‘Oof’: ‘Survivor 47’ finalist Sam Phalen talks being the brunt of Teeny Chirichillo’s temper tantrums

If you kept up with Survivor 47 all season long, it is no surprise that Teeny Chirichillo had a burning hatred for their fellow tribemate, Sam Phalen. After all, they took every minute they could to mock the 24-year-old sports reporter — we all remember the infamous outburst that occurred after Sam’s Italian feast at the Survivor sanctuary… right?

Nevertheless, for those who need a refresher, as someone who struggles with identity issues, Teeny mentioned time and time again that they felt threatened by Sam throughout their Survivor 47 journey, likely due to his popularity and his “jock” persona. From temper tantrum to temper tantrum, it was obvious Teeny and Sam butted heads — as he unlocked some of Teeny’s deep-rooted insecurities — with the 24-year-old freelance writer admitting that watching their explosive fights back on their television screen was “humbling” (to say the least).

In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Teeny opened up about their feud with Sam, as well as why they reacted in such an explosive way. “In my regular life. I feel like I operate with a sense of self-awareness that I’m proud of, and to see myself in that moment on that day completely lose that, I really let my guard down and behaved in a way that was out of control for me,” they prefaced, prior to delving into the details:

“I spoke about Sam — who I think is a lovely person who I got along with really well — in ways that don’t match exactly what I was feeling, and it just taught me a lot. It taught me a lot about how I want to conduct myself going forward, and how I should definitely take the second to think before I speak and to just be super intentional with how I feel, because I’m not proud of the lash out that I had.”

The New Jersey native continued:

“I also have an extreme compassion for the Teeny that was out there, that was hungry, that was starving, that was going through a lot of emotional turmoil within the game, a lot of confusion and doubt within themselves, and so I have compassion for myself in that moment.”

While Teeny has found forgiveness in themselves, has Sam managed to find forgiveness in Teeny? Also in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sam spoke about being the brunt of Teeny’s temper tantrums throughout Survivor 47.

“What was it like being on the receiving end of some Teeny temper tantrums, either in person or watching back on screen?” Survivor journalist Dalton Ross asked Sam to kick off the conversation, to which the Survivor 47 castaway swiftly replied, “It was okay. It was fine.”

Confirming that he “loves” Teeny nonetheless, he eventually shared what it was like dealing with their explosive fights firsthand:

“The one thing that you cannot anticipate and plan for in Survivor is for things that people carry with them about themselves or about their lives into the game and how it’s going to affect the way that you interact with people on a very deep human level in a very deep, difficult game… I’m not somebody who is Teeny, I’m not Teeny’s identity. I don’t know what it’s like to be Teeny’s identity, so I think it’s foolish of me to put myself into Teeny’s shoes and understand everything that they were feeling.”

Although he could not put himself into Teeny’s shoes exactly, Sam added that he tried his best to not stir the pot on the shores of Fiji. “I just kind of tried to control the controllables, control how I behaved, and how I acted, and let it be what it’s going to be,” he prefaced, prior to concluding the conversation by praising Teeny:

“I don’t take any of it personally. I know that, like I said, we all come in with different stories and backgrounds and wounds or whatever it might be, and I felt like Teeny is incredible about being able to recognize those things as well. [They are] so eloquent in how they talk about those things and a real level of vulnerability that I appreciate.”

While it is unclear as to whether or not Teeny and Sam have a relationship with one another post-show, we love to see the 24-year-old sports reporter giving his fellow Survivor 47 castaway some grace! Nevertheless, to see their friendship (or lack thereof) blossom from start to finish, you may stream the entirety of Survivor 47 — as well as previous seasons of the Emmy Award-winning series — via Paramount Plus as we speak.