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Goodbye, Jerri

A fractured alliance surfaced in the latest installment of Survivor: The Australian Outback. The remaining members of the former Ogakor tribe decided it was time to turn on one of their own. Aspiring actress Jerri Manthey was voted out - six to two.

On The Early Show Friday, Manthey talked about her experiences in the Outback and what it's like to be one of America's most disliked women.

Asked if she was really as awful as she appeared on the show, Manthey told co-anchor Jane Clayson, "I didn't feel like I was being overly obnoxious. I definitely had moments where the hunger and the lack of sleep got to me." Still, she added, "in retrospect, I should have probably bit my tongue a little more than I did, but you know, that's just the kind of person I am."

Was she angry about the way the show was edited, possibly making her seem more disagreeable than she really was?

"I was never mad about it. I was definitely at first, a little thrown off, a little hurt. I'm a sensitive person. I have feelings," she replied. She went on, "The editing - I think it is important that people understand that, you know that we have hundreds and hundreds of hours of footage that are edited to 41 minutes. So much gets left out. There were some very tender moments, some kind moments that I shared with Amber and Mitchell, in particular, that just didn't make the show. I understand, you know. It was a game and it was a story."

She was asked her thoughts about some of her teammates.

Apparently there was no love lost between her and Kel. He was the second castaway and first Ogakor member voted out - and it wasn't because of what has come to be known as the "beef-jerky incident."

Manthey explained, "He was gone long before that even happened. On the way hiking to our camp, Kel, because he's in the military, I guess, is used to barking orders at people. He was literally barking orders at us and telling us when to stop, and when to drink water, and OK - we're going to do this and we're going to that. Immediately everybody was looking at him like, who is this guy? None of that made the show." And, she still holds to the position that he smuggled in food.

She said she liked Mitchell the best of all her teammates. "Mitchell was my favorite. We bonded immediately as soon as we landed in the Outback. We formed the alliance within the first hour of landing." It didn't help him much - he was the third Ogakor member voted out.

She still can't get over Keith - the chef - and his rice. "It doesn't make any sense to me. A gourmet chef! Why didn't he make rice? It was horrible!"

Several episodes of Survivorhinted at Manthey's "attraction" to Colby. Clayson wanted to know if Manthey's flirting with him was real, or a way to get him on her side and form an alliance?

"I think it was a little bit strategy and also just... I mean, he's an attractve guy. And as far as I'm concerned, if I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere, I'd like to have someone who is nice to look at, around," she answered.

Talking about her time with him on the Great Barrier Reef, Manthey said, "It was beautiful. It was so romantic. You couldn't have placed us in a more romantic spot.

But she did admit to feeling duped when he pulled a fast one on her and presented pierces of coral he had found at the reef to the other tribe members. "I was in shock. Kudos to Colby. He pulled one right over my eyes. He had asked me not to talk about the game, not to talk about the people, not to, you know, just take the day off. He's like scheming."

Clayson noted that at the last tribal council meeting, Manthey admitted that she had said many things out of frustration. She wanted to know what one thing Manthey would want to take back, if she could.

"There was the tribal council where Jeff Probst asked me specifically 'Who are your friends; who have you bonded with?' and my answer, I think, alienated certain people and that's probably the one moment I wish I could change," she replied.

Like the other contestants, she wished she could have gone further with the game, but is glad for the experience.

"This has been a life-long dream for me. I'm not someone who was on Survivor and wants to be an actress. I'm an actress who wanted to do Survivor. I think a huge door of opportunity has just opened for me."

And even though everybody said mean and nasty things about her, she says she's "willing to look at the positive side of this."

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