‘The most filling slice of humble pie’: ‘Survivor 47’ star Teeny Chirichillo reflects on their infamous outburst after being excluded from the Italian feast

Teeny Chirichillo was kicked while they were down time and time again throughout their Survivor 47 journey, but that has not stopped them from securing their spot in the final four. Now, the New Jersey native will fight for the million-dollar prize and the title of “Sole Survivor” tonight, Dec. 18, — alongside Rachel LaMont, Sam Phalen, and Sue Smey — but that does not mean their quest to get to the finale was easy by any means.

Despite making their tribemates laugh by introducing them to some hilarious internet memes — not to mention getting tipsy during rewards at the Survivor sanctuary — Teeny’s Survivor 47 journey has been rather rocky. Losing their closest allies time and time again, from Aysha Welch to Kishan Patel to Sol Yi, the freelance writer’s strong social game has allowed them to outlast Tribal Council after Tribal Council; however, an outburst over pasta and breadsticks might have been the nail in the coffin for Teeny.

For those who need a refresher, after winning a Reward Challenge, Sam decided to bring recently ousted castaways Andy Rueda and Genevieve Mushaluk to the Survivor sanctuary for the ultimate Italian feast. Infuriated that they were not invited on the reward, Teeny had an absolute meltdown back at camp, accusing Sam of being one of the stupidest Survivor players to ever exist. They even went into some personal attacks, mocking Sam’s voice and mannerisms, as well as his manliness.

Unfortunately, Teeny found themselves walking back some of their harsh statements, as Sam, Andy, and Genevieve managed to pull off one of the most impressive moves in Survivor history at the Tribal Council to follow, blindsiding Caroline Vidmar (and subsequently, Teeny, Rachel, and Sue) with a plan called “Operation Italy” that they had developed during the feast.

Sitting down with longtime Survivor writer and reporter Dalton Ross for an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, the final four castaways were asked “What was your lowest moment over the first 24 days?” Unfortunately for Teeny, they were transported back to those terrible days at camp, reminiscing on their major meltdown over something as simple as pizza.

“My outburst after the Italian reward challenge was such a low for me,” Teeny prefaced, before delving into the details:

“I completely lost all self-control and self-awareness and allowed some gender insecurities to manifest as an obnoxious tantrum, which doesn’t even align with how I feel about Sam, who is lovely and who I got along with extremely well out there on a personal level.”

Learning about “Operation Italy” was the icing on the cake.

“On day 24, when Sam told me the details of ‘Operation Italy,’ something shifted in my soul. To live in a false reality as confidently as I had, and to then learn the extent of it and grapple with the fact that millions of people would see it, was the most filling slice of humble pie a person could ever be served. I’ll be learning from and clowning on myself for that for a very, very long time.”

Making some major mistakes in the later days of the game, it seems unlikely that Teeny will take home the million-dollar prize and the title of “Sole Survivor” tonight, but we will have to wait and see. To see things unfold for yourself, catch the second part of Survivor’s two-part finale tonight at 8pm ET/PT on CBS, with next-day streaming via Paramount Plus.