Caroline Vidmar was the ultimate victim of Operation: Italy.
On Wednesday’s episode of “Survivor 47,” Andy Rueda flipped on his five-person alliance and devised a sneaky plan with Sam Phalen and Genevieve Mushaluk to take out Rachel LaMont. But after LaMont won immunity, the trio targeted Vidmar — and the 28-year-old strategy consultant was voted out in a shocking blindside.
“The fact that what took me down was a plan that took several hours and Italian food to hatch. Can’t ask to go out a better way,” Vidmar told The Post in an exclusive interview.
She also revealed that her closest ally, Sue Smey, told her she was willing to give up her own game and advocate for Vidmar to win if they both made it to the final tribal council.
“I was like, ‘Wow, not on my bingo card,’” Vidmar said.
Read Vidmar’s full interview below.
New York Post: In hindsight, were there obvious signs that Andy was going to flip on the alliance that you missed at the time?
Caroline Vidmar: It was very clear that Andy had a clear plan for how this vote was supposed to go. However, the misread was that I could tell Andy wanted to make a big move. We shut him down pretty hard about not going after Genevieve and going after Kyle [last episode]. I felt like a running theme for this season was, ‘Andy feels disrespected. He feels like he’s on the bottom. He feels like he doesn’t have agency.’ So when he comes back and said Genevieve, my thought is, ‘This is his big move. Let me help you make this big move happen.’
So the ironic part was I was the biggest advocate for everything Operation: Italy wanted to have happen. Sue’s like, ‘Maybe I should play my idol for you.’ I said, ‘No, don’t do it. Don’t steal Andy’s thunder. Have him feel like he is doing every single part of this big move.’ I didn’t want him to feel like we interfered in any way.
Did you think Genevieve’s fake idol was actually real?
What’s so funny is that while they’re off on their little Operation: Italy dream vacation, we at camp actually already came to the conclusion that Genevieve had an idol. What Genevieve had previously told Teeny, that Teeny told us, is Genevieve said, ‘Teeny, just tell me when it’s my time to go and we’ll enjoy the day together. We’ll have a wonderful time. Just let me know when I’m going home.’ Teeny mentioned this to us and I say, ‘Genevieve has an idol. That’s why Genevieve is saying that. Genevieve isn’t emotional. Genevieve wants to know when it’s in fact her going home so she can play the idol.’
So Andy comes back and says, ‘Guys, Genevieve has an idol.’ Our response is, ‘We know.’ He was shocked. Little bit of a red flag. But that’s also why we trusted Andy, because what Andy was saying made sense. And we actually already had a split vote plan where there was going to be three votes on Sam, two votes on Genevieve. What he proposed was actually exactly what we wanted to do already, but shifting one vote from Sam to Genevieve.
At one point I was debating like, ‘Should we really be more critical of who’s in the majority?’ But again, I trusted Andy. It was his big move. His big idea. I’m not going to tell Andy on his big move, ‘Hey, you want Genevieve gone? This is all you. But you vote for Sam.’ No, I’m going to give him the credit that he wants and that he thinks he deserves. So end up biting me in the butt, but that’s why I did it.
Did you want to stick to the final five alliance [with Andy, Rachel, Sue, and Teeny Chirichillo] to the end?
I was proud advocating for the final five and the final four as well that I pitched during the lack of reward. But was I married to it? No. I was trying to play a very agile game where you have to reassess how things happen as things unfold. I was comfortable going to the final three with Sam or with Andy. But again, I loved the other three people I was in that alliance with. I just adored them as people.
Also, what they didn’t show is Rachel and I started an alliance the night Sierra went home. As the game evolved, she was my strategic number one. So I always thought that she was a threat. But I thought, you know what, she’s a threat that’s working with me. And as good things are happening to her, she is becoming a shield. Did I feel sold on going to the end with Rachel? No. Did I feel like I was evolving a little bit of a pitch against her? Yes. But was I sold on it? No.
And you were good to go to the end with Sue?
Absolutely. Sue, happy to ride or die with her to the very end. And what’s funny is Sue actually told me in that conversation they showed where she’s saying, ‘I’m so proud of your game, Caroline, I think you’re doing great.’ She actually also said, ‘I want to go to the end with you and I think you should win. And I’ll help advocate for you as well at final tribal.’ I was like, ‘Wow, not on my bingo card. Okay, we’ll revisit this in a few days. Thank you, Sue.’ So I felt comfortable going to the end with her.
Did you believe that?
It’s fascinating. I think if you were to ask her today if she’d do that, she’d say no. In the moment, I felt like there’s something there. Did I think that she would stand up and fight for me? No. Did I think that she would make sure to highlight the things that I did that people didn’t see and talk about my good points when she didn’t have to? Yes. And again, I don’t want Sue to be in the final three and say, ‘Caroline should win.’ I want her to play a good game, too. But I thought that she’d give me credit where credit was due in a way that increased my odds at a bit of an expense of hers. Because she is someone that when you are in her corner, she is as loyal as you could possibly be. I didn’t know it was possible to have such a wonderful alliance member. It was incredible.
“Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
