“Survivor 50” Champ Aubry Bracco Reacts to Jeff Probst’s Live Finale Slip-Up (Exclusive)

Aubry Bracco won Survivor 50 with an 8-3-0 jury vote after a well-timed final four immunity win and strong final tribal council case

NEED TO KNOW

• The season featured 24 returning players competing for a $2 million prize

• Speaking with PEOPLE, Aubry reveals her future on reality TV

After weeks of blindsides, betrayals, twists and double eliminations,Aubry Braccohas been crowned the Sole Survivor of season 50.

The landmark season — which wrapped up on May 20 with a three-hour live finale — saw a record-breaking24 returning playersbattle it out for a$2 million prize. Coming into the final episode, Bracco,Jonathan Young,Joe Hunter, Rizo Velovic andTiffany "Tiff" Ervinmade up the final five. But after Aubry solidified her spot in the final three with a well-timed immunity win and successfully defended her game at final tribal council, she sealed an 8-3-0 victory over Jonathan and Joe.

During the finale — which was riddled with surprises, including a brand-new car for Aubry and hostJeff Probstaccidentally revealing that Rizowas the final member of the jury — the New Hampshire native cried after she won the title of Sole Survivor. It was a hard-fought win, coming on the heels of a close season 32 loss toMichele [Fitzgerald], followed by a final five appearance on season 34,Game Changers, and a 16th place finish on season 38,Edge of Extinction.

"I've come in second place, gone deep scrapping, flopped really hard with an idol in my pocket, and I came back, and I was more intuitive," she reflected on her journey during the episode. "I trusted myself and I moved differently, and most importantly, I learned from the incredible players and winners before me."

Speaking to PEOPLE after her win, Aubry shares what she learned from past winners, when she planned her endgame and where she stands with Genevieve Mushaluk.

I'm sure this must be really overwhelming. Have you slept at all?

I slept about two hours. I don't drink, so that's really helpful. I'm just running on all the love and excitement and just relief that we finally know what happened.

How were you feeling last night before you knew what happened? Did you think there was a good shot you'd won?

I had a good feeling that I had left everything on the table, but I really just wanted those votes read. I really wanted them read. I was not sure. I played the first time and I lost. I came in second, so I just wanted those darn votes read.

Taking it back to the beginning of this season, very early on, you had this feud with Genevieve Mushaluk. Did you expect that going into the season? Did you think that would put a target on your back?

It absolutely put a target on my back. Did I expect it? No. Did I go in thinking she was a dangerous player? Yes. I definitely got on the wrong foot.

What happened, from my perception with Genevieve — and I totally respect other perspectives, that's something I think I did really well this season, I understand multiple things can be true for people — is that I called Genevieve "dangerous" in a conversation where people calledAngelina [Keeley] "chaotic" and Rizo "lazy" as we were trying to sus each other out. I was aware that it was uncomfortable between us. So it's very awkward at the beginning, I sat down with her and I opened the door in that conversation. I said, "Can we have, like, a business meeting? Because it's just not clicking." And we saw that it didn't work. I didn't do what I had to do in that conversation. I didn't handle it the way she needed to be handled.

I continued to talk to Genevieve. I talked game. I talked to her about the idol. I know that information is currency to her, but it never clicked. We would have strategic conversations, but I would just not feel it. There was this disconnect. And then we got to our swap tribe, that disconnect only grew. Tiffany told me they were after me. I saw Genevieve — if I talked to someone, she'd pull them one by one into the jungle and I felt like it was poison against Aubry. But even at the merge, I said, "Hey, Genevieve, like, we have bigger fish to fry. We can work together. We might have to work together."

The night she went home, I said, "Hey, can we talk?" And she said, "I'm not talking to you." So there's nothing I could do. I will say, she's a really talented player. She's able to control the social and narrative framing of the tribe she is in and people love her. She's a really good player.

Throughout the rest of the season, you had her jacket. What did you feel when you would put that on?

I would feel warm.

Very useful.

Yeah, very useful. I thank her for that.

In the finale, we saw your mom coming for family visits. Did you have any idea that that was even a possibility? Unfortunately, there was so much other stuff to get to — what didn't we get to see in those scenes?

Oh my gosh, thank you for that question. I mean, the final three — a family visit — it was shocking. We had about an hour with our families. It was so sweet. Joe's wife, Jonathan's brother, my mom, they were so excited. We sat with them, we ate. My mom was joking around with Jonathan's brother about his outfit. They had a rapport. It was just really nice.

I've said in the past that the family visits can be very distracting when you're in the game and you're at final nine or whatever it used to be, but it was very grounding for me to see my mom before I went to tribal.

Obviously, she was so happy for you. What has she said to you in the hours since you won?

Oh my gosh, my mom's so proud. My mom's my best friend. I'm so close to my family and they have been through this with me.Survivor, I've had quite the journey. I've had heartbreak. I've come back. I've done well. I've flopped. They're just really proud of me and I'm so lucky to have the support system I do.

You're a multimillionaire now, so you can say it! I wanted to ask about the moment during the finale when Jeff accidentally revealed that Rizo had lost fire. What was that like for you?

I was backstage in my own little world, worried about if I won or lostSurvivor. I didn't even really pay that much attention. I heard people say, "Oh my gosh, this happened." Then Jeff took accountability and moved on. So I was really not hung up on it at all.

Moving onto final tribal council, it seemed tense amongst some of the jurors.

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Did you feel that?

Oh, yeah. Ponderosa must have been a real fun place to be. I'll tell you that. I thinkSurvivor 50's gonna be a game that we look back on many seasons from now. There are so many nuances in any returning player season — you're gonna get people who are the heroes of their own stories, people are the heroes of their own seasons, people with their own wounds and their preexisting relationships. The stakes were so high for 50, there were so many dynamics that had to be untangled and I think we saw that play out in the jury.

I was really grateful that I had people advocating for me. I'd never had that before. Jonathan had that too. He had people who really believed in him and he was a formidable competitor.

If you had lost final immunity or somehow not made it to final tribal council, who would you have voted for between Rizo, Jonathan, and Joe?

I think it was probably Jonathan or Rizo, if he made the case. I think Rizo was very underrated by some cast members. I always was like, "There's more going on with him and he's making really good ... He's dropping wisdom." When I saw the show, I was like, "Damn, he's got some stuff."

Then Jonathan completely evolved his game. Jonathan played really hard. Joe was also like ... every vote did run through Joe. It was wild. No one would make a decision without clearing it by Joe.

During the episode, you called out all the winners from your past seasons. Could you speak a little bit more about what you took from each of them?

Yeah. There's winners in my seasons, other seasons. I'd say Michele taught me that there could be different kinds of social relationships that I'm naturally inclined to have. I'm naturally inclined to have really intense relationships with people. Michele definitely is able to connect with people in different ways and ways that they need to make them feel comfortable.

Sarah Lacina is just such a shark and able to remain calm and steady and see the whole board. Chris Underwood taught me you can be scrappy. You can win at the very end. Sandra [Diaz-Twine] taught me you can be direct and you don't have to be cagey with people. And I have to shout out my boy, John Cochran. John is a very close friend and man, John taught me that you can be a nerd and you can be so uniquely yourself and people will love you for it if you can just be yourself.

You said during your final remarks that Lacina taught you how to see the board kind of a couple steps ahead.

Ohhh, yeah.

How far in advance did you start planning your endgame?

I came into the merge. We talked about the Genevieve dynamic — as a result of that, I came into the merge with very little social equity, but it actually allowed me to zoom out, see the full board. At the final eight with Ozzy [Lusth], I was like, "These are the guys." Like, it was Rizo, Jonathan, Joe — three of them and me. I'm like, "These are the people I think I would wanna potentially go to the end with. This block." It was over for [Rick] Devens,Cirie [Fields]and Tiff. So I began to see the endgame after Ozzy went. I knew that those multi-timers, — like Cirie and Ozzy — had to stay in the game to about eight, and then we'd have to chop. That sounds so callous, but it's the game.

Who have you heard from since your win? Is there anyone surprising who's reached out to you?

Oh my gosh. My phone is stacked with people I haven't talked to since middle school, former players. It's amazing. I am feeling the love. I couldn't even tell you. So many people. It's overwhelming.

What are you going to do with the money? And where, exactly, do you plan on driving your brand-new car?

Rick Devens, where do you wanna go to dinner? I mean, you flipped that coin. Absolutely gotta take Rick to a good dinner, just something fun with Rick. Then, I'm gonna try to invest the money wiselyfor my son. He's 2-and-a-half. Life is not getting any less expensive, so I wanna make sure he's set up for his future.

And I live in the great state of New Hampshire. I would love to take a nice drive through the Granite State, maybe up through Maine or take a trip out west to Nevada or Oregon. It would be fun.

Hopefully that bigSurvivorlogo stays on the car.

I was like, "Can I keep this?"

What is your reality TV future? Could you see yourself going onThe Traitors?

Hey, I'm open to anything. Let's go.

Last question: Is there any part of yourSurvivorstrategy that you wish had been shown more? Anything that fans should know about your win?

My only audience I cared about were the players, because I think that's how you winSurvivor. There's aBachelor/Bachelorettepodcast calledGame of Roseswhere they talk about the different audiences and I was like, "I can't worry too much about being on TV. You have to worry about the players."

I would say something I did is I would plant seeds intentionally in advance, but not in a weird way. Like, when we have that conversation with me,Stephenie [LaGrossa Kendrick], Jonathan and Devens about Ozzy, I immediately went to Cirie and I was like, "Oh my gosh, they wanna get rid of Ozzy. I love Oz. I don't want that to happen." Or I'd say, "Hey, Ozzy, I would be careful with Jonathan and Stephanie." So I would make sure to do that along the way.

Yeah, you're like a player's player.

I think that's what you have to do to focus on the end goal.

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