Survivor Hall of Famer Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick returns to the Jack Vita Show for the final leg of our four-part deep dive into her time on Survivor 50!
Last week, we chatted about the merge and Stephenie's plans for the endgame. This week, we're discussing everything else that happened after that, including Stephenie's first immunity win in over 20 years, her steal-a-vote advantage, and her eventual elimination from the Mr. Beast coin-flip.
Shortly after the merge, Stephenie won the season's first individual immunity challenge. It was her second ever immunity win, and her first since the fall of 2005, when she was the runner-up on Survivor: Guatemala. Stephenie spills on her immunity win and Applebee's reward. In that same episode, Survivor's first-ever 'Blood Moon' took place. While discussing strategy after the Applebee's reward, Chrissy Hofbeck made a statement that caught flak on social media, saying that she, Stephenie and Jonathan Young were all "cut from the same cloth". What did Chrissy mean by this statement?
In the next episode, Stephenie was randomly selected to go on a mission at exile island. If she could keep her hand raised above her head for an hour, she would earn an advantage, but if she failed, she would lose her vote for the next tribal council. While completing the mission, the show ran a highlight-reel of some of Stephenie's finest moments through the years on Survivor. Upon completing the mission, she faced the entire tribe, and crafted a lie that she didn't earn an advantage, but didn't lose her vote, either. Cirie Fields wasn't buying it for a second. Stephenie takes us through this moment for her, and explains why she lied to the group, but planned to tell Cirie privately, which she did.
Then, the Mr. Beast episode. Stephenie explains why she considered pushing to flip the coin, but ultimately didn't. She also shares why she fell on the sword for Jonathan, instead of throwing her ally under the bus to buy herself another day. Stephenie discusses different scenarios that may have played out, had she made it past Day 19.
Later, she explains her jury statement. What did she mean when she said Jonathan was "the total package"? While asking her question, she was interrupted by Dee Valladares and Tiffany Ervin. Stephenie reveals that she did in fact ask a question, but it didn't make the air. It was cut from the edit. Stephenie explains why she felt Jonathan played the best game and deserved to win the title of sole survivor. All this, and so much more, only on the Jack Vita Show!
You can follow Stephenie (@steph_lagrossa_kendrick) on Instagram.