As told by the people who lived through it.
And, finally, devastation.
This is the story of What the hell, guys?
The cast of ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
The newly merged Dakuwaqa tribe was split into two groups on day 14 for a double Tribal Council.
KENDRA McQUARRIE:Theyre bringing out rattan furniture.
I thought it was going to be a gross eating challenge.
Drew Basile and Jake O’Kane on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
We were like, Already?
There are so many of us left.
But why are there plates and stuff?
Emily Flippen, Dee Valladares, and Austin Li Coon on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
There’s no food around!
EMILY FLIPPEN:I had convinced my brain that we were going to be doing something horrible.
DREW BASILE:I remember being sure that this was a bad thing like aSquid Game-bang out vibe.
The cast of ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
Just hearing those words was indescribable.
EMILY:To hear that it was something positive for once, I was absolutely relieved.
JAKE OKANE:I thought it was dead.
The cast of ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
I don’t think Jeff or the show really wanted it anymore at that point for whatever reason.
So when she said The auction is back, I was floored.
It started with the money.
Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
This is a key and ultimately dangerous component to the way the auction ends.
It felt like opening up a bottle of champagne that weve been sitting on for a decade!
JULIE:Kendra says, GO!
Kendra McQuarrie on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
But some of the females were like, I don’t have a bra on.
If CBS wants this to stay PG, they better give me some more time.
I can’t have no bra and no contacts."
Emily Flippen and Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
3, 2, 1, GO!
KENDRA:I didn’t have shoes on.
It was early in the morning.
Katurah Topps on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
I was like, Can we wait until everyone gets their shoes on?
Everyone’s like, No, Kendra, we can’t wait until everyone gets their shoes on.
We’re all going to go.
Kellie Nalbandian on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
And so I was like, F—, I’m already behind!
KELLIE:it was literally a mad dash out there.
Everyone is crazy competitive on the show and we’re all starving and want to win.
Jeff Probst and the cast of ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
AUSTIN:We all started sprinting.
We didn’t know anything about it.
We just knew that there was some money around and we had to find it.
Jeff Probst and the cast of ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
DREW:Honestly, the running for money was more fun than the auction.
EMILY:It was incredibly stressful.
Everybody was so fast.
Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
KELLIE:Dee was like a machine.
DEE:I didn’t even have my shoes on, so I was actually barefoot.
It didn’t surprise me that I got the most money.
Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
One, because I love making money.
And two, because I did not stop running.
The only time I stopped running during the auction was to pull up my pants.
Bruce Perreault, Jake O’Kane, and Kendra McQuarrie on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
We hadn’t eaten and my pants were falling down.
Some players took it very seriously, others had fun with it.
KELLIE:Of course, weve got Bruce sauntering around as I’m sprinting.
Jake O’Kane on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
It took him 20 minutes to just put shoes on!
PROBST:Bruce made a grand gesture of not rushing as he laced up his shoes.
KELLIE:Honestly, Bruce perplexes many of us at many moments, and this was one of them.
Julie Alley on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
I didn’t understand.
I was going back and forth and I’m like, Bruce has no bamboo.
What is he doing?
Bruce Perreault on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
I thought he would be into this!
KATURAH:Even the worst of us have two, three of them, and Bruce has absolutely zero.
DREW:I always felt like Bruce, for good or for bad, wanted to stand out.
Bruce Perreault on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
And so if everyone’s young, he’s older.
If everyone’s running, he’s going to go slow.
And if everyone’s giving up in the challenges, he’s going to muscle through.
The cast of ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
I think pretty quickly everyone was like, This is a poor decision.
JULIE:That guy is an enigma.
but he also loves to go against the grain.
Dee Valladares on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
So I feel like that was more what was going on.
Within five seconds, I tripped and I fell.
I’m just going to not try.
The cast of “Survivor 45'.CBS
I don’t want to do this.
So I ended up getting two eggs.
Everyone else got eight.
The cast of ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
Bruce kind of reminded me of that.
DEE:Bruce was on the other side.
JAKE:I was just so perplexed.
Kellie Nalbandian on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
Because this was so out of character.
I just didn’t understand it at the time.
EMILY:I was just relieved that somebody was doing worse than I was.
Kendra McQaurrie on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
In the back of my head, I’m like, This is a reward challenge.
I don’t want to hurt myself on a reward challenge.
I’m going to put my shoes on because I don’t want to cut my foot open.
Jake O’Kane on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
Slow and steady wins the race.
I was sitting there looking like Mister Rogers putting on his shoes.
I wish I knew I should have given him some of my bamboo.
The cast of ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
Section II: Fish eyes, French fries, and lost votes oh my!
There were so many changes that we didnt want to complicate things.
VAN WAGENEN:In previous auctions, some players saved everything to get a shot at an advantage.
Bruce Perreault and Kellie Nalbandian on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
We didnt want people missing out on the delicious and sometimes disgusting items waiting under Jeffs table.
It was like, I’m actually going to be able to eat without feeling super guilty.
JAKE:The first thing going through your mind is, Okay, no advantages.
CBS
I can get food.
So the mentality is, I got money here.
I got to get rid of it.
Kellie Nalbandian on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
I am using up all of my money on anything.
I don’t even care if it’s a disgusting item.
The most important thing in the game right now is to have my vote.
Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
VAN WAGENEN:Part of the new era is asking the question, Is it fun?
But its also asking, Is it dangerous?”
And the threat of losing your vote is extremely dangerous.
Kellie Nalbandian on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
Seemed like the perfect fit.
I felt like I got a kick in the teeth.
At least I’m going to be able to leave here with my vote intact!"
The first item that was offered was a bowl of pretzels and a mug of beer.
They hadn’t eaten and they were starving.
KELLIE:Everybody was like, Kellie and Emily get first dibs.
They need to eat.
I was going to go all in on the first one.
But to be completely honest, nobody wanted the pretzels and beer.
We were so dehydrated out there, I hate beer, and nobody wanted the pretzels.
And Kendra just jumped right on it.
JULIE:Emily had not eaten, Kellie had not eaten.
It felt like this unanimous consensus of, These girls have to eat.
So the fact that Kendra went first, I was like, What are you doing?
Kendra did it so fast.
I was like, Oh, the guts on her.
So she gets to sit there, blow her money, and drink beer and eat pretzels.
Well done, Kendra.
And I’m like, Damn, I got to give this to her.
KELLIE:There was an unaired thing that got cut.
Emily was about to hit her cap and I felt bad.
So Jeff was like, Well, you could draw a rock for it.
And so me and Emily both put up $500.
I really guilted her into not bidding against me.
KATURAH:Oh, I was pissed.
I did not want to back out.
I was biddinghardbecause I knew we were getting into the good items.
But then she looked at me and was giving me those eyes and I was like… dammit.
It tasted delicious and was love at first bite.
He was shocked by the existence of the Emily that would dance for cheese.
I had no idea what the fish eyes were at first because they were so big.
They were the size of English muffins!
I actually thought it was eggs Benedict.
That was my first thought, and I was like Okay, I’ll take eggs Benedict.
Random, but I’ll take it.
It was just great gobs of mucus.
AUSTIN:The first person who actually bid it on the fish eyes was Bruce.
So in my head, I wanted to bid over Bruce to check that he couldn’t get it.
I have to make it look like I bid on this eye because I wanted to eat it.
I’m so happy I did this kind of thing.
AUSTIN: I asked, Can I share this with everybody?
And then Drew was like, I’ll have a bite.
DREW:I tried the fish eye as well.
It was a bad combination with the candy.
I ended up getting sick.
I have to go.
So I just went my own way and left.
He should have gone for the fresh eye.
DREW:He was really over the top with it.
JAKE:You could just see him revel in it.
I don’t even think he knew which way his head was going to go.
It was like he was drawing some kind of sign with his face.
I thought it was hilarious.
And I could tell that Jeff was having so much fun with this and we were obviously having fun.
It was like this really fun camaraderie.
I almost feel like the host-contestant wall was broken a little bit.
We were shooting the s— a little bit more and were just all hanging out.
KELLIE:It’s very Jeff, right?
Jeff has a real flair for the dramatic, and so that’s what he’s playing up there.
But it was not fun for me.
I was so nervous.
So its all over my face exactly how I feel.
I was like, I might lose my vote and I don’t want to be lied to again.
I started feeling a little bit of a pinch.
I have no vote.
I can’t even contribute to anything that’s going on in this game.
Only thing I got to do is I have to make a run at win immunity.
It was just so cruel and ironic.
BRUCE:If I dont lose my vote, I think Kellie is still in the game.
My vote would’ve meant something, because the numbers would’ve made sense for me to help out.
With Kellie, Katurah, Jake, Kendra, and me thats five votes.
We could have taken anybody out.
The entire game could have shifted.
DEE:I felt comfortable, so I immediately volunteered to sit out.
I knew I wasn’t going home, and I also knew that I couldn’t win that challenge.
I don’t have much good grip strength in my hands.
Eating rice is just as important as winning challenges.
I just knew I was going to sit out and I was going to eat.
EMILY:There was no convincing that was needed to be done for me to sit out.
I wouldn’t have had a chance.
I immediately raised my hand.
It looks altruistic at the time, but it wasn’t at all.
It was very selfish.
The longer the tribe took to decide, the more food they lost.
VAN WAGENEN:That credit for the knife stab goes to Team FLINT member Keoni Smith.
The minute he pitched it, we knew we had gold.
DEE:I’ll be completely honest with you: I didn’t even realize what was happening.
I was like, Did Jeff Probst just do that?
I was still processing the fact that he took out a knife and stabbed the bag.
It was so savage.
JULIE:In life, there is the fight or flight reaction.
I happen to suffer from the third choice the freeze reaction.
He pulls out the knife and the rice starts flowing.
Because if I could have made a choice, I would’ve sat out.
So my brain logically would’ve been like: This is perfect to sit out!
But I could not form the words.
I just sat there frozen, watching the rice pour.
KELLIE:Everyone sat there just completely shellshocked for at least 15 seconds.
This had never been done before.
We don’t know the implications.
It wasn’t like he said, You’re going to lose all this rice I just stabbed.
KATURAH:Jeff freakin stabbing the rice bag was trauma incident number 248.
Literally, there were no rules told.
He didn’t say what the stabbing meant.
BRUCE:When he stabbed that, I’m just like, That’s just gangster.
He just stabbed that thing and it was a massive hole.
[Laughs] What are we doing here?!
I was laughing my ass off.
EMILY:I couldn’t tell what was happening at first.
The knife came out of nowhere and it was almost like this different person had taken over him.
So we all took a moment as our starved brains were piecing together what’s happening.
I think Drew put it together first that our rice was slowly trickling away.
DEE:It wasn’t until Drew stepped out that I realized what was happening.
AUSTIN:That shocked all of us.
And I think my reaction was similar to Drew’s but more internal.
Whereas Drew was like, Oh my God!
Did you stab that?
He’s yelling, God, we need people to step off right now!
DREW:That’s a disaster, because you need the rice.
If you give up the rice, you are an idiot.
And I’ll direct that directly at season 46.
You absolutely need that food.
There’s a reason they give it to you.
So soon as he stabs the rice, it’s like an OH MY GOD moment.
Because now it’s just about speed.
So immediately, I jump out before I even really figured out what the rules are.
He has not said anything about what the mechanics of this stab are!
KENDRA:I looked at Austin and I go, We cannot step out.
I just wanted Bruce out.
It was really hard to work with him.
So I was hungry out there, but the rice could have went out even more.
I wasn’t really that concerned with it.
I wasn’t sitting out of any challenges.
I made that super clear to everyone in the beginning.
JAKE:I didnt feel comfortable sitting out.
I was the only one who voted the wrong way, so it was never really a question.
I was like, If we get rice, great, but I’m not sitting for it.
DREW:I’m really hungry.
I’m a tall, thin guy.
Supposedly that’s the toughest body bang out to have out there.
So I started to yell at people, Get out of the line!
And Katurah, thankfully, steps out and saves us.
KATURAH:There’s this big, tall guy and he’s like, Come on!
And then the rice is falling, and Drew is screaming.
And I’m like, Oh, okay, fine.
So that pissed me off.
BRUCE:We had people step out, but he still kept going!
I’m like, Jeff, you owe us a cup of rice!
PROBST: As for the return of my edge: Yes, its back!
One of my favorite parts of hostingSurvivoris the spicy banter and negotiating with the players.
I love being a part of their game and I welcome any and all engagement.
VAN WAGENEN: Its always interesting to see how players react to stress and pressure.
I also like that it is proportional to body weight and is therefore fair for everyone.
And it has an explosive exclamation mark when you drop out… smashing the statue!
PROBST:Its extremely important to us that on any given day, any player can win any challenge.
But its not that simple.
KELLIE:That challenge was rough.
But for some reason, I had blind faith that I could do it.
KENDRA:I was sitting there just trying to meditate, and then Jake wouldn’t stop talking.
I’m just trying to focus on the clouds.
I’m trying to be in my meditative state.
And then Jeff starts in, and Jake starts in.
I was really distracted by all the talking and I was getting pissed off.
I was like, Jake, can you just shut up?
He was right next to me just chatting the whole time.
BRUCE:Jake was talking so much s— to Jeff.
It was funny, but I knew he was taking his focus away.
He had a good time doing it, but that’s on him.
And that just got him to expel energy even though he didn’t know it.
Jeff was like, You have to scooch it back.
And in that process is when I lost my balance and fell.
I felt kind of guilty afterwards for not sitting out because I dropped pretty early in the challenge.
I thought I would do a lot better in the challenge than I ended up doing.
But I feel like if I hadn’t gotten mentally distracted, I could have gone on further.
Thats a testament to how these four were really digging in to win immunity.
AUSTIN:Bruce and Julie are bad asses.
They are incredible competitors.
I love that they were the ones that were showing down at the end.
She was consistently near the end of almost every single challenge.
You’re just thinking, I need to hold on and I want to win.
KENDRA:We are all cheering Julie on.
DEE:Obviously, I was praying for Julie to win.
I was thinking in my head, My goodness, this guy’s such a challenge beast.
He needs to go.
He needs to go right away.
It seemed like everybody wanted Bruce out.
KATURAH:Well, of course I want Bruce to lose, right?
JAKE:It was so obvious that other people didn’t want him to win.
So I was like, You know what?
I kind of want him to win.
Just to piss people off.
I felt like there was a possibility Bruce might give me the idol at the time.
KELLIE:I really thought Julie was going to win.
She looked rock solid up there.
She grew up near a lake and she’s done a lot of water skiing in her life.
This is her bread and butter.
which is my strong dominant hand.
So I started off the right way.
JULIE:I started with the wrong hand.
I started with a hand that I thought, Okay, this will get me pretty far in.
Instead, it was the left hand that was last.
The rope was slippery, and it just kept going and going and going and going.
And then Julie dropped.
JULIE:That one hurts me the most.
I keep trying to replay it in my head and I’m like, Why did it come out?
I felt like I was fine, and then it was just not there.
And I looked over at Bruce and he tells me, I slipped right after you one second later.
So it was devastating.
BRUCE:I just threw the thing down and I ripped my buff off my head.
If she had stayed for a few more seconds, she would’ve won.
I would’ve lost.
PROBST:There is another important layer to every immunity challenge, and that is security at Tribal Council.
So even if you dont think you need the necklace, you still desperately want it.
But in the shadows, the game was afoot.
She had all the girls there, they were all laughing and talking about their zodiacs.
I was on the side with Jake, who at this point knew he had screwed the pooch.
And I thought to myself, This is a guy who I could probably work with.
And he just thinks he has no hope.
He just thinks it’s over.
He has no prayer.
And that was when I decided, All right, I really have to change gears and save Jake.
It would be so beneficial for my game.
I see so much potential in this relationship.
AUSTIN: The Kellie vote was something that Drew and I had been working on for days.
DREW:Kellie had this amazing sphere of invincibility around her.
The thing aboutSurvivoris that fame is an aura.
I wasn’t, personally.
But that was definitely something I noticed around Kellie, and so I really wanted her to go.
This is the time where we can attack Kellie.
No one’s going to expect us going for Kellie, and this is the perfect time.
We have to do this.
She was on board.
JULIE:When Drew comes and says, Let’s do Kellie.
I’m like, No, let’s do Jake!
because I’ve been thinking about it all day.
But then I was like, if we go for Jake, that’s because my feelings are hurt.
That’s not how you playSurvivor.
So I was an easier sell, and I was like, You’re right.
Jake will always be there.
We can go for Jake later.
DREW:Dees one concern was that she didn’t want to be the biggest female threat in camp.
And Kellie was a shield for that.
Kaleb was my shield.
He was something protecting me.
Would you hey be willing to sacrifice Kellie for this?
She has this amulet, she’s going to be gunning for me at some point.
We have to knock her out now.
JULIE:Dee was like, No, no, no.
She’s the other girl that’s strong.
She is my shield.
And she went, Oh damn, you’re right.
DEE:Drew tells us, Hey, let’s take out Kellie.
I remember saying, I don’t want to take out Kellie, she’s my shield.
And Julie practically breaks her neck looking at me and goes, Dee,weare your shield.
And I didn’t even respond right away.
I just thought to myself, Damn, that’s kind of true.
And if I truly believe that they’re my shield, Ive got to trust in them.
They’re like best friends.
So if she connects with Dee and takes that Reba spot, thats not going to Katurah.
Jake doesn’t make sense.
Is Kellie okay with you?
I was like, Absolutely!
Because I wasn’t.
AUSTIN:Before the vote, I just remember my whole body was kind of shaking and pulsating.
It was like, Is this going to happen?
Can we actually pull this off?
JULIE:We had this inside intel that we were going to make a humongous blindside.
We felt it, and we felt like we were the kings and queens of the game.
But we had to sit there and pretend that Jake was going home.
AUSTIN:We were all putting in such a performance during Tribal Council.
Jake was calling out people left and right, yelling, trying to cause chaos.
We’re trying to be like, I’m sorry, Jake.
We can’t do anything.
JAKE:I was like, I want to be such an a–hole walking out of here.
I thought I was gone.
I felt like such a dead man.
I was that uncertain that the votes were actually going to go my way.
But then you see another one… and another one.
It doesn’t go Jake, Jake, Jake, then Kellie, and then Jake goes home.
Obviously, I was toast.
I dont see any player reactions, Im too busy doing math!
She’s going home.
KATURAH:Kendra was the most devastated.
Kendra just looked completely shocked.
BRUCE:I’m like, What the hell is going on right now?
So I was dumbfounded and pissed and scrambling mentally.
Meanwhile, I hear Kendra doing her thing behind me: Kendra, yes, you’re crying.
You’re literally signing your own death warrant.
I told her two days before, Girl, you’re my winner pick.
You’re playing so well.
It was so heartbreaking and visceral for me.
It really, really hurt.
It broke my heart.
It was hard to see.
She looks at me and says, Did you do this?
I looked straight down.
JULIE:When she turned around, I was devastated.
To lie to someone like that was a gut check.
I didn’t want to look her in the eye.
It was a really weird, terrible feeling.
And then Jake was in such shock, it just added to it.
KELLIE:Kendras in tears behind me, Jake is so shocked.
He’s like, WHOA!
Oh my God, I shouldn’t have said that.
JAKE:I called Kellie later and was like, Hey, I’m sorry.
I did not mean to be disrespectful with that.
I was just so floored.
It wasn’t supposed to be an FU or anything like that.
So I just sat there and I’m just like… man.
KELLIE:The What the hell, guys?
and asking Austin and Emily, You did this?
that is me being just genuinely upset that it was happening.
And I tried to be like, You know what?
I’m sorry for having this reaction, but I was just not fully prepared for that moment.
moment onSurvivorthan that I don’t think.
KELLIE:Now I look back and I’m like, Oh my God, it’s so cringey.
It’s hard to watch.
I don’t love watching my Tribal.
And you could feel it.
You could feel her absolute shock.
And so the mood was very, very somber.
I mean, Emily felt so guilty she looked like she had seen a ghost.
That was the first one where it was like a mic drop moment where the pain was really palpable.
The shock was palpable.
DREW:There’s almost aSurvivorguilt for having punished somebody like that.
AUSTIN:People were standing up to give her a hug.
So I didn’t give her a hug.
But I was like, Should I have given her a hug?
It was just so awkward.
DEE:Something that wasn’t shown is that I was the one who asked Kellie for a hug.
I was one of the last hugs because I was further away from her.
You could feel the sadness.
Kendra is crying, and everyone is sad.
None of that was an act.
Even Emily when Kellie was like, You did this?
she just couldn’t even respond.
EMILY:I don’t know what I was thinking telling her You played a great game.
I shouldn’t have said anything.
I just remember being like, I need to give a shot to make her feel better.
But that doesnotmake somebody feel better being like, You played a great game.
Nobody wants to hear that in that moment.
You just voted them out!
So I really wish I’d kept my mouth shut, just out of respect for Kellie.
JAKE:As fortunate as it was that I stayed, it sucked to see Kellie go.
I did feel bad for her.
VAN WAGENEN:I felt like I was watching the intersection of two games going in opposite directions.
Kellie had played such a masterful game and watched it crumble in an instant.
Jake had been fighting from the bottom for so long and got a miraculous reprieve.
Its those intersections that makeSurvivorso fun.
JULIE:We did this thing, but we feel bad.
Yet we also feel good that we did this thing.
The amount of emotions it was very awkward and devastating and exhilarating.
It was all the things.
This was the perfect moment in the game to take Kellie out.
Kendra’s sobbing on the island for hours.
Dee’s upset, everyone’s sad.
And I remember at one point it was just Drew and I at the camp.
I looked at him and said, Are you sad right now?
And he’s like, No, bro.
I was like, Dude, we did it!
And then we celebrated.
We fist bumped, we hugged each other and were like, Yo, that was sick!
And I ripped my buff off and threw it at the wall.
I was super mad and angry, and honestly, I was just sad.
But I begrudgingly put it on and did my final words.
I kept it pretty short and they were like, You want to say anything else?
I was like, Nope.
So what is it about the Kellie blindside onSurvivor 45that made such a massive impact on viewers?
PROBST:There were a couple of reasons I think Kellies blindside was so impactful.
To start with, shes an extremely likable person who many thought could win the game.
BRUCE:Kellies everybody.
Kellie is the aunt that is a nurse.
Kellie is the mom that’s a nurse.
Kellie the cousin that’s a nurse.
Shes a little sister.
She could be my daughter.
She’s someone that everybody can relate to, somehow, some way.
But she was lied to, and it was just a complete kick in the face.
She trusted people more than they deserved to be trusted.
I still get uncomfortable watching it.
VAN WAGENEN:Players these days are such massive fans that every vote is a gut punch.
I think its common knowledge that Kellie was an alternate the year before.
Her passion forSurvivorwas what drove her, but its also what made it so devastating.
KELLIE:I first watched the episode at aSurvivorfan event the day before it aired.
Listening to an audience of 150 or so fans react to what was happening was another almost out-of-body experience.
It was so crazy to hear the gasps and the people were like, NOOOOO!
On one hand, really nice.
But also, it’s so sad to watch yourself get bamboozled.
Who wants to watch that?
It felt mind-blowing at the time.
She was the main cog in the wheel for the Belo side.
And by taking her out, it sent Belo into a huge spiral and panic.
So that one move just kind of destroyed all of their abilities to work together.
KELLIE:It was like an earthquake.
And I’m not the only one being blindsided.
All of the people with me were blindsided too.
The audience was somewhat blindsided.
And I really think the game shifted strongly in Reba’s favor after I left.
She was playing such a great game and has such a magnetizing energy.
DEE:Sometimes a big player like Ozzy gets blindsided and people remember it because it’s Ozzy.
And this episode was memorable because it was a mix of those two things.
She was used to being able to go into different spaces and connect with people.
So I am forced to relive it many, many times.
DREW:This was the biggest blindside of the new era for three reasons.
Number one, Kellie was kind of golden.
She could do no wrong.
It was truly shocking for the viewers, certainly, and even for us watching the episode.
I was really surprised the way they played it like a murder mystery.
And then the third reason is Kellies reaction was very real and personal and authentic.
DEE:The Kellie blindside was a blindside to the audience also.
I felt like I was blindsided myself, and I was there!
I played the game!
DREW:The new era has all been about good vibes, and It’s just a game.
And Jeff thinks it’s a game too.
But let me tell you: It’snota game.
If that’s agamefor you, then you don’t take your life very seriously.
It is one of the hardest and most earnest and real things I’ve ever had to do.
No, it’sreal.It has consequences.
And I think that’s something that really differentiated that vote.
It’s a reminder to the viewers that these are real punches.
There are no blanks in the chamber.
But thats not helpful.
You have to have an overall philosophical approach to how you are going to play the game.
Sometimes it will work, most times it wont.
Kellie is a very goodSurvivorplayer who got voted out.
In that sense, shes not special.
She joins a long list of other great players who didnt win.
Not winning has no bearing on how well you played the game.
I know that sounds counterintuitive, but its true.
KELLIE:It was this almost Shakespearean moment, which is the pinnacle ofSurvivor.
I always thought I would be the one doing the blindsiding, not getting blindsided.
Seriously… what the hell, guys?
