Solomon “Sol” Yi isn’t mad at Genevieve Mushaluk for orchestrating his demise on the latest episode of “Survivor 47.”
Instead, the 43-year-old medical device salesman exclusively told The Post he thinks Mushaluk, 33, is “one of the best players” to ever compete on the reality show.
“Genevieve is so smart. She is a freak of nature when it comes to strategy in this game,” Yi said.
Read Yi’s full interview below.
New York Post: What did you think the consensus was as you went to vote after the scramble at tribal?
Sol Yi: I definitely didn’t have a consensus on anything. It was more of hoping and just wishing. thought about playing my Shot in the Dark, but then it’s like, if you are correct, if it does work out your way, then you’re screwing yourself right now. And the fact is Andy and Rachel are the swing votes. Whatever they decide to do, you’re staying or you’re going home. And the fact that I had believed so strongly by saving Rachel’s life, I thought, there’s no way that she’s not going to do this with me. So that is most shocking part. The fact that Rachel went the other way, that shocked me the most.
When did you realize you lost Rachel’s trust?
Sam told me that I was going home. ‘Who told you this, Sam?’ ‘Rachel.’ I’m like, ‘Rachel? What on earth?’ I’m all the emotions. Anger, pissed, shocked. I remember thinking to myself, Rachel is going to be the easiest person to get back on my side because all I got to do is pull out the ‘Girl, I just saved your ass.’ And she does an amazing job of making me feel like, ‘Hey, I’m sorry. You’re right. My bad. Okay, I got you.’ She says to me, ‘Sol, you don’t have the numbers.’ And I thought, ‘Yes, I do. I have the numbers.’ Because she doesn’t know that Sam is with me at this point.
That’s the whole thing about this is that nobody knew. Because Rachel and I were a secret, nobody knows that. I’m working with Rachel, and nobody knows that Sam is in on this with me as well. So that’s the secrecy and the timing of it. That’s where it just didn’t all come together.
You also didn’t have the numbers because Genevieve was after you. Were you suspicious that she was working with the other side?
There was a moment and you see it in the episode. Teeny goes, ‘Well Sol said right away let’s get Sam out.’ So I say, ‘Sam, Genevieve, you down with that?’ Just expecting to hear her say, ‘Yup, no problem.’ And she says, ‘Well, whatever you guys want to do, I’m just happy to be here.’ And we’re like, ‘What? What the hell are you talking about, girl?’ That’s what’s happening in the inside of my body. On the outside I’m like, ‘Okay, cool.’ And Teeny and I talked about this. So that’s when the flag came up. But we didn’t think that it’s Sol’s going home now, and that’s where the shock happened.
Did Genevieve turn on you to benefit her own game, or because of the drama involving Rome that happened pre-merge?
For her own game. Genevieve is so smart. She is a freak of nature when it comes to strategy in this game. So she’s not going to let something that happened a long time ago. Yes, it was on her mind. But in the end, the decision making is not going to be because of that. What she saw was a player who had very, very good relationships with every single person out there. And that threatened her a lot. She’s, in my opinion, one of the best ‘Survivor’ players I’ve ever seen.
Who were the people that you wanted to be at the end of the game with?
All I knew is Genevieve and Teeny and myself. We had a talk and it was like, ‘Are we doing this? Is this the Lavo three going to the end?’ I definitely felt it more from Teeny, got it from Genevieve, and in the end it didn’t work out that way. But that was the plan. We were sitting in an amazing position. We got both of these Gata and Tuku, like who do you want to be? That was the plan. That was what we were trying to do.
Was it the wrong move to take out Sierra last week and lose the trust of Sam and Rachel?
No. I’ll tell you why. This isn’t out there. I did not tell anybody that I’m a medical sales rep. I told everyone that I was a patient care coordinator. Essentially a nurse. However, I had told Sierra that I have a degree in marketing and Sierra’s a nurse. So we’re just having this basic normal conversation and she’s like, ‘Wait, I thought you got a degree in marketing. Are you a nurse now?’ I’m like, ‘No.’ And she goes, ‘Huh.’ And then my heart went into my stomach. ‘Sierra knows. Sierra knows that I’m making this up.’ So that was kind of in the back of my mind. And the fact that her and Sam are such a tight duo. I was like, ‘Let’s get Sierra out of here.’
You had a very tumultuous relationship with Rome. What is your take on your experience with him, and have you guys mended fences?
I thought the experience was incredibly difficult. He made it very difficult. I had to really self-reflect every single day so I wouldn’t go crazy on the guy. And then when it’s over, I feel like I have a new life. I have a breath of fresh air. And then I can bring out my personality and have a lot of fun. But we talk. The last time I saw Rome was at the RHAP event in New York City. We had some drinks together.
“Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
