Although lone male Rory was the odd man out among the women of the Yasur tribe, ultimately the ax fell 4-2 Thursday on mom Lisa Keiffer. The New Orleans real estate agent, 44, was the seventh contestant to leave Survivor: Vanuatu, falling victim to tribe mate Ami's distrust. Keiffer chatted with PEOPLE about playing the game, keeping secrets and regaining her strength.
Was it hard to keep your ouster a secret these past few weeks?
You know, I loved that I couldn't talk about it. I can say, "It's under my contract not to talk about it." I wanted it to be a surprise. My oldest son is an actor in L.A. and he told me, "Mom, I've been out here for a year and you've already been on a TV show!" My kids were brokenhearted last night. They were crying, but I told them, "Don't worry. I didn't regret a thing."
Where did you watch your final episode?
I was in New York with my husband at the hotel. He has been 110 percent supportive and it was just the two of us watching alone. It was nice because each Thursday I was at a different house with a ton of people. I knew it would be a tough night.
Have you regained your strength since returning home? And did you lose weight?
I lost a lot of weight – I weighed in at 94 lbs. If I had stayed on longer, who knows what would have happened? I am now putting my hands around my waist and I can almost touch them. When I got off the island, I had three huge, giant pieces of veal Parmesan, a plate of veggies and two bags of cookies. You kept eating as if you had the fear that it would be taken away from you. So I ate for three days straight, but I paid for it because I got sick after the third day.
Did you ever wish you were with the Lopevi tribe and your original ally, Julie?
I considered going over there. Then I looked at Yasur and thought I was sitting pretty. Even if we lost the next two challenges, I thought we would vote out the guys and I would be okay with the alliance.
Eliza seems the natural choice to leave, but she keeps staying.
She really wasn't much help. She would ask somebody, "Oh, do you need me to fetch water?" But she would never just go and do it. She would ask and someone would tell her to do it, and if she did, it would take two hours.
What happens now for you?
If there is an opportunity that comes out of this, I'll go for it. I would love speaking engagements. My husband has a full-time ministry now and I would like to do something to help him in his ministry.
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