Survivor's Andrea Boehlke Shares Swimsuit Photo From "Fav NYC Spot"

Survivor star Andrea Boehlke is soaking up the September sunshine in New York City with friends. Boehlke, 34, shared a picture of herself sitting in beautiful Sheep Meadow, wearing a gold bikini top and black shorts, against a background of buildings and trees. "My fav spot in NYC with @madelynburke 🐑 🌸," she captioned the post. Here's what the reality star has to say about returning to Survivor and why she almost didn't do it.

Boehlke loves the physical challenges the most. "My favorite challenges are always the endurance challenges," she says. "I won the first challenge of the merge, where we had to stand on our tip-toes and balance a block on our head. I outlasted everyone in the game, because essentially, I am incredibly stubborn and a glutton for punishment. Survivor is the real deal. It is both emotionally and physically draining. I consider it the worst and best experience all wrapped into one. I always feel stronger as a person when I finish a season! I think the emotional toll was worse this time. I felt like I was losing my mind out there! Not eating much at all can mess with you, I don't recommend trying it!"

Boehlke is a formally trained actor. "I graduated with a BFA in Acting from UW-Stevens Point in Wisconsin, and then randomly applied for Survivor while still in school," she says. "My family was really big into Survivor, and when I got selected, it was a dream come true. One of my strengths is my people skills. I like connecting with people of all different backgrounds, and love to learn about what makes certain people click. I'm naturally a huge extrovert, so I've never shied away from getting to know someone on a deeper level."

Boehlke felt she was taking a risk by returning to Survivor. "Going back on Survivor takes you out of your real life," she says. "It's kind of like a step back, you're in this crazy world and then you have to come back and watch yourself on TV. You also don't know how you're going to be portrayed, there's a lot of risks. So I wasn't sure and initially I kind of thought it wasn't a good move for me, even though I love the game so much. Then I couldn't sleep at night and my family are huge Survivor fans and really wanted me to be on it."

Boehlke says she finally decided to go back after realizing she would never be able to disassociate herself from the show either way. "So that night I couldn't sleep, I had this revelation of, why not?" she says. "Life is short, you love the game, who cares if you're voted out early, it's not going to really affect your career. No matter what, everyone is going to know me as Andrea from Survivor. Ideally, it will be Andrea the host who also did Survivor but no matter what you were on Survivor so why not just embrace it. I'm glad I decided to go back on and do it."

Boehlke says a producer gave her some of the best advice she'd ever heard. "Sometimes you have to be your own best friend!" she says. "One of my favorite producers on Survivor was talking me through a rough day out there when I was feeling incredibly low. He reminded me that sometimes you have to sit back and give yourself more credit. This resonated with me, since I tend to be my own worst critic, and have always been extremely hard on myself."