By John Powell – GlobalTV.com

Her eyes never left the prize as soon as she stepped foot on that island in Fiji. Sole Survivor Savannah Louie never waved even when she and her allies when from the penthouse to the outhouse in the blink of an eye. She evolved her game, battled back and won.

Savannah spoke to Global TV about her “mean girl” image, how she pivoted her Survivor game and her reaction the moment she was asked to join the cast of Survivor 50.

John Powell: Savannah, It’s great to be talking to you today. Congratulations on winning Survivor!

Savannah Louie: Thank you so much! It was, honestly, so surreal. Last night I was with my family. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad cry like that! It was such a surreal moment for like me and my entire family.

John Powell: When I’ve talked to Survivors, when they watch things back all those feelings from month ago come back to them. They relive the moment. Was it like that for you?

Savannah Louie: Yeah, I mean, when the final tribal council votes are read, I don’t even think you can see, because I bury my head in my hands like that, but I just burst into tears in that moment. The same thing happened last night even though I know exactly how results are! It’s just this wave of emotion that you have no power over but you have to embrace it because it truly is just a crazy experience.

John Powell: Any plans for the money?

Savannah Louie: I’m so glad you asked that. Oh, my gosh! I have the most supportive partner in the whole world. He is amazing and he’s just been such a rock through this entire experience! We are going to go on a little trip. We’re going to go on a two week trip to Thailand! We’re going to live it up and just eat all the good food and stay in a nice hotel, a nice bed with a good mattress, way better than the islands of Fiji!

John Powell: I wear my heart on my sleeve. I’ve been in editorial meetings where people can tell how I feel. You seem to have the same thing in that people can always read you and you’re always honest and upfront with people. Some people have taken that as being kind of a “mean girl”. I’d like you to address that in the sense that and if you were a man would things be different?

Savannah Louie: Absolutely! I love that question! The term “mean girl” is so difficult and I really do feel like it is such a genderized term. You never hear anyone say “mean boy”, right?

That being said, I want to honour what my castmates said about me. I’m not going to go out here and say they’re wrong. I’m not going to lie. I was hard to hear some of those things.

If it was just one person who was saying it, maybe you’re like: “Okay, whatever. That’s their opinion.” To hear a couple people say that “mean girl energy”, I think that it’s probably a good thing to do some self-reflection. Am I a mean girl? Is there truth to this?

So, to be honest with you, I actually took inventory. I reached out to people who I know, who know me well, who aren’t afraid to tell me: “Savannah, you are wrong. Savannah, you are a mean girl.” I have an amazing crew, family and friends who will totally tell me when I’m out of line. Honestly, the people who know me well they don’t think I’m a mean girl.

There are times where I come across as someone who’s very direct, who’s speaks with a lot of conviction and I think that that can come across as someone who is overly intense, who is a little scary, who probably thinks that they are better than than other people just because there is that level of confidence there.

The people who think I’m a mean girl, I would challenge them and first of all, I want the examples tell me how I’m a mean girl. Secondly, I would love to hear maybe a different adjective. Am I abrasive? Sometimes I really am. Sometimes I am abrasive. Am I bold? Yes, I am bold. Am I sometimes a little too aggressive in my gameplay? Absolutely but are those things inherently mean spirited? In my opinion? Not really. Everybody has their own opinion and I don’t want to discredit what my cast has said about me because that’s their own experience and everybody’s entitled to their own experience.

John Powell: You said at tribal council you didn’t have time to think about it, which is true, because you had a long journey ahead of you but you did set some records. How do you feel about that, looking back?

Savannah Louie: Watching last night, it was just I felt so proud of myself and I felt like I could finally celebrate. You know what was so weird out there? You see some waves of emotion when I do win my first immunity, for example, but I reached a point, maybe around like the top eight or top seven, where I just got so locked in on ‘I need to win this thing!’.

I always went out there with the intention of wanting to be the winner but it was when I got to a certain point in the game where anything else just almost like didn’t carry that same emotional satisfaction and anything less than winning would just be almost like a disappointment. I don’t want to say that to discredit or throw shade on anyone who’s who’s tied a record or who’s achieved a record but for me, that’s not what I came out there for.

Now that I’ve, like, you know, accomplished my mission, which was winning and everything. I can celebrate, okay, yeah, I freaking tied that record! I feel so legit but at the time I’m so laser focused. You know what I mean?

John Powell: How did you feel going into fire and was Sophie’s decision really surprising?

Savannah Louie: I thought that if I was going to fire, I was out of the game and I think that she may have also thought that as well. I mean, her decision to not even talk it through with me, I think that’s what really hurt me the most because that’s when I realized: ‘Okay, my close ally, who I genuinely wanted to go to the end with, not because I think they were easy to beat but because I genuinely love them, they don’t want to go to the end with me.

It’s almost like when you have a boyfriend who you you love and your boyfriend breaks up with you and you’re like: Wait! I love you! I want to be with you.’ That’s kind of how it felt in that moment. That gut punch moment. It was so difficult.

I can’t blame her. One of the reasons I love Soph is because she’s an incredible gamer and she has that side to her personality where she will she’s a freaking bad ass and I love that about her. In that moment, I thought she was basically sending me to the jury. I was really sad to go to fire. I will say going to fire against Rizo, of all people, was a little bit comforting because at least I was up there with another one of my best friends from the game and he’s such an incredible person. So, if I had to go up against anyone I was I was glad it was Rizo.

John Powell: At the merge, that’s where your game was really tested, because you guys had to fight from the bottom. What was it like? Sophi was really familiar with that because that’s what she did her entire game and were you surprised at how quickly that majority just crumbled?

Savannah Louie: Dude, it was crazy! I think it’s especially crazy looking at where I started in the game. I was on top for the first half of the game and then to dramatically be put on the bottom so quickly it was almost like whiplash. What is going on? I had to adjust my strategy very quickly and I went from being a very bold player who would try to steal someone’s advantage to try to making myself seem as small and non-threatening as possible.

There would be times where I would literally sit by myself and it felt very lonely. It felt very isolating but I felt I needed to just be alone because if people saw me potentially scheming with others that’s a huge target on my back and I’m already a target. Then, winning those two immunities, that was such a great safety net, because it was during that time where I was able to sort of create relationships with new people and try to repair old relationships that eventually helped me out later in the game.

As far as being surprised at how fast the majority like crumbled, yeah, I was. I don’t even it’s still kind of surprising to me but I think the trick to getting through that situation is just taking it one vote at a time.

John Powell: You had an up and down relationship with Jawan over the shoes and the bag. Can you look back and laugh at it now?

Savannah Louie: Jawan is the sweetest, kindest, one of the best people of our season! I think the world of him and I want to be very clear, I thought the world of him out there too! I will say, I know it might be hard to believe, but those confessionals are about 40 minutes and for the 30 seconds of complaining and frustration that I had when I was very “hangry” and grumpy, there was also a lot of positive things that I shared about Jawan too.

I will say the thing that kind of put Jawan on the bottom for me, was on day one. I think it was I saw him looking for idols when we were collecting bamboo to build our shelter. I’m like: Oh, my gosh! This person’s already playing the game! I can’t trust him!’. So, from that moment on everything that he did I just had like a laser focus on and I was probably a little unfair to him, to be honest. Overall, he’s just such a stand up guy! He has the biggest heart! I just love him so much! I know I’ve seen stuff on social media. If you have an issue with Jawan, come to me directly! He’s an amazing person!

John Powell: Obviously you can’t talk about what actually transpire because that season’s yet to come, but how would How did you find out about the news of Survivor 50 and what was your reaction that you were chosen to play, right after you just played and won.

Savannah Louie: Oh, my gosh! So, they had it was the day that we were leaving Fiji, and couple hours before we left they pulled me into a room for a call. For some reason I thought they were going to have me call my parents to let them know that I was coming home or something like that.

I walk in expecting to see my parents on Zoom and I see Jeff (Probst) and I’m like: “Oh, I guess Jeff is trying to congratulate me or something.’ He ends up saying they want to extend the invite for me to be on 50. I thought he was pranking me! It was so crazy and it was just pure shock!

I felt so honoured! I grew up watching the show and so many of the players who are on 50 are people who I cheered for or cheered against and to be even told that I’m like…I don’t want to say on the same level because I look at some of these players who have played multiple times and they’re up here, way up here and I am nowhere near that, but to be part of a season with them just felt like the biggest honour!

When they proposed 50, I wanted to do it! I got to figure out how to make this work because I’ve just been gone for over a month. Let me talk to my partner. Let me talk to my family and hopefully I can be on and figure out how to how to make this happen because you’re right, 10 days back home, that is not a lot. It’s a lot to figure out on a little bit of time but we made it work and I’m so grateful! I’m so grateful for my family and my partner who who helped me make that dream a possibility!

John Powell: Well, a lot of former winners have been called back and they won’t come back because their fear of tarnishing their legacy as a winner. When you knew you’re playing the game a second time, did you have a different mindset? Did you think this is what I’m going to do differently?

Savannah Louie: I want to address the fear thing that you brought up because that is so valid. I also felt a lot of fear about coming back and that’s ultimately why I decided to come back. I love to do things that scare me. For me, if something scares me in real life, that’s a sign that I need to do it and push myself outside of that comfort zone. Fear is my motivator.

As far as doing anything differently, honestly, Kristina’s question to the jury shook me to my core. So, my biggest thing going into 50 I’m like: ‘I have to improve my social game. I have to remember everybody’s parents or mom or kids’ names and so that first day I made such a point to try to use their family members names in a sentence or just make that extra effort to to try to connect that way because I was so traumatized by Kristina’s question.

John Powell: Your Survivor journey has been interesting because you lost your job, and then you decide to bet on yourself and apply for Survivor. What would you say to anybody who’s in the same situation?

Savannah Louie: Oh, my gosh! I hope that they do. They need to and I know it can be tricky, especially as you’re an adult, but we have these childhood dreams that so often die because we have we grow up. We have our responsibilities. We have kids and there’s so much going on and oftentimes we let those desires that we initially had as children that are so true to who we are. We let those just fade away.

So, my message to those people who have something they want to do, whether it’s Survivor or anything in life, if you can find a way to make something happen, I hope that you go for it! Go for it! See if people in your network, in your community, can help you achieve that because it is the most rewarding thing. Sometimes these dreams can seem larger than life and seem so unrealistic but sometimes unrealistic can actually happen! I hope that it’s just a sign to those people go ahead and freaking do it! You never know!

Reader Alert: Viewers got to see a sneak peek of the upcoming Survivor 50 which is all returning players throughout the history of the show. From the footage it was clear that Rizo and Savannah will be playing again as well. Two Canadians will also be playing again: Genevieve Mushaluk (47) and Kamilla Karthigesu (48).

The rest of the cast are:

Angelina Keeley (David vs. Goliath)
Aubry Bracco (Kaôh Rōng, Game Changers & Edge of Extinction)
Charlie Davis (46)
Chrissy Hofbeck (Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers)
Christian Hubicki (David vs. Goliath)
Cirie Fields (Panama – Exile Island, Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites, Heroes vs. Villains & Game Changers)
Benjamin “Coach” Wade (Tocantins, Heroes vs. Villains & South Pacific)
Colby Donaldson (The Australian Outback, All-Stars & Heroes vs. Villains)
Dee Valladares (45)
Emily Flippen (45)
Jenna Lewis-Dougherty (Borneo & All-Stars)
Joe Hunter (48)
Jonathan Young (42)
Kyle Fraser (48)
Mike White (David vs. Goliath)
Ozzy Lusth (Cook Islands, Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites, South Pacific & Game Changers)
Quintavius “Q” Burdette (46)
Rick Devens (Edge of Extinction)
Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick (Palau, Guatemala & Heroes vs. Villains)
Tiffany Nicole Ervin (46)

For the first time ever, the game is “In the Hands of the Fans”. Earlier this year, fans voted on key elements of the game, including “Idols or No Idols,” “Final Four Fire Making: Keep It or Lose It” and “Live Finale and Reunion Show in L.A. – or Keep the Winner Reveal and Aftershow in the Jungles of Fiji.” The players won’t know what the fans voted for until they are competing on the island.

Survivor 50 will premiere on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, on Global TV. To celebrate the season 50, during the two weeks before the three-hour premiere, 10 encore episodes will air celebrating the iconic cast and some of their most memorable moments.