The ousted player feared his days were numbered due to a devastating shoulder injury.
Robert Voets/CBS
Kevin Leung felt all kinds of pain in hisSurvivor 48experience.
We asked the ousted player exactly that when we linked up with Kevin the morning after his televised exit.
Kevin Leung on ‘Survivor 48’.Credit:Robert Voets/CBS
Read on for info, intel, and insight.
KEVIN LEUNG: Yeah, I was very shocked in that moment.
I kind of knew that Sai was kind of distrustful.
Kevin Leung on ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
So yeah, I was very shocked.
We spoke out there.
This was a rough five days.
Kevin Leung and Mary Zheng on ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
And then doing that supplies challenge, which my tribe made me do.
Just doing all that, and our first Tribal, then we lose our second immunity challenge.
It’s just been a long journey.
Kevin Leung, Stephanie Berger, and Mary Zheng on ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
So for me, it’s really hard to see myself go out second.
At first the coming back home in isolation… so my shoulder was completely torn.
I did an MRI, had four tears on my shoulder.
Stephanie Berger, Sai Hughley, Justin Pioppi, Mary Zheng, Cedrek McFadden, and Kevin Leung on the Vulu tribe of ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
So looking at the screen and seeing that guy, it does make me sad.
Nothing was personal, just a game move.
The first thing you said when you came out of it was, Did we win?
Cedrek McFadden, Justin Pioppi, Mary Zheng, Stephanie Berger, Kevin Leung, and Sai Hughley on ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
Which showed how out of it you were in that the challenge wasn’t even over.
It certainly was a very dramatic moment, yet didn’t even make the air.
Did that surprise you?
Kevin Leung on ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
I don’t even remember blacking out.
I remember that kazoo in my mouth because I remember I was just like, Help!
And they were just like, You got this.
And there were some statements like, Oh yeah,it wasn’t that integral.
And I was fine.
I tried to play as hard as I can.
They popped it back in and I was like, Let’s go.
Let’s do this challenge and let’s just play right now.
But yeah, I was a little sad that it wasn’t shown.
That’s my inclination of what happened.
I mean,Stephanie said it last weekin the exit press too.
She emphasized how bad my shoulder actually was.
I actually had to make a sling out of the only jacket that I had.
At nighttime, I didn’t want any of my tribe members to feel like I was really injured.
Hey, how’s your shoulder doing?
And I was like: Okay, this is a liability here.
No matter what I do, they feel like I’m going to be a liability in challenges.
And also, I’m the muscle guy of our group!
So I think that’s why I just spiraled.
The first vote was like: Let’s see what happens.
And then second vote, I was like: I need to make a big move.
That’s super interesting.
I had all these plans.
When I injured my shoulder I was like, How am I going to win that grip immunity challenge?
How am I going to go up a wall and carry myself up a rope?
I’m assuming they’re checking in with you constantly.
Thank you for theSurvivordoctors.
They did an incredible job.
It’s so dramatic, but I feel like they saved my life in that moment.
I really never popped my shoulder that badly before and it completely ripped out of the socket.
I would go over to medical and they would be like, Hey, how’s your shoulder?
So they kept asking me, Is it okay?
And I just was like: I don’t want to get medevaced, so I have to smile.
I have to put on a brave face.
But after that, I would go back and be like, How am I going to do this?
I’m already kind of playingSurvivorand I’m playingtwogames ofSurvivor.
Which vote stung the most: Cedrek or Justin?
Whom were you closer to out there if you were closer to one than the other?
You guys saw in the premiere episode, I actually got dragged into that four-person alliance.
I actually had no idea anybody’s name or personalities going into the first couple days.
I did the marooning challenge, and then I also did the supplies challenge.
And I was like, Okay, what are the guy’s names?
So I got looped into that pretty quickly.
And then when I met Mary, I instantly bonded with Mary.
So I was like, Wow, this is a connection that I feel like I can connect with.
So that all was genuine.
And Cedrek and Justin, I was like, Okay, a guy’s alliance.
This is very much a good thing.
Now, what really stung was, I knew Cedrek and Justin were really close.
Their personalities are just a lot more calm, cool, collected.
They’re a lot more similar in terms of how they act versus me.
So going into it, voting out Mary on this round actually was the plan.
In my mind I was like: We’re going back to Tribal again.
And if Sai had her idol, I am dead in the water.
There’s no way I would make it past that vote.
And Justin and Cedrek flipped and that’s it.
Tell me about being on that balance beam out in the water with Cedrek.
What did Jeff say?
It was really bad.
I mean, you guys saw it.
Cedrek just kept leaning back every time, and I kept yelling, Push me.
Just literally lean into me and we get that pressure onto that buoy.
But I think the moment he touched it, he just leaned back.
And my shoulder actually popped out a little bit as I dove in the first time.
So I was cautious.
I popped it back in actually as we were coming back up.
I would love to be in it with you guys.
But a terrible performance from Vula, just overall.
Whats something else that happened out there that didnt make it onto TV?
When me and Mary first met up in camp, I instantly bonded with her.
And I was like, Yeah, I’m Chinese.
It’s so cool that there’s two Chinese people in the Tribe!
So that was the first instant bond.
And then secondly, we talked about our parents and we both have similar parents.
Both our parents are immigrants, hers from China, mine are from Hong Kong.
I saw her as a sister.
The five days I was there, my mind was actually just starting to kind of go crazy.
As each day went on, I never slept a single second because of my shoulder.
So I was just up.
This is actually getting crazy.
It was just a lot of things happening.
So when Mary went, I was not mad about it.
Yeah, it’s hard.
So I just was like, Okay, maybe it’s not a bad thing after all.
And you know what a blindside means?
People just thought you’re a good player.
So, I definitely played really hard.
That’s kind of why I’m here.
But I’m just happy with not sitting on my hands.
