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Stephenie LaGrossa

SURVIVING LIFE, AFTER SURVIVOR:
Stephenie LaGrossa

By Traci J. Grant

Who could forget one of Survivor's most popular players of all time, Stephenie LaGrossa? Known for her competitive nature and ability to outlast her entire team on the Palau season, she earned herself an invite back to play again on Guatemala with fellow Palau cast mate, Bobby John. Stephenie should have been an instant target, but managed to outwit, outlast and outplay all the way to the final two. True to her character, Stephenie says, "I wasn't okay with losing the million; I'm not going to lie. But I took myself as far as I could, and I couldn't do anything else about it. Yeah, I slit a few throats along the way, stabbed a few people in the back, but that's the game. You're not playing for the million for your neighbor, you're playing for yourself. More important than the million, I just wanted to be sole survivor, I wanted to get that title and go to the end. I was there, right there, but I'm okay with it. I don't really have any regrets, because I think I played a great game."

Playing the game of Survivor was certainly the ultimate challenge, but Stephenie has moved on to an even bigger one these days: marriage. "We just got back from the honeymoon, so we haven't had that much time to absorb it all. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. I had an incredible wedding planner, the venue was right on the beach, it was just amazing. And then our honeymoon was even better. We stayed at a really beautiful five star hotel, and it was just really great." Getting married is every young girl's fantasy. How did Stephenie bring the fairy tale to life? With a wedding planner. "My wedding planner, she's from LA Productions, she totally went above and beyond. It was the most beautiful day, I think, of all July. We totally lucked out. We had African drummers. An African family came, and they were doing dances and singing and dancing around on the beach while playing the drums. That was incredible. The food was outstanding. Everything was tied in with our colors. It was just incredible. Our cake was outstanding, everybody was like, it's the best wedding we were ever at. There wasn't one end that went undone."

Stephenie's Survivor days have passed, but the impact of the hit CBS reality show follows her everywhere, and yes, even her honeymoon. "It's funny, I'll go a day and not one person will say anything to me, and you forget about it, because you are a normal person, you were just on a reality show. And then, I'll go on my honeymoon and I'll be in the bathroom at a local store and a woman from Australia will come up to me and be like, oh my god, Stephenie, we love you in my country. It's just so weird. Random things happen like that and then you remember, like, oh, yeah, I was on a reality show, and people watched it all over the world."

Of those people around the world, many are Stephenie's fans, and she is quick to thank them, more than once. "The fans are just constantly there, and I still get tons of fan mail. I still get letters and phone calls and e-mails. My website gets a ton of hits. I guess without the fans, I wouldn't be doing any of this, so thank you to all of them for just being so supportive and standing by me, even though I didn't win the second time around. Without the fans, I wouldn't have done any of this, so thank you."

Fans can rejoice, since Survivor probably wasn't the last you'll see of Stephenie LaGrossa. About what she plans for the future, Stephenie explains, "I'm pursuing a whole bunch of different things, quite a few opportunities in the entertainment industry. I touched on a little bit of acting, I was on Guiding Light. Also, I'm talking with a production company right now for some hosting opportunities. I've also been doing a little bit of modeling. I was on the cover of a fitness magazine, and I'm working with a hair company, fun things like that.

While she's excited about future prospects, Stephenie still keeps her mind on, well, reality. "I'm still the same person I always was, I'm just not doing pharmaceutical sales right now. I'm doing sometimes, autograph signings. It's not all glamorous. It's a lot of stress. It's a hard industry to break into; things don't always go as planned. There are a lot of ups and downs with it. It's a totally different life. It's not a nine to five job, it's a sporadic job, career, if you will. It's really exciting; it's a lot of fun; hopefully it will take me in the direction I want to go, if not, back to pharmaceutical sales." Adds Stephenie, "I'm just going along for the ride right now. I'm going to fight hard, I'm going to try to make this happen, but if it doesn't, I'm definitely not going to be devastated."

What else is in Stephenie's future? "There's a big discrepancy on whether there's going to be an All Stars 2 or not. I mean, in my mind, I think there would be one, because the All Stars was such a great show; it got such great ratings. But then at the same time, they don't like to repeat themselves; they like to keep it fresh, so I don't know if they'd ever do it. If they did, and I didn't have anything major in my life going on, I might consider doing it a third time. I think I'd be the first person voted off, just for the hell of it, because they'd be like, oh no she's not getting a third chance [laughs]."

All Stars or not, Stephenie LaGrossa will always be an all star, on T.V., and off.

 

All quotes in this artircle were given in an interview with TheStarScoop.Com

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