"Playing the best that they can": Survivor Season 48's Mary Zheng opens up about fellow participants and fans

Survivor Season 48 Episode 11 saw Mary Zheng's elimination after she was voted out by her fellow participants. It happened after she openly shared her thoughts on one of the strong alliances on the show, Joe and Eva.

After her elimination, on May 8, 2025, Mary appeared for an exclusive interview with the Post, where she shared how cast members have been trying their best on the show, how fans have been with her, and more.

"I think everybody brings into the game everything from their past. Their strengths, their traumas, their egos. Everyone is literally playing the best that they can," shared Mary Zheng.

Survivor Season 48's Mary Zheng opens up about how participants have been performing on the show, and more

After her elimination from Survivor Season 48, Mary shared her thoughts on how everyone's been on the show and how the fanbase is reacting to the participants' performances in the competition.

The 31-year-old participant shared that the audience expects to get entertained. Talking from the participants' end, Mary said that contestants want to feel safe, seen, and want to win. Mentioning how these are different perspectives, Mary said:

"When you're watching a show, you wanna be entertained, right? But when you're playing the game, you wanna feel safe, you wanna feel seen and you wanna win. And those are two completely different objectives."

She mentioned how everyone from the reality shows comes with their different backgrounds and has their own pasts. She mentioned how individuals have their egos, strengths, and that they play "the best" they can.

While some contestants also go on getting threats from the fans, she mentioned, she hadn't gotten any threats, so far, and that fans have been "great" for her.

Sharing more about how her journey on the show ended, Survivor Season 48's Mary shared she has a lot of "grace" for herself. She also mentioned how she extended the grace to the fellow participants as well.

"I have a lot of grace for myself, but that means I also extend that grace to the people I played the game with. Everybody was playing for the first time and everybody was just trying to make the moves that they thought were best for them. And I don't want anybody to think that I’m holding anything against anyone for the way that they played. Everyone's just out there trying their best."

She recalled her conversation with fellow participant Kyle Fraser, and how they wanted to "play" more. Further in her interview, Mary talked about the voting, her elimination, and how it all turned out.

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CBS is now streaming Survivor Season 48 Episode 11.

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