Once Jeff Probst and MrBeast concocted their plan to host a pair of “Survivor” and “Beast Games” crossover episodes this season, Prime Video made sure to include five past CBS castaways in the “Strong vs. Smart” cast in an effort to craft the perfect comeback narrative.
However, only Season 47 finalist Sue Smey survived long enough to make it back to the beaches of Fiji, and according to her, “None of that whole thing made sense.” In fact, she initially just assumed she was there to recreate the Season 1 island hide-and-seek challenge.
“Nothing’s going to ever top ‘Survivor,’ right? So when I’m picturing the Pacific, I’m picturing going on an island and hiding from the Navy SEALs, that’s all I wanted to do. And when [MrBeast] said Fiji — obviously, I’ll always be grateful — but I’m just like, OK, well I’ve been,” Smey told TheWrap ahead of Wednesday’s new episode. “It just was a weird, weird thing when that word came out of his mouth.”
That all changed, of course, when she wound up spotting Probst from the boat.
“I’m yelling, I saw him from a distance. I lost my voice almost, because I was so excited yelling, ‘Jeff!’ I’m like, such an idiot. He knows that’s me, but I couldn’t help myself, because I just was so blown away that it was Jeff. I couldn’t get off the boat fast enough,” she added. “You know what it is? I’m away for over three weeks and it was a familiar face. Like, I spent my summer with him last year, so to get to see him and get a hug from him, it felt like home just for two seconds.”
The 200-person cast for “Beast Games” Season 2 also featured former “Survivor” fan-favorites Cydney Gillon, Noelle Lambert, Sami Layadi and Jesse Lopez. And while MrBeast’s challenges prevented them from making the Top 50 of the competition, Smey admitted their original show is still harder.
“‘Survivor’ was deadly. ‘Survivor’ was brutal. It was hard, the lack of food is by far the worst for me. I lost so much weight. Your brain gets foggy. You’re weak. My legs were cramping all the time — and that’s only the physical aspect,” she said. “Then you have the battling all of the people that are trying to get you out. They’re playing the game. They’re looking to see who can be an ally, who they’ve got to get rid of. It was 24/7 torture, in a good way.”
“With these Games, I gained weight,” Smey then said with a laugh. “Everybody’s friendly, everybody’s nice. I made the best friends with all the smart girls. And not only are they smart, they’re strong-ass women that I have so much respect for. So even though the strong people really dominated, there were some incredible women out there and my time with them changed the person I am; learning different things and learning about them and their stories and their lives. It was a pleasure.”
The reality TV veteran also broke down the dynamics between the strong and smart portions of the cast, revealing her “Survivor” compatriots made an effort to not be seen as a unit in the social-strategy atmosphere.
“To be honest with you, there was a big divide between the smart and the strong, especially the men. The girls, too, but they were all jiving, they’re all working out together, there was just a bond between them. Not that they didn’t respect us, but they really didn’t need to have anything to do with us, basically, other than borrow my blow dryer,” she joked. “With the other ‘Survivors,’ before it all began, we spent a lot of time together — Jesse, Sami and Noelle, they’re on the same season, so I saw them together a lot. But every time I was doing something, it was never in the same group, though I did spend some time with Noelle. With Jesse, I wanted to work with him, but he really felt like he needed to keep his distance so that people wouldn’t be thinking that we were some sort of collaboration. Meanwhile, the whole strong people were working together.”
Still, it was another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Smey, who hopes to be back for a third show in the near future.
“The reason I went on ‘Beast Games’ is because my grandson only watches MrBeast. So Chelsea, my daughter, called me and said, ‘Can you please apply? Aiden loves MrBeast and he wants to see you on it.’ So I’m like, sure, no problem,” she shared. “I applied for ‘Survivor’ because I wanted to show her, all you have to do is try … my family thinks I’m crazy, but they support me and now they’re to the point where they’re just like, ‘I’m so happy for you.’ I’m having fun. My life is freaking fun.”
Part of that fun will soon include cheering on her fellow Season 47 castmate Genevieve Mushaluk as she competes on Season 50: In the Hands of the Fans.
“I knew they would pick Genevieve. That woman is brilliant, she’s beautiful, she’s kind, she’s brilliant, she’s like a secret agent. She’s so smart. She’s the type that she played the game, but under the radar. You sort of knew she was playing the game maybe, but she was so good at covering her tracks, where other people were big gamers but they were so out front with it,” Smey gushed. “When we got to Fiji, I’m thinking, Are all of 50 around the corner and I get to pick my Genevieve to do another challenge with? Because when her and I did a challenge, we rocked it. I just didn’t know what to expect, it was so confusing that Jeff was even there — I didn’t know what was going on. So then I’m thinking, maybe they’re gonna do like a reverse merge or they’ll come in and we’ll work together.”
See how it all plays out on Wednesday’s new episode of “Beast Games,” which also features the debut of Starbucks’ new Cannon Ball Drink, inspired by the show.
“Beast Games” Season 2 airs Wednesdays on Prime Video, while “Survivor” returns for Season 50 on Feb. 25.
