Paranoia may already be getting the best of 27-year-old strategy consultant Caroline Vidmar, fearful of her competition before Survivor 47 even begins.
During the pre-show portion of the game, the California native sat down with longtime Survivor writer and reporter Mike Bloom, sharing what might be detrimental to her gameplay, before even hitting the beach. “I show my emotions. I think I’m going to be crying. I’m not happy about it. I think I’ll be embarrassing myself on TV. But you know what? I’ve accepted it. It’s what’s gonna happen,” she dished, but there is another thing that she is extremely worried about as soon as Survivor starts.
Aside from “embarrassing herself,” Caroline is skeptical of her fellow castaways, notably Sam Phalen. Watching him from afar, the “adventurous, enthusiastic, and supportive” contestant told Bloom that he had been giving her some not-so good vibes, delving into the details in an exclusive interview with Parade.
Admitting that Sam is “someone who she’s intrigued by, and not in a very positive way,” Caroline explained what rubbed her the wrong way about him exactly. Believe it or not, this beef stemmed from something as simple as a book:
“He’s someone where I think he knows his first impression is a little bit of a jock. Maybe he comes across as a little stern. What he’s doing is the book that he’s brought here is Sarah J. Maas. I think it’s called Throne of Glass or something. Basically, it’s a chick-fic book. It’s a book that’s all the rage right now, [and] all the women are reading it. They’re loving it. I’m reading one of her books as well and it’s good, but it’s an absolute chick-fic.”
Based on his “jock” persona, Caroline is not confident that Sam is leisurely reading the Sarah J. Maas book. Instead, she believes that he is reading (or lack thereof) the book to attempt to show his castaways that he is far from shallow, and that there is a lot more depth to him than what meets the eye initially:
“What I think he’s doing — and I’ve actually seen guys do this before — is they’re like, ‘Oh, I have depth to me. Look at me read this book,’ and so he keeps flashing it around for everyone to see, but I’m watching him. He’s not even really reading it… He’s just assuming that he can throw around this book and we’ll all be like, ‘Wow, he has so much depth.’”
“I don’t know. I don’t trust him,” Caroline concluded, and it is safe to say she judged a book by its cover (no pun intended).
Given the fact that she lives in Chicago, Illinois and he was born and raised in Schaumburg, Illinois — just 30 miles away — Caroline and Sam may have more in common than she thinks, but we will just have to wait and see if she actually gives him a chance when they hit the shores of Fiji once and for all.
With or without Sam Phalen, to see whether or not Caroline Vidmar manages to take home the one million dollars and the title of “Sole Survivor” in the end, catch Survivor 47 each and every Wednesday — and subsequently the On Fire podcast, hosted by Jeff Probst and Charlie Davis — beginning with a supersized premiere on September 18 via CBS (with next-day streaming on Paramount Plus).