Parvati Shallow, the reality TV maven and one-time Survivor winner, can now also add published author to her list of achievements. The legendary schemer, who orchestrated scores of blindsides on the beaches of the Cook Islands, Micronesia, and Fiji, has published a new memoir from Penguin Random House titled Nice Girls Don’t Win: How I Burned It All Down to Claim My Power. The book, a deeply revealing, personal excavation of Shallow’s childhood, divorce, relationships, and experience with reality television, is out now. She also gets into the nitty gritty of what happened during her many Survivor appearances. Courtesy of Penguin Random House During her time on Survivor, Shallow became known as one of the greatest and most adaptable threats to ever play the game. She was known for using charm—or “fawning,” as she calls it in her book—to manipulate players and build loyal alliances. As the leader of the so-called “Black Widow Brigade” during Survivor: Micronesia, Shallow famously voted out men one by one. Shallow, who has also appeared on Traitors and Deal or No Deal Island, spoke with WIRED about her new book, social media, Survivor world’s reaction to women on the show, the politics of Survivor, and who from the cast apologized following her time on the beach. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. WIRED: I have to start this interview with the very last page of your book, which reads, “In loving memory of the Black Widow. She served me well, and now she's free. 2008 to 2025.” What does that mean? Parvati Shallow: I stumbled into the Black Widow role when I played Survivor the second time. And in order to play that game, to win, I had to become a different person. So I stepped into this energy, the power, this costume, this role of the Black Widow. And then it became me. It's like, I couldn't take it off. Every time I played a reality game, after I won Micronesia, I was known as the Black Widow. And it came with its own aura of terror, and also curiosity from my colleagues in the competitive sphere. But after writing my book, and after my last stint on Survivor: Australia V The World, which is going to air in August, I was like, “Oh, I've outgrown the role.” She's not more powerful than me anymore. It's not like a role that I need to put on to protect myself or to have people respond to me in a certain way. I can shed that skin now with love, and I can let someone else pick her up and play with her and put that role on. Because she's incredible, she's super powerful, she's really fun to play with, and she gets what she wants. So whoever wants to pick up the Black Widow costume role from here and take it on, you have my blessing.