Whether you’re a fan of Sam Phalen or Teeny Chirichillo (or neither), there’s no denying that the final four fire-making challenge of Survivor 47 was among the best the show has ever seen.
Don’t take it from us, though, take it from longtime Survivor host Jeff Probst, who could not help but gush about the monumental moment in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“The Survivor 47 fire-making challenge was the most dramatic, nail-biting, could-go-either-way showdown we’ve ever had! It was as dramatic in person as it was watching it back on television. And the metaphor of the wind and the impact it might have played really speaks to how many things have to go right for a player to win this game. “
#ICYMI, after Rachel LaMont won the final four immunity challenge — and subsequently, the title of “Sole Survivor” and the million-dollar prize — Sam and Teeny were forced to face off in the infamous final four fire-making challenge, fighting for the final seat at the Final Tribal Council alongside Rachel and Sue Smey.
After dominating said challenge from start to (almost) finish, some wind eventually caused Teeny’s fire to teeter, slowly but surely blowing their fire away from the rope. Because of this, Sam — who claimed to have never made a fire before — had enough time to catch up to Teeny, ultimately emerging victorious in a shocking turn of events. The jury was shook to their core!
While Teeny losing the final four fire-making challenge was surprising enough, it was even more flabbergasting that Sam managed to build an inferno, since the 24-year-old sports reporter said he had touched a flint “maybe once” throughout his Survivor 47 journey. According to Sam, there was a method to his madness, though, delving into the details in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly as well.
According to the Nashville, Tennessee resident himself, “I practiced right before going out, and this is definitely a level of hubris in myself that I would change. I always was just like, ‘I’ll be able to figure it out if I have to. I’ll be able to figure it out in the moment.’ I don’t know why I believed that. I don’t know why I just had this level of confidence in doing something.”
“Frankly, I didn’t expect it to be as hard as it was,” he continued, stating that the real reason why he didn’t practice fire-making throughout Survivor 47 was because he wanted to fly under the radar. “I guess why I didn’t do it out there was I didn’t want to show anybody I was bad or good at fire,” he prefaced, prior to diving into the details:
“I was really trying to keep my fire-making skills, or lack thereof, a mystery to the rest of the castaways, and everybody else is anxious and excited, eager to go and make the fire at Gata… For me, I was saying, ‘Hey, you got it. I’l keep my lack of ability sort of a mystery.’ You never know how you’re going to be able to use it to get into somebody’s head, to make them make a mistake and bring you to the end potentially, so I wanted to keep it ambiguous, but not sure why I didn’t do it. I just kind of thought I’d be able to figure it out. I should have practiced more, absolutely.”
He finished by giving some advice to future Survivor players, admitting that he “would not recommend future Survivor players going out there without really practicing.” Duh, Sam!
Despite failing to take home the title of “Sole Survivor” and the million-dollar prize, Sam still played one hell of a game, proving that even young people can achieve success on Survivor. To relive his journey 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.
Published: Dec 20, 2024 04:47 pm