‘Survivor 47’ star Genevieve Mushaluk can’t stand watching herself on TV: ‘A true nightmare’

Genevieve Mushaluk loved playing “Survivor” — and she didn’t like seeing herself in it.

“The whole part of watching myself on TV has been like a real nightmare,” the 33-year-old corporate lawyer told The Post exclusively after being eliminated in fifth place on Season 47.

Mushaluk also told The Post how she felt about Sam Fallen rejecting her idol, why voting out Kishan Patel had such an emotional impact on her, and whether she’d return for Season 50. Will come.

Read Mushaluk’s full interview below.

New York Post: How do you feel about being out of the game a week before the finale?

The whole part of watching myself on TV has been a real nightmare. So I am very happy. In the first three episodes when I was the purple princess, I was in my glory and loved watching my friends on TV. I am very happy. It’s a wonderful journey, a wonderful experience. But that part is for the fans, so I think the final four will get the time they deserve and I’m happy to watch on my couch with popcorn and be like, ‘This is what they should have done!’ ‘

Did you have a plan for how to deal with Sam destroying your fake idol? And did you expect him to do that?

No, I didn’t. This is so crazy. I was protected throughout the game, which helped me plan ahead and approach things strategically. And then as soon as I started making friends, Sam, incredible, suddenly I didn’t protect myself, assuming my friend wouldn’t do the same. It’s my own fault because I didn’t see myself as a threat. I didn’t understand why he would be motivated to do this. So because of the relationship and me not understanding myself properly, I completely had no option for that step. But yes, I was not ready.

Was there any way you and Sam could have come up with a plan to save both of you?

Yes! This is the pitch I gave him. Sam, let’s use this statue to scare them. Now, though, there’s a problem with this plan, because we didn’t know Sue had an idol. So this plan would only work against Teeny, and I really wanted to use it on Sue. But the plan is, Sam, if they think this idol is real, they’ll be nervous about voting for one of us. Because if we play Idol correctly, we get to choose who will go home between Sue and Teeny. Even when Sam destroyed my game, I was still trying to make that pitch to him and Tini and saying, ‘Guys, if we take Sue out, you Both are guaranteed to be set in the Final Tribal. This is an issue between Rachel and me. We want to take each other out. You’re guaranteeing your spot.’ But I didn’t see them thinking that I was such an attractive target that they had to take me out.

Did the story about you starting to be a big target after you turned on Soul?

It didn’t really appear as everyone else did after Genevieve. It was really just teeny. I think if Tini hadn’t had such an explosive reaction. I mean, you see in the episode, Gabe and Andy wanted to make it clear, ‘It’s all Genevieve.’ It’s being set up very transparently as, ‘Next time we’ll take him out, right?’

Nanhe and the big reaction they had and the discussions that followed with people really fanned the flames. I think I could have nailed it down better. I think the timing was right for the soul vote because even with my threat level up it’s like, ‘Yeah, but Gabe is here tomorrow. Kyle is here tomorrow. Sam is here tomorrow. People are going to be more interested in these guys, so they can threaten me as much as they want, I still don’t think I’ll be the next one to go.’

We saw you talking about how the Kishan vote affected you emotionally. Can you talk about that?

It’s very interesting because I went into the game thinking I was going to play or die a couple of times. A few things happened early on at Lavo Beach that made it clear that I wasn’t really anyone’s number 1. So I thought, OK, I just have to take care of myself. And with the Kishan vote, his reaction after that, I think I was just expecting everyone to be like, ‘It’s a game.’ Good game,’ like I split it the way I did.

So when people get angry at me, they have strong feelings of betrayal or hurt or pettiness, it’s very different from how I look at the game and how I break it down. Those feelings felt very real and then I accepted them and I said, ‘But is this a game? If I am hurting people then it is a personal matter and I would not like to do that. So it’s hard to reconcile, or at least it was for me.

How would you present your case if you made it to the final 3?

I never practiced my case and I didn’t really think about it that much because I’d never been there. I think the first thing I would have tried to explain and explain was the journey and why I was so cold towards people, because I think that would have mattered to some of the jurors. And then the way I look at it is like there are these three pillars of the game: social, strategic and strength. I did well in the challenges, especially at the end when I won one. I think the strategic thing must have been said for its own sake. Social I would have been able to explain. So I would work on those topics and then tire of becoming the best lawyer I can be and really enhancing my lawyer skills. Until then, the jury didn’t know I was a lawyer. So maybe I’ll be like, ‘I’m a lawyer, and if anyone cares,’ and they’ll be like, ‘We don’t care.’

Are you interested in returning for Season 50?

I believe that if anyone gets a chance to play ‘Survivor’, you should do it. It’s the hardest work you’ll do, but it’s also the most rewarding thing you’ll do. So if I were invited back, although I would be intimidated because now I know very well how difficult it is, I would say yes. Whenever they ask me, I would like to be there.

The “Survivor 47” finale airs next Wednesday at 8pm ET on CBS.