"Sorry, you can't come in" – When Survivor 48's Mary Zheng talked about shutting the door on fellow contestants as a strategy to win

Survivor season 48 is currently halfway through its run, having premiered on CBS on February 26. The show returned with a new batch of contestants sent to a Fiji island to compete for the coveted title and the prize money.

One of the contestants, Mary Zheng, is still running strong in the competition with her strategic and intellectual gameplay. In an exclusive interview with Parade, published before the season premiere on January 31, Mary reflected on her life and noted how her past job roles could aid her on her journey to win the season.

Mary shared that because of her years of experience in crisis intervention and substance abuse counseling, she got accustomed to helping others. However, she knew Survivor was a whole new world, and she would need to find a balance between compassion and self-preservation.

While Mary naturally wanted to support others, she realized that to win the show, she would have to protect her own space and well-being.

"I wanna open doors, but I also wanna learn how to shut them too. And just be like, "You know what? This is my room. This is my space. Sorry, you can't come in. Because I need to be in here if I wanna win a million,"" she said.

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Survivor season 48 star Mary Zheng talks about herself and her instinct to help others

In the interview with the Parade, Survivor season 48 star Mary Zheng mainly talked about her life and her obsessions with the CBS reality show.

The 30-year-old social worker shared that she was currently working as a substance abuse counselor in Philadelphia.

She noted that besides her current role, she also had experience working for several other crisis intervention including "working at crisis hotlines, working in emergency departments, working in winter-time emergency homeless shelters.

When asked about her greatest "superpower" and "kryptonite" heading into Survivor season 48, Mary Zheng revealed that both stem from the same trait: her strong social game.

While her ability to connect with others is a major asset, she admitted it could also become a liability, fearing that her fellow castaways might quickly recognize her charm and see her as a threat from a mile away.

Further in the interview, the interviewer pointed out to Mary that her work was all about helping others in need.

Considering that the interviewer asked her how her natural instinct to help others would work with the individualism of needing to turn on someone to win in the show.

In response, the Survivor season 48 contestants shared that she was working on the exact issue for over four to five years. She noted she was brought up to think about others first before her needs, so with time, she realized the importance of saying no to other people so that she can say yes to herself.

"My dad's a political martyr. My mom is the sole breadwinner for our family. They're both putting themselves last. And, of course, that's how I grew up, thinking that "It's good to eat last. That's what you should do." But I've done things for people that you know because I didn't want to hurt their feelings," she said.

The Survivor season 48 contestant continued:

"I realized, "You know what, Mary? You can't give endlessly. You have to learn to give to yourself as well." And so I've been trying to put myself first when I can in real life for a while now. And I feel like this experience is gonna be the ultimate test," she added.

Mary added that while she wanted to help other contestants and connect with them, she didn't want them to use her kindness. She noted that she wished to prioritize herself and focus on herself to win the prize money.

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Survivor season 48 episodes air every Wednesday on CBS.