Read on for my interview with Marya, and make sure to check in with Parade.com every day for interviews with this season’s contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 42 premieres on March 9 with a special two-hour premiere on CBS.
Interview with Marya from Survivor 42
Why are you here on Survivor? I have written about 20 pages about why I’m here. And I think I’m the short answer is I’m on a personal journey. I think there are some things I want to learn about myself. I think there are challenging things that I want to show myself that I can actually do, that I’m up to and capable of. And I’m here to entertain my parents. They’ve had a really, really difficult 2020. My brother passed away from COVID. And I think they are going to be tickled by this. I’m here for my boys. My 10-year-old and I are super fans. We watch all the time. We submitted our audition tape together. It’s just a fun thing for him and me. So I’ve got a lot of whys! What’s your history with watching Survivor? Now my oldest son is 20 years old. And he was a two-pound six-month premie when he was born. And he had to stay in the NICU for a couple of months. And so I would go out and eat while he was in the hospital and the TV was on, and there was Survivor. And I was hooked. I just loved the whole thing, these random people coming together trying to figure this crazy situation out. It was just fascinating to me. But I will say I didn’t want to play. I mean, I just loved the people and the humanity of it all. So I watched for many years. When my oldest was about eight, he watched with me. So it’s fun to come full circle when now my youngest is also a fan, and we have our fun with Survivor. I don’t think it was until 2020 that I had a major shift. I thoroughly loved watching but never had that itch to go out and play. I mean, I’ve never been camping. Bugs and all of that are not me! Something shifted in 2020. And I think a lot of it was COVID and quarantine and loss. Just wanting to live whatever life I have to the fullest every single day, every single minute. So Survivor became a little more metaphorical for me, as opposed to just enjoying watching the game. This is life at its peak! This is living, pushing yourself as far as you can possibly go. You don’t even know how far that is. A lot of us don’t have an opportunity to really push ourselves. It just became juicy and desirable. It’s weird, but now I want to be uncomfortable. I want that I want to sleep outside. I want to figure out why I’m afraid of some of the things I’m afraid of and conquer those. Give me one Survivor winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most. A non-winner that I identify with is Taj from season 18. I reference her a lot because I love her personality. I love her game. She got very close to winning but did not win. She reminds me of me. I think people underestimated how hard she was really playing, or even that she was playing. But she did it in what I call a graceful way. I really identify with her. I hope she plays again one day. For winner, it seems a little cliche, but I’m going to go with Sandra. While our personalities are very different, and I think my win would happen differently, there are some key similarities. It’s her drive. In what I consider to be her hardest season, Heroes vs. Villains, she was backed up in a corner and didn’t quit. She found a way to figure out how to land on top when she really didn’t have a lot of space to move. There’s just something about her drive and perseverance that worked for me. What’s one life experience you feel has prepared you most for the game? I have a handful. But most recently, I would have to say the loss of my brother. It’s given me tough skin, but not too tough not to have a social game. But I would say coupled with that would just be growing up in a multiracial home with two parents that did not agree on anything. I found it really humorous because it taught me a lot. As a little kid, I watched my parents talk about how tomatoes should be properly sliced on a salad or if you were supposed to put sugar in grits or not, constant debates about trivial things. It made me realize there really isn’t a right and wrong to a lot of things. You’ve got to figure out what works for you. And you also have to allow people to do what works for them. That has helped me a lot in life, and I think it will help me a lot in this game to not be too closed-minded in my thinking. What do you think people will perceive you as? I think I’m the oldest female. And because I’m also a teacher, I can be a little motherly. So I’m really going to have to not let the motherly come out totally. But there are just little things that I’m hoping will come across as caring as opposed to motherly. So the hope is people see you as caring. I think for the few that are closer to my age, it’s different. I think they will see me as competition. I’m small; I don’t really look like I’m in the gym every day or four times a week or whatever. So I think that I might look not quite competitive, and I might be perceived as not a real threat. What do you desire in an alliance partner? I don’t have any unrealistic thoughts about loyalty and trust. I mean, I kind of think there’s a 24-hour trust. What we agree on today might not be the case tomorrow. I would just like to have that candid understanding. You’re not selling your soul. And I’m not going to hate you if you change your mind tomorrow. We’re playing a game. I really want someone to enjoy the game with. I want to have fun. I want to laugh. I want to go out, and I want to be the provider. I haven’t seen a woman do that. That is probably number one on my list. I want to go fishing. It seems so exciting. So I would love to have an alliance partner that’s just adventurous and doesn’t want to just sit under the shelter and talk. To eat up this experience. I just don’t want to sit around! (Laughs.) What celebrity or fictional character would you want to come out for a Loved Ones visit? So I have it on my goals list that I want to meet Tyler Perry at the live reunion show. I know that he’s into the show, and he gives Jeff suggestions. But I want to sit down and have lunch with Tyler Perry, talk about writing and story and all that good stuff. When you’re at your lowest moment in the game, what’s one happy memory you’ll pull from in your time of need? My brother and I going grocery shopping every other Saturday. My mom would take us to Meijer. I don’t know why, but it took her eight hours to grocery shop. (Laughs.) So we would be at Meijer for eight hours. And at some point, he would literally start dancing down the aisle. And I’m talking full-blown pirouettes and everything! I was so embarrassed as a kid. I would hide in between clothes or something. I just didn’t want anyone to see me with him. But I bust out laughing every time I think of it. He would go on and later become a professional dancer. That was his dream. That was just his passion. He didn’t care that anyone was looking at him at the grocery store; he was going to dance. And that memory says to me, “Have your moment. But now you need to dance down the aisle, or down the beach. Do what you got to do. But you’re here. So dance.” Next, check out our interview with Survivor 42 contestant Lindsay Dolashewich.
