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The 10th episode of Survivor 50 proved to be the end of the road for Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, thanks in part to a massive twist brought about by MrBeast. After the tribe’s No. 1 target Rick Devens won safety (and increased the prize pot to $2 million) by flipping the influencer’s coin, the remaining players engaged in a live tribal council. Stephenie stole Devens’ vote and wrote down Aubry Bracco’s name twice, but it wasn’t enough to stop Cirie Fields and every other person from sending Stephenie to the jury.
Read on for our full exit interview with Stephenie, in which the Palau, Guatemala, and Heroes vs. Villains alum reveals she and Cirie “haven’t talked” in months. Fans may find that surprising considering the reality TV stars have appeared together in multiple competition shows, including The Traitors and Snake in the Grass.
Gold Derby: You said at the end of the episode that this was your hardest torch snuff of all four times playing Survivor. Can you tell us why that was?
Stephenie: Because my name hadn’t come up the whole season! There’s this debacle at camp, and it’s not even my idea to take Ozzy [Lusth] out. I’m just hearing Jonathan [Young] out and others, and then the whole plan gets changed and switched on me like that [snaps]. In Palau, where I was the last one standing, of course they’re going to take me out at some point. In Heroes vs. Villains, I was out from the beginning — I wasn’t pre-aligned with anybody. In Guatemala, I went to the end, my torch wasn’t snuffed. But this time, I really felt like I was playing a very solid game. And just like that, your torch gets snuffed. That was a tough pill to swallow.
Did you see it coming? Because I was surprised that even Jonathan wrote your name down.
Stephenie: I think Jonathan wrote it down because he was like, “I gotta go back to camp with these people. I can’t be the only one.” At that point, I think he knew no one was voting Aubry except me, so he just went with the numbers. But no, I didn’t see it coming. Back at camp, I came clean to Cirie [about wanting to vote out Ozzy], and she admitted that she was willing to write my name down, too, because she heard I was gonna write Ozzy’s name down. And I’m like, “All right, what do we do about this?” I’ve been loyal to Cirie. This is now our fourth show together. I’ve given her no reason [to mistrust me].
Did Aubry give you any smack for spelling her name wrong, as “Aubrey”?
Stephenie: She did say something about it, but listen, people have been spelling my name wrong my whole life, and I don’t come after them. So no offense!
You and Cirie have played so many different games together. What is your relationship like after Season 50?
Stephenie: I mean, we haven’t talked much. She and I spoke at the premiere week and she was like, “Listen, I only told Rizo [Velovic] because I needed another person to align with, because I felt the old-school alliance wasn’t working out. Colby [Donaldson] did this, Jenna [Lewis-Dougherty] did this” — whatever.
I was like, “Yeah, I understand, but you telling Rizo made Rizo not trust me, so that’s a problem. I never gave you a reason not to trust me. So, just because maybe Colby gave you a reason, and then Jenna — who I’d never met before and still have not ever met — that should have no bearing on me.”
We didn’t get together till Day 12 or 13. I honestly felt that she went into the game having no intentions of aligning with me or truly, honestly working with me. We had so many conversations pre-game, and she gave me her word so many times, and I gave her mine. But I meant it. I really did, and you saw that. Am I going to take her to the final three? I don’t know about that, but we had 10 people left, and I was nowhere near going to turn on her. I never felt it was “Stephenie vs. Cirie.” I wanted to work with her.
When MrBeast showed up at the auction with his briefcase, how many of you did not know who he was?
Stephenie: I think we all knew. I don’t think Chrissy [Hofbeck] knew on the jury. I think Chrissy was like, “Who the hell is that?” [laughs] We all knew because, like, Joe [Hunter] has kids, I have kids, Devens has kids. And Rizo is a kid! No, I’m just kidding. Rizo knew who he was because his brother loves him.
At tribal council, when Devens was throwing you under the bus, what was going through your mind?
Stephenie: I am like, “Stay calm, do not get defensive. I’m not gonna throw Jonathan under the bus now, because he’s the only person out there telling me the truth. Let me try to flip this back on Devens.” And even though it was far-fetched, I feel like I did. There was so much more I said that you didn’t see. I went through a whole story about his letter, because his dad wrote something like, “Even if you trust them, slit their throats or stab them in the back.” I recited that line and said, “You’ve been lying, you’ve been plotting, you’ve been scheming, you’re trying to bring chaos to this entire season with a fake idol.” I made a really good case and stayed calm doing it, so I was proud of myself for that. What else could I have done besides play my Shot in the Dark, which is a one in six shot, and probably wouldn’t have hit.
Did you ever consider flipping MrBeast’s coin, or was it always just gonna be Devens?
Stephenie: I did. I went over and talked to people about it. I wanted to do it, too, but Devens wasn’t giving that up, so he and I would have had to fight over it, or we would have all gone to rocks. I even thought about that for a second. I’m like, “Hmm.” I reconfirmed and talked to a lot of people, and they’re like, “If Devens is safe, it’ll definitely be Aubry.” They were obviously lying, but I believed them.
Only nine players remain on the island. Tune in every Wednesday on CBS to see who’s voted out next on Survivor 50.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
