amy almost got kicked out of the game for it. Now remember, this is the same David who knew I was Isabella before I announced it.

I do not know who told Amy that I was in Okinawa, but someone did tell Amy that I was in Okinawa, and my best guess is that it was CJ or David (and, just to list all the possibilities, CJ could've told Amy and Amy could've told David). CJ could've told Amy by accident if Amy hadn't told CJ she was playing in Okinawa, but if David told her then he did it knowing full well it was completely unfair to do so. Either way, Amy knew it was unfair for her to know this information or use it against me. If she were playing completely by the books, she would've went to the host immediately and told him what she knew. Whatever was appropriate after that, it couldn't have happened because Amy didn't tell the host she knew or had even heard that.

And she didn't find this out just a day before the Final TC or anything. Nope, she'd known for a while. If she heard it from CJ, as was more likely the case, she could've known the entire game, because CJ could've and probably would've told her right away the juicy gossip she'd heard about the game she didn't know Amy was playing in. Or, if Amy had told her she was playing in Okinawa, it'd be even worse. If she heard it from David, which is less likely only because she probably would've already heard it from CJ anyway, then she would've known my mid-game at the latest.

And do you think Amy didn't tell anyone because she felt for me?

Isabella laughs.

Think again. Amy was not happy at the idea of me playing, just like many of the Tongans who'd found out, who were her friends. She thought it was unfair if I was playing and didn't really like me anyway. But she was in a big dilemma. If she did anything or outed me, then everyone would know it's because she heard the info from a leak, and also the image she wanted to maintain could be tarnished. She could, in theory, ruin the game for everyone depending on what the host did.

I don't know what her thoughts were exactly, but you can bet they included all that, and it must've been a very difficult decision for her to bite her tongue and sit on the information. In fact, if she kept the secret from CJ and the other Tongans that she was in Okinawa, then she had a double whammy. The topic of me being in this new game was probably a somewhat recurring one, and they'd probably complain or talk about it with her without ever knowing she was in Okinawa playing too. So, possibly, she really had no one to talk to about the matter.

After this there are two possibilities. One is that she was furious through the entire game, but had to do a very good job of hiding it and making sure she only dealt with me as Emma so as not to arouse any suspicions. The second is that she became somewhat complacent with it, knowing she'd already made up her mind not to act on it, waiting to see what would happen with it all, not exactly sure of it all but it not being on the top of her in-game concerns. I would guess the truth lies somewhere in-between closer to the second.

So we both made the Final 3, and then I got her voted out. You all know what's coming next - this infuriated her. But she tried to keep her composure, even though it did break a little right before getting voted out. Now out of the game, all these thoughts swirled through her mind. By the Final 3 she was probably hoping she'd be up against Isabella in the finals and would beat me, but now she was beaten by Isabella and she had to remember how unfair she thought it was that I got to play again anyway, that I did so well and that I was the one who got her voted out. It was all just so unfair to her. And because of the unfairness and me, she was sitting on the jury instead of winning the game.

And this is where she slipped. The host did a phone conversation with her after getting voted out, as he did with everyone who got voted out, and she couldn't help herself anymore. She had to confirm with the host that I was indeed Isabella, and he did. She tried to be calm, but she was furious I was playing; she couldn't believe he'd let me play, and thought it was unfair to no end. She was especially upset she'd let a "fake" person talk to her sons, but I've never understood that since I'm sure she had heard I was in this game before then and could've easily put two and two together and knew it was "Emma".

Anyway, until then she hadn't done anything terribly unfair to me except not being honest with the host about knowing who I was or even that she'd heard I might be playing (which, actually, really laid the groundwork for all that came later). The conversation she had with me near the end asking who I "really" was even took the host by surprise because he had no idea she was suspicious.

So she had been doing so good before then. After all, she is very smart, a member of Mensa even, and if she didn't want anyone to know she knew that information, then no one would. But at the end, she couldn't help herself by questioning me. And then, she couldn't help discussing it all with the host to clear it up for her.

That being done, she was now incredibly mad, but knew that for her own image she'd need to go into the TC just like anyone else, as if she didn't know I was Isabella. But I don't think she wanted me to win. She knew how much her other friends, the Tongans, didn't like me and the attention I got and knew how great it would feel to stop me from winning this time, and she had basically made herself the moral arbiter of the game by that point, thinking that it was completely unfair that I was playing, that she was going to stick it to me and it seemed that she was going to do her damnest to make sure I lost. But for her image she'd have to do this without seeming out to get me in particular; she'd have to be smart about it. And she'd have to be sneaky.

First, she'd want to go last in questioning for the most impact (which was her right, since she was the last voted out), and she'd have to be hard enough on Mike (after all, she was mad at him too, but not nearly as mad as she was at me) but really throw the book at me that I had some unfair advantage playing again. To be honest, that was completely below the belt. It's faulty reasoning, but when you present it to mad jurors in the heat of the moment, it can make sense, no matter what I say. And I think she knew it; I don't think she was looking so much for me to defend myself as the other jurors to ponder it as much as possible before voting.

But even that wasn't as bad as the last part. I mean, she wouldn't have been able to come up with that comment or question right away if she hadn't already unfairly known I was Isabella, but the last part is worse. It's worse because it was expressly forbidden, because it's so out of the character Amy tries to project and because it's what probably cost me the game.

Amy was IMing everyone during the Final TC. To be sure, most of the jury was breaking this rule, which I find somewhat disgusting (I mean, really, unless you're IMing eachother about who to vote for, why IM at all until the thing's over? You're just risking looking like asses and being thought of as a terrible, possibly unfair jury otherwise), but from what I've heard one person - Amy - stuck out as the biggest breaker of the rule. It seems that Amy was IMing people all the way through the Final TC, telling them how awful I was doing and how great Mike was doing. She'd literally IM people after an answer of mine decrying it and trashing it, then she'd IM people after an answer of Mike's, praising it and justifying it. Of course, everyone respected and liked Amy and everyone was somewhat mad at me anyway, so at the time no one really noticed it in particular. But I've heard that looking back, people have said that she, in particular, was doing it through the entire TC and, really, might've been a factor in swaying how they felt at the time.

I have to say I'm very surprised that this is the answer I've found. I never expected that it was Amy, the person I had so respected throughout the game, that cost me the game unfairly. Even after the TC, we had a long chat where she admitted that she wished she'd voted for me, and told me she couldn't decide who to vote for until she wrote down Mike's name. Now I know she was just saying that to my face but in reality she knew full well she was the one who cost me the whole game, not just her vote.

There's a theory I've heard about Amy that she's very good at being what you want her to be, a dangerous chameleon, so, for instance, to her old Tongan friends and any fans who don't like me, she's a person who helped make sure I didn't win, but to me, she was the person who wished she could've changed her vote to me. I don't know if this theory I've heard about her is true but it makes sense. And I've learned more things about Amy unrelated to me losing that I won't discuss here because it doesn't concern me, but these things would shock many and have shocked me, and I'm only saying this to further emphasize how she could do all this.

I actually find it ironic she was so mad about me playing unfairly, and even in the TC brought up the subject of me having an unfair advantage, while she unfairly heard I was playing the game but didn't tell the host about it, while she unfairly tailor-made her jury question and comment beforehand knowing who I was and that she unfairly and purposely IMed and tried to influence everyone she could to vote for Mike during the Final TC, not to mention the whole business of her disrespecting the host's rules when he bent them for her and she still broke those and didn't send in her chats with David. For someone who wants to be such a moral arbiter, it seems to me she was being incredibly hypocritical and malicous. In fact, I think it's all disgusting.

She's not the only one guilty, obviously, but she's the one that led to me unfairly losing. She shouldn't have known who I was beforehand and had she not she might've even voted for me after hearing the TC. But regardless, she was constantly working to influence others during the TC. However, she wasn't the only one who went into the Final TC knowing who I was, though I won't name any more names. There were others with questions and comments already tailor-made for Isabella.

So I'm not saying it was only Amy that cost me the game, but I am saying I think it was a large part Amy, and I have to think that if no one had been leaked the info beforehand, or IMed each other during the TC, I would have gotten at least four votes and won the game. Obviously, it's debatable, but I think most people see my point.

Isabella laughs.

So, yeah Michelle, I was upset. I hope that answers your question.

Julie: Very interesting.

Julie turns her head to look at the camera.

We will be back in a few moments to hear Isabella answer the remaining caller's questions. Please stay tuned.

Isabella sits patiently, smiling, and Julie continues tightly smiling at the camera as it pans out to go to commercial break. As soon as they cut to break, people scurry onto the set Julie and Isabella are sitting on, including Julie's make-up artist to touch up her face, and a separate touch-up person for Isabella's hair and make-up. Isabella takes a sip of water in silence as Julie tries to focus on her notes. But she can't focus. Something is occupying her mind.

"Damn, this interview was supposed to be over at the end of the last segment. Why can't she just finish this?" Julie thinks to herself, "The bitch-ass ho is taking forever! What part of finish doesn't she understand? Just give a mother-fucking answer, move to the next and get this skanky slut interview over with already. Jesus-fuckin-Christ." Julie pauses in her thinking to make a decision.

"OK, that's it. Miss cunt-wad crack-whore here," Julie glances at Isabella, who was laughing and making small-talk with the person touching up her hair and make-up, "Has one more segment to get this done and over with - that's the absolute limit! We've made so many exceptions for her with this. No more!" Julie's mind wanders to the subject of Isabella waiting a year to do this interview, "She's the fucking Osten of Okinawa; isn't it obvious? Not doing a final Early Show interview is exactly the same as quitting midway through a game, exactly the same. But would we let Osten come back a year later like this? Ha! I think not. Thank your lucky stars that we're giving you one final segment to finish you ho-bitch, but you better make the most of it cause it's the last one you...you...," Julie was searching her mind for just the right words, "You funky-assed beaver-lipped ghetto-whore cunt-thumping cock-sucking mother-fucking cheap-ass crack-slut!......" Julie pauses for a moment, finalizing her thoughts, "I am Chen - Hear me roar!"

Satisfied, Julie looks at Isabella. "Isabella?"

Isabella glances from talking with the touch-up person to Julie, "Yes?"

Julie smiles at Isabella. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I must let you know you need to finish in this next segment - Otherwise we won't be able to finish your interview here - or at all."

Isabella smiles at Julie but says nothing.

All of a sudden, everyone scurries off the set except Julie and Isabella as a man named Roger announces, "And we're on in 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 -"

Julie: Hello, and welcome back to our exclusive Early Show interview with the wonderful Isabella. We have the next caller on the line - What's your name and question caller?

Michelle: It's still Michelle, bitch.

Julie: Hello Michelle, and what other questions do you have for Isabella?

Michelle: Before the Final TC, which jury members did you think would vote for you?

Isabella: Before the Final TC, my best guess was that Ryan, Amy, Joni and Matt would vote for me.

Michelle: After the jury's questions and statements and before the votes were read, which jury members did you think would vote for you?

Isabella: After the jury's questions and statements, my best guess was that Hogan would almost certainly vote for me, that Joni and Ryan would vote for me, and that hopefully Matt and/or Amy would vote for me.

Michelle: Do you think you played the best game and do you think you should have won?

Isabella smiles.

Isabella: Yes, I think I played the best game in Okinawa and yes, I think I should've won.

Michelle: What is your opinion of each cast member:

Isabella smiles.

Michelle: Liz?

Isabella: Liz is sweet, smart and competitive. To make this more interesting, for me at least, I'll tell you which animal I'd compare each person to. Liz would be a deer, because she's athletic and a good runner.

Michelle: Danielle?

Isabella: Danielle is sweet, but she was misunderstood. She'd be a goat, because she was scapegoated.

Michelle: Henry?

Isabella: Henry seems erratic and like he tries too hard. I'm sure he has good traits; he just didn't show them during Okinawa. He'd be a hyena because he's somewhat bizarre and made a lot of noise.

Michelle: David?

Isabella: David is intelligent and tech-savvy. He'd be a horse.

Michelle: Murtz?

Isabella: Murtz enjoys being malicious and values intelligence, thick skin and good strategy. Based on my Tonga performance and confessionals, he gave me my own column at Survivor-Central and I've always really appreciated that. He'd be a snake, enough said.

Michelle: Chris?

Isabella: Chris is outgoing, flamboyant, and somewhat clever. He'd be a peacock.

Michelle: Beth?

Isabella: Beth is sweet and sensitive. She'd be a puppy-dog, because she's wide-eyed in an innocent, child-like way and likes to latch onto people.

Michelle: Ryan?

Isabella: Ryan is intelligent, likes being malicous for the cameras, sneaky and circumlocutory. He'd of course be a weasel.

Michelle: Matt?

Isabella: Matt is smart, funny and a good player, but not good at keeping secrets. Matt would be a chimpanzee because they're smart and funny.

Michelle: Hogan?

Isabella: I don't know if you could find an odder duo than Hogan and I. Hogan is a character, and a good guy. I think he has a lot of potential in general, but he has a weak spot for women. Hogan would be a hedgehog.

Michelle: Lance?

Isabella: Lance is philosophical, righteous and lasted too long. He'd be a dodo.

Michelle: Joni?

Isabella: Joni is smart, sweet and talented. She and I are very different people, but in certain ways she reminds of myself. She'd be a squirrel - cute, smarter than you think and tougher than you think.

Michelle: Michelle?

Isabella laughs.

Isabella: You are a spit-fire, smart but paranoid, some times walked a fine line between playing fair and cheating, tough as nails and a lot of fun. You'd be a ram.

Michelle: Amy?

Isabella: Amy is a great player, smart and has a little-seen here dark side that makes her human. Instead of an animal, she'd be Dr. Jeckyll and Miss Hyde.

Michelle: Mike?

Isabella: Mike is smart, contradictory, a kiss-ass, very sensitive, hypocritical, and yet in spite of it all a nice man. He'd be a tamed bear, because he's big and hairy and strong but ultimately docile.

And to round it out, I'd be a lion, because the first tribe I was ever on was the Leos and I won the game as a Leo.

Julie: Next on the line is one of Isabella's co-contestants on the original Survivor:Tonga, Tenzil. Tenzil, what would you like to ask Isabella?

Tenzil: What sort of questions did you expect from the jury (if any) and did you try to prepare for them at all? (In other words, did you get questions you expected?)

Isabella smiles.

Isabella: Hi Tenzil; it's nice to hear from you again, and all the work you put into posting some of the Tonga stuff was great. I expected anything from the jury and did try to think through what questions might be asked and how I'd approach them if they were. I thought I might get a lot of angry, bitter questions, which I did get. I thought Matt might ask an angry question, but I also thought he might follow in Greg and Marcy's footsteps and ask something completely ridiculous, which he did, and which I thought was funny. I thought Ryan would probably be wordy and ask a good and hard question, which he did. I thought if Michelle took her time and thought about it she'd probably also come up with a good and hard, though angry, question, which she did. I thought Lance would probably focus on things like integrity, honesty and the like in his question, which he did. I really wasn't sure what type of questions Hogan, Amy or Joni might have.

I was pretty sure at least one or two questions would ask us to in some way rate the jurors and pick the best/worst among them. I thought I might be asked why I'm better than Mike or why he's worse than me. I thought I might be asked about my perceived low-key approach to the first half of the game, my immunity streak and have to defend that I was a good player through it all regardless. I thought after exposing my alias, I'd probably be asked about all the lying I did. And I was pretty sure the majority of jurors would try to put us down in their questions and comments as much as possible. The question I least expected was to be asked about the fairness of me playing and the fairness of me somehow "knowing" the skill chart and such better than everyone else. But, for the most part, I had expected anything. So, in other words, for the most part I got what I expected.

Julie: Our last caller is named Paul. Paul, what are your questions for Isabella?

Paul: Which lost hurt the most? Tonga or Okinawa?

Isabella smiles.

Isabella: Hi Paul! I'd have to say Tonga, only because I had to wait so long thinking I might've won to find out I lost whereas I found out right away in Okinawa. Besides that it was equal.

Paul: What was your reaction when the jury was upset at you for playing as Isabella?

Isabella: Well, I thought they might be upset I'd played under an alias and I knew it was a possibility some would hold that against me, but I thought the impressiveness of me being able to pull it off and them respecting my good gameplay would outweigh it. I never thought anyone would accuse me of having an unfair advantage because I'd played in Tonga. I'll say it right now - It was plain and simple idiocy and jealousy speaking when anyone said it was "unfair". So when I heard mention of it in the Final TC I was surprised.

Paul: Mike claimed that because of you his strategy wasn't shown, do you agree with that?

Isabella: No, I don't agree that because of me Mike's strategy wasn't shown. From my vantage point, Mike was portrayed accurately, and if anything he was edited more positively than was the reality.

Paul: Can we hope to see you in an all starts edition (if it ever happens?)

Isabella laughs.

Isabella: Thank you for the encouragement! There's already an "all-star" (although I will say most of the biggest stars are missing). As I've mentioned, I was actually going to run a game including many of the biggest stars around here, but that fell through. And I've always told myself three is a great number, and that's how many games I've played. And after Okinawa, I told myself I'd probably never play again, but if I did it wouldn't be til at least a year later. And to play, I'd have to again actually chance being voted out for once. In fact, if I played again the chances of me going in the beginning are great - like 99.9% or something.

Isabella laughs again.

I mean, who wouldn't love to say they voted me out, not to mention so many could have agendas against me or just not like me. And if I played in some edition like that, I'd have no choice but to put myself at the mercy of the others since I'd be the biggest target without exception for as long as I'm in the game. And I'd have to use a strategy of complete and utter honesty because everyone would think I'd sneakily lie my way through the game and not trust me. And if I were lucky enough to find any allies or anyone who trusts me, I couldn't chance even telling the littlest lie and having them find out and not trust me. Complete honesty and forthrightness in all my actions would be my only chance to even have any hope of surviving past the first vote.

And my standards to play in a game like that are high - It would have to be enticing enough and be the right game at the right time, and if it were an All-Star it would have to include a majority of the biggest stars and best players around. And I'd have to think the host is capable and qualified for the job ahead, which would be a huge responsibility.

So, I'll probably never play again, and even if I did there's a very good chance I'd be one of the first voted out, but that desire is always there, and if everything by chance aligned just right, I might. Of course, there's always Canary Islands, right Lance?

Isabella smiles and winks to the camera.

Paul: And you should apply for the real show! Any chances of that happening?

Isabella laughs and smiles.

Isabella: Thanks! I really appreciate the encouragement. Umm......Who knows? The sky's the limit for me!

Julie: And that concludes the call-in portion of our interview.

Julie turns to look at Isabella.

Julie: Isabella, as we near the end, I have to - I mean, I'd like to - touch on a few more topics with you. A lot of people have...

Okinawa Host: Hello?

Julie, interrupted and slightly confused but not showing it, turns to look toward the camera and call-in voice.

Julie: Hello, yes?

Okinawa Host: I have some questions for Isabella.

Julie, realizing who it is, answers.

Julie: You already asked Isabella some questions, and the call-in portion of our...

Okinawa Host: Who did you think knew your true identity during the game? Why/how/where did you suspect this? (I can say for a fact only Amy knew for sure. Murtz says he figured it out but I never confirmed it with him. I always lied and said no until the very end)

Isabella glances at Julie for a moment, who sits in tense silence.

Isabella: Well, I said I'd answer every single question. During the game, I knew Murtz thought I was Isabella after he was voted out because of what you told me, but the only person I thought might know in the game because of their actions was Amy near the end. I thought this because she was questioning me about the "real" me. I always kept in mind that anyone could know at any time because they figured it out or because of a leak.

Okinawa Host: What did you think of the final TC? (sorry, couldn't resist)

Isabella: I thought the Final TC was entertaining and interesting. I had a blast keeping on my toes to answer as best I could. I thought some of the jury seemed bitter and angry as usual. I suppose it's entertaining and natural, but it's refreshing when a juror can rise above that.

I thought Mike and I both did good jobs, but I think I out-answered him on almost all the questions. I think he had a very good closing statement, but I think overal I made a much better case for myself in the Final TC and proved why I was the better and more deserving player.

I think some of the jurors were talking to and influencing eachother during the Final TC when they shouldn't have been and I think certain jurors knew I was Isabella beforehand and were prepared to be unimpressed. I think the subject of me having an "unfair advantage" was bullshit and ironically was unfair to me. That's what I think.

Okinawa Host: Besides yourself, who do you think was the best player in Okinawa? Was it Mike?

Isabella: Besides myself, I think Amy was the best player in Okinawa, so no, it wasn't Mike.

Okinawa Host: Do you think you played a better game in Tonga or in Okinawa?

Isabella: You already asked me that question.

Okinawa Host: Were there significant differences between the two?

Isabella: Yes, there were many significant differences between the two. Most obviously, I played Okinawa under an alias. The level of players was higher in Okinawa. I had to deal with something that really got to me emotionally in Tonga - Marcy - and I had to deal with a real-life issue during Tonga. I had to start Okinawa late and with a disadvantage.

Julie: And that concludes the call-in portion of our interview.

Julie turns to look at Isabella.

Isabella, I want to touch on the fact that a lot of...

Okinawa Host: Do you feel like you had an advantage in Okinawa? Or on the flip side do you feel it was harder for you than others.

Isabella just decides to answer whatever question is finished being asked first until they're all done.

Isabella: No, I don't feel like I had an advantage in Okinawa and on the flip side, I think it was definitely harder for me than others.

Okinawa Host: Do you think you could have survived Tribal Council #9 (the Matt vote) had you not won immunity?

Isabella: Yes, I believe I could've survived Tribal Council #9 if I didn't have immunity because I'm always optimistic. It doesn't mean I would've, but I would've tried my hardest.

I probably would've first appealed to Amy's sense of fairness and decency, telling her the entire Kamiya history from Day 1 to try to save myself, even why I wanted to vote her out and exactly why I was leary of talking with her beforehand, promising to never vote for her (and possibly include Matt or whoever else I perceived she wanted to go to the end with until Final 3 if I win immunity), saying I know it's the only chance I have and that by helping and using me she could honestly help ensure herself a place in the Final 2, and I would've told her I'd be willing to announce any of my promise to anyone she wanted. I would've talked to Matt again, talked to Lance and appealed to his sense of fairness and decency in saving me over other Kamiyans, tried to get on Hogan's good side, really convincing them all Mike had lied and it was me who voted Ryan out and saved Sato from a Pagonging. I think if I'd worked hard enough and smart enough, I could've done it.

However, if I perceived that it wasn't working, I would've tried to go back to Kamiya as I did, trying to convince them to put anger aside and see they need me for at least one more vote, that if any of them were counting on Hogan they couldn't but at the least just to make sure and vote Matt or Amy out first before me to be positive they had the numbers. I would've compared the situation to Africa and warned them that if they voted me out then, they could very possibly be known to everyone as a bad imitation of what happened to Samburu.

Okinawa Host: Since I don't have many confessionals from the last 12 days of the game, how did it all play out in YOUR eyes? What did you expect to happen? Did anything mess up/help your plans down the stretch?

Isabella: Well, starting with TC 10, I wanted Hogan gone and I had to work extremely hard to prevent it from being Mike, but I succeeded! And really, I was the one who prevented it from being Michelle too, because if not for me, it would've been one of them. If I'd gone along with Michelle and Joni then, the three of us would've voted for Mike. Perhaps the Satos would've still voted Mike and it would've been a landslide. But, if all of Sato voted for Michelle as they did, then as the Satos would've loved there probably would've been a tie and I suppose Michelle would've gone 3/2. Even though Lance's idea helped ensure Joni voted for Hogan, it was me originally that prevented it from being Mike or Michelle anyway. So I wanted Hogan gone and it happened.

By now, I wanted Michelle in the finals with me. Mike was my back-up plan. Even though I was waiting to vote out Amy, I thought she was the best player besides me and it kind of kept me on my toes having her around, which I liked. I really thought this TC was going to be my first time without immunity since voting out Ryan and I was in a way looking forward to being vulnerable but still surviving the vote, but I amazed myself and barely won it in a part-cooking immunity challenge. Of the choices of who I could vote out, I wanted Lance gone in TC 11, and it happened.

By this time I had realized how it would be fun and to my advantage to keep Amy around and how I could get Joni voted out next instead. I didn't want her near the finals where she and Michelle could betray me or take eachother to the finals. At the RC, I want to clear something up. In your behing-the-scenes series, you say you gave me the test later and that's when I got the best time, which infers that I didn't take it in the heat of the moment like they did. But what actually happened is that at the same time as everyone else, i.e. in the middle of it all, you gave it to me. Before we started, I told you I planned to lose this one on purpose, that I'd just look as if I couldn't figure certain ones out, but I wanted to take it normally anyway to see if I really would've beaten them all. You OKed it and gave me the test then, and I beat everyone's times.

When Amy let me talk to Brandon and Alex, I felt very priveleged. I didn't know if she let them talk to a lot of people, but I assumed she didn't and I really did care about them and admired her for raising them. I definitely have a soft spot for children. One day I definitely want to have children and talking about children - from Amy's to the host's - makes me kind of sigh. As much as I'd love to have some right now, I know for me that I want to wait until later, when I feel more secure in my own life and confident that I'm ready to make that life-long commitment.

I did feel bad about talking to Amy's children under an alias, having to tell them my name was "Emma", thinking Amy had no idea at the time that I wasn't Emma. Now I know she knew I was Isabella when she let me talk to them, and her being upset that she let her children talk to an "alias" is ridiculous when she knowingly let them. Regardless, I'm very happy she did let me chat with them for a moment and I wish Brandon and Alex the very best in life.

I didn't really like blindsiding Joni; I wouldn't have minded except for the fact that she was younger and possibly impressionable. The reason I didn't give her a heads up or tell her the truth as I'd done with Hogan is that I knew she'd have the ability to change Michelle's mind (which, at the least, would've put Joni on Michelle's side if Michelle were sitting beside me in the Final 2) and possibly be able to convince Mike not to vote her out before Amy. Also, to ease the vote, I wouldn't have minded Michelle voting for Amy instead except for the fact that I wanted Michelle to be sitting beside me in the Final 2 and I wanted Joni to know Michelle had voted for her. So, I wanted Joni gone in TC 12 and I had to work for it, but again I succeeded and it happened.

I hadn't decided to win immunity at the Final 4 until I saw my opportunity, and I succeeded. I was planning on being vulnerable at this TC, and voting out Amy or Mike depending on who had immunity. If Amy had immunity as Ronan did in Tonga, I'd definitely go for Mike with Amy (or Michelle if Amy really preferred, but making sure she knew Mike had all his will stored up and is very competitive), convincing Amy that Michelle and Mike are a team and would take eachother to the Final 2 no matter what and promising to take her if I won immunity at the Final 3, hoping Michelle (or Mike) would switch as you did in Tonga, and if Michelle (or Mike) hadn't switched I would've had to chance a purple rock. If Mike had immunity, I'd go for Amy, beforehand drilling into Mike and Michelle's heads how dangerous it'd be to have Amy any closer to the Final 2 in case they were pondering voting me out instead. If Michelle had immunity, I would've had to decide if I wanted Amy gone or wanted to risk having a purple rock if Michelle wouldn't change her vote. I'm pretty sure I would've voted Amy out instead of risking a purple rock and not even chanced trying to get Michelle to vote for Mike in case she turned on me and they all voted me out. I wanted Mike gone and I thought Michelle would eventually vote for him, but it didn't happen. It surprised me and hurt her.

Mike passed out and he and I talked. I was really worried for him in real life; he was taking this so incredibly seriously. I helped him as much as I could through IM (which wasn't much) to calm him down. We ended up having a long discussion. I told him the truth about Michelle and how I'd actually prevented him from being voted out at the Hogan vote and how I didn't understand her reasoning completely for not voting Mike out compared with her past actions but that that was Michelle; that she hadn't done it for him as much as for herself if that made any sense. I came out with the whole truth then except for anything that I thought might be advantageous to keep from him until the Final TC. Also, I wanted to placate him as much as possible on the chance that his wanting revenge on me would outweigh his logical reasoning, ensuring that he was fully aware of how bad he'd lose against Amy and how easily he'd win against me. Eventually, he did calm down and respected what I told him. He said he understood and was fine with me, but that for the story he'd still pretend to be mad at me until the end.

Then came him trying to keep me from sleeping in the shelter. Anyway you look at it, it was laughably immature of him. Actually, the host printed in our daily tasks that he succeeded. This took me by surprise because I hadn't had any idea that I'd slept outside the shelter!

Isabella laughs.

Maybe he could scare Matt or Beth, but I wasn't afraid of him in the least. I went straight to the host and told him there was no way I'd let that happen and that it must be changed, which he agreed to. I said that if that happened, I'd simply say that I was going to sleep in the shelter, and that if he tried to touch me in any way he'd be out of the competition and that was that.

You have said that if you had the chance to change that section now, you would write it as Mike valiantly "vowing revenge" or some crap because he won, but no matter who the winner was Mike "being a big baby" is much more accurate.

I wanted Mike to win the Final 3 immunity. You inferred in your behind-the-scenes series that I didn't try to win immunity because I was "saving face".

Isabella laughs.

This is why I beat you in Tonga; your perceptions are usually good but when it comes to me, they can be way off. This is so off the mark that it's somewhere in China by now. Maybe you'll stick to it and say I'm still saving face, but more intelligent people have stuck to more absurd opinions. This comment got me so riled up when I saw it because it's slander based on what I was thinking, so it's really hard to prove otherwise to anyone who might believe you, but the best I can do is say that as God as my witness, I swear that I was in no way trying to save face.

Isabella laughs again.

Even though it riles me up, it really is funny because of how off it is. I don't really think I got a lot of flak for getting to the Final 2 and losing in Tonga; the majority of people that I know of thought I should've won, so if anything I felt bolstered from feedback then.

And your argument that I really knew I was going to lose? Oh my!

Isabella laughs again.

Have you never listened to a thing I've ever said? Confidence and optimism are like part of my core; without those I'd be a completely different person than I am. I know you have a psychology degree so you think you've found some insight here, but I'm sorry to tell you, you haven't. I was 100% confident that even against Amy, I'd somehow pull out a win by virtue of my revelation, but against Mike? I knew he'd be harder to beat than Michelle, but to me it was going to be something like taking a yummy candy from a baby instead of some dirty licorice it detested; either way it was taking candy from a baby. That kind of comparison makes Mike seem more sympathetic as a winner, but I'm using it because of the ridiculousness of your claims as to what I was thinking.

You say not winning kept me from making any "major mistakes" so I couldn't have any blame. Well what the fuck? How could taking Mike into the finals with me if I won the Final IC be a mistake in any way? If I lost the game, which I was sure I was going to win, there's no way anyone not on crack would say I would've been better off taking Amy. I mean, were you smoking crack the day you thought this up?

You think it's something I "came up with" after Michelle left the game. In reality, by Final 5 or so, I'd already been thinking specifically about losing the Final 3 IC. After I used all my will in the Final 4 IC, that's when I knew I'd probably have to depend on someone else to win the Final 3 immunity and take me to the finals even if I wanted to win it.

But I've always liked the idea of being taken into the finals. In my first game, LTS, I really wanted to win the Final 3 IC to make sure someone named Dee didn't win so that myself and someone named BMH would be the Final 2, but unfortunately I didn't even have a chance. In Tonga, I wanted to win for three reasons. One - to show you up. Two - because even though I knew you'd probably take me to the finals, there was a chance you'd just vote me out anyway to "get me". And three and most importantly - because of everything going on at the time and that day, I just decided on the "walk" there that instead of letting you win as I'd planned, that what the hell, I had will points and I was going to win just because I wanted to win an immunity challenge. It was really a split-second decision on my part, because I had been planning to lose it all along, but I'm happy with the decision I made.

And you know this! Just as in Tonga, all through Okinawa I had vaguely had the idea that I wanted two people in the Final 3 with me who I could sit back and let battle it out as to who was going to take me - and I made it happen. I wanted to do it just like Rich did in the first ever Survivor, and I did. I'm just amazed you read something into my reasoning that wasn't even there when everything regarding it has always been plain as day.

I can completely and honestly say that I had no fear whatsoever of taking heat for any loss because I was going to win, and I knew it. If you don't believe this or know this about me, then you don't know me, and you damn sure don't know the "inner" or "secret" me that you might think you do.

And you're damn right when you said I would've been furious had you written it into the story! First of all, because it's complete and utter bullshit, and secondly because it's completely slanderous.

Now, let's move onto how I lost the Final 3 IC and made sure Mike won on purpose. You and Amy, among others, claim the IC was un-throwable and that I threw it is just a lot of fluff-talk from me. Well, let me prove it to everyone as best I can right now how I specifically lost the IC and made Mike win at the same time.

It should've been obvious, but there's a few reasons it isn't. First, because you in particular say it isn't. You thought this IC was un-throwable and un-rigable and were proud of it. So when I claimed to throw it you didn't like it because it'd mean I once again got you without even trying. Second and less importantly, because Amy says it isn't and she was part of the IC. Of course, if Amy claims this it makes me seem less of a good player (not a bad one, but it makes me seem like I'm claiming I did things when I didn't) which I'm sure she's fine with, and more importantly to her, which I know since she mentioned this in the Final TC, it would mean I didn't manipulate her loss and subsequent ousting, which, since she doesn't like losing mental challenges (nor does she like losing to Isabella or feeling Isabella caused her loss) I'm sure would be fine with her. Third, many people like and respect both of you, so they take seriously what you say.

You say this was one of Mike's "shining moments".

Isabella laughs.

Don't get me wrong - Mike did have shining moments but this wasn't one of them other than the fact that he got the immunity necklace around his neck, and that he, like me, knew how many votes Matt received on Day 27.

As I said, I've always thought it was obvious, but I'll explain it step by step. I had to think fast at the IC, because we didn't know what we'd be doing ahead of time and at first glance this game did look un-throwable. But it occurred to me that if I played it right, not only could I make sure I lost, but unlike other immunity challenges, I could try to make sure Amy lost. In my thinking, if I knew all the answers well enough, I could try to answer all questions that I thought all three of us would know or that only Amy might know correctly. But if there was a question that seemed like only Amy wouldn't know it, I could try to answer it incorrectly. If I did it well, then the chances of Amy and I being the two to lose would increase.

This game was partly one of chance, which does mean that as much as I tried to throw it there was the possibility I wouldn't be able to throw it (supposing we all got a question wrong and Mike and I or Mike and Amy held up the same name or a scenario similar to this). As much as I tried, the throwing would only be as good as the question that got the two people eliminated. If it happened on one I tried to throw, then I threw it and made Mike win and Amy lose. If it happened on one I didn't try to throw, such as question 16 (Hogan's Eagle Scout state), then whoever won, won on their own and there was no throwing involved.

But also, since the game was partly chance, even if Mike had won on his own merit, or Amy won, or even I won, it would be no "shining achievement". It was partly memory and partly luck. If one person had never answered incorrectly, or answered a substantially smaller amount incorrectly, then you could say it was deserved more than luck. But we were all in danger positions throughout the game. In fact, we all did quite well in the game, all of us answering about 80% of the questions right, but we all also got about as many wrong guesses as the other and in fact Amy had the least amount of wrong guesses in total. I had 6, Mike had 6 and Amy had 5. If I hadn't been trying to throw the game, I would've only answered 3 incorrectly through the first 27 questions, so my chances of winning would've been better than Amy or Mike, but anyone still could've won.

Amy actually had the perceived small advantage going into the game. Mike and I had always been on the same tribe with the same people at the same time, so should've known similar information, while Amy had the opportunity to know different information than us because of which tribe she was on throughout the game. Obviously, we all could've gathered information about anything in the game along the way, but the chances would lean towards Mike and I naturally getting more of the same questions wrong thereby making the chances of he and I drawing the same name more likely.

Now let's go through question by question. As I was telling you through a private IM, I was waiting for a question that I thought Amy wouldn't get but Mike would, so you knew this beforehand. We all got #1 right. We all got #2 right.

#3 was about the rowers in the first relay race, and I honestly didn't know this question. Luckily, I was the only one who got it wrong.

We all got #4 and #5 right.

#6 asked where Lance was from, and funnily Amy was the one who got this one wrong. I thought if anything Mike would instead of Amy.

We all got #7 and #8 right.

#9 asked where Hogan was from and I honestly didn't know. Luckily, I was the only one who got it wrong.

#10 asked who was almost thrown out of college for drinking and I almost tried to guess wrong but thought we'd all probably know since we all knew Michelle well enough. Amy did get it wrong though.

#11 asked who Michelle beat for victory in Kendo wars and Mike got it wrong. So far no two people had gotten the same question wrong.

We all got #12 and #13 right.

#14 asked who played the speed round in the ice smash challenge. Mike got it wrong.

We all got #15 right.

#16 asked in which state was Hogan was the youngest Eagle Scout in history. I honestly didn't know it and we all got it wrong. Here, any of us could've won and it would've been the luck of the draw (unless the third person had drawn their own name). But we all drew different names. I had picked David in the hope that Amy might pick him, but she didn't.

#17 asked what Joni's last name was. I knew it was Newman; I probably knew better than anyone besides Michelle. But even though Mike and Joni didn't connect much, I thought he'd have a better chance of knowing it than Amy, so I guessed wrong on purpose for the first time. Was I surprised when I found out Amy got it right and Mike got it wrong! I could've shot myself in the foot here, but I still had my own name and I used it to be certain we didn't pull the same name.

#18 asked the name of Ryan's girlfriend. I knew it was Brandi down to the "i" instead of the "y" - I'd asked him a lot about her and he'd told me a lot about her during the first part of the game - but I knew Mike knew it was Brandi and Amy probably wouldn't, so I guessed wrong, and tried to be obvious about it by guessing "Gertrude". As I'd hoped, Amy got it wrong, but Mike also got it wrong. Here, if Amy and I had chosen the same disc, I would have partly thrown it since I purposely missed it, but I couldn't say I totally threw it because Mike got it wrong too and it was more up to chance as to who might pick the same name as someone else. We were all at risk and any of us could've won in this question. I chose Elizabeth, thinking Amy might choose it and knowing that Mike didn't know her at all so hopefully wouldn't choose her. We all chose different names.

#19 asked what Murtz's fake mother's name was, and I thought about guessing wrong since Mike should know better than Amy, but didn't because Murtz was on Sato a while and I knew Amy would've been interested in the story before she knew it was fake. Surprisingly, Mike got it wrong so I was glad I hadn't answered wrong.

After he chose a name, only one name was left. This meant that if any two people got a question wrong, the other person won. Before this point, even if I got Mike to win, it was partly luck in choosing the same name as Amy. But now if I purposely supposed correctly and missed a question I thought Amy but not Mike would miss, I'd have 100% thrown it by my own good judgement and made Amy lose, no luck involved since there would be no luck of the draw with the names anymore. If I judged the situation wrong, either Amy or I would win or we'd start all over. And if I really didn't know one after this point, I'd lose with whoever else didn't know it or we'd all start over. It was do or die or start all over for all of us.

We all got #20, #21, #22, #23, #24, #25 and #26 right. I have to say that's impressive for all of us.

#27 asked how many votes Matt received when voted out. Here I saw my perfect opportunity. I knew Mike didn't vote for Matt at that TC and he would know it, but if Amy thought about it quickly, she might assume all of Kamiya plus Hogan voted for him, which would be 5. She might assume the tricky part of the question was adding Hogan in. Mike, on the other hand, should be well aware he didn't vote for Matt and that Hogan did. So, I answered wrong on purpose with an improbable but not too out there number, saying 7.

Not only did it work, it worked like a charm, and Mike was the winner. Not only did Mike guess right and Amy guess wrong, but Amy guessed wrong by the exact amount I thought she might. I was really amazed at how well I'd judged the situation. Even though the game was part luck, I had managed to make Mike win when there was no chance for anyone to pick different names, on a question I'd purposely answered wrong hoping Amy would too and Mike wouldn't, and I'd even reasoned both of their exact guesses.

To be fair, even though your assessment of the game being "unthrowable" is inaccurate, the game is much harder to throw than others, and being able to throw it (and make a particular person win) depends not on just not doing well as in most challenges, but actually on a number of very different factors. You have to be able to do very well, i.e. know most of the answers, or else you won't be able to try to guess certain ones wrong. In addition, you have to be able to judge when the others might guess wrong or right answers, and on top of it all, you have to have it happen on a question that you'd managed to do this on, which would be a very small amount. You are almost right; this challenge was almost unthrowable. Almost. Because I threw it.

I couldn't tell anyone except you since I was still "Emma" (that's why my three wrong guesses were each obviously wrong but not too outrageous; I didn't want to chance getting Mike or Amy too suspicous about me or what I was doing before I was definitely Final 2). I didn't have long to think about it though, as we went immediately into a live Tribal Council.

Little did I know you did not like hearing what I was telling you about throwing the challenge and didn't agree with me at all. In the end, you let your ego concerning your challenge design get in the way of seeing I had actually managed to throw it in exactly the way I hoped, surprising even myself, better than I could've thrown probably any other challenge since in most I could've only taken myself out.

But I'm not saying all this or going over everything in detail for you, even though I thought you'd be smart enough to see the reality; I'm doing it for anyone who might be interested in hearing about it.

Amy also said something quite interesting in your behind-the-scenes series. She made the comment that she didn't "look up answers", which she says, verbatim, "we were forbidden to do but I still think at least one of them did". Please enlighten us, Amy, with who. I honestly have no idea if she's talking about Mike or me, but I can say on my end that I never did and I will venture to say that I don't think Mike would do it, unless there is something she knows that I don't.

This statement of hers just seems oddly malicious, like she's trying to infer that maybe she lost out on winning Okinawa because someone cheated. First of all, even if Mike did do it, after seeing Amy's statement and becoming perplexed I looked at the rules of that game and no where does it say that we couldn't look at the board during the game. I will say that it seems that not looking at the board could be inferred, but it wasn't in the rules if Mike did do it. But I don't think he did and I didn't, so I'd love to hear her thoughts on this because otherwise it seems as if she's subtley saying she might've lost because one of us cheated. After finding out what I know of her, that sounds very ironic.

Anyway, after the IC came the TC and Mike had to vote one of us out. I was confident it'd be Amy, but it was funny that Mike brought up Joe convincing him to vote her out over me. If I were her, I'd be upset too. I don't exactly know if I'd blame him; I think if any of us were living with our partner we'd probably tell them about the game and they'd probably give us their opinions. But I think it's straddling a very fine line when they end up influencing you to do one thing over another when you're supposed to be playing the game alone, especially such an important decision. Even though if I were her I'd be mad too just because there's that chance he would've voted the other person out instead, I still think if he'd had to decide alone, he would've voted Amy out regardless.

As I've mentioned, Amy did lose her usually crack-proof composure a little in this TC, seemed to come close to blackmailing Mike should he vote her out and became very catty with me. She brought up her agreement with me that she'd vote for me as a way to convince Mike he should vote me out. I knew even if I completely acknowledged it, he'd probably still vote Amy out. But I didn't want to look to the jury like I had a sure vote even if she didn't think I was the best player and therefore making Mike look more sympathetic, so I nipped it in the bud. Amy asked me if that meant her bind to vote for me was broken, and I basically said I wanted her to vote for who was the best player. I bet it angered her that we turned that comment around to show how she was threatening Mike should he vote her out.

I did want to make Mike the one to vote Amy out, not only to hopefully get her vote, but to show the entire jury how hypocritical he was. You can't get anymore hypocritical than vowing publicly to vote me out the first chance you get to get revenge for your friends, then deciding to vote the other person out and take me to the Final 2 with you for your own personal gain. That showed how astoundingly hypocritical he was, how I could manipulate him and I thought it was another big plus for me going into the Final TC. In particular, not only would it hopefully get Amy's vote for me, but it'd put someone on the jury who has sway and is angry at Mike. I can only speculate, but I think it would've worked had Amy not unfairly known ahead of time that I was Isabella.

I think I succeeded in my Final TC, and I was confident I would win.

So most of what I expected to happen happened, and I succeeded in almost everything I tried to do. The two noticeable exceptions are that Michelle messed up my chosen plans at the Final 4, and Amy knowing I was Isabella beforehand, others knowing beforehand, and people talking and influencing eachother during TC helped to mess up my plan of winning. Unexpectedly winning the Final 4 immunity helped my plans and the Final 3 IC, which made it possible to make Amy lose, helped my plans during that whole period.

Julie: And that concludes the call-in portion of our interview.

Julie turns toward Isabella.

Isabella, before I ask you the question I was going to ask, I'd like to play you a clip from the behind-the-scenes series of what Amy has already said about knowing your true identity:

The scene cuts to Amy talking.

Amy: I'd literally forgotten about CJ's heads up. There were so many rumors floating around about Okinawa among the Tongans that I dismissed them all almost as soon as I heard them. Good thing, too; if I'd listened to them all, my head wouldn't have been in the game at all. Man, the red herrings floating around would've made anyone's head spin.

Also, remember that I'd already been through the Dave Roth/Murtz pull-the-wool-over-the-eyes act by the time I figured out that Emma was Isabella. That episode only cemented my theory that Emma was a fake, since Roth was. If Mario let one pseudonym in, there could've been 15 of 'em. And think about it: there has to be a reason why you'd want to play under a fake name, and the biggest one is a high profile identity. If Isabella doesn't have that around these parts, I'm not sure who does.

So yes. CJ or no CJ, I'd have known anyway.

The scene cuts back to Julie and Isabella.

Julie: Did you know she'd already said this?

Isabella: No, I didn't know before this interview that she'd said that.

Julie: What are your thoughts on it?

Isabella: It doesn't change anything. It seems to me a very vague answer and she's basically saying that she did know but she didn't know but she would've known anyway.

Isabella laughs.

Let's go point by point on this one. First, she said that she'd "literally forgotten" that she'd been told Isabella was playing in Okinawa. I'm sure anyone that's just been told Isabella was playing in their game, even though there's someone in the game suspicously resembling her, would just immediately forget all about it. But wait, she has an excuse! There were too many rumors! She was hearing so many rumors that she couldn't be bothered to take any of them seriously, or even remember them, not even ones by one of her best friends, CJ. Amy, how many other people were you being told were playing in Okinawa that it was just too much to consider me? It sounds to me like an excuse to try to alleviate any blame to her knowing and having been told.

She admits that yes, she was told I was playing early on, but even though there was someone in the game that was a perfect match for Isabella, she was being bombarded with too many other rumors to consider it as plausible and just "forgot" she'd been told I was playing.

Next, she says that she'd already been through finding out Murtz was an alias before figuring out I was Isabella, but in the next sentence says when she found out Murtz was an alias it cemented her theory that "Emma" was Isabella. To be fair, she could've just worded it a little oddly and meant that once she figured out who I was, remembering what happened with Murtz helped cement her theory. But for this to be true, you'd still have to believe she'd already "forgotten" what she'd been told and hadn't "remembered" it when the whole Murtz incident went down.

Even for a person with below-average intelligence, if they had been around for awhile and heard Isabella was playing in Okinawa, it wouldn't have taken long to put two and two together and think "Emma" might be an alias, even if they weren't on the same tribe. But Amy? She's in Mensa! You'd think even if a person hadn't figured it out when first told, when they found out someone else was an alias, i.e. Murtz, they'd go through every other person playing in their mind and wonder if they were possibly using an alias, especially if info regarding other people playing using aliases had already been delivered straight to their doorstep. But as Amy would tell you, not her. She'd "forgotten".

Third, she talks about how, after "forgetting" she'd heard I was playing, she finally figured out on her own I was playing. She says it's obvious to her that if someone were using an alias they'd have to have a reason, that being high-profile would be a very big reason, and that if I wasn't high-profile around here no one was. Well, I must digress, I am flattered she'd say that about me. But she's basically saying that when she thinks alias it's only natural that I'd be one of the first people that pops into her head. But yet, when she'd been hand-fed the information that I was playing, there were too many rumors and she "forgot". I must say, to believe all of what she's saying is something like believing Nixon when he said he wasn't involved in Watergate, or believing Clinton when he said he did not have sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, or that he did smoke pot but "didn't inhale". Amy's toking up a storm, but not to worry, she says, she didn't inhale!

Julie, I hope you have some Lysol, because all this bullshit that I'm wading through is becoming too much!

So far she's "forgotten" about being told I was playing in Okinawa, then she's said that knowing about Murtz helped cement her theory that I was Emma, but then claims that she actually figured it out later because it's too obvious that I'd be one of the most-likely candidates to use an alias. But are you ready for the best part of all?

It doesn't matter if CJ told her who I was because she would've known anyway!

Isabella laughs again.

That's like saying that yes, you already saw the answer sheet before taking a test, but it doesn't matter because you would've gotten an "A" anyway, or like saying that yes, the election you won was rigged, but it doesn't matter because you would've won it anyway. Sure, you can claim it all you want and there's a small chance you could be right in "what-if" land, but you were already involved in shady actions that makes your claim uncredible.

What Amy's statement seems like to me is a bunch of vague answers designed to answer the question someone asked her, but in a somewhat confusing and non-specific way tries to alleviate any blame directed to her (after all, she "forgot"! And she would've known anyway!). After all, who'd question her?

Isabella gives a mischevious smile.

I would. It seems like, if all this were true, she would've naturally given specifics. Like the exact time, or even the general area of time, that she figured out who I was during the game after she "forgot". It's always possible to try and give some kind of specifics later, but it says a lot that she didn't then and hasn't before this interview.

And let me ask this question - If Amy figured it out on her own later, why didn't she write any confessionals about it? Why didn't she use the information to her advantage? At the least, why didn't she tell the host about it? I'll tell you why. Because it's all utter and complete bullshit. So that's what I think about that clip.

Julie: The behind-the-scenes series turned out to be quite extensive and the host was very opinionated throughout. You've already made quite a few references to it, but I'd like to know your opinion on the series in general.

Isabella: I think it's great he did it; I know it was enjoyable for him and for all the fans of the series. I'm very flattered by certain parts that I've read about me, especially parts of my "section". Of course, I have been critical of other parts of it, and rightly so. If he wants to give his opinion on everything, that's fine, but it doesn't mean it's fact. The host is right most of the time, but not all the time, and even though he never claimed to be, his opinions, especially when unchallenged, definitely help shape the audience's mindset.

I will say that from what I've seen of it, the host has at times jumped the fence from giving his opinion to blending revisionist history and personal opinion with fact. I think it was a temptation he couldn't resist, especially when there was no one there to really temper some of it, because I think he's intelligent enough to realize what he's doing.

To be honest, it crossed my mind after I came back and started catching up on the titanic that is the behind-the-scenes series, to do my own, shorter series, something like I did for Tonga. I could've even done it on another site. I thought it'd be interesting and entertaining for anyone who might want to watch it, but I've decided against it for a few reasons. First and foremost, I'm ready to be done and over with Okinawa. I had a blast, there's still many things I'd love to say and comment on that I haven't, but I feel that after this interview I will be satisfied. Also, this interview alone has required a huge time commitment, and I don't really want to commit myself to something even more extensive for this. After this interview, I'd rather invest my time in something that's moving forward instead of looking back. Third, I just don't really think it's necessary. Anyone interested would find out some new information and hear how things went down from my point of view, but frankly I don't think I've ever been lacking in giving my opinion so far and even though the host's version isn't completely accurate, enough of the important stuff is so that I don't feel compelled to have to challenge everything I saw as inaccurate. Some of the glaring inaccuracies regarding me I've already mentioned in this interview, and that's enough for me.

Before I continue though, I do want to mention one more inaccuracy that I'd like to clear up. The host made it seem as if I partly steered the vote to Matt in the episode he was voted out and in his behind-the-scenes series. Honestly, it makes me look more like I'm leading the show more than I was at that moment (which was a rare moment!).

Isabella laughs.

I wasn't happy at all with Matt, but I wanted it to be Hogan. I lobbied hard to have it be Hogan, I was the least close with Hogan out of anyone, and I'd break up a Joni/Hogan alliance, but Joni absolutely refused, and the only way we'd avoid a tie was voting for Matt with Hogan switching. I didn't mind a tie, we had a 75% chance of losing a Sato (the un-immune were Joni, Lance, Matt and Hogan) and I really didn't mind losing Joni; I thought it'd be interesting at the least. But the problem was, all the other Kamiyans had a problem with risking Joni when if Hogan would vote with us, we'd have no risk, or at the most if he betrayed us we'd only have the same risk as before. They made the right decision for themselves then, and I decided to accept it. I could've gone back to Sato and forced a tie, which with Mike's Hogan vote wouldn't have been a tie, but that would've been stupid and I had to decide that I couldn't give any more power to Matt for my own safety. Keeping him over Hogan would've been one thing, but voting out Joni and giving Sato the majority would've been a completely different and undesirable thing. Once I realized it was going to be Matt, I wasn't terribly happy, but realized it'd be poetic justice that I'd vote him out the same TC he'd wanted to vote me out.

Though I had every right to vote him out, I didn't want to. I felt I'd put him on such a rollercoaster that even if he were about to betray me, I owed him more than to vote him out then and thought we still might make up and maybe be the Final 2 (or I might pull and drag him into the Final 2 with me).

Isabella laughs.

So I think it's great for the fans that this project had a host willing and able to give so much extra to entertain, but what he gave was many times opinion when it seemed like fact, and I'm happy I was able to dispel and challenge at least a few of them during this interview.

Isabella laughs.

And did you know Mike was the right winner?

Julie: Let's talk about a few of his other opinions. He has said many times that you were annoying as a contestant because of your constant questioning of his methods and your continual waiting til the last minute on deadlines and even sometimes lateness. He has said now he understands how Rafe felt in Tonga. How do you respond to that?

Isabella laughs.

Isabella: Well, let's call a spade a spade. If he thought I was annoying as one of his contestants, I can understand why. I will always question a host's methods that I don't trust fully, and I didn't trust him fully as the host. To be sure, he was an exceptional host, but I knew he wasn't prone to worrying about details and could miss something that in the end might prove very important, which indeed happened or almost happened a number of times during the game. Let's see - to begin with there was the Anna telling Jenne about me mess which might have cost me winning the game; there was the time I warned him that if he didn't make us fill out the "surveys" individually that our tribe would discuss and eventually outwit whatever twist he might have in store, which happened; there was the time I told him to plan for a four or five hour Final TC because even though he needed to hurry and hoped it wouldn't, it probably would, and he refused to, and then the Final TC lasted about as long as I predicted; I could keep going with things just as big and many smaller things, but the point is that many times I questioned what was happening, it was because I saw what would happen when he didn't.

As far as continually waiting til the last minute on deadlines, that's my prerogative. I have every right and it's completely within the rules to always wait until the last minute. I have my reasons - It was my strategy to wait til the last minute on sending any stats or votes in just in case something changed, since once you sent them in they were unchangeable. I really don't see why more people don't do it because to send them in early many times means giving up a possible advantage should something happen, and changes have happened at the last minute before. If that annoys him, oh well. He has no justification to be annoyed at me for this. I have the world's smallest violin between my index finger and thumb, and I can play it for him. I'm not going to give up a possible advantage just to appease the host.

However, lateness is a completely different matter than either of the others. He has every right to be annoyed if anyone is late with things, especially one of his main characters. Lateness should not be tolerated, and if I ran or run a game, I wouldn't tolerate it in the slightest, but it doesn't mean that no one will be late. I would have to deal with it accordingly, with according penalties. I will admit that I was late a few times during Okinawa, but I was always prepared to take the penalties, as long as he doled them out to each and every person who was late on anything during the game. However, I was only ever late with confessionals or reasonings, and a few times on daily tasks. I was never late on even one sending in of challenge stats or vote names. And I always, always, told him that if he felt disposed to not receiving my reasonings or confessionals because they weren't sent right away, then that was his right, as long as he was the same with everyone. He allowed me to send them in late, saying others were as well, but urging me to hurry up about it.

I did take more than awhile on some of it, especially for the final part of the game. I did want him to use my confessionals and reasonings - I had written many of them already by hand on paper but hadn't typed them in. The game ended and the story started to be aired, and I still hadn't sent them all in. If he wouldn't have allowed it, I would've been fine with him not using any confessionals or reasonings I hadn't sent earlier. But as it was, there was me and there were others who hadn't sent in all their confessionals and he wanted the best story possible so he allowed us to send in whatever we had left.

Though I had a lot left to send in, I had already sent in a huge amount of confessionals throughout the game, and I know the volume I sent in was in the top half, if not in the top few, of contestant's total amount of confessionals sent. I did, however, still feel obliged to send in the rest of what I had because I knew it could only add to the story and because I knew the host was waiting for and counting on them.

As I sent them in, I knew he had begun to wonder if I wasn't changing them from their original form or making up new ones since they seemed to peg certain things happening in the story so well. I can understand his suspicions - if I were in his position, I would be suspicious with most anybody who did that. In fact, if I were in his position, I wouldn't have allowed any confessionals to be sent in late by anybody - I'd probably put like a three day time-limit or something on confessionals "done" during a particular day, maybe even have the end of each game day be the deadline for any confessionals from that "day". But that's me, and he'd allowed not only me but others to do this, to make his story as good as possible.

His suspicions were only natural. However, first of all, I've already had a very good track record of predicting things ahead of time and being very perceptive in general. Second of all, we were good friends and I thought he trusted me. Third, I'd already told him, during the game, the jist of many of the confessionals I hadn't sent in. And finally, he was the one who'd allowed late confessionals in the first place!

By the time the story was about half-way aired, to the merge and such, I'd noticed he wasn't using many of my confessionals anyway, especially the ones I had sent in late. It was his choice which to use, but I had put a lot of work into sending in those extra confessionals for naught. Not using my Hogan vote really struck me because that was one of my best votes of the entire game and he didn't use it because it was "too interesting" and would take away from the others!

Isabella laughs.

What should I do, apologize because he considered me too interesting and thought I'd steal the spotlight from others? Around this time, I decided I wouldn't worry as much about spending all this time to send these extra confessionals because I didn't think he'd use them anyway. I didn't lax up on sending them because I was working on my new game, as the host accuses me of. To be honest, that wasn't the best decision on my part. I should've sent them all anyway, even if he didn't use them. But, that was my decision, and I stuck to it. Of course, after the fall-out between the host and I, which was during the airing of the finale, I stopped sending in anything, even though I did have a lot for the last few days that I did have a suspicion he would use because there were so few of us left.

The entire confessional situation wasn't my proudest moment, but I'm glad I got to address it here. If any other contestant is mad because I was sending in late confessionals, then oh well. I wasn't the only one, even if I might've been the one that did it the most, and that's only because of the quantity of my confessionals. So anyone who might've sent in each and every confessional on time could have a right to be mad, but they'd have to direct it at the host. It was his decision. However, it in no way changed the outcome of the game and at the most could only influence what exactly was written in the story, which was always up to the host anyway.

As far as being late and him being annoyed at me, yes I was sometimes late on the less important things, but so were others, and he was the one who allowed most of it. So for the few times I was late and he nipped it in the bud, he has a right to be annoyed that he had to do that. But for the times he let it slide for me and others, he has no one to blame but himself. It doesn't mean that I'm not to blame as well - any late mandatory confessionals, voting reasons (which it was inferred we should give a reason instead of just a vote name) and daily tasks were all my fault, as well as any time I'd tell him I'd give him this confessional or that, but not do it until later, or not at all. The point is that past any deadlines or any unclear deadlines (such as when a confessional should be sent in by), if he let things be put off then he has to accept that he set up the situation, and even though the blame is split between himself and whoever is late, he himself can only blame himself because he was the one in the position to make and enforce the rules. I would advise anyone running a game to make specific rules, deadlines and consequences about when confessionals and such should be turned in to avoid your own headaches.

He also said he understands how Rafe felt concerning me. If he's saying that concerning questioning his methods and waiting til the last minute to send in votes and stats, then OK. That's why Rafe always joked it was a test to have me as a contestant. But I want to make it clear that I wasn't late in Tonga. I think the host is under the impression I was late in Tonga like I sometimes was in Okinawa with confessionals and such. If he does think that, then he's wrong. The only voting reason I ever sent in later in Tonga was the one for The Roach himself, which Rafe OKed and which was sent in within the week; every single other one was sent in with the vote on time, all mandatory confessionals were done on time and every confessional I sent in Tonga was sent within a few days of that day, which was considered on-time. Even at the end, which included when I voted for Roach, when I had some very stressful stuff going on in my life, all my stuff was sent in within the week, which Rafe OKed. People were late on things in Tonga, such as Rafe, but I wasn't one of them.

Anyway, as for the host's opinions, I knew he was annoyed at me. I think on the whole he did a good job of putting his annoyance at me aside to write the story, but I think if he wasn't annoyed at me he would've been more likely to use more of my confessionals and write me more as the star he'd promised to. Obviously, many of the Okinawans are probably delighted he was annoyed at me and that he at least tried to dim my character a little. I was fully aware that what I did regarding questioning him on things and the lateness with the confessionals and reasonings in particular could annoy him, but I chose to take my chances. My best advice for anyone playing in a game like this would be to annoy the host as little as possible and always send in everything on time to maximize your chances of having a good write-up in the story. As for the questioning him, I decided making sure things happened fairly and nothing messed everything up for all of us was more important whenever I noticed something, and I had faith that if he was annoyed at me, it would have subsided before he started writing the story and he'd be intelligent enough to put it aside either way. As for the confessionals, I knew he wanted them and would've liked to have them all and it was my fault they weren't all in on-time, so it was his decision on what to do with my character with what he had, and if he decided to dim my character because of the confessionals I told him I had but he didn't receive, then I can blame no one but myself.

Julie: On a different note, I'd like to -

Okinawa Host: Hello?

Julie whips her head to the camera and the voice of the caller, infuriated but hiding it and smiling.

Julie: Hello?

Okinawa Host: I have another question for Isabella. Do you think Michelle's dagger pull cost you the game?

Julie is raging inside, but she quickly tempers herself to let Isabella answer so as not to make a scene on camera.

Isabella: No, I don't think Michelle's dagger pull cost me the game at all. If I couldn't win because of that, then I wouldn't have deserved to win.

Julie gives a stiff laugh.

Julie: And I guess that's finally the end of the call-in portion of the interview.

Julie looks towards Isabella again.

Now, Isabella, I'd like to bring up the...

Okinawa Host: Oh wait, I have another one. Could you have beaten her in the final vote?

Julie slowly turns her head to look at the camera and caller's voice in silence, with a smile on her lips but daggers shooting from her eyes.

Isabella: Yes, I believe I could've beaten Michelle in a final vote. It would've been tough, but I could've done it.

Julie: Is that all your questions for Isabella, caller?

Okinawa Host: Yeah, I think so.

Julie: Well,

Julie gives another robotic laugh and turns to look at Isabella.

We know at least one person is very interested in this interview. Now, we have finally ended the call-in portion of the interview. Isabella, I'd like to bring up the infamous game including returning players that you were planning again. There've been rumors swirling about the cast and some other specifics, but would you care to give us all some specifics on the game that was not to be, from the source herself?

Isabella laughs.

Isabella: Yes, I will, and I hope people might enjoy this. For now, I'll only give the cast list, tribe divisions and some information on the start of the game.

I've already heard what has been said about it by guests in the behind-the-scenes series, and it's mostly correct. I've also heard some other specifics that have been talked about. However, I'm not really sure what all Matt, or Ryan for that matter, might've told others so far. In time, I might open the board that Matt, Ryan and I kept all our information on for the public as a relic, but I won't yet. If I plan another game, I'm not sure what I might use from this game to that, or what ideas from it I might let others planning games use if they ask for my input, so even though I'm not sure what might've already been told, I'm keeping quiet on most of it, and I'd ask Matt and Ryan to as well.

However, onto what I will tell. I had initially envisioned the game as a battle between Okinawa All-Stars, Tonga All-Stars and new players. At first, Murtz came to me, talking about wanting a new All-Star game and all the rumours of other All-Stars, including Taylor's, being planned but how he didn't think they'd end up being fair or good, and telling me how great he thought I'd be at running it but that he knew I never would; that I'd either want to be in it or just wouldn't do it. I assured him I didn't want to play in a game again for awhile, if at all. He put the idea in my head to run the game though, and even though I didn't take it seriously at first, it intrigued me. It seemed a natural progression for me and something I'd really love to do (and I'm sure there was a healthy dose of thinking I'd plan an even better game and have an even more amazing story than Roach's).

I didn't like the idea of doing an All-Star so soon, but I realized I could plan a game that wasn't so much All-Stars as All-Stars battling new players, which was completely different and in my opinion superior to any other ideas floating around for one. It'd be more a "best of the best" - the best of Tonga, the best of Okinawa, and the best newcomers we could find. The general buzz going around at the time was that there should be an All-Star that pitted Tonga against Okinawa, but how can you justify having eight All-Stars from each season? That'd be half of each cast! But when you narrow it down to six from each season, it starts being more manageable and reasonable, and the idea of having six "stars" from each season battling eachother as well as six newcomers really intrigued me.

I knew I wouldn't be playing even though I'd be considered one of the biggest stars, so I knew I needed all the other biggest stars. On the top of my list was of course Roach from Tonga, and I knew for me it'd be pointless to do any type of "All-Star" without him, especially for only two seasons. If he wouldn't play, I wouldn't do it, but he promised he would so I decided to go for it.

The first thing I had to do was shortlist the other people I really wanted. After Roach, I knew I had to have Anna, Amy and Michelle. They all made the Final 4, they were all great and interesting players and they were all "stars" and "fan favourites". This was the creme of the crop for me. As long as I had these four, the rest would fall into place.

However, I knew I couldn't run this game alone; I'd never intended to. I was looking for help and knew I wanted another player from either Tonga or Okinawa to help me. The people on the top of my list were David, Ryan and Matt. They all seemed to have something great to bring to the table. David was the first person I thought of, but also the first person I rejected. I knew I probably wouldn't cast David in the game, so I wouldn't have to worry about taking him out of the cast to have him help me host, but I didn't know him very well either. I was really impressed by his technical skill, but had heard he didn't like me and also had heard about the whole e-mail situation in Okinawa with Amy. Also, I didn't know if he had any writing skills, because I was looking for someone with them. I knew he seemed reasonable and figured I could get past the not-liking-me part if it should be true, but since I didn't know him in general, since I didn't know if he had writing skills and since I knew he'd come close to cheating in Okinawa, I decided it'd be better not to ask him, even though I was still planning on asking him to help design the website and the technical stuff, hoping I could entice him into doing it. Also, I was still talking with Murtz, and he advised me not to ask David; he didn't trust him. Even though I still would've asked David if I'd wanted to, with all the other stuff I was weighing, it helped me decide not to ask David. In spite of it all, I almost did ask David to help me - it was a very close decision. It's a good thing too, because eventually another important, though not serious, issue came up that would've hindered David possibly running the game.

But if I wasn't going to ask him, then my top choices left were Matt or Ryan. Ryan seemed the whole package. I knew he was creative and I knew I could trust him very well with all the responsibility, enforcing the rules and keeping secrets if he decided to help. I even knew he had technical skills, because he has his own website. However, the big problem with Ryan was that even though he wasn't my "creme of the crop" I knew I probably wanted to cast him to play in the game, not run it. He was a great player and entertaining, and I wanted to see how he'd do in a game without me in it, since I was the one who took him down in Okinawa.

So I still had one other possibility - Matt. The biggest things going for Matt were creativity and writing skills, and they were big pluses. I knew I could count on Matt to help me design a kick-ass game. Also, I knew if he decided to do it, he'd probably be really into doing it, and I needed someone enthusiastic who'd stick with the project. As well, he was online a lot. I really wanted someone who was online a lot of the day, since I might not be able to be. I also knew he was intelligent and I thought he could handle it. With Matt, the things I worried about were possible burnout for him after awhile since it was such a huge project to take on, and keeping secrets. I didn't think he'd leak them to just anybody, but I was worried he might tell his closer friends details thinking they wouldn't tell anyone, but then those details ending up leaking out. I just didn't know if he could be completely secretive about the project. However, I was confident that he wouldn't leak important details to people who might be playing or mess up the game in any way like that - it was more an after-the-fact, what-happened spoiler leakage to fans kind of situation that I was worried about. Also, I was considering Matt being in the game. In fact, on first glance I thought I would cast him in the game. He's a fantastic character as well as a great player, and I'd love to see him win a game. But, I also knew being a part of the production of this game could be great for him. It was a big project, and I knew if we successfully pulled it off it'd be a great ego boost for Matt, and I thought it'd be a great experience for him.

No one was a perfect candidate. I'd already decided not to ask David, but between Matt and Ryan it was hard. They were both great players and a big part of Okinawa. I really didn't want to ask either of them to help since I was considering casting them both, but after deciding against David I knew I had to pick one and ask. In the end, I decided to go with instinct. I picked Matt over Ryan because I just had an instinct to do so.

Now he had to say yes. I already had the idea of possibly having a third partner who'd help us write the story, but I thought since I picked Matt I might not have to since I knew he had writing skills. I decided to be completely honest with him when presenting him the idea, and telling him the most extreme version of the way things might happen, so he'd be completely certain of the commitment he was making and the stress he might have to endure.

In my plan I had the ultimate control over the project even though I wanted partners, which only meant that if we came to an impasse with a decision, mine would stick. Sort of like having a 50.1% share while my partner had a 49.9% share. I knew the commitment I'd have to make - I'd basically be living and breathing this project for months. I was already trying to be online less, but in taking this project on I was resigned to however much time I'd have to put into it. However, I wanted a partner willing to use a lot of their time on the daily running of the game and writing of the story so I wouldn't have to. I wanted to present it that way to whoever I asked, so they were clear that my role was mainly in the design of the game, while their role was the running and writing of the game.

At first glance, it does seem unbalanced that I'd give a lot of the grunt work to someone else, but those were my conditions. Secretly, I was going to be willing to run this project single-handedly if I had to, and I was probably going to be online and help run and help write much more than my partner was expecting. But I know human nature, and I didn't want my partner to depend on me or drop their responsibility because they knew I'd take up the slack, like Anna did in Okinawa. Instead, my perfect partner was one that was ready to run and write the entire game and story themself if need be, just like me. And to have that commitment, I'd have to present it that I was only responsible for the design and they were completely responsible for the running and writing (I really shouldn't be giving away these secrets when I might be looking for a partner to run a new game!).

Isabella laughs.

For someone to give this kind of commitment, I'd know they were serious. I did want to bring this up because the host among others have talked about how this situation seemed unfair and sympathetic to Matt, but if the game had went through Matt probably would've been more likely to feel like I was doing too much rather than too little and leaving too little rather than too much for him.

I told Matt that he was a great player, but that I wasn't going to cast him in the game, and that I'd love for him to help me; that I respected him and thought he'd have a lot to offer this project. And I put the terms to him just as I outlined above - that he'd be in charge of running and writing the game basically by himself even though I would help, that we would be partners but I'd have final say if we couldn't agree on something, and that I'd be in charge of the game design, casting and everything leading up to the game starting even though he would help.

He wasn't sure, but seemed excited. As we talked I realized he'd probably want to help but wouldn't take on the responsibility of writing the entire story alone, which I think was a very smart decision on his part. The next time we talked he accepted, and again I made his responsibilities, as well as mine, very clear. Now we had me to design the game, Matt to run the game, but we still needed a writer. Matt agreed to help write, but he didn't even want to be the main writer.

It wasn't long before I found Ryan Crist through Roach, because Ryan had helped on some fictitional All-Stars. Roach recommended him as a writer and that's all I needed. I asked Ryan and he accepted. He agreed to write the entire story. He wouldn't be responsible for any of the design or running of the game, even though he said he might help some, but he'd have the responsibility to basically watch the story unfold and read all the confessionals as they came in, and after it was over he'd have the responsibility to write it all. Since I didn't know him, just in case he dropped out or something, I had Matt as a back-up and even though I'm not a writer, if I had to I would've written the entire thing by myself if push came to shove.

This was a great scenario. I knew most people who ran these games didn't start writing until the game was over because of all their responsibilities and by then they were usually burnt out, but I'd have a writer who would hopefully start writing the episodes during the game, then altering them as needed to fit the storylines once the game finished. I was excited.

So now came the design. I'd already come up with a lot of it by myself. I had a general design, and I had some ideas for an improved stats system. By the end we had designed a new and improved system, including some new Skills. I think it truly would've been superior to the original, and I can say that with even more conviction since I was a part of coming up with the original idea in the first place (Rafe and I would discuss it in Roach's All-Star fiction thread at survivorsucks, how we hated his method of figuring out who won challenges and such and how we'd do it instead).

We decided to surprise everyone with the new skill system and actually have them fill out their new skill chart during the silence period before the game began. First, we just thought that'd be a proper time to present it. Second, we didn't want to give returning players, since they already knew eachother, a chance to discuss their new charts with eachother pre-game. We were taking all kinds of precautions against the returning players from Tonga and Okinawa and this was one of them. You see, I hate cheating and I was definitely prepared to be a hardliner about rules, but I also knew even if certain people didn't want to cheat, they couldn't help talking to eachother. Just look at the real All-Star. Contestants weren't supposed to talk after being contacted about going on the show, but there's numerous reports that they did and of secret prior alliances.

As far as other precautioins, I knew I wouldn't be able to implement a no-talking-to-anyone-else prohibition from the time we started contacting people until the beginning of the game, so I didn't even try. But I did warn them all to specifically not talk about the game with anyone else in any way shape or form, not even anything remotely related or that could in anyway be interpreted as being remotely related to the game. It would be a perfect world if I could say I had faith that everyone would abide and play fair, but I knew people wouldn't be able resist "bending the rules" a little - I just hope they know they're going to rot in hell for doing it.

Isabella laughs.

So anyway, I went into it with the attitude that even though I hope people won't chat about the game and form alliances beforehand, I must prepare as if they will. Which meant that by the time the game started, throwing them for as many loops as possible. First, they'd have no idea at all that there'd be new players. Hopefully, they'd all be assuming it was going to be Tonga vs Okinawa, and while we as hosts would never lie, we'd always word everything so they'd just assume it was going to be Tonga vs Okinawa, which we hoped most, if not all, did.

Second was the skill chart. It had nothing to do with alliances, but it would throw them for a loop. We were letting them assume their old skill charts would be used, but during the silence period, we were going to present them with the new ones, and we also felt this would put them on a fairer playing field as the new contestants, since all 18 would be filling out charts during the silence period. It would've been just as fair if we'd kept the old charts, we just wouldn't have let anyone change anything from their original chart. But since Tonga's and Okinawa's were slightly different, the new chart was for the best any way you look at it.

The third was not letting anyone have any idea which people we'd cast. Every single interested party from Tonga or Okinawa was e-mailed and the day before the silence period no one had any idea if they'd been cast or not. This was by far our best defense in stopping pre-set alliances. The only exceptions were Roach, who knew because I made him promise he'd play, and Amy, who knew because we had to convince her to play. I'm sure there were people who were assuming they'd be playing, including Murtz, who we hadn't told if he was playing, but assumed he was since he'd originally gotten me to plan this specifically so that he could play again.

In a way, I was laughing thinking about what all their reactions were going to be on Day 1, but in another way, I felt bad for the people who we were going to be cut - we were really going to cut more than we kept, but since they all thought at least 8 from each season were going to play, most prospective contestants were probably fairly confident they'd get to play.

Our plan was to put everyone in silence period and put them all through the training, so that everyone would still have no idea who's playing. In theory, if everyone in silence didn't cheat, none of them would have any idea who's playing, but we were planning in case the people that weren't cast tried to contact the others or such, or people started to get alliances together during silence. We were also planning in case any one of our cast members dropped out during silence.

So on Day 1, 12 lucky returning players would start the game and be asked to block every single Tongan or Okinawan they knew as well as any mutual friends of other Tongans or Okinawans except for any Tongans or Okinawans on their tribe, and the others would be gently let down that they weren't cast and asked to please not contact any of the ones playing.

We were working on the returning players cast list, but we also had to find 6 new kick-ass players. Roach already knew about the new players (I had to tell him to convince him to play and to get his old aps; I would've rathered him not know but I didn't think it was specifically unfair, especially since I trusted him not to make any sort of pre-game alliances when I didn't trust most not to) and Murtz already knew (it was by chance really; I mentioned it to him when I first thought of it before it all became a reality, but again, I trusted him not to cheat and make pre-game alliances either). Neither one had any idea who the new players would be.

We as hosts were at a dillemma. How could we advertise for new players and not make any Tongans or Okinawans suspicious? First, I asked Roach for the applications of all his other finalists, which he sent. Second and mainly, we decided to have Ryan advertise for the new players in his column, under the guise of Survivor: Solomons. Anyone looking would think it's a continuation of the Tonga/Okinawa series, but hopefully not have any idea it had anything to do with the new "All-Stars" game. They'd think Ryan was the only host and it'd include all new players.

The hardest thing was that we couldn't advertise on the Okinawa board, which is where we knew we'd find so many interested people. But we advertised on Survivor-Central, only in Ryan's column, which we hoped no Tongans or Okinawans would read. Ryan interviewed the applicants and posted his chats with them on our board for casting purposes.

Even though the concept was fantastic, we were very worried and protective of our "newbies". We were all worried about their chances in this game. We thought it would be natural for the Tongans and Okinawans to band together and vote them all off. Even if we put Tongans on one team, Okinawans on another, and the newbies alone, at merge it seemed very likely the Tongans and Okinawans would just vote the newbies off.

This caused some consternation on our behalf. I finally decided, as nice as it might seem, there is no way we should divide them up as season vs season vs newbies. The only chance of the newbies surviving was to mingle them together from the beginning. Even though we knew that made it much more likely many newbies would be voted off in the beginning, we thought if we put the right mix of people on each team, it was anyone's game. Specifically, we didn't want to put newbies on a team who seemed similar, we wanted each team to include newbies who were very different and who each had something in common with some of the returning players on each team. My main goal was to put what I perceived might turn out as a 3 vs 3 on each team, so that it was fair and the best people would survive (and evilly, to increase the chances for ties or stress from possible ties, which would mean more tension, drama and a better story).

One idea was breaking the teams down into halves, such as half newbies/half Tongans on one team, half newbies/half Okinawans on another team and half Tongans/half Okinawans on the third. It could've worked, but I thought of a better way. The specific reason I didn't use this idea is because this sort of still kept the newbies as seeming separate, and the chances for the Tongans or Okinawans on a newbie team to just get one newbie to switch and help vote the other newbies off would be too great.

We had all sorts of ideas on how to break teams down. They start to seem endless. But I ended up using the simplest one next to just dividing teams up by season. I decided to have two newbies on each team, two Tongans on each team and two Okinawans on each team. As I said earlier, I thought this would give the newbies the best chance at survival while being fair to all involved, and each team would be "even".

However, I still didn't want anyone to think of this as Tonga vs Okinawa while playing, and I hatched a brutally evil plan; I loved it. I needed a way to really get the Tongans and Okinawans to see themselves in a new way besides just Tongan or Okinawan, and boy did I find one.

Actually, when I've referred to deciding to run the game with a new concept, this was what was really the icing on the cake for me. And, as a sidenote, it's also ultimately why Matt was cut from the game even though he seems much better qualified than some of the others chosen. Even though it seems as if I've been referring to it as Okinawa All-Stars vs Tonga All-Stars vs newbies, that was never, ever my original goal. My goal was much more creative, interesting and is really what would have made the game great. You see, even with six newbies, to me it still seemed unjustified to consider all the returning players "All-Stars". Six from each season? Yeah, right. True All-Stars, at the most, would be maybe 2-4 in a season. I knew I could find six "real" All-Stars to compete in my game, and they'd be legit. But I didn't want nor was I about to try to pass off 12 players from two seasons as "All-Stars".

So, why not cast six "All-Stars", three from Tonga and three from Okinawa, but then also cast the best six "losers" - six people who lost out big the first time in Tonga or Okinawa but were now getting a "second chance"? Now, I'd feel my game concept and casting would be legit and oh how evil we could be with the "losers".

Isabella laughs.

After all, "losers" would have the most to prove coming in, and I'd be sure to make it obvious to them. This was always my original concept - that I was going to cast the six best/most famous players from Tonga and Okinawa, then cast six people who didn't even make the jury, big losers with a lot to prove. It'd be All-Star vs Second-Chance vs New Blood, and because of this alone, I knew it'd end up being one of the, if not the, best games and stories online.

What I really loved about it was that all the returning players were considering themselves "All-Stars" and were all intending to be portrayed that way in the story. I couldn't wait for Day 1, to especially see the six "losers" reactions to the game set-up.

One thing I loved about this too was that not one player would be expecting this. Murtz and Roach knew about newbies, certain people might've known certain things, but hopefully no one would have any idea this would be the theme of the season.

In part, my idea came from thinking of how awful I thought the real All-Star was set up. I wanted a set-up that not only justified having returning players after only two seasons, since after seven real seasons they still included a few lame people they tried to pass off as "All-Stars", but indeed made it intriguing and fair to have them.

Isabella laughs again.

And my intention was to start off the game with the tribes split that way. Have one tribe be The "All-Stars", the "royalty", the "nobility". Have the other tribe be the "losers", the "second-chancers". And have the third tribe be the "new blood". Not only that, why not give the tribe of All-Stars a camp that seems like the best one and have Jeff actually refer to them as "royalty"? In fact, why not rub it in as host as much as possible that this tribe is the best, that this tribe is the one to beat?

In contrast, why not give the "loser" tribe the perceived worst camp and have Jeff constantly refer to them as the "losers" who had a lot to prove? And again, why not rub it in as host as much as possible that this is the "loser" tribe?

And the third team of newbies, who would be the "fresh air", who hadn't won or lost yet, but had to make names for themselves coming in as unknowns.

Hopefully, this would put a fire in the loser's bellies and make them somewhat jealous of and ready to beat the All-Stars. More importantly, hopefully, now it wouldn't be Tongans vs Okinawans anymore. It'd be a little more personal. Now these losers would be determined, more than ever, to show the winners up. Even if on mixed tribes later on, they'd think twice before aligning with the Survivor "royalty" over newbies, and they wouldn't be as prone to care about the "royalty" of their own season anymore.

And the "royalty", the All-Stars? They'd love it and be likely to get an ego trip, which they'd have to be careful about, but if they weren't careful it'd still be fun to watch. Of course, they'd have the bigger targets on their back. But they'd start off six strong, and they're the proven best players, so now'd be their chance to prove it again.

Of course, these wouldn't be the real teams. Nope, this would be the teams for the first two days, to set up what is coming. So my plan was to, on Day 1, have everyone step off the plane and be shocked. The Tongans and Okinawans would be like, "Who are these new people?" and the newbies would be like "Woah, what's going on here?" Then, he'd start to divide the teams up. At first, it'd seem he's dividing them up by season, as they were starting to suspect. But then, wait, what's happening? He's mixing Tongans and Okinawans. After being divided up, some might already realize how they're divided. Jeff Probst would give a speech, which I'd already written, using a lot of allusion to the location and history and such, about the natural division in culture of nobility to peasants to the younger generation, who has the ability to make their own destiny. One team, the All-Stars, would be the "nobility" or "royalty" or "winners in life" of the game and would consist of three Tongans who did very well along with three Okinawans who did very well; one team, the second-chancers, would be the "peasants" or "poor people" or "losers in life" of the game and would consist of three Tongans who didn't do very well and three Okinawans who didn't do very well; and the other team would be the "new generation" which would consist of the six newbies. Jeff would describe how each camp fit each team, and he'd end by saying no matter how you start this game, what counts and what will be remembered is how you end it.

I almost decided to leave this as the teams. I thought it was hilarious. The problem here though was who'd be on each team. After I describe the cast later, you'll see that if I'd left these teams it would seem unfair to certain returning players based on obvious alliance possibilities, and besides, the six All-Stars are the six proven stars and I wanted some on each team.

So, off they go to their camps and stay together for two days. Obviously, alliances would start to form, and they'd think these are the final teams, get into the idea of newbies battling second-chancers battling All-Stars, and they'd get treemail for their first immunity challenge. Off they'd go to the immunity challenge. Jeff would give them the directions for the challenge and get everyone set to go. Then, at the last minute, he'd say something like "And before we start, there's one more thing to take care of. The tribes you'll actually be playing as." Then he'd make everyone drop their buffs and make three new tribes - this time consisting of not only 2 newbies/2 Okinawans/2 Tongans, but also 2 newbies/2 "All-Stars"/2 "losers". He'd give another short speech, saying that even though there are divisions of classes, every tribe and culture has their own royalty, their own peasants and their own new blood, and so shall each tribe of this season. He'd give them a few minutes (I had a longer time planned in real life, and they were only allowed to post on their tribe board to everyone since this was a challenge) to strategize for the challenge again and re-send in their stats if changed, then it'd begin. The losing tribe would have one day to figure out who's going to be voted out of their new tribe.

So, I think I did a very good planning job that would mix up people, hopefully destroy any old or pre-set alliances, give the newbies a fair chance and gave the game itself an incredible concept.

Now, onto who I actually wanted to cast. Roach, Anna, Michelle and Amy were all given, and they'd all be considered "All-Stars". However, Anna and Amy didn't want to play. I kept in constant communication with both of them, trying to convince them to play. Anna refused to, but Amy agreed to on the condition we finish in time because she had a very important deadline she couldn't miss. Anna was a big disappointment for me because I always thought she was a wonderful player and character, but c'est la vie, I knew going it that it would be hard to convince her. In my opinion, the only big star I was missing was Anna, but I tried to make lemonade out of lemons and had considered the possibility of having her return in the story to the game as a part of one challenge (a part of a challenge itself, not a contestant in it or anything fallen-comrades-style). In the end I decided not to, as I wanted the people in my game to be the stars, and I didn't really think it'd be fair to bring in others not playing for a cameo.

With Roach, Amy and Michelle, I already had half of my "All-Stars". I was deadset on having an even mixture of players - six Tongans and six Okinawans, six "All-Stars" and six "losers", as well as hopefully six women and six men. I aim high, and I even wanted 3 Tumus, 3 Anas, 3 Kamiyans, and 3 Satos. Actually, my ultimate goal was to have 2 Tumu Gender A/1 Tumu Gender B/2 Ana Gender B/1 Ana Gender A and the same breakdown for Okinawa. It was like trying to complete a Rubik's Cube; I wanted everything to fit into place just right! By the end, I'd done pretty good and had it almost perfect, and could've had it perfect had I not decided to ultimately cast on personality and skill rather than statistics for a few tough calls.

I'll tell you generally how I chose the rest of the returning cast. Let's just start with some other "definites" on my list, which mostly all fit into the "All-Star" category - Ryan, Lindsay and Jay. Jay was a good player and character, and after leaving Tonga the way he did (he drew a purple rock on a ten-person vote when he was one of the only two who didn't have a choice in forcing the tie) I thought he deserved another chance and would have a great motivation and back-story for this game. Lindsay was easy for me; she had a big part in Tonga, she's athletic and smart, she was a little older now, and she had one of the most memorable exits. Ryan was a no-brainer - as I've said, great character, great player and I wanted to see how he'd do without me playing; I wanted to see if he could win and, if he couldn't, see who took him down.

And this is why I didn't want to cast Matt. I'd love to have him playing, but he'd definitely be an "All-Star" (he couldn't be a second-chancer and Ryan be an All-Star when he outlasted Ryan 3 days) and there was only room for three Okinawan All-Stars. Michelle and Amy easily outpaced anyone else for two places, and the third I knew I wanted to give to Ryan. I pondered taking Matt instead (or Mike), but how could I take Matt instead of Ryan when Ryan basically lost because of one person and one mistake - me and forgetting about me - whereas Matt made a string of bad choices that led to his demise? I loved Matt as a character and it was hard for me to cut him (even though it was a very early one, he was without a doubt the hardest cut for me - I went over this many times in my head before deciding and subsequently asking him to help me). I do want to be clear that me wanting him to help me had no bearing in cutting him - even if I hadn't asked him to help (unless I'd gotten Ryan to help), he'd have been cut. To this day I think I possibly should've figured out a way to cast both he and Ryan, but I had to make a decision and in this case I chose my adherence to the statistics and equality in the different groups (and besides, who would've helped me run the game then?!)

Isabella laughs.

Matt, if you're reading this, I just want you to know, I think you're an All-Star and I think you could've won this game had you played.

So now I had six of the twelve returning players cast - 5 of the All-Stars (Roach, Michelle, Amy, Ryan, Lindsay) and 1 Second-Chancer (Jay). The general cut-off I was using was pre-jury vs post-jury. I was being flexible on it in determining the placements of those close to the border but was hoping it'd work out perfectly. By breakdown on the rest, I had 3 Tongans, 3 Okinawans, 3 men, 3 women, 2 Tumus, 1 Ana, 2 Kamiyans and 1 Sato.

Anna would've made my All-Star team perfect (there would've been four women, but I just would've cast four men on the Second-Chance team). As it was, I had one more spot open for an All-Star. Basically, my choices were Ronan, Kathy, Jamie, CJ, Marcy, Mike, Joni, Lance and Hogan. To fit my statistics, I needed another Tongan All-Star, which there was no doubt that I was going to have so that people couldn't talk during the airing of my game about the Okinawa cast being superior and it was proven by me casting 4 Okinawan All-Stars compared to 2 Tongan ones. I already had one Ana and one Tumu All-Star, so this All-Star could come from either tribe.

At this point I'm going to talk about the winners, Ronan and Mike. Ronan had e-mailed me saying he was interested in playing, then never e-mailed us again (and I knew he'd had problems with consistency during Tonga too), so he was out of consideration. However, we were already very leery of using the winners anyway. We knew they'd be immediate and easy targets, especially since there were only two and the closest placer, me, wasn't playing. Also, neither winner was very dynamic and I wanted a great story. They'd both won, but neither were "stars" and most people didn't consider them among the best players around even though they had won. A winner managing to win a game with returning players would be quite an accomplishment, but I took the advice I gave to the host of Okinawa - don't cast anyone you wouldn't be happy with winning. If either of them won, it would be very impressive, but it seems in either of their cases it'd be dull, and I wanted a fantastic, out-of-this-world ending.

I knew I'd be risking people accusing me of stiffing the winners just because they'd beat me, but I wasn't worried. I knew that had absolutely no bearing on my decisions, and if I thought they'd bring something to our story I would've cast either in a heartbeat. In fact, I was still considering using them, specifically because even though they weren't stand-out, like Lance in Okinawa, I could possibly use them as leverage to make the cast balanced.

But as it was, I already had five All-Stars I definitely wanted to play. If I cast Mike, it'd consist of four Okinawans, as well as three Kamiyans, and if I cast Ronan, the post-jury team would be complete and even between seasons, but he would've taken away a place from someone else. It was a dilemma. If I were doing a straight "All-Star" I would've cast Mike, and probably Ronan too if he was around, but I knew I was doing something different, space was limited, Ronan surely didn't fit in the picture, he stopped e-mailing us anyway and Mike was teetering on the edge.

Mike was a hard decision. He really wanted to play (I think he was planning on being cast) and had great motivation. I considered him, thinking one winner included could be interesting. In the end, even though Mike was a winner, I already had three Okinawan All-Stars cast, the game was always in danger of being Okinawan-heavy and when I had to make cuts somewhere, he was one of them. I figured that if this game were a success and there were more seasons in the future, there might eventually be a real All-Star, and maybe Mike, me and even Ronan could all play in it. Although, he did become an alternate for this game.

I'm going to go through each All-Star possibility. As much as I love Marcy, I knew I probably wasn't going to cast him since he'd asked to be voted out of Tonga, and luckily he didn't want to play anyway. I probably wouldn't have cast either of them, but Hogan and Lance weren't interested in playing anyway. I was very seriously considering casting Jamie as the last All-Star because he was a fun and good player and it'd even the sexes of the All-Stars, but even though he really wanted to, he couldn't play because he was going to be out of the country at the time. I had considered using Joni; she had a lot going for her being cast, but she was another tough cut. I wanted to minimize players under 18 to hopefully none, and besides, she stopped e-mailing us her finalist information anyway, so I didn't think she was too interested.

That left CJ and Kathy, who both really wanted to play and both would fulfill my statistics very well (as with casting Anna, it'd mean I'd have to cast four men Second-Chancers). Even though I seriously considered casting Jamie, his closest competition for getting cast was CJ. I wanted to cast her even though I didn't want to cast her. She has a tendency to cheat and I absolutely hate cheating, but she's a great character and a good player and I knew would add an interesting element to the story. So, knowing Jamie was out of the picture, I decided to take a chance on her, telling myself I'd watch her with a hawk's eye and enforce the rules on her strictly if I ever found out she'd broken a rule.

That left Kathy out of luck, even though she really wanted to play and prove herself as a player. She's a very nice person but she's not a dynamic character to me, and was one of the unfortunate though necessary cuts that had to be made.

Now my All-Stars, my nobility, were complete - Roach, Amy, Michelle, Lindsay, Ryan and CJ. They'd be treated like royalty the first two days. It was very well divided - 3 Okinawans/3 Tongans, 2 Ana/1 Tumu/2 Kamiya/1 Sato. Because of this, I was hoping the "Second-Chance" tribe would be four men and two women, as well as 1 Ana/2 Tumu/1 Kamiya/2 Sato.

For Second-Chancers, I had a lot of people to choose from: Bobby, Dave, Tenzil, Pete, Taylor, Jenne, Elizabeth, Danielle, Murtz, Chris, David, Henry and Beth (and I'd already cast Jay). I was sure I didn't want Henry to play, nor Dave or Bobby. Neither Henry or Dave ever replied to my e-mails anyway, but Bobby really wanted to play, and I felt bad knowing I'd have to break the news to him soon. He's seems like a great guy, really nice, and even though we've barely ever spoken, I knew him way back when I first came online and played LTS, but for this game he was too young for me and I couldn't take someone else's place away to give it to him.

I had a good idea that I wanted Murtz to play, even though I knew his casting might, if I cast Chris, skew my statistics to four Kamiyans and two Satos. However, in this case, I did feel I owed him for getting me to run this, but I also thought he'd be great for the story. I didn't know how great he'd turn out as a player, but I did think it'd be interesting to see how he'd do without playing under an alias and to be able to play without trying to use an alias was a good reason for a second chance, so he was cast.

I had two Anas on the All-Star team, both women, so I was hoping to have one Second-Chance Ana male. It was good for me that no Ana women were voted off pre-jury anyway, but the two men that fit this description were Tenzil and Pete.

In a way they seemed similar, but the choice for me was easy. While Pete is an interesting guy and has the potential to be a great player, I knew enough of Tenzil to choose him, having admired his work on posting stuff for Tonga, and thought having him and CJ both in the game, knowing their past history, could be interesting.

With Jay, Murtz and Tenzil cast, it looked like my goal of having four men on this team was going very well, but I did need two women, and I needed Satos badly. And I thought of Beth.

Beth was a very intersting choice, and I'm sure would've been, if not the most, one of the more debated ones. I don't think she's the best player or most interesting character, but she has a certain je ne sais pas that I wanted in the game. Sort of like the host of Okinawa used Lance to balance his cast out, I thought Beth would help balance out my game. I didn't know if she'd learned a lot from playing Okinawa or would play very differently than she did in Okinawa, but I still wanted to give her a second chance. Part of it was in a possible story-line for her that I'd thought of that might be interesting (as it turns out, I might've picked the wrong person for the storyline), one that I'd have talked with her during silence or on Day 1 about, saying that if she decided to do anything related to it during and in the game, I might use it, so either be careful or go for it. Also, she was Sato and female, which was perfect.

Something funny happened concerning Beth playing. I'd already decided I wanted to use her before I asked Matt to help me, but when he was telling me his decision he told me : "Beth has to be in the game for me to help run it." He was adamant that if he helped, Beth had to be a part of the cast, and I think he was ready to meet resistance from me and then force the issue ultimatum-style, but I'd already cast her! I would assume he was surprised when I told him I already wanted her in anyway.

Isabella laughs.

After Beth, we needed at least one more female Second-Chancer, preferably from Tonga. And not only should she come from Tonga, but she should be from Tumu. There is only one person that met that description - Jenne. Even though she and I have had a few off-and-on interesting conversations in my time here, I am not a huge Jenne fan - she could be part of the reason I lost Okinawa! - but I was objective. She's not a bad person or a bad player, she's a great character, she's interesting and her time in Tonga as well as her exit was entertaining. And she was perfect for my cast.

The problem was that she didn't really want to play.

I decided to spend a little time trying to convince her to play, and she did decide she would play, but she kept wavering. I didn't try too hard though - as I told Matt, she is no Amy or Anna. If she couldn't make up her mind, then screw her. But she was willing to, even though she said she might not really play to win as much as to have the experience. This bothered me a little, but I decided to look at it as a different perspective for the game, as in she could bring something different to the game. And I also thought she might be saying this as a kind of protective barrier, thinking she might not get cast (she could've known she was dealing with me). If she had actually started playing the game, there's a good chance her comptetive nature would've naturally kicked in.

There was only one more spot left open now for returning players, and it had to be a Second-Chancer. I had Danielle, Taylor, Elizabeth, David and Chris to choose between. They all wanted to play (Elizabeth really, really wanted to play) and it was going to be a tough choice. I did need an Okinawan, which all but Taylor fit, but I preferably needed a Sato male. Only one person fit that description - David.

If you were predicting by my previous actions, you might think I'd choose him to make everything fit perfectly. But how could I pick David over Chris, or even David over Elizabeth for that matter? David seemed like a good guy, even a good player, but he didn't add anything dynamic to the group, and he was similar in "type" to Tenzil.

As for Chris, to many people, Chris would seem one of the natural first choices since he is so well-known from Okinawa. Even though he went early, he seems like a very good player and he's a dynamic character. But there were problems with casting Chris, so I hesitated and hesitated on putting him on the cast list.

First, he's very good at getting people on his side, which for a Survivor is a great thing, but for someone who has that skill and could be prone to making pre-alliances and pre-bonds it is not. I wouldn't necessarily say he was cheating beforehand, but through sources I had heard he was securing "strong bonds" before the game began. I had my secret eyes and ears reporting back to me during all this (thank you - you know who you are!)

Isabella smiles.

I knew of various unfair and secret pre-game alliance-forming in general. Besides doing it for the game, Chris would've naturally had friends and close bonds with people anyway, but he seemed to be near the middle of a sticky web and to not cast him would've made things much easier, as much regarding others who'd depend on him being in the game as he himself. Also, I'd cast Jenne and so close to her in particular that they talked to eachother on the phone and had gone out with eachother in person.

Like CJ and Michelle, I was also worried about the possibility of him cheating during the game. During the game, all three might've followed the rules to a "T", but I had to perceive what might happen based on past and current actions and plan accordingly.

On top of it all, three Kamiyans were already cast, and to cast him would be to have four Kamiyans to two Satos.

However, in spite of it all, I decided to use him. As a host, I wanted the best game possible and I knew he was a great player and dynamic character and would bring a lot to the game. I was also confident in my ability to design a game and divide the cast so that it'd give everyone an equal enough chance.

So I had to cut all the others. I thought David and Taylor might be a little hurt but thought they'd understand. Danielle really wanted to play again and prove herself, and I think she would've been interesting even though not particularly dynamic, but there was just no place for her on the cast, as well as already way too many Kamiyans. I felt bad for cutting her and not giving her her chance to revenge and prove herself, but for me it was necessary and I was a little worried she'd just team up with Chris and/or Michelle and any others rather than try to prove her own self and take revenge anyway, which even though it'd be a strategy wouldn't be a very compelling story to me, especially if they offed her again.

Besides Matt, I felt the worst about cutting Elizabeth. I felt she deserved and had a reason for another chance, that she had the potential to get much farther than she did in Okinawa, that she was a dynamic, good and interesting player, and that it would be interesting considering Amy's in the game. However, I was trying to minimize the younger players and even though they're very different people, I already had a young, athletic female in Lindsay and no other spot open anyway. I could've easily made a case to replace any one of about three other cast Second-Chancers with her, but my decision was to cut her.

Even though I could've used anyone that went into silence period as an alternate, my two chosen alternates were Elizabeth and Mike. I suppose those two being the first and last from Okinawa is a little ironic; I hadn't even noticed that til now. They were both strong candidates who barely missed the cut, and if any of the Tongans had dropped out, the game most probably would've had seven Okinawans and five Tongans. And as I'll tell you soon, there were a few who were cast that we waffled on cutting all the way up to the silence period, mostly considering replacing them with Elizabeth.

Something I haven't mentioned yet is that through most of this whole process, no one was supposed to "know" who we were as hosts. Per Murtz's suggestion, I had decided to keep myself low-key, knowing chances were good rumours would spread about who we were, but also knowing the anti-Isabella sentiment and hoping to keep that from in any way hurting the game. I was hoping that by the time we announced who we were, enough people would be confident and interested enough in our game that they wouldn't mind that it was me running it.

As for the newbies, we had it easy because we only needed six. We really felt that with this low number we could truly choose six outstanding players, and I think we found them. We had a pretty good response to Ryan's game advertisement (it wasn't huge because it was so quietly done) and we found our selections pretty fast, as well as alternates. I'm not going to name them here, but perhaps if I ever post more info on it somewhere else or open up the board we worked on, anyone interested can find out then.

We now had a "draft" of our complete cast, and even though it had four Kamiyans compared to two Satos and ten men compared to eight women (our chosen newbies were four men and two women), our cast was very well-rounded, very even and we were very pleased and excited with it. My Rubik's Cube of statistics was basically completely solved, save one red square on the white side and vice-versa. But I thought that gave it a little character anyway, not being 100% perfect as I'd hoped. Really, I think it could've been the best online cast as a whole ever.

Even though I was casting with the idea of starting off on the "All-Star", "Second-Chance" and "New Blood" tribes and very insistent on six of each, I was always looking more toward the "real" tribes, the ones they'd all be switched to on the second day. I cast the first three separated tribes specifically thinking of how this person or that would be with the others on their new, mixed tribes. This was very tricky to cast and divide, and it could've went a million different ways, but I'll give you the general directions my thoughts were taking as I made decisions.

Honestly, I started dividing the new tribes several different ways every time I thought about it, but soon certain facts seemed to become apparent to help shape each team, and though it didn't exactly follow a strict timeline progression (like casting), I'll tell it as one of the possible directions I took that arrived at the same conclusion as many of the other possible directions would've.

Keep in mind each tribe would have two of every old tribe: two "All-Stars", two "Second-Chancers" and two "Newbies", and I was hoping every tribe would have one Tumu, one Ana, one Kamiya and one Sato.

First, I knew certain people couldn't be on a tribe together, so it's a good way to start. No doubt, Chris and Michelle could not be on the same tribe. Too easy, not interesting and on a six person tribe, I did not want a two person team who'd only need a third to force a tie and a fourth to be in power.

So Michelle went to Team A and Chris went to Team B.

Next, I decided I wanted Amy and Michelle on a tribe together. I know it was evil, but I knew it'd somehow make for a great story and I really wanted to see who would eventually outlast the other starting off on a fair playing field, and if they would become mortal enemies or somehow pair up since they'd be the two "All-Stars" on their tribe. I also knew it'd be fair, since neither one had had a hand in voting the other out (though they very nearly did) and both had something in common in making the Final 4 in Okinawa but not Final 2. No doubt in my mind, Michelle and Amy would be on a tribe together, and may the best woman vote the other out first.

Now Michelle and Amy were on Team A and Chris was on Team B.

At this point I only had three other Okinawans: Murtz, Ryan and Beth. To distribute them evenly, I'd need one on Team B with Chris and two on Team C. I didn't want Murtz and Ryan on the same team - I thought Ryan could betray Murtz if he wanted, but if not it'd be way too easy to just recruit one or two more for a majority. So, since they both couldn't be on Team C, Beth would have to be on it.

While desigining this entire game, I didn't necessarily want to be "brutally evil" even though it could be fun sometimes, but I did want to get people as far out of their comfort zone as possible. The choice of where to put Murtz and Ryan was easy. I knew Murtz thought about as much of Beth as a pile of elephant dung, and I knew the feeling was pretty mutual from Beth, so it was obvious I had to put them on the same team and see what happened. As well, I thought it was fair since neither was involved in voting the other out and in fact they had something in common in both being switched in Okinawa and both being voted out of their new tribe pre-merge. And, on this new team, they'd be the two "Second-Chancers", and for two people who neither one were considered huge stars of their season, I was really interested to see their interaction (or lack thereof) and what happened with them.

That left Chris and Ryan on Team B. This wasn't a particularly great combo for me, but I did see the good in it. Though these two would be the only two on the new mixed tribes coming from a same original tribe (Kamiya) and though it could be easy for these two to pair up, Chris many times seems to prefer female partners and Ryan probably knows that, Ryan might have somewhat of a distaste and/or distrust for Chris, and they'd both know what the other was capable of even though they're both very confident in themselves, which, even if they did align, would hopefully cause some anxiety and tension, as if as long as they were both there they might have to keep a leg up on the other. Also, they'd be coming to this tribe from two original tribes, Ryan being an "All-Star" and Chris being a "Second-Chancer", so that could've possibly created more division between them. I thought it'd be fair because each was voted out on different tribes and neither had anything to do with the other's departure.

So far the tribes were Michelle and Amy on Team A, Ryan and Chris on Team B and Beth and Murtz on Team C. All the Okinawans were in place.

As with Amy, I just knew I had to put Jay on Michelle's team. I had to see how these two reacted to eachother. Would they align, or try to slit eachother's throat? Also, I thought it would be a sort of poetic justice to put them on a team together since they're the two who had to leave their games because of purple rocks.

I wasn't going to put CJ on Amy's team and I didn't want to put her on Chris's team (another female for Chris to possibly easily align with), but another idea came to me for CJ being on Team C anyway that overlooked any of that. One day it just struck me, when they'd sort of been ending up on the same tribes in many of my different possible tribe division scenarios, that CJ, Murtz and Roach all were well-known for being a part of Survivor-Central, so why not have them all on the same team, a part-"Survivor-Central" team?

More logical reasons anchored the idea. I wanted someone on Team C possibly more sympathetic to Beth (CJ)and someone possibly more sympathetic to Murtz (Roach). Also, I knew Murtz was dreading having to possibly deal with very girly-acting "Let's all be friends!" women, and he already had Beth on his team, so I wanted to really present him with a challenge. If nothing else, it'd be funny to see him ferment over there.

I could've really put Roach on any team and been interested, thinking he could team up with Amy (or Michelle), or Ryan (or Chris) but I didn't want to give him any easy alliance partners. I wanted him on a team full of people unlike him, and if he was going to build some original super-alliance, it'd have to be with Murtz, CJ or Beth.

Isabella laughs.

I was being very careful about not putting people on a team with someone they'd had a hand in voting out or being voted out by, but I made a special exception for CJ and Roach. At first it seems easy for Roach over there, but if CJ's really being a player, she might make an alliance with him in hopes of cutting him off down the road like he did her in Tonga. And he might think of that possibility and have to worry about it. There were a lot more reasons for me to be interested in seeing what was going to happen with this group, and once the first episode had aired and the fans knew the "real" tribes, it was going to be hyped as the "S-C" team, or something like that (I thought it might happen naturally in some people's confessionals).

I thought the chances might be slightly against CJ in general on this team, only because of a possibility I thought could easily happen. It wasn't enough to let me switch her off of it though. I thought Roach and Murtz might align, Roach might decide CJ's too dangerous to keep on the tribe for himself, which Murtz would probably be fine with, pull Beth in, get a newbie or both on board and vote CJ out first. Regardless, the team was fair enough and CJ could make her own destiny. After I realized this could be the "S-C" team and for all the other reasons mentioned, I was sure that's how I wanted to keep it, but I did try to cast two newbies on this tribe that made it as fair and equal as possible for all six involved and gave them all equal chances.

The tribes now consisted of Michelle, Amy and Jay on Team A; Ryan and Chris on Team B and Beth, Murtz, Roach and CJ on Team C. Jenne, Tenzil and Lindsay were left. Lindsay would have to be on Team B because she was the only "All-Star" left and that team needed one more. However, this couldn't have worked more perfectly because even though she was female, I thought Chris might have a harder time gaining Lindsay's trust than many other females. And I was hoping maybe Lindsay and Ryan would sort of bond by the time they were together on this team, being the two "All-Stars".

At first, I didn't want Jenne on Chris's team, but Team B needed a Tumu girl while Team A needed an Ana guy. Tenzil fit very well on Team A, which was shaping up to be full of very strong personalities. As well, I knew about Tenzil and CJ's history and CJ and Amy were friends, and Amy and David's history. So, I thought, let me throw them together and see what might happen, alliance or whatever else. It seemed that even if Michelle and Jay didn't align, Jay might not be inclined to align with Amy, so to make it fairer for Amy, I needed someone who might be more inclined to align with her, but of course, anything could happen. So, Tenzil did go to Team A and this meant Jenne had to be on Team B with Chris

I hated it, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it made sense and could actually make it harder on Chris (and Jenne) rather than easier. Obviously they'd be perfect to align with eachother, not to mention the fact that they'd be the two "Second-Chancers" on their tribe. I thought putting someone who'd so obviously align with Chris on this team could actually do a disservice to both of them they might have to work extra hard to make any other allies and survive.

Also, I liked the idea that if both Chris and Jenne did survive, as well as Michelle, that if Michelle still felt close to Chris she could get jealous and upon meeting him again in a twist or merge, be somewhat upset and leery of, it not Chris, then maybe at least Jenne, and it could be fun to see how it'd all turn out.

Isabella laughs.

It seemed obvious that if Chris and Jenne came across to their teammates as being so close, who might want to align with a two-some like that? Stupider real Survivors have aligned with Rob and Amber in the real All-Stars, so I knew anything was possible concerning Chris and Jenne, and it was up to them to make their own destiny in this game. As always, the newbies on this tribe were also cast to make it fair to everyone (including of course the newbies themselves). They were both male, and both were very different from the other, and both seemingly might not be easily manipulated by Ryan or Chris. I did think it seemed like Team B had the biggest possibility of returning players ganging up on newbies, so i kept that in mind in picking two newbies who I thought stood the best chance of being able to assimilate themselves with this group.

The debatable members of our cast were - surprise- Chris and Jenne. Jenne, though enthusiastic, was the least enthusiastic player cast by far, and she wasn't necessarily playing to win, when on the other hand I had a girl, Elizabeth, who wanted to play so badly and deserved to, but came from the wrong season. Also, though Jenne would align with Chris, it'd be obvious, whereas it seemed Chris might align with Elizabeth as a new Joni and possibly somehow pull one over on everyone about the two of them being aligned, which I thought would just not be that interesting or compelling since it'd be obvious as a viewer.

Matt strongly questioned Chris's presence in the game at certain times, I strongly questioned it at others, but in the end the decision stuck to use him. I was confident that I had thought it out well enough to be sure the game was fair and equal to everyone, including him, so in the end there was no reason to cut him (or Jenne). However, if I'd cut him, Elizabeth probably would've replaced him and not Mike. It would've, as a whole, made the sexes equal. It would've also made Team B a half young woman's team, which, again, wouldn't be very well-rounded but could be interesting, especially with Ryan and the two newbies I had cast on this tribe and the fact that most games can't even get one young woman. It wouldn't have worked to put Mike in for Chris because he and Ryan would've teamed right back up and I would've had to rearrange the tribes.

The final teams were:

Team A : Michelle, Amy, Jay, Tenzil, a male newbie who might more likely sympathize with Amy or Tenzil's way of thinking and a female newbie who might more likely sympathize with Michelle or Jay's way of thinking

Team B: Ryan, Lindsay, Chris, Jenne, a male newbie who would be a wildcard and an older male newbie who would be a wildcard

Team C: Beth, Murtz, Roach, CJ, a female newbie who might more likely sympathize with CJ or Beth's way of thinking and a male newbie who would be a wildcard

The rumours about which tribes possible newbies could've been on have not been completely correct.

In general, I was going to give the "Second-Chancers" the hardest time before mixing the tribes, while giving the "Newbies" a normal time and the "All-Stars" a wonderful time. This was to have some evil fun and to hopefully push them into seeing themself as very different from the "All-Stars" and make them jealous, but there was another reason. I thought, just like in the real All-Star, the ones who'd done the worst the first time around are going to have the biggest advantage coming in. The newbies would be targeted because they're new, while the All-Stars would be targeted because they did comparatively well, and a lot of the Second-Chancers could slip right through being seen as a non-threat. So, if any or all of them did, I wanted to have tortured them the most, but also to have created a little more sympathy for them in the audience so fans would be more prone to root for some of them.

I was going to borrow Roach's idea and do power rankings every week I ran the game just for fun, and my first was going to be during silence period but we never got there. However, I can give you one now that would be very close, if not exactly, the one I would've given for pre-game. Here I'm only going to rank the returning players, so it'll only be 12. I won't tell you where the different newbies were in my rankings, but they could've been in-between any of these twelve, if not on top. However, as a whole I saw the newbies plight as more daunting, so I'd have been more likely to keep them, in general, a little lower on the rankings until they individually started to prove themselves.

Here they are:

1 - Roach - How could he not start on top? Great player, well-respected and liked (though I'm sure he'd have his enemies), not to mention he was a host for half the returning players, which would've given him some clout; I think any team I put him on I could've envisioned how he might eventually come out on top.

2 - Amy - Barely edged out Michelle; it was almost a tie. For now, I would've picked surface nice over surface tough; Tina over Tammy.

3 - Michelle - She's gonna take names and kick ass, and don't you forget it or she'll beat you up.

4 - Ryan - Even on a hard tribe, I'm thinking he'd have used all his powers to weasel his way into some alliance and control it. But he needed to team up with Chris or watch out for him, or Chris might've passed him.

5 - Chris - The highest-ranked Second-Chancer. Might already have a ready-made two-person power-block, but could he've gotten any more help? We'd have found out soon...

6 - Lindsay - In a prime position to control her tribe and be on the majority alliance, but would she've used the position to her advantage? There's some tough competition on this team, so she'd have to have shown what she's made of.

7 - Jay - He's sly and I don't think he'd have been able to control an alliance yet, but if he'd been careful with the newbies and looked for any cracks around Michelle and Amy, he could've take control. Of course, if he rubbed people the wrong way he could've gone first.

8 - Murtz - He squeaked out past some people below him because Roach is in the #1 position, and because Roach might've aligned with Murtz. Murtz would've had to watch his paranoia and not-easily-hidden evil streak, but if he could've done that and found a solid alliance, he could've done well.

9 - Tenzil - I don't see Tenzil gaining too much power right away unless he made a strong 2-person secret alliance with Amy (maybe even with Michelle), but he'd have to have proven his worth to me.

10 - CJ - The lowest-ranked All-Star. There's (purposely) no easily-seduced men on this tribe, but there were some like-minded people she could've aligned with. Would she've act smart with this group or ended up going down in flames?

11 - Jenne - Right now, she might've just been along for the ride, possibly in that little side bucket-seat on the motorcycle Chris is driving. She would've had to prove she's actually there to play the game and take home the prize.

12 - Beth - She would've came into this game like Amber did in All-Stars - possibly looked down upon and with a hell of a lot to prove. But if Amber can do it, why can't Beth? Of course, I'm not sure if there's a Rob or Robin on this team to pull her to the end, so she might've had to get there another way. Just like everyone though, her destiny in this game would've been in her hands.

Julie: I'd like to ask you about what...

Okinawa Host: Hello?

The blood rushes to Julie's face as she realizes right away who it is, but again stays professional and responds.

Julie: Yes?

Okinawa Host: I thought of another question for Isabella. Do you think an Okinawa jury would have ever let you win the game?

Julie remains quiet but three shades redder than before.

Isabella: I have faith in humanity and even in an Okinawa jury.

Isabella laughs.

So yes, I think if everything were fair and I made a good enough case for myself, they would let me win.

Julie: Are you quite sure all your questions for Isabella have been asked?

Okinawa Host: Yes.

Julie: Do you have any more questions?

Okinawa Host: No.

Julie: So you're finished?

Okinawa Host: Yeah.

Julie: OK.

Julie laughs robotically for a moment, then again turns to face Isabella.

Julie: He has so many questions for you, he should just interview you himself.

Isabella laughs.

Isabella: That won't be happening anytime soon.

Julie, realizing someone has said something she's supposed to laugh at, gives a fake laugh.

Julie: Now, Isabella, I'd like to ask you about what the host said about the picture you sent him of yourself. Since he's the only one who's seen it, he described it for everyone, saying you look somewhat Greek and something like Melina Kanakaredes. What do you think of that assessment?

Isabella laughs.

Isabella: Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I did send him a picture. I'm very appreciative that, as far as I know, as promised he's never shown it to anyone, because I'm very careful about my privacy. As for looking Greek, he's Italian as well so he should know better, but I don't mind looking Greek, and Greek and Italian aren't very far apart.

As far as looking like Melina Kanakaredes - If he means it as a compliment, then I appreciate it, but I have a feeling he might've compared me to her moreso because she's the best comparison he could think of for me.

Isabella laughs.

Either way, he's the first one to say that that I know of. The most obvious difference between us is that she looks somewhere in her 40s and I'm only in my mid-20s, and most people I know in person say that by looks I look a little younger than my age. Also, my hair's not nearly that curly; my hair's only wavy. And she looks rather tall, whereas I'm not. However, she is pretty and she does have a great body from the pictures I've seen (I've never seen any show or anything with her in it). I wouldn't necessarily associate the way I look with her besides both of us being fit and looking somewhat southern European.

Julie: That brings me to a more pressing question. People have often accused you yourself of being fake, an alias, calling you, among other things, a fat and bald 40-year old man, a black woman, a robot and an albino dwarf. I want to know what you think of that. And as Amy put it in Okinawa, who are you? Who are you really?

Isabella pauses for a moment before replying.

Isabella: I think it's all pretty funny. I never thought my privacy would lead to rumours like that, and usually such negative ones! I mean, come on, if I have to be pretending, why do I really have to be a fat and bald old man?

Isabella laughs.

But I guess that was the purpose of it - to poke fun at something about me. Invincible Isabella has to have some secrets, something she's hiding. Since I won't compromise the rules I've laid out for myself while online and tell all, they want to try to chip away at the locked box, make fun of what might be inside and try to get under my skin. Everyone has their own level of privacy, their own secrets, their own locked box; I suppose mine is just more conspicuous than others in this environment, and I suppose it's too tempting for others to resist talking about.

Isabella laughs again.

It's funny that it was Jenne who was right in the middle of starting the rumours during Tonga. Maybe she really believed it, maybe she still does; obviously whoever thought up the "40-year-old fat bald man" theory and started spreading it wasn't concerned for me or my feelings.

But I'm strong inside and I've tried to endure the rumours with some kind of poise, because even nasty rumours, or I should say especially nasty rumours, won't push me into compromising the rules I've set for myself. Really, though I don't particularly like the whole rumour situation, I've understood its benefits to me. It's kept people talking about me and has kept a buzz around me. So, for that, I thank all of you who love to discuss my identity, and I thank you Jenne.

Isabella smiles and pauses for a moment.

Of course, if I were a fake or an alias, do you really think they'd have it all figured out? They'd all be so off and they'd never be able to figure out who I really was or why I wasn't showing my whole self. Like a movie, I would eventually leave this place walking in a slow limp, then as soon as I'm out of sight slowly correct myself to walk at a perfectly normal and even brisk pace. But that's just because I'm good.

Isabella pauses, then laughs once more and winks.

Gotcha! I am no alias, no grand-charade, but it's kind of fun having people think I might be. I think it's funny - others have accused me of being a conspiracy theorist when in reality the biggest conspiracy theories around here are people's theories about me! What started as me just being very private has turned into a lasting conspiracy theory, so que sera, sera.

As for who I really am - I'm just me!

Isabella pinches her skin.

Flesh and bone like anyone else.

Julie: Anything else you'd like to add before we're done?

Isabella: Yes. First, I want to thank all those that were patient in waiting for the entire interview. I realize I gave a few different "finish" dates and passed them all, and I appreciate all of you who've made it here. I originally wasn't going to give any "dates" (also, originally, I had no idea this would be nearly as big as it's become), and I wasn't going to give a damn what the host did. I was planning to show this on another site should this one be locked before I finished, but I knew many of the people who might want to read it might never see it that way. So, I did give dates in hopes of being able to post it on this site for them, and gave dates to the host. I didn't extend it all time after time until now on purpose, but in doing so I've realized the advantages to it. First, posting it all in increments has turned out to be a great way to do it for me, as a progression and as giving something new to interested people on a multi-day basis, rather than an all-at-once overwhelming event. Although, the real advantage is the second one - Since I did take this long to finish it, posting in increments rather than all-at-once has helped to make it possible to post it all here rather than having to post at another site where some who wanted to might not see it. Regardless, I would like to apologize for the delays.

Also, I was planning to say this at the end regardless of any "feedback" floating around, but I've vented a lot of things during this interview; I'd kept quiet about basically all of it until now. It was my responsibility to do this interview and in doing so, I wanted to let anyone who was interested know my opinion on everything related to Okinawa and why I left and didn't do an interview a year ago.

Of course the option crossed my mind to do this interview with the ghosts all still locked away in the attic, hiding what I know, telling nothing new and talking about everyone else in a detached and complimentary manner. It's easy to do, people do it all the time and though it'd be twenty times more boring I would've probably ended up with many more friends around here than I'll probably have now. But my goal in playing this game was never just to make friends and I won't sacrifice my honest opinion on everything for it. That is not me.

However, my purpose was never to unnecessarily hurt or malign anyone, and I've tried to be very careful to only include names and opinions of people that I feel I have stable proof of. I invite anyone who might disagree to reply and provide proof; I will always listen and if I'm ever proven wrong on something regarding someone else, I will always concede the point and apologize to that person. That being said, I 100% stand by what I say and what I've said here. I'm not the type of person to go throwing around theories and accusations lightly, and I have evidence for any I've named here backed up by different sources.

The nature of this interview has allowed me to talk about things I've felt between the beginning of Okinawa and now, and I wanted to talk about them with the same passion as when I first felt them. I do not hold a grudge over any of it, not even the things I've learned very recently. I choose not to, and I've accepted the way everything's turned out. I believe that if you don't or can't accept the past and the things you cannot change, you're only hindering and hurting your future.

As for Amy, maybe we will have a discussion after this, maybe not. She is a different person than I originally thought, but I think she has a lot to offer and I think she has a lot of good in her. I still wish her the best in life and happiness and joy. And her children are amazing and adorable - I'd love to hear how they're doing, especially the youngest.

As for Mike - Mike, you're a wonderful person and you are a winner; I want you to know that I don't want anyone to make you doubt that, not even me.

I pondered not talking about the unfairness surrounding the final TC and thinking I should've won, but it wasn't for any naysayers in the slightest. Let them yell all they want. It was for Mike. It might be hard to tell after this interview, but I do have a soft spot for him, and I suppose it's because we had some intimate conversations and I know his sensitivity. I had to make a choice to either possibly spare his feelings and hide a lot of my opinions, or to tell how I really saw it all and risk really hurting him. My choice is obvious and it seems the choice should've been obvious anyway, but it wasn't. This man is the sole reason for why I almost didn't talk about a lot of what is in this interview. I was in a paradox because I felt I had a legitimate reason to say that some people might've voted differently had there not been unfairness, but I knew he could be sensitive and I didn't want him to question his own win because I don't want to take that experience away from him. In the end I made my decision and I stand by it, but I hope Mike is not hurt by it. Mike, you big teddybear, I wish you love, happiness and all the best in life.

As for the host, I want to say that regardless of anything else that's been said or done by him or me, he is by far the best host of a game like this I've ever seen, and I feel priveleged to have been able to be a part of all this and prove myself once again. I dearly appreciate all he's done for me and the high regard that I feel he holds me in. Some people feel I've had too many chances, yada yada yada, but this was really the first and only time I've ever been in a complete and fully-aired game and story, and the honor and gratitude I feel for being able to be part of it is immense. Most people now see me as either some sort of "legend" or "star" around here, or some sort of infamous bitch, or maybe both,

Isabella laughs.

But I can still think back to a time when I was a mostly unknown poster at survivorsucks, this little girl trying to hold her own and make even one person notice and respect what she said. I remember being a fan of fan-fiction myself; well, actually only one writer's fan-fiction. I remember having a sort of wide-eyed admiration of the story and the writer's ability and dedication. And I remember the first people who started paying attention to my opinions.

Of course, then, I never could've imagined I'd eventually attain somewhat of a similar type of celebrity status around here and that my opinions would be noticed by so many; it was never in any way on my agenda. And I especially never could've imagined there'd be this guy always around through it all. What an odd set of coincidences, really. Despite the negative, he has enhanced this whole online experience for me tremendously for different reasons combined, and he's been the closest friend I've ever had online. I wish the host of Okinawa the best, all the best for himself, Diana, Vanessa and Nicky.

Everyone from Okinawa, I wish them all the best. We were and are all Okinawans, we all have that in common regardless, and we all shared an amazing experience together. I don't care if it's on the internet, if it's an incredibly intensive and draining game, I think one can learn a lot and get a lot from playing, and I know I did, including meeting a lot of fascinating and great people and having a lot of fun along the way. I want to make it very clear that I might think I'm one of the best players around, but I in no way whatsoever think I'm a better person than any of them. We're all people, we all feel, we all love, we all hurt, we all laugh, we all make mistakes and we all learn. I'm no different. Also, they might not know it, but I've learned a lot from the other players along the way; there are aspects I look up to and admire in almost every one of them. I wish them all happiness, love and a great life.

And the fans - thank you, thank you and thank you all so much! You guys really made this great for us in the long run. I don't talk about it much, but I guess I'm still a little bit wide-eyed about it all. I never ever expected all this; it all just kind of - happened. But when I saw the opportunity, I seized it and made the most of it, and I'm happy. I don't like to take things for granted, and I'm definitely grateful for all the fans of me and the stories I've been in. That I ended up online and in a half-game/half-role-playing story in the first place is wild to me, but that the story and I have fans is even wilder. It was such a huge departure (and ended up being such a huge time commitment) from the life I'd been leading, and I understand why I did it but it still all amazes me. However, I think I've rolled with the punches and I've definitely had a fantastic online experience. And all the fans of myself and the stories I've been in have made it at least twenty times more fantastic than it would've been otherwise. Yeah, I like it, and I appreciate it. So thank you fans, you guys deserves your props!

Isabella blows a kiss toward the camera.

And to my fans and people interested in me in particular, I wanna single you guys out and say I really appreciate it:

Some Tongans who rooted for me early on in my forum were Lindsay, CJ, Tenzil and Jenne - thanks guys!

Special shoutouts are in order for Will, Raz, RajinCajun, Paul, Kevin W. markymar, Nathan, Sparkles, Baulder16, Schneck, KelownaGuy19, Kairio, raylim and Texas Kelly.

Also, a special shoutout goes to rafe, who was my original fan. Another one goes to mds2929, who saved the day in LTS3 and has supported me ever since . Another goes to Harrison, aka yankees42789, who I played with in LTS3 and has supported me ever since. And finally, let me give a big shout-out to brekkfust, cause you're still here supporting me! I appreciate it.

For any other fans or supporters not named - shoutouts to all of you too!

Now, let's see, anything else I'd like to say....Well, one thing I might as well say here is that Roach always wanted to talk to me on the phone (he especially wanted to talk to all of us Okinawans on the phone at least once) and I never would. But I had a surprise in store. For our game, we were going to have Matt or Ryan call each person after they were voted out like Roach did in Okinawa, and the contestants, including Roach, were to be prepared for it. However, whenever the moment came that Roach was voted out (or after the Final TC should he have made the Final 2), he was going to get a call, but not just from Matt or Ryan. He was going to get a call from me. I just knew he'd really like it and it would've been a little "thank you" for playing in my game. Well, anyway, I guess he screwed that chance up!

Isabella laughs.

Julie: Next to last question - Will you kiss me right now and let's have a hot make-out session to boost the ratings and make both of us happy?

Isabella pauses to consider it.

Isabella: Um, well, tempting as it might be, if I were going to kiss a girl on-screen I think I'd rather start with someone else.

Isabella smiles.

Julie listens intently.

Julie: Well, too bad for you. Last question Isabella - What's next for you?

Isabella: Well, first of all, next for me is a lot of stretching and a long yoga class after all this sitting down!

Isabella laughs.

But pertaining to this type of stuff, as I said in the beginning, I'm considering co-running a new game/story. If it happens, it's going to be incredible and I'm excited about the possibilities.

Also, in doing this interview I've gotten an idea for a new project - just a little something that could be fun. I'm going to decide whether or not to do it in the next few days, and if I do, it should be out anywhere from the next few weeks to the next few months.

Either way, I've gotten myself a new site that anyone can access to find out about this new project should it happen and the new game/story should it happen. Also, it might eventually contain more info about the game that never was, and should this Okinawa board get locked and you wanna talk about this interview or ask me any questions about anything, you can post it over there. It's not much now - just another board like this, pretty barren for the time being. But if you're interested, you should check it out from time to time. It's called the I Zone and here's the address:

theizone.proboards46.com

That's it.

And as far as this whole experience goes, to sum it all up, and to put my general philosophy in one line, I want to quote a song I know -

"You've got to believe it'll be alright in the end".

Looking back on everything, I'm very happy I took the chances and did it all. And, like Frankie said, I did it my way.

Isabella smiles.

Julie turns toward the camera.

Julie: And with that we have officially come to the...

Okinawa Host: Hello?

Julie, who looked so normal and composed one moment before, completely loses control and with a red and manic face screams:

Julie: What the fuck do you want motherfucker? The call-in portion of our interview is over. O - V - E - R. Don't you undertand what over means you fucking moron? OVER!!!!

Okinawa Host: I just have one more question for Isabella.

Julie: OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okinawa Host: Just one more.

Julie: OVE!!!!!!!---

As Julie is mid-scream, she faints from anxiety and slumps in her chair. The camera shot cuts to just Isabella as off-camera a small man with a completely bandaged head, Julie's assistant Tim, comes over to fan Julie and try to wake her up, while production people motion to Isabella to continue.

Okinawa Host: Isabella, who's your favorite baseball team? (just kidding)

Isabella laughs at the question.

Isabella: That one's easy Mario, and a perfect last question - without a doubt it's the Bad News Bears. Everyone's rooting for them, they deserve to win, they should win, yet they end up coming in second.

But what do they do?

Isabella smiles.

They celebrate being second.

Julie, coming to and quickly regaining her composure and realizing she must finish, smiles and looks at the camera, dreaming of what pain she will inflict on her assistant Tim later on to calm herself. The camera cuts back to the normal shot of both Julie and Isabella and Julie gives a short, robotic laugh.

Julie: And with that we have officially come to the end of an extraordinary interview. Love her or hate her, Isabella has no trouble inspiring strong emotions in others. Some consider her a legend within the community, but whether or not she is, her accomplishments in Survivor are indeed incredible and she has had a phenominal ride so far.

Julie turns to look at Isabella.

Isabella, thank you for stopping by.

Isabella smiles.

Isabella: Thank you for having me Julie,

Isabella turns to look at the camera.

And thank you all.


Cut to black. The end.

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