Survivor’s Stephenie Kendrick (née LaGrossa) wasn’t precisely thrilled when she was chosen to be the saboteur on USA Community’s latest competitors sequence Snake within the Grass – and that’s most likely why she misplaced out on the cash.
The three-time participant arrived on the seashore in Costa Rica alongside fellow Survivor alum Cirie Fields and former Huge Brother gamers Janelle Pierzina and Rachel Reilly the place she was tasked with secretly making an attempt to hinder the group from incomes clues resulting in her id.
If she succeeded after 36 hours, she would stroll away with $100,000 but when she was outed because the snake, the opposite contestants would break up the prize cash. And sadly for Stephenie, she was pegged because the snake fairly early on.
“I knew from the start,” Cirie, who performed a season of Survivor with Stephanie, solely tells Us Weekly. The truth is, they noticed one another on the airport earlier than filming started.
Rachel Reilly, Janelle Pierzina, Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Cirie Fields Chase Bjornson/USA Community
“I used to be so comfortable,” Stephanie recollects. “However then once they instructed me the sport, then I used to be like, ‘Oh no, I’m useless.’ Cirie’s gonna know immediately. She’s completely gonna be capable of inform I’m mendacity. And he or she is aware of rather a lot about me. I knew there have been gonna be clues revealed and all this, I knew the entire recreation. And I used to be like, ‘Oh, God, she is aware of all the pieces about me.’ So I actually was like a wreck from day one, even simply when the sport begun.”
It took Janelle slightly longer to catch on to Stephenie. “For Cirie, it was the start. For me, I form of targeted all my consideration on Rachel as a result of she was appearing so bizarre,” the Minnesota native explains. “She was asking me the place I lived and, like, we’ve completed The Wonderful Race collectively, on separate groups, however we nonetheless spent a ton of time collectively. I do know Rachel very well. So she was asking me these bizarre questions and I used to be like, ‘Oh, my God, she may very well be the snake as a result of she’s asking me issues that she already is aware of.’”
Cirie Fields, Janelle Pierzina, Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick Chase Bjornson/USA Community
Stephenie efficiently destroyed one of many clues earlier than the group might discover it, and that’s when all eyes have been on Rachel. “I used to be satisfied that Stephanie had thrown the clue someplace in that swamp,” Rachel tells Us. “So I used to be gonna discover the clue. In order that they didn’t assume I used to be the snake, but it surely completely made me seem like the snake.”
Janelle jokes, “All the pieces Rachel did made her seem like the snake.”
Nonetheless, Cirie didn’t purchase it. “She was so overzealous in being in that disgusting swamp,” the Survivor legend says. “There’s no manner the snake could be doing all of this to seek out the clue about themselves. The swamp was actually gross and he or she would’ve spent the evening in there if we allowed her to.”
In the long run, Stephenie, who was on the “hero” tribe throughout season 20 of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, couldn’t persuade them she wasn’t the snake – and admits she’s not a pure liar. The truth is, she discovered “24 hours earlier than filming started” that she was chosen to be the snake and needed out: “I had a strong 24 to take a seat on it and, like, crap my pants about it. I didn’t wanna be the snake. In order that they inform me and I’m like, ‘OK, cool. I don’t wanna be it.’ They’re like, ‘Too dangerous.’ I’m like, ‘No, I don’t wanna be it. So now what?’ They’re like, ‘Nothing, we selected you. We instructed you the sport. You must be it.’ In order that was like a complete factor for me.”
Cirie Fields, Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Janelle Pierzina, Rachel Reilly Chase Bjornson/USA Community
She broke down crying at one level throughout filming. “You guys have been on to me. Rachel’s yelling at me. We’re arguing. I’m gaslighting. I used to be making an attempt to argue again and I’m like extra of the peacemaker in my household,” Stephenie explains. “I’m not likely the arguer, until I’m actually backed right into a nook. So I used to be making an attempt to return and never look so defensive on the similar time. After which at one level, I similar to had, I walked away and I misplaced it. It’s so freaking laborious. I’m not likely a superb liar to start with.”
Snake within the Grass airs on USA Community Mondays at 11 p.m. ET/PT.
