The ousted player also reveals he never fully bought the acting job by Kamilla and Kyle.
Robert Voets/CBS
Everything was working out so well for Thomas Krottinger onSurvivor 48.
He was initially put on the dominant Lagi tribe and formed multiple alliances to insulate himself.
Thomas Krottinger on ‘Survivor 48’.Credit:Robert Voets/CBS
He also won a Steal-a-Vote on a journey.
But then… disaster.
How does the ousted player feel about his sudden, terrible turn of events?
Thomas Krottinger on ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
Why didnt he use his Steal-a-Vote to guarantee his safety?
And what would have happened on Lagi had the tribe swap never happened?
We asked Thomas all that and more, including what didnt make it to TV.
Star Toomey, Bianca Roses, Joe Hunter, Eva Erickson, Thomas Krottinger, and Shauhin Davari on the Lagi tribe of ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
THOMAS KROTTINGER:Yeah, let’s put it all on all on Shauhins head.
It was entirely his fault.
I didn’t do anything wrong, clearly.
Thomas Krottinger and Bianca Roses on ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
Was that bag search that shocking?
Well, I have a whole thing on bag searches.
You canread it in my recap.
Joe Hunter, Eva Erickson, Thomas Krottinger, Shauhin Davari, and Bianca Roses on ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
I have no issue with it on any moral or privacy grounds.
But it certainly was dramatic last night when he did a really crappy job searching that bag.
And in front of Kamilla!
Eva Erickson and Thomas Krottinger on ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
At least be very thorough.
Tell me your reaction when Kyle walks up there and plays that idol on himself?
So that was the moment where I was like, Oh, here we go.
Mitch Guerra, Mary Zheng, and Thomas Krottinger on ‘Survivor 48’.Robert Voets/CBS
I was like, my nightmare.
And it felt like a one-in-six chance.
I was like, Here we go.
Thomas Krottinger on ‘Survivor 48’.Dalton Ross
Let the games… well, end… not begin.
You closed your eyes after your first vote came up.
What was going on there?
So this is the moment where I was like: This is my perfect alliance.
You’re going to go after big threat Joe or huge personality threat Shauhin.
And I think I truly underestimated myself in that moment.
So when I saw my name and heard it seeing it on parchment, it all just clicked.
I didn’t want to go after Eva!
I didn’t want to.
I had to choose Bianca,
Fair.
So when Kyle first played the idol, did you think it was going to be you?
I kind of had a feeling it was me.
But my whole point is that Mitch could also be lying to them.
And so I’m never going to get these two on my side.
I’m sure you worked out every scenario in your head, so walk me through it.
Basically, those boys, I love them to the end of the earth.
I love my California Girls.
Joe, I call him the Titanic.
He goes in a direction and it’s hard to turn it.
He doesn’t turn quickly.
You have to spend time and really get in there and slowly move him.
Shauhin is a little skittish with information.
I say, What if [Star’s idol clue] disappears?
So my point is, is that I had been lying to them for seven days at this point.
And I wasn’t going to reveal it if we weren’t going to Tribal.
So all these things going through my head, it’s like a game of probability.
It’s a game of chance.
And there was no way they were going to tell me that.
It was clear to me that those two were doing their thing.
So you didn’t buy the acting job, is what you’re saying?
So it felt too good to be true.
And I knew that they weren’t going to crack the three of us.
So it sounds like with the Steal-a-Vote, you’re not thinking, Let me get through this vote.
You’re thinking long-term: What’s it going to do to my alliance if I do use it?
Yeah, I’m old school.
I love alliances and taking it to the end.
I’m a Black Widow.
I want all three of us at the end.
I was never going to cut Bianca if that makes sense.
If there had not been a swap and original Lagi went to Tribal Council, what would have happened?
Were you really with Bianca and Star, or would Star have gone home?
Well, that’s a fluid thing.
It depends on where we are going
Well, who were you truly with?
Was that real what you were telling Star?
There were real moments, but also Star and I connected last.
I knew Star was going to the boys and to Bianca before me.
And it was only after I’d had the California Girls and then obviously Bianca.
So that was always my priority.
For me, it was how do I keep those three people in the game with me?
So then it probably would’ve been: Do I want to go down the Star route?
Or do I want to go down the Eva route?
It’s helpful for me if Eva goes home because she’s number one with Joe.
And that would be very obvious.
So that’s why I was coming after your girl, Dalton.
I don’t want to hear anything about you coming after my girl.
I know, but I love her.
I would neverwantto vote her out.
So lets go back to day 7, whereJustin went out.
God, I feel like I’m going to get attacked.
In that moment, it probably would have been…. And she wanted to be the fourth person with the California Girls.
And I feel like I probably would’ve gone the Star route.
Because she showed me that she didn’t trust me.
I was the last person she trusted of those people.
So then Shauhin comes with me and Bianca.
Oh, look at that!
And then we don’t make Joe vote out Eva.
We do it for him.
So in an alternate universe, this is all happening somewhere on an island.
And you’re talking to someone else right now.
So you guys were not helping Star solve that Beware Advantage then?
Oh no, we were.
Oh yeah, we figured out that advantage and I just didn’t open it.
I didn’t open it.
So you intentionally weren’t helping her open it.
I had all the clues.
I knew the different word combinations.
It was going to be a game-time decision before Tribal.
Are we going Star?
Are we going Eva?
So yeah, I was helping her, but I wasn’thelpingher.
I was helping her to help me.
Blow our minds with something that happened out there that didnt make it to TV.
So Lagi beach has no food.
You saw how Civa was talking about cassava root last night.
We had coconut and I hate coconut.
I don’t recommend playing then.
And Star got violently ill before going to our first immunity challenge.
She was up in the jungle, everything was coming out.
And then she went beast mode and she crushed it and it was incredible.
All six of us have to do this!"
How bad was it when you got whacked in the face by Bianca during the challenge?
Medical said that if it was half an inch up, I could have lost my eye.
It looked that way.
And then they’re like, Where’s this black eye from?
And I’m like, Guys, I almost lost my eye!
But also, kind of amazing.
When else am I going to have a black eye?
Do you know what I mean?
No one’s throwing punches in the music business.
Dalton Ross
You seemed to take your vote-out very well.
We have the show psychiatrist who you’re with, and they take good care of us.
And I was like, Is this not a normal reaction?
And she’s like, No, not at all.
And in that moment, I realized that I was getting so much out of the game.
And when I got to Pondy, it just all clicked.
Jeff Probst said on his podcast that he could see you maybe as a two-time player.
Would you do it again?
Head back out to the island, have more coconut?
This game changed my life.
And I finally believe in myself the way that they have my entire life.
So of course I would do it again.
It’s the best thing I’ve done in my entire life, hands down.
