Survivor 45, Episode 8, ended with intense drama.
The episode featured the return of the Survivor Auction but also included a dramatic Tribal Council. The ending was quite unpredictable.
The final ten players competed in an Endurance Competition earlier in the episode. Bruce Perreault won safety, which thwarted the plans of people ready to blindside him.
Bruce also had an Immunity Idol in his possession. Targeting him was the wrong choice. And yet, a few of the castaways hoped Bruce would get voted out.
At Tribal Council, the scrambling began. Jake O’Kane felt he was the primary target, and he was getting voted out. He played his Shot in the Dark but came up short.
Meanwhile, a plan was set in motion for half of the merged tribe to go after a bigger target. And Kellie Nalbandian never saw it coming.
Kellie says she ‘blacked out’ after dramatic Tribal Council
“What the hell, guys?” Kellie said to the castaways after Jeff Probst read the votes.
The fear had entered her eyes as soon as Jeff read the first piece of parchment with her name.
Her reaction was amplified by Jake’s realization that the other castaways were finally starting to play the game. Jake held back from celebrating too much as Kellie’s game ended.
“I actually mostly blacked out,” Kellie told Dalton Ross in the interview shared below.
“Obviously, I think one of the most memorable things I said was, ‘What the hell, guys?'” Kellie answered when Dalton noted she looked to be in a state of shock.
As for her memorable statement, Kellie didn’t even know she said it.
“Kaleb [Gebrewold] had to tell me several days later that I said that. I had no idea, no recollection of even saying that. So that will tell you how shocked I was,” Kellie stated.
After she recovered from the shock, anger set in for Kellie.
“So after I walked out, you go into a little area, and I ripped my buff off and threw it at the wall, and someone was like, ‘You have to put that back on.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t want to,'” Kellie elaborated.
Below is Kellie’s extended interview. She explains what it was like watching the show playback on television, how she has come to terms with that fateful Tribal Council, and what has been “burned” into her memory from Fiji.
More from Survivor
Jeff Probst was proud that his new twist finally paid off. It did take a while, but it may have been worth the wait.
Jeff also announced that Survivor quitters will no longer be rewarded on the show. It is a change of policy that many fans wanted.
CBS also revealed early Survivor 46 information, including a start date for the new season.
More from Kellie’s time on Survivor 45 can be viewed in the video below.
Previous episodes of Survivor 45 are available for streaming on Paramount+.
Survivor airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.