Shallow Shocked She Won "Survivor", Says Conditions In Micronesia Were Awful, But She Was "Out For Blood"

May 12, 2008

Parvati Shallow on The Early Show Monday, May 12, 2008. (CBS/EARLY SHOW)

(CBS/AP) Parvati Shallow was the last woman standing on "Survivor: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites."

The 25-year-old boxer and charity organizer from Los Angeles outwitted, outlasted and outplayed her competitors - both "favorite" former castaways and "fan" contestants - to claim the title of "Sole Survivor" and the CBS reality show's $1 million prize during Sunday's live finale. She previously came in sixth on "Survivor: Cook Islands."

Shallow received five votes over three for runner-up Amanda Kimmel, the 23-year-old former beauty queen and aspiring fashion designer. She also bested 37-year-old nurse Cirie Fields and 32-year-old bartender Natalie Bolton. It marked the first time in the reality competition's 16-season history that four female contestants made it to the end of the game.

"I couldn't have done it without the girls that I was with," Shallow said during the finale.

"I was shocked (she won, five-to-three)," she told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen Monday. "I legitimately was shocked. I knew I'd made some enemies on the jury, so I didn't know what my odds were going into that final tribal council."

"Going back a second time was a huge advantage," she observed. "I just learned not to take people at face value. Pretty much always second guess what someone's saying to me, and always think one step ahead, and just make more aggressive moves.

"The first time, I lasted a long time. But I wasn't out for blood the first time. This time, (I was thinking), 'I'm gonna win, and I'm gonna kill everyone to get there.' It was do or die for me. I wasn't going back a second time around to have a great time and enjoy the experience. I was going back to win the game.

Winning this time around may have been the only aspect that was better than last time. Shallow told Chen, "Cook Island was like a honeymoon paradise compared to -- Cook Island was gorgeous. We didn't have any rats or bugs. Micronesia -- people are dying of infections, and rats were crawling on your face, and we're sleeping in a cave, and it's raining every single day and night. You can't start a fire. We had no food. It was misery. It was pure misery. And on top of that, you're thinking in your head, 'I have to strategize. ... Oh, my God. What am I gonna to do?' I mean, it's "the most uncomfortable, horrible experience of your life."

What will she do with her winnings? In large part, Shallow says, she'll use the money to help grow a charity she and some others started, Knockouts for Girls" which provides scholarships and boxing training for underprivileged girls.

At the beginning of the season, a tribe of former contestants competed against a tribe of new players. When the teams merged, Shallow helped form an alliance of female competitors from both sides. The alliance shocked several contestants with their eliminations, including Erik Reichenbach, who gave up immunity he won to Bolton and was subsequently voted out.

During the finale, Kimmel won both immunity challenges, choosing Shallow to accompany her at the final tribal council. That last deliberation featured two players vying for votes from an eight-person jury of cast-off competitors - unlike the three previous "Survivor" seasons, which featured three contestants angling for winning votes.

"The fact that it's a final two and not a final three was almost poetic," Fields said when she learned about the finale's twist. "I mean, we've been blindsiding people left and right, and essentially we got blindsided. We thought we had it made. I guess what goes around, comes around."

At the end of the finale, host Jeff Probst revealed the series will return to Africa for its 17th season and feature 18 contestants living among wildlife. "Survivor: Gabon - Earth's Last Eden" will premiere in the fall. The third "Survivor" season was filmed in Kenya.