OMC: Once you were able to tell people that you did the show, how quickly did the word get out?

EL: Pretty quickly. I have a different last name than the one I used in high school, and I look really different. Unless you really knew me well, it kind of takes somebody being like "Oh, that's Erinn" to realize it's me. It hasn't been too crazy, but I definitely get a lot of Facebook ads.

OMC: Why did you have a different last name? Were you in the Witness Protection Program?

EL: Going through school, I always used my stepdad's last name. I just never got it legally changed. By the time i was out of school and working and (needed a) drivers license and all that stuff, I had to use my legal last name. We had always planned to have it changed, from the time I was five years old. We just never did.

OMC: How did you get chosen for the show? Did you audition?

EL: I didn't audition. I was recruited. There is a lot of ... among big "Survivor" fans, people hate recruits. People like recruits. There is ... people don't get super-excited about people that were recruited. The difference between me and most recruits is I'm not a model. I'm not an actor.

OMC: So, how did they find you?

EL: I was at the Kentucky Derby. I was eating with some friends and a girl walked up to me and said "Hey, i think you're cute. Do you want to do this show?" I'm a fan of the show. I'd seen enough of it to tell her, "No." We talked about a few other things and she said, "Let me get your number, anyway. Just think about it." She called me a couple weeks later and I said "You know, yeah, I can totally do this."

I'd seen enough of it. There was nothing I couldn't do. So, I decided, yeah, absolutely, let's give it a go.

OMC: While you were living in the jungle, getting eaten by bugs, did you ever think to yourself "What am I doing?" I could have gone on "The Bachelor" and stayed at a nice place ...

EL: A lot of the reason I said no in the first place is that reality TV is not something i wanted to be a part of -- less the bugs and being outside and everything else. I didn't know if I wanted to have my life out there for the world to see.

The thing I came to with "Survivor" is that it's not about my personal life. Yeah, your personal life gets into it a little bit, but it's really about the experience you're going through. I was kind of going through some personal stuff where I needed to do something like "Let me see how tough I am. Let me see if I can do this on my own and by myself. Let's try it out." I would never do "The Bachelor." Are you kidding me?

OMC: When will you be allowed to talk to us again?

EL: When I'm voted off or I win $1 million.