Flirting And Backrubs Can't Save Misty

She was smart and flirtatious and used both qualities to her best advantage, but the vote turned against Misty Giles in last night's episode of "Survivor: Panama — Exile Island."

The 24-year-old engineer from Texas visited The Early Show Friday morning and told co-anchor Harry Smith she was completely surprised to be voted off, and very disappointed.

"It was tough going home. I was not ready. Not ready at all," she told Smith.

Misty and her tribemate, Sally, had tried a very personal approach to winning support from some of the male contestants, including flirting and massage, but, ultimately, it didn't work.

"We were doing everything we could, using all the tools at our disposal to convince those younger men to align with us," Misty told Smith. "We're natural flirts and … logic wasn't working to convince them to stay with us."

Last night's episode included the most physical immunity challenge seen so far, in which the tribes had to fight over a black bag buried in the sand. And Misty said she just didn't stand a chance against Cirie.

"When you are with Cirie, she tosses you around like a loaf of bread," she said. "That woman was strong. She was very pivotal in their win. She was quite a power player."

Even after the disappointment of being cast off, Misty said the experience was just about everything she had hoped for. "It was completely amazing. If I could do it again, I would go, hands down, no questions asked."

Although she won't miss the bugs, which became her torment, as she described in a secret scene, seen only on The Early Show.

"These bug bites are just — I feel like I'm being eaten alive. I look like some sort of strange patient who should be in the hospital somewhere with all these welts all over me. It's scary. They don't itch too bad but it makes your skin really sore. So it's not a good situation."

Misty's intelligence was cited as one big reason for her ouster, as the male-dominated La Mina Tribe voted 5-2 to make her the third castaway.

In the Tribal Council, as members of La Mina discussed who to expel, the choice quickly narrowed to either Misty or Ruth Marie, 48, a South Carolina shopping center developer with a lot in common with Misty, as a marathon runner, mentor of young girls, and the winner of numerous beauty pageants.

Terry, a 46-year-old American Airlines pilot and former Navy fighter pilot from Connecticut who made his mark as an athlete back in his school days, was adamant that Misty should go.

"She's an engineer," he argued. "She's smart as hell, and she could cause some trouble."

Sally, a 27-year-old social worker, waitress and bartender from Chicago, lobbied Nick, a 25-year-old salesman and aspiring attorney from Arizona, and Austin, a 24-year-old author from North Carolina, to give Ruth Marie the ax.

To Austin, it felt like a good position to be in. "I have the makings right now to get all the way to where I want to be in this game," he said, "because of the way that I am aligned."

In the end, Sally's plea fell on deaf ears, and the solidity of the male alliance proved to be concrete.

While the La Mina tribe got the final spotlight in Episode 3, the Casaya tribe caught the unforgettable moment, with a gimmick most of us will probably never be tempted to try.

Bruce, a 58-year-old black belt karate teacher from California, stepped in as Casaya's replacement for Melinda Hyder, who was booted out of the game on Episode 2.

Bruce's skills came in handy as thirsty Casayans, with no fire to boil their unpotable water, turned to him for a solution. And he had one. A former backpacking and survival instructor, Bruce set up a makeshift system of layered T-shirts to filter the contaminated water.

Not everyone was convinced.

"I've also worked in wilderness," said a skeptical fellow Casayan, Courtney, a 31-year-old performance artist, fire dancer and globe-trotting adventurer. "I'm shocked and awed that this method actually gets bacteria out of the water."

Hopefully, it does.

Stay tuned for Episode 4.