Which castaways did David Jelinsky want to work with before his ‘Survivor 46’ blindside?

Survivor 46 star David Jelinsky might just be the most “legendary” first boot in franchise history, failing the “Sweat” portion of the “Savvy or Sweat” challenge alongside Q Burdette, failing the puzzle portion of the Immunity Challenge alongside Jess Chong, and losing his vote after going on a journey and failing the challenge against Tevin Davis and Maria Shrime Gonzalez. Yikes!

After losing the Immunity Challenge, the Yanu tribe — consisting of Jelinsky, Q Burdette, Bhanu Gopal, Kenzie Petty, Jess Chong, and Tiffany Nicole Ervin — was sent to the first Tribal Council of Survivor 46, where Jelinsky was ultimately deemed a liability and voted out unanimously. You cannot volunteer for three things, fail all three things, and still expect to see another day…

While Jess was seemingly on the chopping block that fateful night, Q detailed to his tribemates just how many times Jelinsky did not deliver for his tribe, ultimately causing the target to shift onto the slot machine salesman. Believe it or not, based on first impressions alone, Jelinsky actually wanted to work with Q before their shared stint on the show, and the Mississippi native ended up being the one who orchestrated his blindside. How ironic is that?

In fact, two castaways caught Jelinsky’s attention before beginning his Survivor 46 journey, with both individuals ending up on his tribe and both individuals voting him out. Explaining these first impressions to longtime Survivor writer and reporter Mike Bloom in an exclusive interview with Parade, keep scrolling to see what the 22-year-old had to say…

While the Nevada native did not name any names, the two castaways who caught his eye upon arriving in Fiji were Q and Bhanu, who we were able to pinpoint based on his descriptions.

“There’s this jacked football player. I know he plays football, because I was watching him at the airport. On his backpack, it says ‘Ole Miss Football,’ so he’s strong… If I have someone who’s like James from Micronesia, someone who’s keeping the tribes strong — If I find a number one ally, and we’re gonna stick with him, I would love for him to be on my tribe.”

“There is an Indian guy who has a short ponytail up top. This guy has been reading books about Gandhi, so I know he’s very peaceful. I’m not gonna say people aren’t out here to win the title of ‘Sole Survivor,’ but he’s out here for himself. He’s out here for the journey. If he’s out on my beach on my tribe, he is malleable. He’s someone that I can easily work with.”

Given that these two castaways contributed to his elimination firsthand, we cannot help but giggle about the fact that of everyone fighting for the title of “Sole Survivor” and the million-dollar cash prize on Survivor 46, these were the two he wanted to work with. Things could not have gone further South for Jelinsky!

All of this combined with the fact that “he cut his feet up on the ‘Sweat’ task, discovered he was allergic to coconut, lost his water bottle, and got pinched by a crab,” Jelinsky sure went out with a bang, and we are devastated that he will no longer be gracing our television screens every Wednesday evening. Nonetheless, to find out for yourself which of the other 17 contestants will ultimately be crowned the champion, tune into CBS for brand new episodes of Survivor 46. Based on even more reports from Bloom, chances are you will not regret it…