Let’s get a couple things cleared up first thing.

Shambo didn’t lose her tribe’s fishing gear nor did she set free the tribe’s chickens, an important source of protein when food was scarce.

Shambo is Shannon Waters of Renton. She became a national sensation for the fans of “Survivor,” the CBS reality show that strands Castaways somewhere warm where they spend the next 39 days trying go outwit, outlast and outplay each other.

Waters made it to Day 36, quite an achievement in a game where even the most secure players get blindsided at a tribal council and are sent packing.

“That’s unbelievable,” she said of her final place in the game – fifth out of 20 players.

Her chances for the ultimate prize seemed to take a hit when she was pinned with the fishing gear and chicken loss. But this is “reality” TV when storyline sometimes trumps the reality.

She and a lot of her friends and fans cried foul. She simply didn’t lose the fishing gear and a quip about chickens flying was taken out of context in the show’s final editing.

“They did a great job of making me look stupid,” said Waters.

Two stuffed chickens sit on the ends of her fireplace mantle, a gift from neighbors.

Shambo – who got the name as a Marine playing softball more than 20 years ago in a bandana like “Rambo’s” – didn’t win the $1 million prize, but she achieved her goal. She secured a seat on the jury that picked the eventual winner.

In the “Survivor” season finale just before Christmas, Natalie White won the money and villain Russell Hantz, one of Waters’ key allies, won $100,000 as the Player of the Game. Shambo came in second behind Hantz.

She has said goodbye to “Survivor” and doesn’t plan to ever return.

What did she miss during the more than 39 days she was away from her Highlands home? Easy. Chocolate and her two beloved dogs, Kalie the black labrador and Brucie the golden retriever.

Beyond the comforts of home, the real prize is the chance with her newfound fame to become a motivational speaker to help lift up the lives of others, especially kids. She’s already giving her positive speeches and more are planned.

Her “Survivor” experience began in the South Pacific last summer on the island of Samoa. She was assigned to the Galu tribe. The tribe wore purple buffs, her favorite color.

Things went well, sort of, on Galu. Waters said there was a “pronounced 90210” attitude going on with the younger members of the Galu tribe. “90210” was the Fox TV show about California teens who had everything, except a strong work ethic. They were into yoga.

“I was on the outside of that click,” she said.

But, she didn’t confront them.

“I chose my battles wisely,” she said.

For the first days, she kept pretty quiet, working diligently to gather firewood and then start and tend to the fire. “I was the first one up and the last one to bed,” she said.

She also was sent – twice – to the camp of the other tribe, Foa Foa, where she spent about half of the first 12 days on Samoa.

The reception there was different and she bonded. “I loved those guys,” she said of Foa Foa. “There was no one who didn’t care about the people around them.”

The alliance she made with Foa Foa members helped get her deep into the game, even though some accused her of turning her back on Galu.

She got a lot of air time, much of it with Hantz. To get a sense of Hantz, just realize that he’s one of the nine villains on the next season of “Survivor,” called “Heroes vs. Villains,” premiering in February.

Was she taken in by Russell, who would stop at almost nothing, including burning one player’s socks, to advance himself? “Not by a long shot,” she said. “We were using each other.”

Hantz confided in Waters, telling her at one point that the other contestants were going to hate him after the game ended.

To his credit, Hanzt was “a very strong provider of nourishment,” Waters said. But, on the other hand, he “went too far” with some of his tactics.

“That makes me sad,” she said.

And from what jury members said at tribal council it’s probably what cost the Texas oilman the $1 million.

Waters said Hantz “begged” her to go on another CBS reality show, “The Amazing Race.” No way, was her answer. She’s done with reality TV.

Was she blindsided at the tribal council by her alliance’s vote that forced her to the jury?

“I so didn’t get blindsided,” she said. Her face seemed to show surprise, maybe betrayal. But the look was one of relief, she said. She was exhausted. She was in pain.

Little known is that within the first two weeks of the show, she suffered a neck injury. It threatened to force her from the game. But, in typical Shambo style, she persevered.

“Russ was my biggest ally in pain management,” she said, along with Brett, giving her neck massages.

She doesn’t think she would have won anyway, especially if she had one up against the likable Brett, whom she described as “a beautiful young Christian man.”

And then she waited, along with the rest of the shows’ fans, for about five months to find out who won the $1 million. She returned to work in sales with Bargreen Ellingson, a food-services supply and design company celebrating its 50th anniversary this year,

Waters thanks Bargreen Ellingson, where she has worked for 11 years, for giving her 52 days off to appear on the show.

She always intended to return to her job and her customers, many of whom are in the Renton area. She’s working hard in developing ways to ease the cost of paper supplies for them.

“Even if I had won the million, I never once foresaw myself leaving my job,” she said. “My customers are people I love.”

Her employer threw an “astronomical” premiere night party for her attended by about 150 people.

Thursday nights were spent watching the show with family and friends or attending “Survivor” viewing parties at local nightspots. One of those parties was at Doofer’s tavern in Renton.

It was a chance to watch the show with Jamie Perry of Renton whose life she undoubtedly saved nearly three years ago on Burnett Avenue. He was working on a downtown construction project. As she drove by, she saw the man collapsed on the ground. She stopped. She had extensive first-aid training as a swim coach and as a U.S. Marine.

Shaking, she did CPR. He was taken away by medics. Through persistent effort, she was able to find the man at the Valley Medical Center. They met but didn’t see each other again until that night recently at Doofer’s.

He was with his wife and their newborn son Keston.

“I got to meet and hold his 3-week-old baby,” she said. “That was the best thing about that night.”

Perry paid a lot closer attention to “Survivor” this year.

“I wish she would have won or at least won the fan favorite,” he said. “She’s a great person. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.”

Besides work, Waters is focusing her efforts on her motivational speaking and her Shambo Wall of Fame, which is growing above her fireplace.

“I want to lift up people around me,” she said.

She has handed out dozens of signatures. With kids, she’ll ask for their autograph, a promise to her they will lift up people, too, and help those in need.

“That’s what your signature means to me,” she tells the kids. She wants to turn her “Survivor” experience into an endeavor that will help kids.

“I can’t think of a better legacy,” she said.

QUESTIONS/ANSWERS

Shannon Waters has given numerous interviews and answered hundreds of questions from fans in the weeks since “Survivor” ended.

A toilet?

There was no portable toilet. Instead, the players used a stretch of sand about 150 yards from camp, sloping toward the ocean. “Honest to God, there was no toilet paper, she said. There were, she said, “a lot of soft leafs.”

Was the chicken good?

Waters got into a huge argument with Dave, another player, over how she was preparing a chicken by boiling it for a couple hours. Waters was making chicken soup. Never answered was how the chicken tasted. “It was fabulous,” she said.

How much weight did she lose?

She lost about 30 pounds in 36 days, dropping from 169 pounds to 140 pounds, including “a lot of muscle.”

“We were told it was the worst conditions in the history of the show,” she said. There were 15 days of rain, making it hard to boil water. Many of the Castaways suffered from dysentery.

What did she eat?

Typically, the show’s producers provide the Castaways with rice and maybe beans. Not this time, because there was an abundance of coconuts. But a steady diet of coconuts just added to the stomach distress, Waters said. The Pacific Ocean provided some protein, including fish and crabs.

– Dean A. Radford