Tribal council got emotional in Tuesday night’s episode of Australian Survivor: Redemption. Simon was in tears as Harry was voted out. So why was he so sad?
Simon, who’s playing Survivor for the third time, tells TV WEEK that Harry, who’s also playing for the third time, is “one of my best friends in the outside world”.
“Seeing him have the chance to play Survivor again and get redemption, I was so excited and stoked for him,” he says.
Simon went into tribal council thinking it was “probably Jackson” who was going home, with Harry likely to be kept around a bit longer. But then Harry told his tribemates that either he or Jackson had the flint. That meant that if the tribe voted one of them out, there was a 50-50 chance they would lose the ability to make fire.
“Harry’s made a huge decision to essentially blackmail the tribe with the flint as a way of gaining trust and to say, ‘Hey, keep me,’” Simon says. “He’s really put his neck out there and it’s a huge mistake.”
When Jackson pulled out the flint and said he wouldn’t leave with it in his pocket, it became clear who the tribe was going to send home.
“As much as I love Harry, I’m not going to let the shortcomings of someone else jeopardise my own game,” Simon says. “There was definitely an opportunity for me to interject there and ensure that it wasn’t Harry going, but I just had to bite my tongue and read the room and be like, ‘Well, I’m going to be in a better spot with more people if I go with the numbers here as opposed to going with Harry.’
“But once it’s done and dusted, the human side of me hurts so much because I’ve voted out one of my best mates and I cut his journey short and he doesn’t get that redemption he’s seeking.”
Simon says being part of Harry’s demise was tough.
“But at the end of the day, in this game, if you’re not putting yourself first, then you’re not cut out for it,” he adds. “You have to be cutthroat and you have to be ruthless if you do want to actually make it to the end.”
You can tune into Survivor on 10 or 10Play.
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