Kellie Nalbandian was taken out in an epic blindside during Survivor 45’s eighth episode. But, if she had stuck around on the island longer, she may have been the catalyst for another fun moment.
Kellie joined Kaleb Gebrewold as season 45’s second Jury member when she was ousted on day 16 — the episode that premiered on November 15. Kellie went into to Tribal Council believing her ally Jake O’Kane was on his way to Ponderosa. But, little did the critical care nurse know that the “Reba 4” alliance (Dee Valladares, Julie Alley, Drew Basile, and Austin Li Coon) and Emily Flippen wrote her name down instead. With three votes for Jake and five votes for Kellie, the latter’s dream of winning $1 million went up in flames.
But, what if Kellie didn’t leave that night and Jake did instead?
Well, she revealed to Parade’s Mike Bloom that she would’ve used her good-standing relationship with Bruce Perreault to snag his Hidden Immunity Idol before considering multiple options. Since essentially the beginning of Survivor 45, the edit has painted Bruce as a name on the top of several players’ hit lists. Yet, Kellie said that he trusted her more than anybody.
Bruce was supposedly the main target in episode 8, but he extended his game’s life by winning the Individual Immunity Challenge. Well, according to Kellie, she would’ve tried to convince the insurance agent to fork over his Idol. Kellie said she knew her ex-Belo squad (Bruce, Kendra McQuarrie, and Katurah Topps) was fractured, and would’ve looked to take control of Bruce’s advantage.
“My plan moving forward was, if Jake left, I knew that this Belo group was not going to work anymore,” Kellie said. “I really wanted to steal Bruce’s idol. This was my big plan. Bruce told me that he was nervous about ‘Knowledge Is Power.’ So I was considering weaponizing that against him and being like, ‘Hey, I heard that Dee has Knowledge Is Power. She’s going to take your idol.’ And Bruce told me that he would not give it to Jake. He would have given it to me to hold onto. I was his number one out there; he trusted me the most.”
For those who don’t know or remember, the Knowledge Is Power advantage was introduced during Survivor’s new era and it allows the user to ask someone at Tribal Council if they’re holding a Hidden Immunity Idol or advantage. If that person is (they can’t lie), then the person who played Knowledge Is Power gets to take it from them.
So far, no one has captured Knowledge Is Power on Survivor 45. But, from what Kellie is saying, the castaways were well aware of the advantage’s existence.
Kellie wanted to target Austin, her fellow Amulet owner
Some fans watching episode 8 may have forgotten that there was a major upside to Kellie targeting Austin over anybody else on the island. Earlier in the game, Kellie, Austin, and Janani “J. Maya” Krishnan-Jha were chosen to go on a journey that ultimately ended with the three each receiving an Amulet advantage. The Amulets are unique in that they must all be played at the same time. But, if someone is voted out while in possession of an Amulet, the Amulet leaves with them and the power of the remaining Amulets becomes stronger.
Because J. Maya was eliminated on day 13, Kellie and Austin’s Amulets had the power to steal one player’s vote. But, if one more Amulet left the game before they were used, the sole remaining Amulet would become a full-fledged Hidden Immunity Idol.
Because Kellie and Austin weren’t working together, it made sense for both of them to prioritize voting out the other. And if Kellie was successful at securing Bruce’s Hidden Immunity Idol, she may have used it to target the 26-year-old.
“And then I’m gonna do what I want from there with it,” Kellie said about retrieving the Idol. “I can have everyone dogpile the votes on Bruce, and I can save him and take out Austin. I could let Bruce go home and keep the idol for myself. So I was sort of sussing out what I wanted to do.”
Kellie also said that she wanted to solidify a three-person alliance between herself, Kendra, and Katurah. But, considering Katurah was hell-bent on Bruce’s demise, Kellie may have been okay with letting Bruce take the fall without his Idol.
But, in the end, Kellie was voted out and Austin is now the owner of two Hidden Immunity Idols while Bruce has a firm grasp on his own. With only nine players remaining, there are only a few more rounds of play for a castaway to use a Hidden Immunity Idol, so expect to witness even more Tribal Council chaos in the coming episodes.