First appearing in New Zealand's version of Survivor in 2019, where she won, Lisa emerged as a strategic beast who was always thinking three steps ahead. And as soon as she was crowned the Sole Survivor, the strategy continued.
"I always wanted to play Survivor again, and I didn't know if that was a realistic goal, but basically, from the time I won, I thought I should be slightly strategic about what I say in public and in podcasts, so I don't just spill my whole game," Lisa told 10.
In the lead-up to Survivor: Australia V The World, Lisa put her ear to the ground and did research on all the potential players who could be involved in the season. Thinking everyone would be doing the same amount of homework, Lisa also revealed to The Spinoff that she asked a friend to create a video essay on YouTube discussing why she shouldn't have won her season.
"And then, using someone else’s account, I argued with everyone in the comments about how bad my game was, that I didn’t deserve to win," she told the publication.
But arriving on the beach, it became clear quickly that most of the other players hadn't watched her season and didn't recognise her or have any familiarity with her style of game.
"My strategy has four things that I do: I'm really good at puzzles, I have a strong social game, I know I'm quite strategic, and I'm a big fan of Survivor," Lisa explained. "It's just deciding which of those things to emphasise or push into that's going to serve you best."
But coming into this season with some titans of the franchise, Lisa said she'd often find her fandom getting the best of her. "It was just such an unbelievable situation that it was hard to always put a lid on different aspects that you might want to ustilise," she said.
"There were times when I was watching Survivor rather than being in Survivor," she laughed. "Especially at the Tony tribal council, where he and Parvati were going at each other, and I was sitting in the middle. I was literally like, Hang on Lisa, you're in this!
"You need so much time to digest that stuff. It's just like thing after thing was happening, with no time to talk, no time to digest, no time to integrate it into strategy," she said.
And time became a huge issue this week when the so-called Pinky Alliance of Lisa, Kass and Tommi had a breakdown in communication. Tommi suggested blindsiding Parvati and made it apparent that he had brought Luke and Shonee on board to make the move.
"It was all a bit unclear," Lisa explained, "what I thought he said was 'I've gone around, I've got the numbers, it's going on Parvati tonight'. That was believable to me that he could have done that because.... why aren't people trying to get out Parvati?
"So I got caught in this situation where I was sort of stuck with Luke and Shonee, and I thought they knew -- as far as I knew, they had just made this plan, and it didn't seem like I was part of it."
Worried that she'd cop the blame for the proposed blindside, Lisa kept an arm's length from the vote, but was also unaware that she was the one informing Luke and Shonee of the plan to begin with.
Luke then blew up the plan at tribal council, giving Parvati the pathway for revenge and taking out Kass at the next vote. But when it was revealed to be a double elimination, before they could go to a vote, Lisa put her hand up ready to quit the game in the hopes that it would give Tommi one more day.
After it was explained that by quitting, she'd forfeit her role on the jury and a vote would still go ahead -- so Tommi would be at a greater risk of being voted out -- Lisa backed down and stayed in the game.
"I would never throw over my game if I could win," Lisa said. "But I also would not throw over my game to help someone I don't want to win."
"What are the chances the final five Immunity Challenge would be a puzzle? Well, it's Australian Survivor, I'm going to say pretty frickin' slim," she laughed. "What are the chances there's going to be something that Tommi could win? Pretty good, I'd say, because he's amazing at challenges."
Realising that her pathway to victory was getting more and more clogged with obstacles, Lisa was playing from the bottom for the first time in her two seasons. But she still thought there could be a chance that either the Aussies or the Americans would utilise her to make a big move heading into the final five.
"I was very sure I was sunk, but I did still think, why wouldn't you use me as a number? Knowing that I'm not going to immunity my way to the end (because, as discussed, a lack of puzzles), there's just a lot of factors going on."
Unfortunately, the tribe voted Lisa out, and her torch was snuffed for the first time -- another Survivor experience ticked off the bucket list. While bittersweet to have her game come to an end, Lisa said the whole experience has been "unbelievable".
"Personally, I could do without seeing myself crying about Cirie again. I've probably had enough of that for the rest of my life," she laughed. "I said I had a whole lot of factors to my game, but really the main ones are: did you know I like Survivor, and I like crying about Cirie.
"They're the two main things I focused on this time, and it was shocking I didn't end up with the win," Lisa joked, bucking the trend of keeping her cards close to her chest, she added, "If I ever get to play again... I'll go with that same strategy."
Survivor: Australia V The World continues Tuesday at 7.30pm and don't miss the Grand Finale on Sunday at 7pm on 10.
