Sue Smey proved that even the old folks can get down and dirty (literally) on Survivor, having quite an impressive run throughout Survivor 47 earlier this year.
Although the New York native started the game as sick as a dog, she managed to find a Hidden Immunity Idol, win an Individual Immunity Challenge, and secure her seat at the Final Tribal Council, all while losing her closest allies (Gabe Ortis and Caroline Vidmar) along the way. With these impressive feats, Sue managed to make Survivor history as the oldest woman to win an Individual Immunity Challenge, as well as the oldest woman to secure her seat at the Final Tribal Council.
There’s a reason host Jeff Probst even deemed her an inspiration to older women everywhere! Little did her tribemates know that she was 59 years old, not 45 years old, though…
In episode 4 of the Emmy Award-winning series, Sue decided to tell the Tuku tribe — consisting of Gabe, Caroline, Kyle Ostwald, and Tiyana Hallums (and formerly TK Foster) — that she was in her mid-40s, rather than her late 50s. Chopping a whopping 14 years off of her age, Sue had plans to reveal her actual age at the Final Tribal Council — shocking the jury with her accomplishments — but unfortunately, this big ol’ bomb did not land the way she had hoped.
Despite sharing that she was 59 years old at the Final Tribal Council, Sue still fell flat to both Rachel LaMont and Sam Phalen in the end, losing the title of “Sole Survivor” and the million-dollar prize to Rachel in a 7-1-0 vote.
While only a snippet was shown in the actual episode, what was the jury’s actual reaction to Sue’s surprise? The flight school owner spilled the tea in an exclusive exit interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Shattering the hearts of Sue stans all across America, the “badass, fearless, adrenaline junkie” admitted that the jury — consisting of Gabe, Caroline, Kyle, Sierra Wright, Sol Yi, Andy Rueda, Genevieve Mushaluk, and Teeny Chirichillo — “all just started laughing” when she made her oh-so-special announcement. Poor Sue!
In a conversation with reality TV reporter Dalton Ross, she dished, “I didn’t really see too many [reactions], because I was just trying to focus on what I wanted to get out there before I was shut down… I felt they were shocked, but I don’t know, and I guess it wasn’t enough to make them have the respect for someone that’s going to be 60 next year that I made it this far.”
Following this savage remark, the New York native decided to toot her own horn, praising herself for all of the game-changing moves she made throughout Survivor 47 (notably in the challenges):
“I felt I did really good in the challenges. Maybe I wasn’t a head runner at times, but I never held anything back either in the competitions… I still believed in my game and I believed I could maybe win another one or two challenges, so I was hoping that they’d be impressed by the fact that as old as I was, I did pretty damn good.”
Even though she did not emerge victorious, you can still watch Sue’s Survivor 47 journey from start to finish on Paramount Plus.