US TV
Yasmin Giles ('Survivor: Samoa')
Published Friday, Oct 9 2009, 22:15 BST | By Philippa Warr

The others accused you of not doing enough around camp - is that fair?
"That was true. I was sleepy half the time and I was tired. I'm not afraid to admit that but when people come up short in some areas, they're strong in others. I thought that because I was helping with challenges I would be seen as an asset and not a liability but it went the complete opposite way. That said, I'm a trained masseuse - I gave Brett a whole body massage. If people were tired and hurting from challenges I would rub their back, I was giving hand massages and I did a lot of people's hair as well. None of those things were ever shown. Neither was me being on Brett's shoulders for 30 minutes cutting down leaves or when I helped cut down two trees with a machete. You never saw that so again I came off as lazy. I went from ghetto trashy to lazy to prima donna to princess. I'm confused!"
Did you put up enough of a fight to stay?
"No, I think I actually just felt like it was time for me to go and I was happy to go. I think I did all that I could do and stepping it up in challenges would be enough. Since it wasn't, my head was on the chopping block so I gave a nice smile and was like, 'See you later'. My head wasn't in the game, I checked out long before. When Jeff put my torch out, did you notice the smile? Best day of my life."
With so many challenge wins, do you think Galu are getting complacent?
"Yeah - I think voting me out was a way of saying, 'We know we've been sitting pretty, we have more numbers than they do, we can afford to lose a strong competitor and keep winning'. Whether or not they do that remains to be seen, but sometimes you lose your momentum when you get too comfortable and we might have gotten comfortable. It might be a more even fight now, though. I don't think they'll be doing any more yoga!"
When you started you said you would try to stay neutral but you rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way - what happened?
"Neutral to me meant only in my camp. I didn't ruffle any feathers in mine! Even though I didn't do much around camp, I did step up in the challenges so I still thought I was being a team player. I didn't have to be worried about Foa Foa - that wasn't my tribe."
How did you feel about the confrontation you had with Ben on the beach?
"Ben's comments didn't faze me too much because Ben's a kid. He was coming from a very immature place. When you attack someone you might want to try getting their name correct - my name is Yasmin not Jasmine! Half the time in his confessions I didn't know who the hell he was even talking to. I have a saying: all lies die when the truth comes to light. [What he said] wasn't true so I didn't have to get upset, nor did I have to rebut it at Tribal Council."
Did anything surprise you when watching it back?
"Ben's comments. He's a man, he could have said them to my face but I guess if he still didn't have my name correct, he couldn't. It surprised me because my little saying, 'From the hoods to the woods', it's far from the truth. I grew up in a two-parent household, I've never had a drink a day in my life - it just so happened that Ben judged me for being African-American and being from Detroit. I never said, 'My name is Yasmin and I'm from the hood', that was in a private confessional and he didn't see it until after it aired. But to cover his own butt, he decided to say, 'Well, she said she was from the hood!' Whatever."
How was your time with Ben after being voted out?
"It was different. Ben made other comments that he thought were funny but again, you're being insensitive and immature when you tell me, 'Shut your cotton-picking face'. Those were things he said to me after the fact, but I look at Ben like a kid and damaged goods. He was there and we had to make the best of the time. We sort of buried the hatchet, but would I hang out with him? Hell no."
Would you have done anything differently?
"Definitely - the whole confrontation with Ben did not have to happen. I walked away thinking, 'Wow, this dude is ignorant'. I would not have confronted him because he was not worth my time, he was not worth my energy and it didn't have to happen."
You repeatedly said you hated the woods - would you ever do this sort of thing again?
"Hell no! I want you to print, 'Hell no!' I thought I could handle [the outdoor life] but actually I couldn't."
Is there anyone there you would like to win?
"Shambo, Natalie or Jaison. I'm cool with either. I don't want Laura to win. I like to call Laura a fake prophet. She mentioned how she was doing the Christian thing and was an evangelist but Laura would grab my hand before every challenge and pray, 'Oh God, please keep Yasmin safe and strong'. Whatever, girl. If you're going to pray I stay safe and strong and help us win but behind my back want me to go? You should have been praying I did some work around camp or let me know that I should!"
Lastly, what on earth possessed you to bring heels?!
"I'm a girly girl! I figured at some point they might be nice to wear and then maybe I could take them off but that's another thing that went south - I was like 'Oh my God, I have to play in these?' They were sinking in the sand - I had to try to make lemonade out of these lemons!"
> 'Survivor Samoa': Episode 4 recap
Survivor: Samoa continues next Thursday on CBS.






