Name: Elyse Umemoto
Age: 27
Current Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada
Occupation: Dance Team Manager
Tribe: Savaii
Gordon Holmes: Is it driving you nuts being out here with the cast around you and not being allowed to talk to them?
Elyse Umemoto: Yeah, it’s like “Hurry up and wait.” I’m used to it. It’s like in a pageant, You’re herded like cattle. You don’t get to know anything or talk to anybody. All you can do is sit there and size each other up.
Holmes: And just start hating them.
Umemoto: (Laughs) Oh yeah.
Holmes: Make them feel self-conscious.
Umemoto: (Laughs) How can I use that for my strategy?
Holmes: Oh, you wore that on purpose?
Umemoto: Oh, your luggage didn’t make it? You found out right before you were coming? That must be why you didn’t work out.
Holmes: (Laughs) Evil. I approve. When you win with these tactics you owe me some credit.
Umemoto: Gordon gave me a lot of material to work with.
Holmes: I’m told you like to amass useless trivia and quotes.
Umemoto: I do! My favorite quote is from the poet Anonymous, “Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves, for we never cease to be amused.” And I credit that to why I’m such a happy person. I’m always doing things that are worth laughing at, and I’m always the first person to crack a joke at my expense.
Holmes: You were the second runner up in the Miss America Pageant, do those skills, other than the vicious insults we discussed earlier translate to “Survivor” at all?
Umemoto: Believe it or not, my training and grooming in the pageant system was more than enough to prepare me for “Survivor.” With the reality show, (‘Miss America: Reality Check’) I finished in the top three there. With 52 girls we lived in a house for two weeks, had no outside communication, living in this menstrual empire, and we shared five bathrooms. And if I can do that, living on a beach for a few weeks is a walk in the park.
Holmes: I’m told you come from a long line of survivors.
Umemoto: I do, my heroes and my she-roes. I’m a unique ethnic mix. I’m Japanese, German, Native American, and Hispanic. And throughout their whole lives they were faced with so much adversity whether it was racism, language barriers, cultural barriers, and no matter what they came out on top.
Holmes: Any concerns about bending the truth out there?
Umemoto: I’m prepared to be as deceptive as I have to be. I’m not someone who wakes up and thinks, “Hmm…I’m going to pull the wool over somebody’s eyes.” But I’m willing to do what I need to do to get what I want. And the goal here is to win the million dollars.
Holmes: Are you willing to use your feminine wiles to get ahead?
Umemoto: I’m prepared to use my feminine wiles or whatever means necessary to get ahead in the game. I do know that being bubbly and personable is going to be useful in gaining favor in gentlemen’s eyes. And that’s fine, I’ll play that up. But I have so much experience dealing with girls, I can navigate those waters too.
“Survivor: South Pacific” premieres Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
More “Survivor” Fun: XFINITY TV sent Gordon Holmes into the heart of the South Pacific to get a first-hand look at the filming of the latest edition of “Survivor.” Be sure to check back for exclusive interviews with the returning All-Stars and host Jeff Probst, behind-the-scenes photos, and Gordon’s personal (and injury-filled) account of what it’s like to compete in an actual immunity challenge.
Any Questions about “Survivor: South Pacific”? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
Tags: elyse umemoto, jeff probst, survivor, survivor south pacific
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