The Survivor Game Changers season is officially upon us, and every week, Parade’s Josh Wigler will bring you interviews with the castaways as they’re voted off the island. Click here to make sure you don’t miss a single story, and click here to revisit our massive preseason coverage.

When all is said and done, which Michaela Bradshaw will you remember: the Michaela who punched a tree and nearly punched Jay Starrett’s head off when she was voted out of Millennials vs Gen X, or the Michaela who kicked a puzzle and let out a huge laugh at the end of her final confessional when she was voted out of Game Changers?

In both cases, you’re going to think about a hot-blooded personality who swings big, much to the chagrin of inanimate objects.

But that’s Michaela: an extreme personality with extreme reactions, someone who goes big when she goes home, whose laughter and tears and screams and WTF reactions all swirl together to create one of the most memorable Survivor players in the modern era of the game, even if her actual gameplay could use an adjustment or two.

All of those qualities were on full display during her second run on Survivor, a much lengthier experience than her first time out, and one that ended on yet another chaotic note: Sarah Lacina using her steal-a-vote advantage to join forces with Brad Culpepper and Troyzan Robertson to oust Michaela, likely as a means of further weakening the legendary Cirie Fields. But really, who can say definitively what happened at that crazy Tribal Council? Good thing Michaela’s here to tell us exactly what went down, or as close to it as she can get.

Here’s what Michaela tells Parade about her second Survivor experience, her thoughts on her downfall, the close bond she forged with Cirie, the frustration she felt about getting sat out of challenges, the strategy behind her prop comedy, and if a third season is in the cards.

Josh Wigler (Survivor press, Parade): Michaela, whaaaaaaaat?

Michaela Bradshaw (Millennials vs Gen X): (Laughs.)

Wigler: Seriously, help me understand what happened to you last night.

Michaela: You know, it’s one of those crazy game-changing moments, I guess! Basically what happened is Cirie tried to make a big move and it blew up in her face, and I ended up being guilty by association. At that point in the game, they put two and two together and they said there’s no point in taking out Cirie, so let’s take out Michaela.

Wigler: Everything happened so fast, so walk me through it. Put us in your shoes. Going into Tribal Council, what was the game plan?

Michaela: Here’s the crazy thing. Going into Tribal Council, the almost unanimous plan was to vote out Aubry. All the scrambling you all saw on the beach, that’s because there are certain pockets of people who wanted to vote out Sarah. Me being one of them. But the people who wanted to vote out Sarah never came and talked to me.

Wigler: Like who?

Michaela: Brad, Troyzan, Aubry and Tai were trying to get together to vote for Sarah. But Aubry and Tai were the weird ones. What ended up happening is either Aubry or Tai backed out of the plan, and then it was a race of who is going to get to Sarah first and let her know. Aubry gets to Cirie, and Cirie thinks that she needs to tell Sarah what Aubry just told her. Cirie trusts Aubry, but Sarah trusts Tai. Now Cirie wants to get rid of Tai for some reason. Cirie becomes hellbent on getting rid of Tai, to the point that she wants to take Sarah’s advantage and steal Sarah’s vote just to vote out Tai. It’s just too much. But we hungry at this point. I don’t know. (Laughs.) It’s just too much extra. But Cirie was hellbent on getting rid of Tai, and the majority was supposed to vote Aubry, and when the advantage fell through, Sarah’s all on the fritz, and she’s like, “I don’t want to get rid of Aubry now. I want to get rid of Cirie.” But somehow, the whispers go from Aubry to Tai to Cirie to Michaela, and Michaela gets four votes and goes home.

Wigler: The advantage gets played, and all of that drama goes down about the fine print. On Twitter last night, Troyzan said that he’s the one who pointed out the non-transferrable detail. Is that how you remember it?

Michaela: No. This is what happened. Sarah pointed out the non-transferrable. Here’s the deal. Sarah’s really smart. She told Cirie in the middle of the day that she would give Cirie that advantage. And then she didn’t give Cirie the advantage until moments before Tribal Council. That’s why Cirie never had a chance to open it or read it for herself. Sarah knew it was non-transferrable the whole time. That was like a gameplay in itself on her part. At Tribal Council, when she sees Cirie whip it out, she sits there to wait to see what Cirie would do with it, and then she goes, “Uh uh, Jeff! It says it’s non-transferrable.” And then we had a whole conversation on what does that mean. It seemed like Jeff was under the impression that Cirie could actually use it. And then Troyzan did say: “But non-transferrable does mean non-transferrable.” And that’s when Cirie had to read it again, and Jeff said, “Well, I guess that does mean it’s non-transferrable, so you have to give it back to Sarah.” It’s not that Troyzan pointed it out, but it seemed like Jeff was going one way, and then he went the other way, and Troyzan may have had something to do with that. Who knows. I would have been happier if he didn’t say anything! (Laughs.)

Wigler: It was so wild for the viewer, because your name wasn’t coming up at all…

Michaela: …for the first time!

Wigler: And then it’s you who goes home. Why do you think it was you, ultimately, if Sarah wanted to go after Cirie?

Michaela: Because Cirie can’t win any challenges. It’s just like if Aubry and Andrea were a pair, why did Andrea go home? It’s because Andrea was considered the bigger threats at that point in the game. That’s just it. Me and Cirie were considered a pair at that point in the game. There’s no point in taking out Cirie, because she’s not going to win anything. Now she’s just isolated her number one, which was supposed to be Sarah. It just made sense to get rid of me, I guess.

Wigler: Did you feel betrayed at all by Sarah? She was part of your crew, and now she’s flipping things around. Did you take it personally?

Michaela: I didn’t take it personally, because I wanted to get rid of Sarah for that very reason. Sarah had shown herself to be a person who would change her mind on a dime. She wouldn’t be fully aware of what was going on, and she would make some kind of crazy decision, and everything would flip up into the air. I told Cirie: “This is not what we want this late in the game. One person getting spooked can make the whole house of cards fall down.” As we saw, one person got spooked, and made the whole house of cards fall down. I can’t be mad. I thought it was kind of poetic, actually. It proved me right. It lost me a million dollars, but it was another notch in Sarah’s belt at the end of the day. That’s how I look at it.

Wigler: How hard was it to watch the challenge where you didn’t see the hidden advantage, knowing that the advantage was going to play a big role in your exit?

Michaela: You know what! Clearly I knew about the advantage by the time it came on TV. Sarah had told me about it. She told me where she found it. It’s just one of those times where I was like, “Alright, Michaela. This is a lesson in life. Don’t let the anger blind you.” There are plenty of bible verses about keeping your cool and not getting mad, and here I was getting mad because I had to sit out again, and I had a blessing sitting right there under me. If I had just been paying attention, that could have been something that advanced me further in the game. That fact is also why I can’t be bitter at Sarah or even Cirie. If Cirie had just kept her cool, I would still be in the game. However, I try to think back and remember that if Cirie had not been on my side in the first vote after the merge, I would have been the first on the jury. I look back and remember that it’s Sarah’s advantage because I dropped the ball and I didn’t pick it up for myself. In the same sense that I could be bitter, there were clear opportunities where if I had been a little more aware of what was happening and in the right mindset, then those issues wouldn’t have been against me. Those would have been tools in my tool bag. That’s just how I look at it. I thought it was great. It sucks that I lost the million dollars, but I think it made for a great Tribal.

Wigler: You and Cirie became close out there. Can you speak to that bond? What drew you together?

Michaela: Here’s the deal. This is the first time I ever played with someone who has a similar background as me. In a game where you’re stuck on an island, away from all your friends and family, and me having done it back-to-back with maybe a week-and-a-half break, it’s hard! You’re spending 24 hours a day with people, and most of them, there’s no culturally relevant connection point that you had. I could use certain words and they wouldn’t understand what I’m saying. But Cirie is a person… she could see some of herself in me, and I could see a little of what is familiar to me in her. The same could be said about Sandra. It was really amazing and really uplifting for one time, just to have somebody who understands me and where I come from and how I’m thinking and who I am and what I struggle with, and can talk to me on my level. That type of bond is not something I was able to have with anyone else in that game, save for Cirie after the merge, and Sandra before the merge. I think that’s an important factor, and it’s something I’m very grateful for, that I was on a season with both of them.

Wigler: Would you have taken Cirie to the end with you? She’s a Survivor legend, and for me, that’s almost reason enough to vote for her to win. Would you have risked going against her in the Final Three?

Michaela: One hundred percent. One hundred percent. Just like this was the first time in Survivor history that there are two African American women at the merge, it would have been the first time in Survivor history that there were two African American women at the Final Three. That’s 100% what I wanted. I 100% felt very confident that if I got there, I would have a good shot at a million dollars.

Wigler: What was your argument going to be? Because there are people out there who didn’t think you had a great shot to win this season. What do you say to those people? What was your path to the win?

Michaela: In the same sense that my seashell strategy and my prowess in challenges is exactly what got me voted off the first time, my strategy this time was to be underestimated. I didn’t realize how much of a toll that would take on me, constantly being spoken down to and silenced and being thought of as not having a shot. But that’s exactly what I needed. I needed people to feel like Michaela doesn’t have a shot and Michaela doesn’t know what’s going on. We just tell her what to do and she does it. Clearly, if that was the case, again, I would have been the first person on the jury. But it wasn’t. As things were happening, yeah, there were people who weren’t playing with me, but I could have articulated it: “Hey, you thought you didn’t even need me in the game, but somehow, I was on the right side of the vote for your vote, for your vote, for your vote, and for your vote. Even though you weren’t strategizing with me, I had one or two key friends who were willing to help me out in this game when needed.” That would have been my point of articulation. Who knows how it would have went. If I could have succeeded in getting one person out, that would have been helpful! But I really don’t think it would have been a 100% loss if I made it to the Final Three with Cirie. I think it would have been great to see new school and old school argue it out at the end.

Wigler: As an audience, we know that you’re a beast in challenges; you proved that in your time on Millennials vs Gen X. How frustrating was it for you to be constantly sat out of the challenges this season?

Michaela: Oh, that was… it was just demoralizing. It was too much for me. Again, all day on the island, I’m sitting there and people will lie straight to my face. “Oh, we’re voting Zeke today!” Silly things. “We’re washing clothes!” While you’re sitting on the sand. Dealing with all of those little slights, and all of that tension… I was looking forward to the challenges just to get out the negative aggression. Again, I wasn’t allowed to have emotions at camp. I’m not allowed to be upset when I know you’re lying to me. I’m not allowed to be frustrated with how you’re piecemealing out the food I’m supposed to eat. I’m supposed to sit here and smile and be content that I’m going home next, right? So the challenges, I looked forward to them to burn off some steam and win something. I was looking forward to hopefully getting some food, because I was starving. (Laughs.) So it sucked to not get a chance to play.

Wigler: Is that why you kicked the poor puzzle? Getting some anger out?

Michaela: Yeah! I just gave it everything. And you know, that puzzle? It’s funny. It points to these little social elements of this game. That puzzle is called a rose compass. Most people already know that. But I’m not from any water. I don’t go hiking. I’ve never seen a rose compass before. No one has ever said that word to me before: rose compass.

Wigler: Hey, it’s the first time I’m hearing it, too!

Michaela: Okay, good! (Laughs.) A person like Brad, who lives in Florida by some water, he has a different life experience. He knew what that symbol was and what it was supposed to look like, where as me, I have no context with which to put this symbol. I’m looking at it like black-white, black-white, points, black-white points, let’s go, triangle, triangle, circle! It’s a great metaphor of me trying to piece this game together when it’s so far outside of what I normally do. It was one of those times where I gave it my best and didn’t finish it. I like being a closer, and I just wasn’t able to close it. That frustrated me.

Wigler: What was up with the prop comedy? Bringing tea to the Tribal Council where you sent JT home, or the time you busted out the popcorn… how pre-meditated was all of that?

Michaela: Very. (Laughs.) That would have been part of my argument, if I had made it to the Final Three. It would have been part of my speech. Based on the way I had to play — which is minimize yourself and don’t make people uncomfortable; don’t be too smart, don’t be too athletic, don’t be too articulate; just be a little happy slave and do what they say — I had to play like that at camp. I needed to make sure people understood that I know what’s happening. Whether that’s JT: “You’ve been treating me poorly this whole time and talking about me — you and Aubry both think you have this whole thing in the back? Cool. I’ll let you think that all day. I’m going to let you think you won all. Day. But you get so comfortable that you won’t see this blindside coming. And just so you know that I’m a part of it? I’m going to sip my tea while you walk off.” Or with Brad and Debbie and that whole group, this group that kind of treated me similarly to JT — don’t feel the need to talk to me, agitated by every little thing I do, speaking down to me the few times they do talk to me — alright, cool! You’re running everything and you’re so smart? Well, that same food that you get annoyed about when I eat it? I’m going to eat it right here when we send one of your friends home, and let you know that little stupid Michaela was actually in on this thing. I don’t think the proper word is “petty,” because that’s not what I want to get at. But it’s like when you work in an office and the boss treats you one way and you need to say something slick in the meeting, but not so slick that you’re going to get fired. Just slick enough that other people know, “She knew something!” So that was it. That’s how I had to let people know I knew what was going on. The snacks were my idol, though, because when I stopped bringing my snacks? That’s when I went home.

Wigler: When is round three happening, and what do you need to work on before you get back out there?

Michaela: I think round three needs to happen when I’m about 35 years old and I have a kid and I’ve calmed down a little bit. I need to be a little more polished. I need to be able to not get so frustrated so quickly. I need to simmer a little bit, that’s what I need. I have the smarts. I have the athletic skills. I need to increase the social nuance. I need to up those skills. I need to pocket people who don’t like me, or people who I don’t like, and make them feel loved.

Josh Wigler is a writer, editor and podcaster who has been published by MTV News, New York Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Comic Book Resources and more. He is the co-author of The Evolution of Strategy: 30 Seasons of Survivor, an audiobook chronicling the reality TV show’s transformation, and one of the hosts of Post Show Recaps, a podcast about film and television. Follow Josh on Twitter @roundhoward.