RHAP: We Know Survivor - Survivor 49 Preseason Interview: Savannah Louie

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

Mike Bloom interviews Savannah Louie in this preseason deep dive for Survivor 49. The former news anchor turned marketing specialist shares her journey from longtime fan to contestant, revealing how her past experiences have shaped her approach to the game.

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Product availability may vary by Regency app for details. Hi, everybody. Mike Bloom here back for day five of our Survivor 49 pre-season interviews. We are used to talking in the jungles of Fiji, but today we are moving to the Savannah, as I bring you my interview with Savannah, Louie. A bit about Savannah before we get into our chat. Savannah is 31 years old.

She's originally from Walnut Creek, California, currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. And she is currently a marketing specialist, but the bigger piece of news, quite literally, is that she was a former reporter, that she worked in a newsroom for quite some time. And so has a lot of experience. when it comes to talking with people from a wide variety of backgrounds to be able to then

package that in a narrative that feeds a certain audience. So we shall see how many headlines Savannah is going to make over the course of Survivor 49. But make sure you don't miss the headlines coming out of this preseason. If you haven't done so already, subscribe to our Survivor-only podcast feed at we know survivor.com. And if you want some visuals, the video versions of these interviews go to watch rhap.com or search rob has a podcast in youtube tomorrow we will finish off my interviews with the uli tribe with shannon fairweather but we don't want the weather today we want the news and so fittingly enough here's my interview with savannah your name your age and your occupation all right savanna louis

31 years old and i'm a marketing specialist okay now what what does that mean Oh my God. I'm still trying to figure it out. I'm serious because I've been doing this for maybe like four months. I did it for one month before I was like, all right, I got to apply to the show, Survivor. So I'm very new to marketing. But before that, I was a news anchor and reporter. So that's really my specialty. Okay, there we go. You know that we can vibe about that. Yeah, right. So then talk to me about that because I did see your bio said retired news anchor. What led you to an early retirement? Well, that's just a nice way of saying I was so over the BS. You know what I mean? But it's, I wish I could say it was entirely my. decision. I think part of it is I'm 31 years old, like, I'm ready to, like, have, you know, my own life. I think that I was tired of talking about murder every day and I wanted a normal schedule. So I was looking forward to having, like, a normal job and everything. But at the same time, my old boss decided not to renew my contract. So when that happened, I kind of did like a little soul searching and life evaluation and I was like, let's do something new. And that ultimately led me to being on Survivor. There we go in many different ways. was it about marketing in particular, especially in the wake of that. I mean, it's sort of, I could see it sort of be maybe not two sides of the same coin, but like within the same

currency, you know, of like this idea of being able to couch a certain thing in a way to make palatable to a certain audience. Right. I see where you're going with that. There are some similarities. Like right now I'm really doing a lot of content creation. I'll do maybe some SEO stuff. But honestly, and I feel like this is such an annoying answer, I'm doing marketing for my parents' company. I know. I know I feel like a little nepo baby, but don't hate me. Shout out to mom and dad. They've always like supported me and like reaching my dreams and all that stuff. Right now my dream is to live my life for myself. I put my career number one for like 10 years and I'm really proud of that. But now I want to do what Savannah wants to do. And what Savannah is doing

right now is Survivor 49. So winning Survivor 49. Exactly. So let's, that's the headline. So let's get into what brings you out here? What's your history with the show? And to your point, was that sort of part of this, this recent sort of Savannah Renaissance that you had of like, I want to do things for me. This is when I started applying for this show. So I started watching Survivor when I was so young

that my parents would actually make me get out of the room when there were naked people on the screen. I feel like you didn't watch very much of those episodes just due to that rule. I'll let you do the math, but I was very young when the show started airing, always been a fan, but really fell in love with the game

when I saw Johnny Fairplay's dead grandmother theme. Pearl Islands was a great season. Oh my God. Favorite season, yeah. I've always loved the villains, though. Russell is another favorite of mine. And I actually applied to be on Survivor when I was 17 years old. Obviously, it didn't work out. And I applied one other time a couple years ago before this third time. Third time's the charm. So, yeah. Yeah, and I feel like, you know, not to be so hoagy to say everything happens for a reason,

but it does sound like from the stuff you had been going through, this felt like the proper time in your life to not only test yourself, but I imagine also kind of affirm who you knew you were exactly that's a great way to put it and i mean timing really is everything like you say if i would have gotten on that show when i was 17 years old i would not have won i'll be the first to tell you that um and honestly like when i didn't get on when i was 17 i stopped watching survivor for a couple of years because i was so pissed off i'm like i needed to be out there on that island but i can say now as a 31 year old i'm way i know that's still young but as a 31 year old i am way smarter and more savvy and more strategic than I ever was anywhere, like close to the age of 17.

And I think that's ultimately what's going to carry me through to cross the finish line and win this game. So looking at your storied history with Survivor, once you were able to go back and watch the scenes that you could as you were a kid, give me one winner and one non-winner, who you identify with the most. Can I give you two winners? Please, yes. I love Kim Spradlin and D from 45.

I feel like I could be in their little, the three of us could be like a little true. yes um seriously though two really strong women physically but also their social games were so good and like their physical games speak for themselves but ultimately it was their social game that really you know won them the game and that's the game that i hope to play out here uh non-winner i don't want to be a cliche news anchor but rick devins i mean come on he's the freaking man um i loved how in his season he just threw everything at the wall saw what stuck he wasn't afraid to take chances or be like this person who gives his all in the game, I think a lot of times fear can

hold us back, and I want to make sure that fear doesn't hold me back when I'm out there. So that's why I'm channeling my inner Rick Devon's out there. Have you ever interacted with him? Because I mean, both out of Georgia, obviously. You would think. No, we actually have some mutual friends. I don't know if he knows that. If he listens to this, he's probably going to be like, this woman is a

total creeper, but we do have mutuals and have not interacted in person yet. Now you're going to be going to go on all these alumni events. I know. Oh, yeah, now we can finally make this connection. You took me going on to the show to finally make that connection with Rick Devin's. All I wanted was a freaking picture with Rick, and I had to go on the show to get it. A million dollars would be nice as well.

So what's your favorite moment in Survivor history? I feel like I already kind of gave it, but the Johnny Fairplay, Dead Grandmother Scheme, like that's freaking hilarious. And it's people like that who play the game creatively and who aren't afraid to cause a little bit of mayhem. That made the show so fun for me as a viewer. So when I'm out there, get ready for some mayhem. Yes. Yes. So on that note, what would say is one life experience that you feel has prepared you the most for the mayhem you're about to bring? Oh my God. I feel like I keep giving you the same answers.

That's fine. Okay. Don't hate me. But I feel like seriously working in a newsroom and as a news anchor and reporter because here's the thing, you're getting so many people from all different backgrounds, from politicians to people who are community leaders to people who are like, I've even interviewed like drug dealers before in their homes. Like you're getting people. of all sorts of different backgrounds to trust you and open up and share their personal, intimate details a lot of times about things that are really, really tough to talk about. And if I can do that in a deadline with a newsroom full of toxic behavior, I can do freaking anything. If you can survive a newsroom, you can play Survivor and win. Yeah. Well, I think it's also this idea, right, of receiving that information and being like, what do I do with it? You know, like, how do I, I wouldn't even say warp it, but like, definitely construe it in a way to help fit my agenda in a manner of speaking. Exactly. And I don't want to get it twisted. I never would like

take someone's words and use it against them. But in the newsroom, it is very competitive. I knew that in certain points in my career, there were people who wanted my time slot. There were people who wanted my job. Also, the newsroom is filled with people who gossip. It's literally our job to talk for a living. And so when you're around all sorts of people like that, you're in a constant flow of information about your coworkers and about each other. And it really is just like you said, kind of about that leverage of this information just came to me. Is it important? Can I use it?

Should I hold on to it and use it later? Or is it irrelevant to me? And finding out how to best make it work for your game, so to speak. Well, to that point, what would you say is your biggest superpower and your biggest piece of kryptonite that you're bringing into the game? Okay, my biggest superpower is, I'm a great listener. I love listening. So honestly, like, for me, talking this conversation, like, it's not my natural state.

I'd rather ask questions. I'm a very curious person, and that just lends itself to being a good listener. People love hearing the sound of their own voice. They love hearing themselves talk, and I think that'll work well to my advantage out here. My biggest kryptonite, if you ask anyone who knows me back home, they'll be like, Savannah, like you, if you're upset, it shows on your face. You do not have a poker face. If you're annoyed, like, there's no hiding it from you.

And I get annoyed very easy. If someone's too slow, if someone isn't with it, if someone's just, doing like something tiny and it's just pissing me off you will know my tribe is gonna know and so I need to focus on not being annoyed on being zen on being chill and just being easy to live with from a prep perspective you know was was that part of that what when you found out you were getting the call now for the third time what was sort of your own physical mental emotional prep before coming out oh my god you know I feel like I could be preparing for if I'm 31 years old

for 31 years, and it still would never be enough. But I started, like, working out like a crazy person. I think I, we did our weigh-ins yesterday. I think I've gained 10 pounds since the show, like, told me I was going to be on. So that's, like, insane. But also the mental part of it and the emotional part of it, too. I have, my parents have a life coach, or my parents have a business coach, which is also a life coach, but she does, like, business executive coaching.

It's not coach, is it, though, just to make sure. Oh, no, no. Not that there's anything wrong with coach. We love him. But she's a totally different tag game. No disrespect to coach. But my parents have this person who helps them sort of like navigate business and relationships in business. And they ended up setting me up with her.

I didn't tell her exactly what I was doing. But basically, she's been coaching me in how to rein in my emotions, how to not let my emotions rule me, so to speak. And we're about to see if that's going to be working out here. Either it's going to be the best endorsement you can give or like the biggest one-star review. I know. I know. I'm like, I have to do her proud. So how do you think to that point you will be perceived in this game? You know, it's hard. We're watching right now season 48 and I was very nervous coming in that I was going to be on a season with all of these David's and Joe's and Shaheen, like people who are really strong and I was very intimidated. And I looked out there at the

rest of my tribe mates and I'm like, these look like normal people. Not overly intimidating at first. I know they're going to have like, you know, obviously everybody has the story. I'm sure there's a ton of sneaky threats out there. But I'm hoping right now that I come across as someone who's not super threatening. You know, if you look at me, like I love makeup. I love looking good. I love clothes and fashion and stuff like that. So I think I might like it a little bit more than some of the people in my cast. I think I might get stereotyped with a typical woman who might kind of fall into that line, maybe like a Venus type or a part poverty type. I love Venus in poverty, so I don't want to, like, flatter myself too much. But I am

kind of curious about that. Well, let's turn that mirror to the others here, because I'm sure you've also been making some assessments, as you just mentioned. So let's start on the positive side of things that you can give initials. You could describe them to me. Who are some people that right now, if you hit the beach with them on day one, it's like best case scenario, possible rider dies? SB. Oh, my number one. So, I mean, just look at her. She's cute, brunette, short, hello I could be describing myself like of course we're going to work together so I like her a lot

and then there's Mr. Muscles you already know who I'm talking about I mean I'm loving these nicknames just in general you like the Muscle's nickname yeah he's interesting too I think he's also very charismatic and I think he also might be someone to keep an eye on not in a good way

I think maybe if I could befriend both of them though it's better to what's that phrase it's better to be with the devil you know than the devil you don't There you go. Also, I will say, last one, N-M. He has beard, he's been wearing a hat. I saw him writing down the names of every winner of Survivor from memory.

Is he trying to do like the Hunter Challenge on the journey? It's like just remembering everything. What it tells me is that he is not only a super fan because, I mean, all of us are, I would say, probably super fans. But he's someone who, like, has probably studied the game. Like, he's kind of intimidating. So I want to be working with him up until the merge and then I can take him out. but he's someone I want to have on my side for sure at the very beginning. When it comes to just general qualities you would want in an alliance and a number one ally,

what would those values be? So obviously trust. I know that's like overplayed, so I won't go into it. But trust is number one. Number two, I think someone who I genuinely like, like, I don't want to be on an island with someone for 26 days if I can't stand them, right? So yeah, I would say those are probably the two most important things. trust and then someone who I genuinely like enjoy. And then actually a third thing too, I know that I have I have my own weaknesses,

but I also have my own strengths. And I think that finding someone out there who's a good compliment, maybe they have strengths where I have opportunities to grow. There we go. And vice versa, that would be good for me too. We need a couple things from your bio here. You are a quote unquote reformed party girl. Oh my God, you have that?

What? Now I got to ask. What does that mean? Wait, don't read all that stuff. I feel like there's some personal stuff. Oh, no, no, no, we'll get into that. I just have to touch upon that. And you can, if you're comfortable doing that.

Oh, absolutely. No, I'm totally open about my past. I used to be, like, literally insane. Like, just partying all the time. Like, this was probably, like, in college and a little bit of out of college, too. But I've done, like, pretty much everything in the book, seriously. And now I, like, rarely drink. And if I do drink, it'll be, like, on a special occasion.

Or I might order a drink and have a few sips. but I love like right now I love going at dancing but I would not ever touch like certain things that I used to almost rely on in the past and that came from I mean I guess I went to like a party college and then also you know when you're just kind of stuck in the same cycle of certain behaviors it becomes normal and things that aren't perceived to be normal become what you rely on and during that period I was honestly like not. I was like a version of myself, but like on autopilot in a sense. Yeah, because I think that those substances kind of help serve as a mask. Absolutely. Yeah. And it's like you don't even

realize it's a mask. It's just your new normal self. And, you know, I've moved so many times. So with every move, it's kind of been like a start over or redo. Not a redo, but a chance to start over. And so as I would move, I got further and further away from some of the substances I had been using. But I'm very grateful for some of the friends and I guess my family didn't really know about it, but friends who stuck with me through those times because I was not always the best version of myself. And I'm very grateful for those people. Yeah. And they're able to, I think, see that potential in you as well of like, this is the person that I want to be with. Yeah. And so that's, I mean, that's so wonderful.

here. I'm so happy for you. Let's talk about, this is a very hard pivot. Let's talk about idols and advantages. Oh, good. I love that transition. Exactly. Oh, thank you. As a like a hot grenade. So when it comes to obviously the DNA of the new era, when it comes to advantages, journeys, beware, idols. What's your approach to it right now? Are you hitting that jungle early on? Are you telling people when you find things? Okay, yeah. So I obviously don't want to, I mean, I do want to go out there and start looking immediately, but I know that that might not be the best move. What my plan is,

is I want to get other people to start looking for them, so that way it's socially acceptable for me to do it. Everybody's doing it, come on. Or even if I have to start spreading rumors, like, hey, like I think I just saw NM over here looking for an idol by those rocks. Maybe we should go over there and see what's going on. You know, so I think that by getting other people,

at least talking about finding idols, I'll be able to do it, but dude, I want to go out there, hit it hard, go look and open. Every Beware Advantage. I'm not going to leave it there for someone else. I forget the second half of your question. Well, what about like journeys? Oh, journeys? Because that's a bit more of a public-facing setting, you know?

Oh, yeah, dude, it's so hard with the journeys because, like, I feel like there are opportunities to earn things. But lately, I feel like we've seen more people come out of a journey empty-handed. And sometimes without a vote, not only like empty-handed, but like, you know, like their foot's cut off. Yeah, they got mugged. Exactly. So I just, it'll be a game time decision. I want to say I want to be cautious, but like, dude, knowing myself, I hate saying no to an adventure, so we'll see.

So let me have you say yes to some other thing to bring into the season. Let's put yourself in Jeff's shoes right now. If you could bring in either a previously existing twist from a new era season, old era season, or you can create your own twist, but this is something that you want to play with personally in your season. What would it be and why? Ooh, okay. So I feel like I would want to do a new twist.

And I feel like that twist would have to do with bringing in someone from like that almost like a blood versus water thing. But like it's a surprise that your loved one is out here. And they come in like, I don't know, maybe like part of the way through the season and they have the opportunity to stay and you have to like vote out your allies or something like something like that. Cool. Because one of the things I think is so interesting about Survivor is like the whole relationship level to it. Like I wish we had more showmances like in these days because you see people with. like a really tough decision of whether they want to play with their brain, their logic, or play with their heart, their emotion.

And I think if we bring in people from home, like, even with the letters from home, you see people get so much more fired up and play almost a little bit differently once they get those words from home. That was, I remember Jesse in 43 when he got those letters. I wouldn't say it was like the small domino to lead to him blind signing Cody with his own idol, but I think it certainly made him kind of refocus and be like, you've formed something really insular here, but here's like a breath outside of the game to make you realize what you're playing for.

I totally thought the same thing. And I feel like if you were to bring, like, honestly, like, I'm thinking about my own life. If you brought my boyfriend out here and we're like, okay, you have to choose between your boyfriend and something like incredible to help you out in the game. Like, probably shouldn't say this on camera, but whatever. I would have a really hard time making that decision, you know? Yeah, absolutely. So when it comes to the beginning of the season, we've seen this a bit in the new era, this idea of the disaster tribe. You know, these tribes that go time and time and time again.

I'm curious, from your perspective, is this a scenario you've thought through? Do you think your approach would change if you were in a scenario where you were going more than two, three times in the pre-merge? Yeah, so I actually have thought more about the disaster tribe in the past several days as I've looked around and started, you know, trying to get a good feel for the cast. What I'm doing right now is I'm basically saying, all right, I think this person's in this tribe, this person's in this tribe, this person's in this tribe, and this is all based off, like, their energy that they bring. So, like, for me personally, I feel like my tribe is very indicative of my energy. And this might be just totally random, maybe not. But I'm a little bit worried that I might be on a disaster tribe based off of who I've kind of picked out here. All right. So I'm going to have you call your shot here.

If you remember, who are the five people that you think you're going to be on with? Okay. Well, I feel like this is going back to some of the people I've already, like, kind of observed. So I'm trying to think of, like, the three strongest men. Yeah. So I'm like, okay, who's the third strongest guy? Honestly, I don't know. It's like, those two and then everybody else is on the same, like, whatever. So I'm like, maybe NM is on my tribe.

So that's why I'm like, okay, maybe I can like start working with NM and like we can like get in early or something like that. It's like I would totally hide behind him. I would totally be his number. Yeah. Let me be a number for you. Use me until I decide to stab you in the back. As for the girls, there's actually a girl out here.

She's S.S. And she has red toenail polish, which I don't know why she did that because you're basically telling me you're on the Red Tribe, which I don't know if I'm, my, I mean, you could say it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, so you're basically telling me you're on my tribe. So I, and this is no shade towards her, but there's some women out here who are like strong as hell. And I don't know that they're on my tribe based off like nail color polish or just like general energy or like even like looking at diversity. I'm sure they, you know, like I'll just be non-PC. I'm sure they don't want all white people on the same tribe.

Yeah, no, they've done that season before. I'm trying to, like, do all the numbers in my head here. Yeah. Sorry, that's like super. No, I mean, you've got nothing but time. So I think it makes sense that you try to put yourself in the heads of like, who could possibly be out there. And then to your point, try to both kind of fit yourself in there, but also with the

acknowledgement that even if you are with them, those plans could even change. Well, what's crazy, too, is I am generally a pretty confident person, especially in social situations. But being out here, like, just like you said, having nothing but time. It makes you doubt yourself, and it makes you think, are these people bonding? Are these people looking at each other first when they're laughing for a certain reason? Why aren't they looking at me when they laugh? Like, why can't we share that laugh together?

Like, am I on the outs already? And the game hasn't even started? Am I dead on arrival? Yeah. Like, it's crazy. So, and the game hasn't even started. I know that paranoia is only going to grow. So I'm like, Lord, help me, because I'm going to need a lot of Zen going into this.

That's where that endorsement comes in. That's why we'll see if the life coaches work. Exactly. come to fruition. So let's jump to the end of the game here because something that I find so interesting about the jury vote is that everyone could use entirely different criteria, right? It could be likeability, social game, challenge wins, strategy, et cetera. If I were to ask you right now, if there was like a core value for you, if I were to be a juror, I would vote for blank, what would be that tenant for you? You know, someone who is creative, creativity. I'm sorry,

can't speak. Someone who is creatively strategic. So we've seen 48 seasons of Survivor, I guess our season, that's seen 47 and a half seasons of Survivor. But it's very rare, I think, that you see someone trying something totally new. You know what I mean? Like there have been so many foundational bones of a good survivor game that have been played and built upon over the years. And those strategies were. And so, So if I see someone out there who's doing something that's very creative and strategic, like, yeah, they'll have my vote. Last thing, of course.

I mean, you were talking about this, this blood versus water, possible returny twist. I'll make a little bit more simple here, but I'll go back to the loved ones idea. If you could have a loved one's visit, but you have to bring a celebrity or a fictional character out. Who are you bringing in why? Easy. Miley Cyrus. Enough said. Now, as Hannah Montana or just Miley?

Miley. She has famously said Hannah Montana has been murdered. I'm serious. She said that one is to know. Did you report on that? Was that when the murders? Luckily no. You're like once Hannah Montana got brutally slaughtered. I was done with the news. Miley said it off for herself. But I love her. I think that she is someone who is very perceptive. I think that she's honestly someone who knows like how she comes across. And I think that when you're out on the island, like sometimes people don't always recognize how they come across. So I feel like she could give me some great advice. And I feel like she would also give me a good confidence boost. I love the listening to her music. It is so pumped me up. It is so, like, you know, empowering. And I feel like having Miley out here, like, I'm a big fan. And I feel like she would just, you know, hype me up to go out and build it. I mean, what I think is so interesting is even going back to the one of the first things we said, like, you're kind of in your, I can buy myself flowers era. I am. You know, of like, let me do the things that I want to do, you know? Instead of depending, it's always nice to have people that you can depend on. But like, if you're wanting to grasp at things that you've always wanted to do and just have never had either of the ability, time, effort, what have you.

Why not? Why not take it? You know, why not change up your look and do a performance at the VMAs and then do a completely different thing the next month? Like, it's your, it's your life. Exactly. And, you know, when I got out of news last September, I told myself, this is going to be the year of Savannah. That's how I'm going to approach this year. And I've had a kick-ass year so far. So I'm excited for what season 49 has to bring. And you can't wait for you to report on me as the winner. There we go. Well, you're coming in like a wrecking ball. Oh, you are on this. I love this.

I didn't know you're a Miley fan.