On December 6, Survivor superfans were forced to say goodbye to one of the most complex, captivating contestants the franchise has ever seen — the one and only Emily Flippen — in a tribal council that was truly one for the books.
With a plan to blindside Julie Alley and break up the Reba four — consisting of Julie Alley, Dee Valladares, Drew Basile, and Austin Li Coon — things seemed to be smooth sailing until one castaway spilled the beans. With Austin telling Dee, and then Dee telling Julie, the plan was ultimately foiled, with Julie playing her Hidden Immunity Idol at tribal council (which Austin had handed to her a few days prior) and causing just one vote to determine who would get their torch snuffed that fateful night. Unfortunately, that one vote was casted for Emily Flippen by Julie Alley herself, causing her to be sent to Ponderosa far too soon.
Given that Emily was one of the most beloved castaways of Survivor 45 (or perhaps of the Survivor franchise as a whole), her elimination caused an uproar via X.
“FINANCIAL ANALYST EMILY FLIPPEN 😭😭😭”
“BRING BACK FINANCIAL ANALYST EMILY FLIPPEN.”
“Thank you, Emily Flippen, for an incredible season. My heart is broken.”
Nonetheless, the Maryland native sat down with Entertainment Weekly to discuss her journey on the hit competition show in an exclusive interview, ultimately revealing what her endgame plans were. Keep scrolling to see for yourself…
When Dalton Ross at Entertainment Weekly asked Emily what her dream final three scenario was, naturally she sang like a bird, admitting that Drew Basile and Austin Li Coon were at the very top of her list.
“I was actually really willing to sit next to Drew and Austin if they would’ve taken me there. Now, I wasn’t sure if they would. I felt a little bit more confident in my relationship with Drew versus Austin, because obviously Austin and Dee were so close. I felt confident that I would potentially lose against one of the Reba women, but my only kind of perception at the time was thinking Drew and Austin were playing similar games, so my thought process was that if I’m sitting next to them, maybe they kind of split votes amongst themselves, and if we do have a jury that is kind of more bitter towards the Reba dominance, maybe I get some votes thrown my way.”
That plan does not sound too bad, but as we know, it never came to fruition…
Nonetheless, while Emily Flippen is already greatly missed on our television screens, to see how the rest of Survivor 45 unfolds, catch 90-minute episodes of the beloved competition series every Wednesday at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.