In a game where backstabbing is encouraged and alliances have a shorter shelf life than Taylor and Shae’s romance, no one expects the winner of Surviving Paradise to play a clean game. 

But with a season full of shocking twists, the new competition series saves the biggest one for last when Linda is crowned the winner of Season 1. While other cast members play a bigger, louder, and more aggressive game, the Houston native manages to outlast everyone with a single-minded strategy: selflessness. And, if anyone ever doubted her intentions, Linda shocks everyone by not taking the $250,000 grand prize for herself, and instead chooses to split her winnings with her close friend, Lellies. 

“Everything you saw is real,” Linda tells Tudum. “I truly am a genuine person and try to think about others before myself. I’m excited for everyone who was able to take something away from the journey, and my hope is that they will continue to follow it because we are going places.”

Below, hear from Linda about how she survived the camp, where she stands with Lellies today, and what she plans to do with her half of the prize money. 

Let’s go back to the beginning. How did you react when you discovered that everyone would be living in the wilderness instead of a luxury villa? 

I’m not somebody that is easily deceived. I genuinely had no idea that this is what we were about to do. I really thought it was just going to be a bunch of guys and girls in this almost muted Love Island situation. I was very shocked at what we ended up actually doing. I did not expect to be fighting for my life, basically. It didn’t really hit me until I sat on the log at camp and I’m like, “Oh, I’m sleeping here tonight.” The next morning, when there was no toothbrush, no makeup wipes, no nothing, it all became real for me.

OK, but how bad was camp really? From a scale of 1 to 10. 

It was a 10. The worst part about camp was the food and to wake up every day and know that all you had to eat was that rice — not salted, not seasoned — and beans. And I don’t even eat beans, so all I had was the rice! I was just hungry. That was the toughest part for me. The bathroom situation wasn’t the best either, and it was such a trek getting there. Over time, my body was kind of breaking down.

Heading into the experience, what type of game did you want to play?

From the very beginning, I wanted to play this game in a way that I could look back on 10, 20, and 30 years from now and be proud. I wanted to stay true to myself. I didn’t want to allow too many outside voices to get into my head and make me play in a way that is not reflective of who Linda truly is. I kept that mindset the entire time, even when things were shocking to me and didn’t go my way.

It wasn’t always easy to continue to give and basically put my placement in the game at risk constantly, but I just knew that it was more important to send a message that being true to yourself does have rewards. Whether I won or not, I just wanted to show that staying true to who you are will always help you win in the end — whether it’s a cash prize or just feeling pride within yourself. To be able to have both was just really rewarding.

You developed a close friendship with Lellies early on in the game. But your relationship hits a major speed bump when she seemingly betrays you in Episode 2. What was going through your mind at that moment? 

One of the beautiful things that I gained from the experience was being able to have uncomfortable conversations and really push through certain moments. Lellies and I are a beautiful example of that. What we have is very special, and I wanted to remain true to that and honestly see that flourish. Lellies was just doing what she thought was best at the time. I respect that. Now, I do genuinely believe it was a strategic move and she was just trying her best to make sure that we were all safe. We went about [the game] in different ways, but I think it all ended up being a beautiful story at the end. Today, I would consider her one of my best friends, one of my sisters. I’m very happy to have her in my life.

Other players, including Tabitha, take a very different approach to the game, which you didn’t exactly seem to respect. How do you feel about that now? 

Early on, I knew that Tabitha wanted to play a very dog-eat-dog type of game. It was very apparent that Tabitha had a very specific way of presenting how they wanted to be in the game. They have a very strong personality, and they’re always going to show that. Where it started getting weird for me is when Justin came on the chopping block, because it was very opposite of how I was playing my game. I was very adamant that you start with your people and you end with your people. When Tabitha turned on Justin, I couldn’t respect it, and I told them privately about how I felt.

Despite playing a relatively low-key game, you make it all the way to the end. Did you ever imagine that you’d be among the finalists?

By the time the big elimination happened, I already felt like I had won. To gain the respect of my peers enough to where they wanted to save me out of everyone was so special. That touched me more, honestly, than the final moment, because it showcases everything I was insecure about —  whether it be my gameplay, if people really respected me, or liked me. It counted for a lot more than I thought because I’ve always been somebody that’s been very specific about how I present myself. This show caused me to be very naked in a lot of ways, very vulnerable and put down different guards that I didn’t expect to put down. To know that just me being Linda, as bare as Linda was, was enough — that was enough for me. Whether or not I won, I was cool with it. I was just happy to have made it to the end being nothing but Linda.

Speaking of the final moment, you are presented with a choice: split the $200,000 or take home $250,000 for yourself. You decide to split the money with Lellies. What was going through your mind at that moment? Was it a hard decision? 

I thought about the main reason why I was there. With my platform being about women, helping women, empowering women, the first act that I could do was to empower another woman. That’s why I chose Lellies.

It was very difficult because I had, of course, Alex, who was a big part of my story and I’m still very, very close to him. It’s just that, with what my brand is and what it means to me, I knew that it had to be me and another woman on top.

How do you plan on using the money? 

I’ve just finished creating my website, lifeonlock.com, which has a bunch of different resources for women to use and find refuge in. It’s an all-encompassing site that lets you get to know Linda, but also that lets you grow within yourself as well. I also wrote a book over the past year, which features journal entries where I share different experiences and talk about how I’ve grown from them. 

The confidence agency is still a pie-in-the-sky dream. The hope is for the [website and the book] to be the foundation on which the actual place where people can come will be built. Lellies and I were actually talking about doing joint conferences one day and basically taking up space, not only on the internet but also in the real world, where women can be seen and heard and feel beautiful from the inside out. That’s my mission.