‘Survivor 50’: Stephenie Reveals Cut Scenes With Ozzy & Cirie That Explain Tribal

The Survivor 50 prize money is now $2 million thanks to the MrBeast “Super Beware Advantage” coin toss that Rick Devens won in Episode 10. With his successful game of heads or tails, he won immunity, an immunity idol, and increased the prize pot for everyone. Earlier in tribal council, he aired out everyone’s voting plans in a pitch to save himself, and the live tribals that spurred led to Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick‘s elimination.

The MrBeast twist caused chaos at the camps before tribal. Viewers saw a lot of scrambling from every player, but the main event of those scenes was the growing divide between Stephenie and Cirie Fields. They’ve played Survivor together several times, and The Traitors once, so their long history made Stephenie consider her an ally from the beginning, she tells TV Insider, as did conversations with old-era players before filming began. But things changed in the game, and Cirie sensed that Stephenie was lying to her to conceal a vote against Ozzy Lusth, her closest ally.

Devens exposed all of this camp debate at the tribal council in an attempt to get votes off of him. Here, Stephenie reveals a deleted scene with Ozzy that explains why Devens was nervous and breaks down her elimination.

We saw a lot of talk at the camps before tribal, but I wonder what we didn’t see from those discussions.

Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick: Well, first of all, at one point, we were ready to go to tribal. They’re like, “Gag order,” whatever. And then they were like, “Nope, wait a minute.” And they pulled a couple more people for interviews, and we were still scrambling. It was insanity. And of course, you saw at Tribal Council, there were three different live tribals going on at three different times. What you didn’t see is, I did go over to Ozzy, and I said, “Listen, somebody came to me with your name, and I entertained it. And do you want to know why? It’s because I was told that you’re walking around telling people you don’t trust me. And I feel like we’ve been together for days now, and I’ve been loyal to you. I thought we were [close]. Why are you telling people you don’t trust me?” And he admitted, he goes, “You’re right. I did say that. And I only said it because I wanted to see if it would get back to me.” And I said, “Well, it got back to you.”

Cirie was right there, and I said, “Listen, I didn’t tell you it was Ozzy because you were sitting with Tiffany [Ervin]. I don’t know Tiffany. And I wasn’t even 100 percent sure I was going to go with that plan, so that’s why I didn’t bring it up to you. And to be honest with you, it’s not in my best interest for you or Ozzy to go. If you were Ozzy, go, that’s a problem for me.” I said, “If I go, I think that’s a major problem for you. So I’m willing to go back to our original plan. Let’s agree to disagree or shake hands or whatever we have to do. You have my word. You’ve had my word this whole time. Let’s go back to Aubry [Bracco] and Devens.” And so we agreed to do that, but they didn’t show any of that on camera. And that’s why Devens was so nervous and throwing it all on the line at tribal because he knew it had flipped back to him. And that’s why he gave his spiel and his plea and all that.

I didn’t turn it on Jonathan [Young], because what good would that have done me? I would’ve looked like a tattletale. I would’ve looked like, oh, I’m just trying to throw somebody else under the bus. So he’s flipping it on me and Jonathan, let me just flip it back on him. That seemed to be the most logical thing to do. And partly what I was saying was true. Yes, it was Jonathan’s plan. It was not their plan, but they were in on the plan. They were entertaining the plan, so it was half true.

And throwing Jonathan’s name out would’ve been just throwing your No. 1 ally at that point under the bus.

And that’s not who I am. Honestly, I’m a really loyal person. I give you my word in this game, and I mean it. If it comes down to now we’re picking the final three, maybe then it’s going to change. But let’s get to that point. I am super loyal. It’s just who I am. And everybody that’s ever seen me play any reality show knows that. Guatemala, even though I cut a lot of throats, I was loyal to Rafe [Judkins], he was my main ally, and we went all the way to the end. I had no major alliances with anybody else. Yes, I’ve given them my word here and there, but I was loyal to my main. I’m loyal to you if I give you my word from the beginning.

Speaking of loyal alliances, how aware of the closeness of Cirie and Ozzy’s alliance were you during filming?

I was very aware that they were close. I was not aware how close she was with Rizo [Velovic], so as I’m watching, I’m learning, oh my gosh, Cirie and I were supposed to be together from the beginning. We spoke before the game. We have a long history of playing reality TV shows together. She’s always told me I’m like family to her, and I’ve always felt the same about her. I know she’s very good at this game, and I know if she gets to the end, she’s probably winning, but we both decided to agree, “Let’s just get there. We’re both big threats in this game. Let’s just work together.” We’ve played, we’ve known each other for many years. Let’s just get there, then we’ll figure it out. I didn’t realize so early on that she was going to turn on me basically by trying to take out every single person in my alliance, because that’s really what she did.

I understand Colby [Donaldson’s] game with Savannah [Louie] earlier in the season, when he threw out that red Herring about not trusting Cirie, got back to Cirie, and made her question if she could trust the old-era players.

Correct, which I totally understand. Why would Colby do that? And Colby was trying to throw off the scent that he and Cirie were aligned because they were. There was a little old-school alliance. We did speak a lot of us beforehand, but it didn’t mean we were going to close the doors to meeting new people, but we did talk about having each other’s backs and whatever. When Colby did that, Cirie immediately was like, “He’s supposed to be a huge part of my alliance. He’s in with Stephanie.” Immediately, she washes her hands of us. I could see her washing her hands of him. I’m not even on the same beach with you yet. We haven’t even spoken words yet. Don’t dismiss me. Dismiss him if you need to, but don’t dismiss me. And I think she dismissed me because I was associated with him even way back then.

This episode was a turning point in her dynamic with you. We saw the confessional where she said she could tell, or at least she thought that you were lying. Watching that confessional last night, what was your reaction? 

Yeah, that was super upsetting too, because in my mind, it’s not me versus Cirie. It was never going to be me versus Cirie. Not this early. The turning point started long before that when she took out Coach [Wade] and Chrissy [Hofbeck]. She could have tried to take out Emily [Flippen]. She didn’t even need … Yes, Colby’s foot, yes, he was hurt, but they were not medically evacuating him. She could have went her, Coach Colby, and they could have taken out Emily. It didn’t matter that Dee [Valladares] had immunity. She chose to take out Colby. She gave me a whole spiel. They wanted to take out Coach, but Colby’s hurt anyway. So instead of two of our people leaving, I just went with the safer bet and took out Colby. OK. Valid point.

Then she takes out Coach and Chrissy. She comes to me again. “The plan changed. Now it’s Coach and Chrissy. It’s not me. I’m just letting you know. I just want to make sure that you’re in the know and you’re in the numbers. Don’t be out of the numbers. You’ll be next to go, or I’ll be next to go. We’re big targets.” So the way she’s posing things to me, it’s never her that does it. It’s somebody else. She’s just letting me know because we’re in an alliance. Smart.

Meanwhile, Joe [Hunter] knows it was her. She told Joe. Joe does not come and tell Jonathan and I. Had he done that, I would’ve known back then that Cirie’s not with us. At this point, I still think Cirie’s with us. She was not. Then, fast forward to this episode, she literally says, “It’s me versus Stephenie.” It’s still not a me versus Cirie in my mind. Yes, Ozzy’s name came up because he’s telling people he doesn’t trust me. Of course, I’m going to entertain that. Why would I not? You’re telling people you don’t trust me. But we spoke about it, and we agreed to go back to the original plan, and I said, “It is not in my best interest. If I get rid of you, they are probably going to come for me next.” Vice versa, “You get rid of me. They’re probably going to try to come for you next. Why would you do that? Let’s take out the middle people.” That’s what we kept saying.

I know the interpersonal dynamics can feel stressful and personal, but everything you’re explaining is why Survivor is such interesting TV.

It is. It really is. And at the end of the day, I do not fault Cirie at all. She’s there. She’s playing a game, and she’s trying to get by, too. She’s trying to get to the end, too. Her mistake is that I’m probably going to be her biggest ally or one of the very few people she may be able to manipulate, so by getting rid of me, that’s really not a smart choice because I’m going to rally for Cirie. But Cirie takes it like I’m going to try to take her out because now I’m trying to take Ozzy out. We just needed to communicate better. Had we communicated better, and Joe, too, things may have worked out much differently in the end.

That’s the social experiment part of it.

It is.

Had you communicated, things would’ve been different, but there are other things that happened that made people doubt.

Yeah, and it’s unfortunate because things can change on a dime out there. My name had not been thrown out. The entire season, my name was not even mentioned. How do I go home? It’s unbelievable, right? That’s Survivor.

Heading into tribal council, did you feel like you were in real trouble? You had heard, of course, that your name was thrown out there, so you weren’t completely blindsided, maybe. But how were you feeling?

I was very nervous at camp. I was very nervous at camp when Jonathan told me, “Now it’s on you.” I’m like, “What? How’d this get flipped on me?” But then so many talks happened that you didn’t see. You saw me talking a little to Cirie, but there was so much more to that. And between Cirie and Ozzy, and Joe was there, and Jonathan. We all came together, and we were like, “It’s Devens,” so that’s why Devens at tribal council had to throw me and Jonathan under the bus, had to make his spiel because he knew it got flipped back to him.

What did you think of Devens’ spiel? When he said all of that, did you think you were sunk?

I was like, “This is fantastic. Damn, he is great. He is really good at this.” But I’m like, “I’m not going to throw Jonathan under the bus. Let me try to flip this back.” I did the best I could, trying to flip it back. There’s a lot you didn’t see there.

Tiffany says, “Oh, well, why would you tell [Cirie] about your Steal a Vote if that’s who you’re trying to get out?” I fully explained to Tiffany, “Oh, I told her about my Steal a Vote the day I got it, Tiffany. And I’m not trying to get her out today. Her name came up, but she’s not the person I’m trying to get out. I would never throw her name out there. I would never be that stupid.”

And then Rizo tries to call me out and says, “Don’t say that, blah, blah, blah.” No, Rizo. I am telling the truth. I would never lead a charge. I’m not that person. You could come to me with your charge, and I’ll hear you out, and we’ll see if we can get the numbers, and I’ll see if that’s going to be the best decision for my game. But at this point, with 10 people left, I’m not leading any charge. And that was the truth.

How did you feel about what Rizo was saying in the moment? I wonder if he changed your perception of the new-era players this season.

Oh yeah. The newer way of play is totally different. It’s literally just strategy. That’s it. It’s no survival. It’s no nothing. It’s just [sitting] around and strategy. It’s not even so much try to compete and win immunity. It’s just strategy. It’s just different because there are 50,000 idols. You even saw when we were talking about the plan, I think Jonathan said it was going to be Tiffany to somebody. And they’re like, “Wait, Tiffany?”

And then he’s like, “No, I mean Stephenie.” Because he was trying to agree with what their plan was to make them think he was with them. There are five plans, and then there’s the real plan at any given time because this one has an idol, this one has an idol, this one might have an idol. We got to split the vote, and then there’s the plan. It is so ridiculous. And then there’s the Shot in the Dark. So the new-era way of play is just strategy. It’s not really numbers. It’s not alliances. It’s not who works hard around camp. It’s just strategy, so I saw that firsthand with Rizo.

With the MrBeast twist, would you prefer a volunteer or voting to choose who did the coin toss?

We went into it, and it was definitely going to be Devens, so I kind of felt safe, but I did go over, and I did speak to Jonathan and Cirie, and I was like, “I kind of want to do the coin toss too.” They both said I didn’t need to do it. I was like, “I don’t know.”

And then it would’ve been like a wrestling match. Devens was not giving that up, so I was like, “If I really push this, we may go to rocks, and I’m going to piss everybody off,” so I’m like, “Do I do this? Do I not? I still have a Steal a Vote. Let’s see what happens. It’s a 50-50 chance. It’s a big risk. There’s a 50 percent chance you can just go home right then and there.” So I’m like, “You know what? He can have it.” But I did consider it.

Would you have preferred to be voted out or to control your fate with the coin toss?

I think I would take my chances of being voted out, because at this point, they’re still telling me if Devens is safe, we’ll go Aubry. And Aubry had been a target for so many weeks, so I’m hopeful.

What would you do differently in hindsight?

Probably play my Shot in the Dark. I should have, but I don’t know if I was allowed to is the problem. I didn’t think I was allowed to do both, my Shot in the Dark and Steal a Vote, so I probably should have cleared that with the producers. But the Shot in the Dark, it’s a one-in-six chance. It’s only hit once ever. I mean, that would’ve been frigging awesome if I played that and it hit. I would’ve been like, “Yeah, screw all you.”