‘We were actually probably more similar than we are dissimilar’: Who did Emily Flippen have an unexpected relationship with on ‘Survivor 45?’

With a social game that started out horrific and eventually took a turn for the better, Emily Flippen captured the hearts of both her tribemates and viewers at home throughout Survivor 45 with her one-of-a-kind journey. To the dissatisfaction of Survivor superfans nationwide, her journey tragically came to a close on December 6 after a tribal council that left everyone stunned, ultimately causing an uproar via X (formerly known as Twitter).

“FINANCIAL ANALYST EMILY FLIPPEN 😭😭😭”

“BRING BACK FINANCIAL ANALYST EMILY FLIPPEN.”

“Thank you, Emily Flippen, for an incredible season. My heart is broken.”

As for how her elimination came to be, 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…

Austin told Dee, and then Dee told Julie, ultimately causing the plan to come crumbling down, with Julie playing her Hidden Immunity Idol at tribal council (which Austin had handed to her a few days prior). Because of this, just one vote to determined who would get their torch snuffed that fateful night, and unfortunately, that one vote was casted for Emily Flippen.

While Emily admitted in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly that she wanted to go to the end with Drew and Austin (which unfortunately never came to fruition), there was another castaway that the Maryland native really connected with during her time on the beach that might just surprise you. Keep scrolling to find out who…

In said interview, Emily revealed that one thing she wishes would have made it onto our television screens more was her strong bond with Kendra McQuarrie. Given the uptight nature of Emily and the free spirited nature of Emily, nobody saw this relationship coming, but the former shared with Dalton Ross at Entertainment Weekly that contrary to popular belief, they are more alike than they are different — how wild is that?

“Kendra and my relationship wasn’t really shown. Obviously, it wasn’t super relevant to either of our situations, but we actually had a really great functioning alliance after all of the craziness and after all of our differences in our personalities. We were actually probably more similar than we are dissimilar. We had a really great friendship and an alliance and that was never part of the narrative this season, so I was kind of sad that didn’t make it.”

Nonetheless, we are sure Emily and Kendra had a great time together at Ponderosa!

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 — it is sure to be nothing short of spectacular!