Survivor 2022: Lydia Meredith Holds Nothing Back After Elimination

In what we have learned could only be her form, the latest Survivor 2022 castaway Lydia Meredith held nothing back in her exit interview.

As we saw this week on Survivor 42, Lydia was the last person to have their torch snuffed before the official merge and the jury phase of the season. And she’s bummed.

In her exit interviews, she spoke candidly and openly about her experience. She told Parade Magazine one of the hardest parts was still being within earshot when the others were told they made merge.

“It was so, so sad,” she explained. “I heard it (the cheers), and it was an extra little dagger. I was just like, ‘Just get through your one last little confessional, and then you can cry your eyes out.’ And as soon as the cameras were off, I was a weeping mess. [Laughs.] But the cheering was rough. It was like, ‘Alright, guys. You don’t have to do all that!’ [Laughs.] It was so rough. I feel like there were so many things that accumulated. It almost felt like a joke. I was laughing about it. Like what am I supposed to do at that point? I just have to laugh about it.”

She also let Parade know how it felt when she learned that Mike and Hai voted against her.

“Mike I wasn’t really surprised by,” she said. “We really weren’t working together strategically. We got along; we were buddies. But strategically, we were not tight, so that one wasn’t surprising. It was the Hai vote that was interesting. Why did he let me go when I could have been an easy number? And I’m not even on the jury and could have been a great jury number for him or anybody on Vati. But it was more confusing to me. Why go to bat for me, and then two Tribals later, you are just done? I truly think maybe he wanted to play with the cooler kids. [Laughs.]”

And what we all wanted to hear about was that first Tribal Council where they almost went to rocks when she was almost voted out before.

“Oh my gosh, I blacked out,” she said. “I barely remember half of it. I remember just sitting there being like, ‘Just vibe out and hope for the best.’ In hindsight, I wished we pushed a little harder for them to go to rocks, because then both Jenny and I would have been safe. But the whole thing didn’t make sense. They did not have the votes, but Daniel was gunning so hard, and then all of a sudden put his hands up and was like, ‘I’m not going to rocks.’ And so I was like, ‘Okay, well then you’re done!’ ”

Read the rest of Lydia’s interview at Parade.com.