The game is officially afoot, and we’ve already had our first Survivor 47 meltdown. And oh boy, it was a doozy. Heads up — this article contains spoilers for season 47’s first episode, which aired on September 18.
We were introduced to a new crop of castaways during the opening episode — 18 hopefuls separated into three tribes, all pursuing the million-dollar check. But, as usual, everybody’s navigation to finale night looks different, and most will fail by having their torch snuffed.
The most notable journey that we’ve focused on thus far is Gata’s Andy Rueda. Andy’s mental health declined through the two-hour premiere, which led to a breakdown during the Immunity Challenge. Andy had opened up in confessionals ahead of the challenge sharing his insecurities and fear he was at the bottom of Gata strategically, and perhaps more detrimentally, socially.
Moments like the tribe cheering for Jon Lovett cracking open a coconut with no love shown to Andy when he did sparked his downward spiral. Andy collapsed during the challenge and the medical team diagnosed him with heat exhaustion, which was treatable and not game-ending. But, Andy seemingly tanked his campaign anyway after the challenge wrapped and his tribe lost.
After voicing his insecurities about his positioning with Gata, Andy publicly announced his intention to throw Jon under the bus. Andy’s mix of instability, unreliability, and sloppy gameplay labeled him as a loose cannon, and it seemed like Andy’s obituary had already been written.
But, because it’s Survivor, things didn’t play out that way. The remaining members of Gata — Anika Dhar, Rachel LaMont, Sam Phalen, and Sierra Wright — turned their guns on Jon. With the six-person-tribe structure, keeping strength around is key in the game’s early stages. That, mixed with Jon’s overall threat meter, led Gata to oust the political podcaster over Andy.
Well, host Jeff Probst weighed in on Andy still standing after the first Tribal Council. During the newest episode of the host’s “On Fire with Jeff Probst” podcast, which dropped after the premiere ended, Jeff shared his total surprise with how things unfolded. Jeff revealed that Andy had been in the casting pool for a long time, and before he was selected to play in Survivor 47, Andy said his main goal was to gain confidence.
“Based on how things were after the challenge, I was shocked,” Probst said. “I thought Andy was done, and he seemed to be a massive liability.”
“And I was actually kind of sad as Andy walked off because I wanted him to get everything he wanted out of this experience, and it didn’t seem like it was going to happen.”
However, using hindsight, Probst understood why the group targeted Jon over Andy.
Well, hopefully, his turbulent first three days in the game put Andy on the right path. But, judging by a sneak-peak of next week, Andy’s struggles may once again be on full display.