Although Kendra McQuarrie had her fair share of screen time during her 17 days on Survivor 45, a major twist featuring her was left on the cutting room floor.
The 30-year-old bartender was the most recent castaway to have her torch snuffed and was unanimously voted out during episode 9 on Nov.r 22. During her post-game interview with Parade, Kendra spoke about the time she spent on Lulu’s beach ahead of the season’s first Tribal Council.
Let’s rewind.
Kendra began the game on Belo — one of the three six-person tribes assembled on day 1. There was also Reba and Lulu, and unfortunately for the latter, they lost the first three Immunity Challenges of Survivor 45. The first voting ceremony took place on day 3, and because Belo placed first out of the three tribes, they earned the opportunity to send one of their players to Lulu to spectate the inevitable scrambling.
Kendra was chosen, and she spent hours with Lulu until they made their way to Tribal Council. We never saw this on the show, but longtime host and showrunner Jeff Probst confirmed the twist after episode 1 aired.
Interestingly, Kendra didn’t just have the opportunity to meet and greet Lulu’s Emily Flippen, Kaleb Gebrewold, Sean Edwards, Sabiyah Broderick, Brandon Donlon, and Hannah Rose, she also was given a vote to cast via Tree Mail.
She wrote down Brandon’s name. But, the vote became irrelevant after Hannah quit the game that night. According to several post-game interviews, Emily was on the chopping block that night because of her direct and aggressive nature. And she would’ve likely been eliminated if it wasn’t for Hannah checking out.
Regardless, Kendra went back to Belo, and the game pressed on.
Kendra attempted to keep Emily in the game in hopes of working with her down the line
Kendra said in the interview that she knew Emily was Lulu’s public enemy No. 1. But, when they spent time with each other on day 3, Kendra came to her as a friend. And when it was time for her to cast a vote, she chose Brandon instead of the 28-year-old investment analyst as Kendra hoped to align with her later in Survivor 45.
But, we never actually saw the two bond on Lulu’s beach.
“The fact that me and Emily never really got our moment on Survivor kind of makes me sad. So when I went over to Lulu for that first Tribal Council, Emily was clearly on the outs. I had sat and chatted with her. I could tell she needed a friend. So I met her, I thought, on that level. No matter how you’re coming off, if I could see somebody needing somebody to talk to, I’m going to be that person. In the back of my mind.
I’m also like, “I’m the only one being nice to her. I’m not gonna vote Emily out.” Because I did have a vote at that Tribal Council. I voted for Brandon because I was trying to keep Emily in this game. So I was like, ‘If she, by any chance, makes merge, I’m gonna have somebody I can work with that no one’s gonna know about.'”
Fast forward and Emily stands as the only remaining original Lulu. She turned her less-than-impressive social game around while also expanding her strategic footprint. After surviving three Tribal Councils while donning the yellow buff, the tribe swap shook up the groups, and Emily joined Belo.
Kendra remained on the blue tribe and she shared the beach with Emily. But, her early game attempt to befriend Emily only went so far. Emily chose to side with Austin Li Coon and Drew Basile on day 11, and she blindsided Kendra by voting out Brando Meyer.
Kendra said in a confessional the next episode that she was going to exact vengeance on Emily. But, that never happened. And actually, she told Parade that she later dropped the vendetta after growing to “love” Emily.
The two made it through “Mergatory” before another twist stuck them together in a six-person group. This time, they voted together and eliminated Sifu Alsup.
But, what came next were back-to-back blindsides, with the last one putting an end to Kendra’s campaign for $1 million. Emily voted alongside the “Reba 4” alliance to blindside Kendra’s closest ally, Kellie Nalbandian, on day 16 — which left Kendra in tears.
Then, Kendra was unanimously taken out on day 17. Although Emily wanted to keep Kendra over Jake O’Kane, Emily lost her vote before the Tribal Council and had little political might. Kendra told Parade that Emily had said, “I’m sorry” to her before the vote, but she didn’t know what Emily meant by it until Jeff read her name.
“I think if she had to vote, things would have maybe [gone] differently because I know she didn’t want me to leave when I left,” Kendra said.
Regardless, Kendra joined the Jury as its third member. Only eight players remain, and one more will sail to Ponderosa during episode 10 on November 29.
Published: Nov 28, 2023 06:08 am