Daniel Strunk was the focus of many Survivor 42 episodes so far, but he got eliminated at the latest Tribal Council.
Along the way, Daniel nearly lost Mike’s Immunity Idol, he was involved in a dramatic Tribal Council, he had his shoulder pop out to the point it needed medical attention, and he drew a lot of attention for sitting out a lot of challenges.
There was even a situation where fans wondered if Daniel was about to steal Mike’s Idol, with the editing of the show pointing to something possibly happening in that regard.
In the end, Daniel became the sixth person eliminated from the Survivor 42 cast. He didn’t make it to the jury stage of the show, and since it has been rumored that the winner was already revealed in Fiji, we likely won’t see him return for a Survivor Reunion Show.
Daniel says he was told to sit out challenges
“Before every challenge, you meet with the doctor,” Daniel stated when he was asked in an interview by EW about sitting out so many challenges on Survivor 42.
“I would ask the doctor every time, ‘Can I do this challenge?’ And every time, the doctor would say, ‘You ought not do this challenge. If you do this challenge, you potentially face long-term problems if you screw up your shoulder in this challenge,'” Daniel elaborated on what the doctor told him.
As viewers saw during the episodes, Daniel listened to what he said the doctor told him to do, and he kept sitting out challenges where it seemed like he could re-injure the shoulder that had popped out.
Why did Daniel go spearfishing despite sitting out challenges?
Despite sitting out most of the challenges during Survivor 42, during the last episode, Daniel was shown as he went spearfishing in the ocean to try to find food for the tribe. Some of his tribemates wondered why he couldn’t participate in challenges if he could go swimming in that fashion.
He told EW that he hadn’t watched the episode yet where that was all depicted, but he provided some backstory for why he felt comfortable enough to go spearfishing when the show made it look like he was the primary target for elimination.
Daniel said that he had a good conversation with Hai Giang and it led to him feeling safe going into the next vote.
“We literally hugged after. I’m like, ‘I am gold. Hai knows why I’m here. I am totally freaking safe. I do not need to work.’ That’s number one. So I felt safe enough to go fish,” Daniel explained what his emotions were like after his chat with Hai.
But he wasn’t safe. And his self-professed strategy to “hang back and be chill” didn’t work out, even if he thought it was the best way to get people to trust him again after the chaotic Tribal Council where Jenny Kim got sent home.
Following Daniel’s elimination, there are just 12 people left competing for the $1 million prize. A merge is on the horizon, so make sure not to miss the upcoming episodes.
Survivor 42 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS.