With its very own pantheon of bitchy schemers, Survivor's drama rivals that of the daytime soaps. Just think of sharp-tongued Sue Hawk and Playboy poseur Jerri Manthey! The latest shady lady to join their rotten ranks is Survivor: Thailand's fourth castoff, Ghandia Johnson. "I bring the drama," she proudly tells TV Guide Online. "Somebody's gotta do it, damn it — it might as well be me. S--t, I knew I was a bitch, full on. You need villains. If every day's a sunny day, then what's a sunny day?"

Hey, at least she's honest. Some Survivors try to whitewash their dirty deeds in interviews, blaming exec producer Mark Burnett's editing for their unflattering portrayals. But while Ghandia was trés two-faced in Thailand, she feels no need to be a hypocrite after the game's over. "Even though it was the evil Ghandia, it's still Ghandia," laughs the 33-year-old legal secretary from Denver, Colo. "Gotta be for real about it. If you did it, take the hit for it!"

Last week, viewers saw Ghandia turn on Ted Rogers, who "accidentally" nibbled on her neck one night at camp. He claimed he'd been half-asleep and confused, mistaking her for his wife. 'I thought that was lame," she scoffs. "That was b.s. He wanted a little sugar in his bowl that day." Still, why did she accept Ted's apology — calling him "a good man" — only to badmouth him to their female tribemates? Wasn't it low of Ghandia to paint Ted as the lecherous creep and herself his hapless victim?

"I was trying to get him voted off," she says matter-of-factly. "I don't regret my strategic decision to tell everybody about him because I really wanted him to go after that incident. My accepting his apology was phony — I didn't believe it for a minute, but I was still playing the game at that point. In retrospect, maybe I should've kept my objective on the down low, until I could do something better to make [his ouster] happen.

"I did what I felt was necessary," she adds, "and Ted was a huge obstacle in the way of me getting that million dollars." Laughing, she adds: "Plus, he ate more than everybody else. Look how big he is. You get rid of him, more food for me. It's all practical when you come down to it."

When Giancarlo Esposito last worked for Fox, he co-starred in Darren Star's short-lived 2000 drama, The Street. "It was fitting for the time, since everyone was investing on Wall Street," he tells TV Guide Online. "I regret that we didn't get a chance to see how the decline of all that would've affected the firm!"

Funny thing: On The Street, Esposito played the managing director of a brokerage firm. Now, he's got the same job title at the law firm on David E. Kelley's girls club — debuting Oct. 21 at 9 pm/ET. Basically, his Nicholas Hahn character bosses around Gretchen Mol and two other females fresh from law school. "She thinks he's a d---," the actor chuckles, "but he wouldn't be so hard on her if he didn't think she's capable.

"This show investigates this boys' club through the girls' eyes," the 44-year-old adds. "It is a sexist world. I have lawyer friends and I've been to their firms, and all you see is men. So it's gotta be awkward if a woman has a strong personality and is really good. Do you forget she's a woman?"

Esposito hasn't always played executive types on TV. He spent a season on Homicide: Life on the Street as an FBI agent — then turned homicidal himself as Practice psycho Ray McMurphy. Remember how he outfoxed and terrorized his defense attorney, Camryn Manheim? Since Practice and girls club are both Kelley shows, we're guessing there's a chance Esposito will reprise that juicy role...