Welcome to Reality Derby, Gold Derby’s deep dive into all things reality TV, hosted by senior editors Marcus James Dixon and Denton Davidson. Watch the latest episode above. This week, we interview Rick Devens and Cirie Fields about their journeys on Survivor 50, from Rick’s fake idol at tribal council to Cirie’s thoughts on being named the “best player to never win.”
Survivor fans will be talking about two moves from Season 50 for years to come: the fake idol at tribal council and the MrBeast coin flip. Both involved Rick.
“I brought a lot of fun,” the Georgia news anchor tells Gold Derby following his ouster in the penultimate episode. His two main goals in joining this landmark season were to make his family proud and to not waste his spot, especially since so many former contestants didn’t get cast on Survivor 50.
If the fake idol at tribal council didn’t work out, Rick had an alternate plan: hiding it during a challenge. “If I grab that in front of everybody, people will think it’s a real idol,” he explains. Rick came up with all of these wacky ideas while in a solo “brainstorming” session in his Fiji hotel waiting for the season to begin.
As for the MrBeast coin flip that saved his game and doubled the prize money to $2 million, he reveals, “I was so amped up. … It couldn’t be a more cinematic coin flip.” While he’s hesitant to name who among the Final 5 is playing the best game, he is clear about one thing: “I would have won if I got [to the final tribal council].”
Read on for our full exit interview with Rick.
Gold Derby: You kept audiences entertained every week and kept us talking throughout the entire season. How proud are you of the way you played this game?
Rick Devens: I’m real proud of how I played the game. I thought that I brought a lot of fun. It was important for me that the players that wanted on 50 and didn’t make it looked at me as someone who didn’t waste the spot, who made the most of it. I wanted to represent my family well and give the kids something positive to look at, and I did all that. I also just had a ton of fun. I never got personal with anybody. It was always gameplay stuff. I was really happy with how everything turned out.
One of your most iconic moments was hiding the fake idol at tribal council. Where did the idea come from? Did you plan this before the island?
I had been trying to figure out how to sell a fake idol as a real idol without the clue. The only thing I could think of was to have it somewhere where you couldn’t plant it. I could either do it at tribal council, or I could do it maybe during a challenge. Like, as I’m running through the challenge, plant it there, and then when we’re on the mats afterwards, run back and grab it in front of everybody. The idea came from my first season when I got the idol above the shelter and then put a fake one back up there. If I grab that in front of everybody, people will think it’s a real idol. I didn’t really finalize anything till that pregame period where we’re out in Fiji for a week before the game starts and I’m brainstorming in my room the whole time.
The MrBeast coin flip changed your game and doubled the prize money. Take us back to that moment when the coin is in the air. Did it stand still for you?
It really did. I was so amped up. What was so crazy is the coin’s in the air, and it lands, and then it starts spinning around. It’s like, “Are you kidding me?” It couldn’t be a more cinematic coin flip. We’re just looking, looking, and I think it was Ozzy who yelled out, “Heads!” So I’m jumping up and down, I’m hugging MrBeast, I’m hugging Jeff, they start hugging each other. [laughs] Everyone on the benches is up because they just won $2 million. It’s so funny ’cause they wanted me out two minutes ago, and now we’re all celebrating together because the prize doubled. It was an awesome moment. I mean, my adrenaline was going crazy.
Stephenie told me she was considering flipping the coin. What would have happened if two or more people said they wanted to do it?
I’m not really sure what would have happened. I think either everyone agrees on one person, or it goes to rocks. I’m not positive about that though. I definitely wouldn’t have just been like, “OK, you flip it.” I’d have been like, “We have to fight for it.” I don’t think she was gonna flip that coin. I don’t think there was serious consideration by anyone else, ’cause they all could have easily forced the issue. I immediately said I wanted it and everyone kind of went with it. If Stephenie wanted to do it, everyone would have said, “Let Stephenie do it,” so I don’t think that that was a real consideration.
You made so many game moves this season. Was there any move that didn’t work out that you wish you could take back?
I don’t think so. People could say different things about when I went for the fake idol or when I did this, but I look back and go, “I am happy with how I did everything and where I did everything.” What if I didn’t need the fake idol that night and saved it for the next one, and then I pull it out and they go, “We can’t get rid of Rick, we’ll get rid of Christian”? That would have been devastating. If we’re getting into the real minute details, I wish I had voted out Joe instead of Savannah, way back on the second vote. Knowing now that Joe carried our argument all the way through to the end, and knowing now that Savannah really did wanna work with me … that could have changed the course of everything.
Do you think if you were in the Final 3, could you have won this game?
When I got voted out of the game, every member of the jury up to that point said that they were rooting for me and they wanted me to win the game. I think if I’m there with Cirie, I can make a case and Cirie still wins the game. All of us in our minds, before the game even started, said that if Cirie gets to the end, she wins because she’s such a big threat. Then we played the game with her and she’s amazing, so she’s real hard to beat. I think I beat anybody else that I get to the end with that was still there. If Christian had found a way to get to the end, that’d be real hard going against him. [Everyone on the jury] appreciated my big moves — they happened right in front of them. I’ve got cheerleaders there. Ponderosa was a gift because I got to hang with Dee and Coach and get to know them so much better. She had started really coming around on my game, so I actually do think I would have won if I got there.
Who do you think is playing the best game of the Final 5?
I’m gonna avoid this question because I think it would be too spoilery on my part. I can look and see the positives in all their games, and there are definitely some games I respect more than other games. But I’m afraid to say too much, honestly.
Gotcha. Let’s move to the reunion, which is live next week in Los Angeles. Who are you most excited to see in person?
I’ll have my son, daughter, and wife with me, and my son is a huge Q fan and really wants to meet Q. He was so disappointed that I never overlapped with Q in the game, so I’m very excited to introduce those two. Everyone else I’m super excited to see. I love them all, and there’s definitely some people from pre-jury that I didn’t get to spend as much time with that I’d like to. Kamilla is someone I really like, but I already got to see a lot of them at the New York premiere, which was awesome. I’m excited to see all of them!
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
