Early in Season 46 of Survivor, amidst the all-time losing streak from Yanu, it looked like the tribe might vote out Kenzie. Q was pushing for the social butterfly to go home instead of the eccentric Bhanu, and his ally Tiffany appeared to be willing to go along with the plan and vote her out. Fortunately for Kenzie, doctors ended up pulling Randen from the game, and Kenzie was able to persevere and claim the title of sole survivor. It’s a huge what could have been moment, except, according to Tiffany, that’s not exactly what happened.
Fan favorite Tiffany Ervin Post was on Rob Cesternino’s Rob Has A Podcast earlier this week to talk all things Survivor 46, and during her conversation, she was very open about how the edit on that episode wasn’t exactly the most accurate depiction in the world. She watched it back and was struck by what was shown because she never seriously considered voting Kenzie out. She says she would have never left herself alone with Q and Bhanu because Q would have always sided with Bhanu, given how easily he could manipulate him. Here’s a portion of her quote…
In that episode where they talked about Q and Bhanu trying to get me to send Kenzie home, I was never going to send Kenzie home because I knew for a fact that if it ever there was a situation where it was just me, Q and Bhanu, I was going to go home because Q is not going to keep another power player over somebody he can literally tell how to play the game. So, that’s why I watched that episode back and was like, ‘That ain’t how it was going. My girl was not going home that episode. Absolutely not.
Now, did Tiffany have conversations with Q about sending Kenzie home? Those absolutely did happen, but according to Tiffany, that’s just Survivor 101. If someone brings a plan to you, you need to hear it out and fully listen because if you start dismissing things you don’t like quickly, people assume there’s no point in talking strategy with you. So, she may have talked to people about voting out Kenzie, but there wasn’t any scenario in which she was close to going home. In fact, the tribe got a chance to repeat the exact same vote after Yanu, of course, lost again, and everyone voted Bhanu out without any real drama.
There are few things Survivor fans and former Survivor contestants like to talk about more than the edit. Some former players have even contacted the show or host Jeff Probst directly to complain about what was shown or wasn’t shown, but I think much of it comes down to personal preference. I don’t think Survivor should ever be lying about what’s going on among the players, but there are many fans who would rather see a level of uncertainty heading into the vote, even if it means making an unlikely alternate option on the vote seem like a real possibility.
Regardless, Survivor 46 will go down as one of the most memorable recent seasons. Unlike in previous years, we got a cast that had real conflict and real hard feelings against each other. In fact, fans are still worked up about the final tribal council vote, and it seems likely certain other moments from the show, most prominently Liz’s Applebee’s meltdown, will be featured in clip shows for years to come.
When the much anticipated Survivor 50 hits with all returning players, I’d expect to see multiple people from Season 46, potentially including Tiffany who looked like she had a real shot to win for multiple stretches for the game.
