The fan favorite takes us through her epic odyssey of the fake idol.
None of it mattered, however, after Jaime’s fake left the game inKane Fritzler’s sock.
And once they did, Jaime was pretty much powerless to stop them.
Jaime Lynn Ruiz on ‘Survivor 44’.Robert Voets/CBS
What happened when Jaime got to the jury?
When and how did she find out her idol was fake?
And how does she think she would have done had she made it to the final three?
Jaime Lynn Ruiz and Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 44’.CBS
Lauren and I didn’t really see it like that because she hid that very well from us.
So, to us, she was never a threat.
I thought,Oh, this is going to be easy.
Jaime Lynn Ruiz on ‘Survivor 44’.CBS
And my intuition perked up and it’s like, “What?
Uh, yeah.”
But because of the way he asked it, I knew something was up.
Josh Wilder, Jaime Lynn Ruiz, and Carson Garrett on ‘Survivor 44’.Robert Voets/CBS
So, going into Tribal, I was really nervous.
I’m like,Okay, it’s going to be me, isn’t it?
That’s very unusual for him to ask me that in that way.
Jaime Lynn Ruiz on ‘Survivor 44’.
At the end it was like,Oh, they got me.
[Laughs]
Let’s play a little game of what if?
Kane told me howclose he was with you.
Danny wasgiving you major propswhen we spoke last week.
I think I did have a really deep social game with the jury members that were there.
It was almost like, “Okay, what is she doing?”
Because we had just met her at the merge, so we had no idea what happened on Tika.
I think I would’ve had to do a lot of talking to get the votes.
What other two players?
At the end, obviously, my number one at the time was Lauren.
I think that it would’ve been amazing to be with her at the end.
When and how did you find out that your idol was not real?
Was it at the after-show?
That means it must be the after-show.
You know, to me, that idol was real, obviously.
You instantly go back and start replaying every single conversation.
Does anybody on my tribe at this time have enough time to make a fake idol?No.
And then it just slipped away.
It wasn’t a constant thought, but it did hit me.
Although, that’s kind of also iconic to play a fake idol.
It was wild finding out, because every single one of us thought that this idol was real!
It was a perfectly crafted idol.
And even the paper was still clean because everything gets really dirty.
The paper was clean.
So there was just no real way of telling with that idol.
What did Matthew say about it when you all got back in touch after the season?
Were you like, “Dude, why’d you do that to me?”
“Listen, Plant Daddy, we’ve got to have a conversation!”
[Laughs] It was a very fun conversation.
I love that I was part of it.
Watching it back, it’s like, “Oh my gosh, that’s when it happened!”
It was put together so well, and so he and I love talking about it.
We love joking about it.
I love the idol.
I had a great time out there watching it back.
Because, as the audience, you’re all knowing, and so watching it happen it was exciting.
And then the moment later, “Oh, this is fake.”
When, Kane left with that in his sock, at that point, you think it’s real.
Yeah, like in slow motion.
I was trying not to react.
You’re really wanting to keep your mental energy up.
You’ve got be aware.
Thinking it was a real idol, I just had to find the bright side, truly.
I remember sitting there thinking,Okay, I don’t want to react.
Then the dilemma was: Am I going to tell everybody?
Do I not tell everyone?
Where am I going to go from here?
Oh, that was all of us as super fans.
We knew that would be part of the final five.
So it was: How much can we carry?
We’re exhausted at this point.
We haven’t eaten.
I remember thinking to myself,Guys, let’s just leave it.
I’m starving, I’m tired.
I can’t carry anything.
I remember asking Yam Yam and Carolyn, “Can you guys carry this?
I wanted to bring the art set with the paints.
That was so important to me.
They showed a scene of me painting the flag, and I loved that moment.
But yeah, it was all of us.
What was your first night at Ponderosa like after being voted out?
I walked up to Ponderosa, and I saw all of my friends.
I had a cheeseburger and French fries waiting for me, which was exciting.
Let’s go to the bathroom together.”
I could not control myself.
My reaction of seeing myself for the first time in 23 days, it was wild.
We laughed for at least five minutes straight.
I loved my time there.
What was something that happened out there that you wish we had a chance to see?
I wish they would’ve shown more of my relationships, building my strategy talk with really anybody.
It was such a special bonding moment because I love her so much and we made bone broth.
It was so beautiful.
I will always remember that special moment.
Would you go play again if they asked you?
I would go tomorrow.
It was an amazing life-changing experience and I’m so grateful for it.
I would do it again in a heartbeat.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
