Cirie Fields Talks Survivor Micronesia Encore Episode

the next couple of weeks. Everybody what's going on Rob Cesternino here and we are kicking off a series here appropriately a series today with three fields where we are going to be looking back at some of the classic survivor episodes that are going to be airing over these next couple of weeks. So if you watch on CBS tonight back on May 8th 2008 you saw where Cere and the Black Widow Brigade in an episode called If It Smells Like A Rat Give It Cheese the poor ouster of Eric Reichenbach when he gave up his immunity necklace to Natalie a classmate who was put together by the great Cere Fields. Cere is joining me for a special interview one of the many interviews we are going to do to lead up to survivor 50 and cover these classic episodes right here on RHAP so without further ado here is my interview with Cere okay what a treat this is very surreal to be here with a woman who of course needs no introduction fresh off of an appearance at the Grammys here is the incredible Cere Fields Cere how are you awesome Rahm I am awesome how are you it's great to be here great to talk to you as well yes I am so incredibly all the time blessed but especially today because we get to talk to you about maybe the most famous episode in the history of survivor of course where the Black Widow Brigade came together to take poor Eric's necklace poor Eric I love Eric I am sorry Eric Eric I am sorry you are not that sorry come on well as my Nutri-Green campaign says sorry not sorry sorry not sorry yes to you Eric although you made him famous yeah no Eric listen by any means necessary is what we were playing right and we couldn't we couldn't get him physically he's a young strapping young strong man and his four women listen the women were strong too but Eric was like young in his prime so it's just hard to get him so he had to be creative it really is such an incredible story to watch it back because I think it resonates with so many people and tell me if you think that this is the case also where that there was such a foregone conclusion well there's nothing we can do he won the necklace until you ask the question but what if he what if we got it what if we took it away from him and I just think it's such a powerful story of like what people can do against that there's no chance this will work right and I think that that's what people feel like hey you know what I hope a hopeless situation that I might face maybe I can come through I think you should never underestimate or think or overestimate what another person will do and I tell my children don't think you know what someone will do because of what you will do and especially in these game settings we're in a different world no pun intended we're facing a different reality that becomes our reality and things that fly in the games that we play may not fly in New Jersey or in Boston or Baltimore however that is a perfect example because in the real world I would never I would be like yeah he's going to laugh in my face he might beat me up but out there hey it's worth a try you never know what might happen and I think you should take that into life and someone told me oh years ago they were doing like a study on how many yes's they can get and they said they would just ask people outrageous things and maybe two out of a hundred would say yes but those two said yes and they would think like oh nobody's ever going to say yes and they're going to borrow your card stranger just perfect stranger could you take me to the next state over and 99 people like are you out of your mind zoom pulled off but that one person says yes and in the game this might be the one person that's going to say yes to what you need them to do. Yeah it's a numbers game you know you got to get used to rejection and sometimes it comes through when you were there did you have any idea how big this would be at the time forget all these years later but did you know that this was going to be the moment people were going to talk about no we were just like you said coming from a place of desperation right we're like we got to get rid we wanted to keep the black widow brigade together we wanted to be all girls and there was Eric Eric just winning and we're like damn if you see if you look at our body language right before I said you think he would give the necklace we're kind of like soaking we're kind of like down trotting and sad so yeah no once it first of all I didn't even think it would work I just was like he likes that a lot you think maybe so no there was no fourth art no afterthought that this would be like ta da a thing to be talked about this many years later well it was fun watching as it's happening where you're all like okay well look let's give it a shot what do we have to lose but then you start to say well we're getting some nibbles he's like dancing around it and then he's like at first he's like no way I'll never do it and then he's considering like well maybe Parvati has the idol so I want to like or maybe she's gonna play it on Amanda so let's go back and we'll we'll get one over on Parvati and you're like sure whatever he wants to do sure why not give him whatever he wants exactly the fact that he even entertained the conversation let me know like wait a minute okay he like you said initially he was like oh you think I'm crazy absolutely not but then when he came back with his idea of how it could potentially work then I perked up a little bit like sure he could have said let's vote off Jeff and I would have said sure whatever you want you know as long as you give up that necklace so rewatching it back it's hard to tell from the reactions of the jury sometimes it might be like a moment that didn't exactly line up to that exact moment where you said something and when you were there was there any concern like hey like hey guys knock it off this is serious okay yes I didn't even when the jury when Eric started talking about redemption and Eliza's eyes got big, Ozzy started laughing if you notice I looked only at Jeff and I had the straightest face possible because I didn't want any I wouldn't want Eric to have any inkling or any idea that I'm even thinking about what's happening on a jury or that I'm not serious about our deal in any way shape or form but yes I saw them like damn they go if he sees them if he looks over there maybe he's going to change his mind because at that point he was in hook line and sinker so yeah I was very nervous about the jury's reaction you know all four of you did such a good job played your part so perfectly and it was such a it was like watching a band play together that you all were sort of like bouncing off of each other and you knew what you had to do and Natalie is also so good in this of that yes and you say well but look I have to see the action I can't just like words are cheap Eric you need to show me give Natalie the necklace and then I'll know I can work with you and it was just like amazing how well choreographed the four of you were I think we have spent a lot of time together at that point and again when desperate times cause was called for desperate measures and we were desperate to stay together and continue in the game so I think everyone was going for the Oscar everyone wanted to be the best supporting actress with hopes that this would go through and then we could continue on in the game and luckily it did go through yeah I think Amanda was the one that really got him the most in the ringer from the previous vote where she really was very hard on him and you know I think I've seen a lot more recently of Amanda in heroes versus villains where we don't really see that side of her but she really did a good job too yeah because see the Eric had pretty much dug his grave right Eric was playing hard and we all have had those times that we overplayed our hands in these games and Eric but what Eric didn't count on we're all women right and we're all hanging out together and we're like well Eric's taking me on the date women Eric's taking you on the date Eric taking me on the date and the party's like well women Eric's taking me on the date so we had that especially Amanda because he kind of really liked Amanda we had that to our benefit where Amanda could be pissed off like you're three time in me and Eric being the kind hearted soul that he was the thought of redemption and not being looked at as a two time and three time in cheater really looked attractive to him and he also felt like he could redeem himself and maybe gain or garner some jury votes How often have you watched this over the years? I've only watched it when it first come out I've never watched it more than once. Wow. Yeah. Because you know there's some people I used to know Johnny Fairplay and he would have like his survivor on loop 24-7 at his house if you went there. Oh no I watched this season when like 50 was about to come out I'm gonna watch it with you guys and then I said I don't I haven't gone back to watch it. Yeah Maybe I should like I don't know I just have it. Is there any of your seasons would you go back to the first season would you go back to Panama and watch any of them if you're gonna watch any of them over again? I don't have a problem watching I just never never rose the opportunity I don't know I just never I don't know I was there and I watched it with when it aired yeah no I would watch all of them again I love the seasons I just haven't maybe if we get snowed in somewhere maybe I'll go back and watch Panama in my tradition. Okay yeah well I think everyone would love to know what your thoughts were going back and watching them Oh really? You're on to something Rob maybe I will uh livestream myself watching them and tell everybody what I'm actually thinking now 20 years later the older me versus the younger me now at the time that it happened it was such a big moment everybody remembers where they were do you remember what the response was from the audience in the real time like what people were saying when it first aired they were I remember people being like I cannot believe you guys got him to give up immunity I cannot believe and some people were like bad bad ladies you know he was just a young guy and you know it was a mixed reaction but it's a survivor and a lot of people are like good on you I can't believe you guys pulled that off you have the really great confessional when you get up to vote and you say that my mother always said yeah if you can beat him with these you can beat him with these and I feel like that that's also just such a great it was a great moment but it also is such a great like encapsulation of you the survivor player I think you're right Rob because clearly I'm not a challenge beast well we haven't seen 50 yet I still would be that's true but my strength I my mother taught us to use what you have and use it wisely and use it to get what you need right and I knew there was no way I was ever going to outrun Eric I wasn't going to out challenge Eric but you know maybe I could out talk Eric I don't know and yeah that's kind of what I lean on I lean on the set of skills that a lot of people don't have that come naturally to me right I could go to the gym and work out and be stronger than probably you right but what I well that's a low bar Sarie well I mean that's as high as I'm going to get if I go to the gym but yeah so I just use what comes naturally to me right and that's if I can't physically beat you then maybe I can mentally out thank you yeah this particular season also has been very much on people's mind since you and Parvati went back and played on Australia versus the world it's amazing that the idea of the Black Widow Brigade has just had this life of its own where people I think it's probably the most famous alliance in the history of the show I would be awesome I mean you know I love Parvati it's just like a relationship right we Parvati and I have synergy and from the second that Parvati and I connected on the beach in Micronesia when she saved my life practically when Jeff told us to go ahead go to the other side I'm like wait a minute I don't see all this water right here where's the boat and Parvati reached out her hand to me we were locked in from that point on and she's never betrayed me that I know of and I would never betray her and I think that means a lot and I think that shows like chemistry between couples like Peaches and Herb or Sunny and Cher that chemistry you can't fake that right and I think it comes across on the screen it was talked about that Jeff said they really wanted to get Amanda back for season 50 and it didn't work out with her for scheduling would you have been happy to have seen Amanda in season 50 I would have been excited to see Amanda there was rumors floating around that she might be there I would have been thrilled to see Amanda I mean that would have been three fours of the Black Widow Brigade so yeah I love Amanda I would love to have played season 50 with her and if she ever comes out of retirement hopefully I can be there with her yeah okay so you were because I read that in leading up to 50 you said this is it no more survivor for me but you're open to more survivor even post season 50 absolutely not absolutely not maybe like Robin Sandra you could be there on the island of the islands something like that yeah Amanda's loved one hopefully yeah Amanda if you get called call me yeah no I'm you know I love this game I love every experience I've had playing this game but it's just like I would equate it to um Peyton Manning not that I am any don't listen oh everybody calm down I'm not saying I'm like Peyton Manning but after so many years and the abuse that he's taken and his arm and he's getting older he had to retire I'm getting older I started this 20 21 years ago now I was 35 I'm about to be 56 and survivor's hard survivor we don't know we don't know how hard it is I can't remember how hard it is you remember Rob you can never forget and it's hard on a younger body so it's that much harder on an older body spirit in mind so at this point I've experienced so much survivors more days than I had even anticipated or even could dream of and I would be happy to hand the torch over to Jared to Izzy to any of my children or anyone else who wants to take the torch and carry it on one of the funny things in this episode is the reward challenge that you all do is survivor trivia do you remember this in this episode yes yes and that seemed very quaint that was that was fun I would listen here's another life lesson that my mother told me my mother always told me go with your first mind go with your first answer after the survivor trivia challenge was over Matt Van Wagon came to me and said why did you change it because they can see you right and I had one answer and then I changed it real quick and every time I changed it I changed it to the wrong answer I would have won that challenge so many times so follow your first mind for all your kids out there the first thing that comes to your mind if something says do this do that but it was really it was for the best because I think that when Eric was gone then you really started you know feeling out Natalie and getting her work out I got to work on Natalie a little bit if it's a rat yeah so it was all like worked out fine for the way that it all went together it's so fun also that we get to see everybody's vote also all four of the votes that go against Eric also it's one of the few times in survivor history that we get that and it's really like the odd the way they put it together the audience is really in on it also where there's no mystery when he goes in that anybody was going to flip and not and go against what the women wanted to do and the only person who has any like doubt about how it's going to go is Eric who's like crossing his fingers when he gets up to go and vote even Jeff is so on point because then after Eric gets voted out he comes back and he says and this is what you call a life lesson and that's like one of the best messages he ever had after it's like probably the most memorable of any of them of things he said after the vote I thought the way I think I thought and think that Eric is a stand up guy and I think Eric felt and I think he said all you guys you got me right he knew it wasn't anything personal it wasn't like anything mean-spirited it's just part of the game that we're playing like we love him and we loved him then we just the it's called out with our play out last and that's all we were trying to do it was it could be it would be different if Eric was annoying or if we didn't like him or you know but it wasn't anything like that it was just part of the game and that was the only way for us to get him out so I think he took it like a gentleman and I think he's always acted as a gentleman since yeah he was always very likable on the show and it was you know just like it was presented as like this was like a naive kid and maybe he learned a lesson that day but it did come and like as just another one of the hits in that season after Ozzy and Jason also before them and then finally culminates with Eric so just an incredible moment from an incredible season and we look forward to no pressure but maybe it'd be tough to beat this but hopefully we get some more amazing moments in season 50 you never know you never know okay is there anything else you want to let people know about this or anything else you're doing so just a lot very busy a lot to do with the season I'll also be a part of the panel at the museum in New York with Jeff and a couple of other contestants from season 50 so just a lot of fun stuff going on what a way to to like kind of ease into retirement get to experience like all of these fun things before I can tell us at all about your experience at the Grammys we saw the pictures from the other week so the Grammys is such a grand experience it was it's almost like being I felt like I was watching myself in a dream right who who knew 21 years ago that getting off the couch and going to this open call and playing this game that I thought was a fun thing would culminate into all of this I was in all it felt like a play right seeing all of the performances seeing all of the people that I idolized so close damn they rubbed elbows with um baby face Jamie Foxx was in arms reach and I'm like oh my little old me girl from New Jersey here at the Grammys all thanks to CBS in my years on Survivor something I never like when I tried out Rob there was no other shows I think they might have had one All-Star season but there was nothing to look forward to you know you're going to go you're going to win you're going to lose and then you're going to go back to your regular life and I've done so every Nebel at the Stock Exchange I went to the Grammys like so I mean just my mind blown that I got to experience something like that and you know forever grateful to CBS and Survivor for you know letting me experience that it was quite the experience were there any people in the music industry that you ran into that were surprising Survivor fans I know Billy Eilish was there Billy Eilish was there but we didn't like so there was you know what I was like a little kid in a candy store like at Willy Wonka you know how a kid you you're looking at so much that you don't see everything Tom Hanks's wife was like right here and I say to myself my mind just went blank and I was like I know her and I know him and I know her and I know him I heard my name called out like a few times I'm like wait did they just say Saree so it was overwhelming but in the best way Rob in the best way possible okay well Saree thank you for making some time to talk about this it's always a delight to be able to talk to you about I appreciate that and yeah I will see you up in New York for all the festivities and enjoy the rest of your tour I will I will it's tiring because your girl is getting old but I'll make it happen alright the great Saree fields thank you so much Saree alright everybody there you have it the great Saree fields we will see on survivor 50 we'll see if she can top what she did to pour Eric Reichenbach back in 2008 when Eric gave up his necklace if you like hearing stories about the days of classic survivor you're gonna love this book The Tribe and I have spoken written by Rob Cisterino and I'm sure the story of Eric Reichenbach and his necklace are mentioned no less than several times in this book and I'm sure plenty of stories about the greatness of Saree fields and everything that you're about to see here in the legends of survivor 50 mentioned many times you can pre-order at RobasBook.com thank you for joining us and we have so many more fun interviews coming up around these classic survivor episodes can't wait to hear what you have to say in the comments take care, bye you