Katurah Topps knew what had to be done.
She needed to break up the showmance of Dee Valladares andAustin Li CoononSurvivor 45or nobody else stood a chance.
And she engineered the votes to make it happen.
Katurah Topps on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
CBS
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You were laser focused on getting Dee out of this game.
What led to that change?
KATURAH TOPPS:Oh my God, Dalton.
Katurah Topps on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
It is the moment that still haunts me to date.
Honestly, it just came down to trust.
It took hours though, all afternoon.
Katurah Topps on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
I was drilling him and he finally did come around, to his credit.
He was like, I’m on board with the plan.
Moments like that were in my head at that final five.
The cast of ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
We’ve been here with Jake before.
And my gut kept saying, “He’s lying about something.”
Every alarm bell in my body [was going off].
Katurah Topps and Julie Alley on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
I’ve seen some horrors.
It has been hard.
It’s been rough, and I’ve learned that I need to listen to that.
If my body is saying Alert!
This person is lying to me, it literally has meant life or death.
It literally could mean you may be homeless, something terrible may happen.
And I just couldn’t shake the feeling.
And it was like you always listen to it and it’s always right.
Honestly, I knew that Jake was hiding and lying about something.
Strategically, I didn’t really vibe with what Jake was doing.
I was like, Why’d you tell Austin that you have an idol?
Everybody knows you have this idol.
Dee seemed worried about going against you in the final three.
How do you think you would have done if you had gotten there?
If I got to the final three without Dee, I feel like I would’ve done it.
And I felt very strongly that of the Reba four Austin was kind of number four.
I didn’t get strategic insight from Austin.
And Austin never had that.
He had this really comfortable alliance that saved him and protected him this whole way through.
He had advantages and things that I didn’t have.
I’m a pretty good talker.
Let me flip it.
Let me go to Reba.
But I was ready.
I had the final Tribal speech.
I had bullet by bullet ready to go.
Well, they didn’t want any part of that.
That’s why they got rid of you.
But you said something interesting I was going to ask you about.
As a viewer, I didnt really understand why.
Yeah, honestly, it wasn’t that it happened suddenly.
It was happening all along.
It was there the entire time.
From my perception, I felt very excluded.
And the problem is Belo never went to Tribal.
New Lulu never went to Tribal.
My body is my guide, my brain is my guide.
If they are saying, Alert!
Something’s off here, something’s not working, then I trust that.
And nine times out of 10, I’m right.
And I saw Kellie drop the girls and go with the boys.
And Kellies also close to Kendra, so where does Katurah go?
Even best-case scenario, if Kellie is with the girls, I’m still number three.
I’m still at the bottom.
I felt that, and I think the hints were there at Belo.
And then by the time we got to New Lulu, I didn’t even have Kendra.
So everything ramped up.
Obviously, your frustration with Bruce was clear, and it was a big storyline throughout the season.
What was it like watching that play back week after week after week?
Honestly, I didn’t see the gravity of it.
I didn’t see the weight of how much I was talking about Bruce coming up.
I was like, Oh yeah, that’ll probably be a thing.
you’re free to see it, but I didn’t expect it would be so much.
And so I would watch, and it’d be week two and I’d be complaining about Bruce.
I’m like, Oh, okay.
Week three, and I’m like, Oh.
And every week that it happened, I was a little bit….
But everything I was saying, I’d be like, I agree with that girl!
I didn’t say anything that I disagree with.
I didn’t say anything that at the moment I didn’t feel.
It took me back to being in an environment where blind obedience is required.
And it very much had that energy for both game things and non-game things.
And so I remember feeling: Why am I being boxed in?
Why am I not allowed to speak?
Why am I not allowed to express myself?
Why can’t I say, Let’s discuss this vote together, let’s think it through.
Things like that where it just really was very emotionally triggering.
Isn’t this also kind of not okay?
Do we agree that adults should not be talking like this?
it made my confessionals my safe space.
And so my confessionals got a little spicy.
How was your albeit brief time with Bruce at Ponderosa?
So we pretty much had no time.
I got in, had my Pondy meal, sobbed and went to bed.
So we really didn’t have much interaction at all.
And so they were like, You should just take the next step and be a lawyer.
And they came up with it on their own.
And the fact that they were saying that, I was like, Guys, thank you!
It was very emotional and loving.
It was the most critical thing, Dalton.
I’ve got stories for years that I could tell you that could haunt a person.
And so I knew you could’t slip into that darkness.
I’ve learned that you don’t slip into it because it’s deep and it’s heavy.
And so it was critical for me to say: I’m not trying to bring people down.
I’m not trying to say woe is me.
I’m just trying to show the truth, which is I’ve been through some s—.
But look, I’m still here!
I’m still standing, I’m still pushing.
Maybe you’ll come out a millionaire.
