What To Know
Dee Valladares was eliminated from Survivor 50 after sharing information about Rizo Velovic’s idol with multiple players.
Conflicts with Jonathan Young and Coach Wade further sealed Dee’s fate.
Dee reveals the deleted scene with Jonathan that led to her fight with Coach and more.
The old and new eras of Survivor players came together to eliminate Dee Valladares from Survivor 50 in Episode 7. The April 8 episode was the Season 45 winner’s last as a player, but she’s the first member of the jury, so we’ll see her for the rest of the season. Dee tells TV Insider that even before her fight with Benjamin “Coach” Wade and Jonathan Young, she knew she was going home, but she says viewers didn’t see what Jonathan did to cause the fight in the first place.
According to Dee, she had a conversation with Jonathan during which she said she didn’t trust Coach. Jonathan, she says, then immediately told Coach that information. She later asked him why he looked sad, and that’s when their fight began. But that’s not the first time this season that deleted scenes showed Jonathan targeting Dee.
Dee held a fashion show on her original Kalo tribe that was viewed in a different light after the tribes swapped. When people heard that the original Vatu held a fashion show as well, Dee says that players suspected she had an advantage just like the one Maryanne Oketch found in Survivor 42 (Jonathan’s first season). That advantage was given to one person from each tribe and triggered by a code word, so Jonathan started questioning this possibility and kept his eyes on Dee after that.
Dee made a fatal mistake in telling Emily Flippen (her fellow Season 45 alum), Jonathan, and Tiffany Ervin about Rizo Velovic‘s idol. Rizo entrusted her with that information in earnest and expected her to keep it to herself. Finding out that she shared the secret with anyone, let alone three people, in Episode 7 made him turn on their alliance. A fight with Coach and Jonathan also put a target on her back. It was a mess that she ultimately couldn’t clean up, even with the possibility of voting Coach out on the table.
Jonathan targeted Dee because she blindsided him by eliminating Charlie Davis. She thought they had mended fences, but trust was broken. When Jonathan blindsided Kamilla Karthigesu with Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick and Chrissy Hofbeck, it was a betrayal of his alliance with Dee, Tiff, and Kamilla. Coach’s plan for a seven-four vote against Dee was successful, even though there was a last-minute push to vote out Coach.
Here, Dee breaks down her elimination and why deleted scenes convinced her that her fate was sealed.
Explain your thought process behind telling the people you told about Rizo’s idol. Did you view them as closer allies than Rizo?
Dee Valladares: I was always going to tell Tiff. I was immediately going to tell her. For Emily, it was like, “Hey, this is the merge; we haven’t played this entire game together. This is the information I have. I want you to know about it because I want you to know that I’m on your side.” For Jonathan, it was more of a, “Hey, I know we’ve been coming at each other since day one, and I know I screwed you over with the Charlie vote,” although he was going to screw me over too, “but this is my way of showing you I really want to rebuild this.” That was my thought process.
It sucks because I’ve never done that before, and it obviously came back to bite me. It did hurt a lot. It hurt to do that to Rizo. It really did.
Robert Voets / CBS
Did you have a plan in mind for telling Rizo about that?
No, so you guys didn’t see this, but after that, Rizo was like, “Emily told me,” and I’m shocked. I sat down with Rizo afterwards, and I’m like, “I know you know I’m lying. You know that I know that I’m lying. I’m very sorry, and my biggest regret in this game is screwing you over like that, because I pride myself in keeping secrets.” In and out of the game, but mostly obviously, we’re talking about game. I had never done that. When I had an ally on 45, we rode for each other. Going into Season 50, I’m like, “I’m going to try new things. This is house money. I’m not even supposed to be here, I’m one of three winners.” That was my way of trying new things, but obviously, it backfired because it’s just not my gameplay. But I’m glad I tried. I still, to this day, tell Rizo I’m so sorry.
It seemed like you wanted to maintain a close relationship with Rizo. It didn’t seem like you were trying to betray him, but you wanted to build trust with Emily and Jonathan.
Yes, the thing that happened too is I trusted the wrong people. I think I was going to do that anyway because I really liked Rizo and we were locked in, but I was willing to just try new things and maybe build things with somebody. I should’ve done that with other people. Who knows what would’ve happened then?
Right idea, wrong people, maybe.
Correct, yeah.
Why didn’t you expect pushback from Jonathan after leaving him out of the Charlie blindside? Did you trust that your conversation after tribal was enough?
I 100% expected pushback. After Charlie got voted off, you guys don’t see this, there was a whole night section where me and Kamilla were telling him why we blindsided him, and the things Charlie was saying, trying to mix in Jonathan, as if Jonathan was going around telling people about things. He was just being really messy, Charlie, and so we were telling him about that and about how, you didn’t see this, but I did a whole fashion show in the OG Kalo that wasn’t shown. I made everyone wear the opposite sex’s clothing, and all of the guys thought that I had an advantage. So I was expecting a fallout eventually. It was just a matter of who was going to get who first.
During the fashion show, suspicions were raised about you having an advantage. Why did they think that?
Yes, so you know in Season 42, where Maryanne [Oketch] had to say something to trigger an advantage? As soon as we get into the split, Rizo said that they did a fashion show on Vatu, and Jonathan was asking him questions like, “Did they have to wear the opposite sex clothing?” [Jonathan] wanted me out since day one. You see, in the first episode, he’s saying my name since day one, so it didn’t shock me that he was upset, but what shocked me was how were you so shocked that I went against you when we weren’t even aligned from the beginning? That was what shocked me. Don’t act like we were besties, because we never were. You were coming after me. I wasn’t necessarily coming after you, but I was coming after an ally of yours. Going into 50, I really wanted to play with Jonathan. It just didn’t work. He was coming at me from the start, and I don’t know why.
Robert Voets / CBS
I can see the logic about the two fashion shows.
One-hundred percent.
It’s crazy we didn’t see that.
Yeah.
Was the argument with Coach longer than what we saw? What wasn’t shown?
It was a little bit longer. Because there was so much happening, you can see when the camera doesn’t face us, and we’re not talking, and then it goes back to talking. You didn’t get the full story. That happened right before tribal. I was already going home. Emily already spilled the beans. Basically, Jonathan and I were talking about, “Let’s play two sides.” He asked me, “Do you trust Coach?” I said, “No.” He also said he didn’t trust Coach. Obviously, it was game talk. Should I have said that? Absolutely not. He ran back to Coach and told him that I didn’t trust him, so that was great on his side, because he put a divide in between Coach and I.
Coach and I, even though we were coming for each other, we were still trying to play the game together. I see Coach all sad in the hammock, and usually, in OG Kalo, if someone was having a bad day — we got sick, a lot of us were throwing up, periods, a lot was happening that you didn’t see on OG Kalo. Coach with his calf [cramp] was really bad. We were all dismantled. I go up to Coach and was like, “What’s up? You look sad.” He goes, “I’m sad because I heard you don’t trust me.” And I’m like, “All right, who’s saying that?” And I knew, obviously, it was Jonathan, because he was the only person [to whom] I said that I didn’t trust Coach, but I wanted it to come out of his mouth. I was like, “Point to the person. I’ll go up to them right now.” And he was like, “No, you’re not being honorable.”
Who is in Survivor? Sorry, Coach.
I was like, bro. We’re playing a game. That’s why you see me pointing [to other players]. Just seeing the guys in front of me, I was like, “Bro, if I’m going to go out, I’m going out with a bang, and I’m not going to stay quiet.” Because what do I have to lose? Nothing, I’m already going to the jury.
Robert Voets / CBS
You felt your fate was sealed, and you said screw it, let’s play.
My fate was sealed the moment I told Emily about Rizo’s idol. Well, actually, going into this game, my fate was sealed. I had an expiration date in this game, unfortunately, but I also knew going in that it wasn’t my season, and I was OK with it. The only thing that I wasn’t going to be OK with was either not making jury or playing somebody else’s game. I didn’t want to look back in hindsight and have those regrets, and I don’t. I’m super happy.
Explain that. You obviously had a target on your back being a former winner, but why do you say it just wasn’t your season?
I am delusional enough to think I can win again. What I mean with it just wasn’t my season. With three winners on the cast, do people really want another winner to win this season? No one wants that again. You want someone new to win Season 50. You want someone that can represent 25 years. I already won, I got the experience, so nobody’s going to feel as bad voting me off as somebody else. And also, the further you have me in the game, I will gain momentum, because I am good at speaking with people. It just so happened that it was the first freaking tribal where everybody could vote. I’ll tell you something, if I were in a smaller [group], I will get my a** in somehow, someway. I will weasle my way through, but this was just way too big of a vote. This was a very pivotal moment where alliance lines, it’s not there yet, some people haven’t chosen sides, but it’s warming up. And it’s not the time to go against anybody for my vote. I thought it was the perfect moment for me to leave.
When you caused the live tribal, did you really think you had the numbers to get Coach out? Was it just, “Let me try”?
No. Girl, I wish. I said, “Let me try, because I’m not going to sit here like a duck.” When you’re sitting at tribal council, and Jeff [Probst] is sitting in front of you, I don’t know if this happens to any other players, but for me, I don’t want to disappoint Jeff. You asked me to be in this season for a reason. Whatever you saw in me, I appreciated, and I’m going to give you a show. I will try because I care about this game so damn much that I’m not going to just zip and stay shut. I’m going to fight, because at the end of the day, Kelli, you never know. I didn’t have the numbers, but maybe one person was like, “Let’s actually do Coach,” and it would’ve worked.
Or maybe your Shot in the Dark would’ve worked.
Or maybe my Shot in the Dark! I am a lucky person. Obviously, it didn’t pan out this time, but I’m a lucky person. You never know. Season 50, this is a great season. There are so many things that are going to happen that you guys are going to be excited about.
Robert Voets / CBS
I want to know what your reaction was to seeing Emily spill other people’s secrets when you were watching this season, knowing that she told your secret.
Honestly, I was laughing. There’s no animosity towards Emily. I love her. I was cracking up. That girl, she doesn’t know it, but she’s so special. Even in the real world, she’s very humble and very funny, but I don’t think she sees the greatness that people see in her. Yeah, it’s annoying that you’re spilling people’s secrets, because what are you doing? Girl, it’s Season 50, stop being a snitch. But she’s this really special person, and watching her, I’m having a blast watching her. Her takes on the game are spot on. It’s just that the way that she plays is not, from my opinion, the best way to play. But it’s funny to watch as a fan.
She has been entertaining this season, for sure.
She’s so entertaining. She just says the truth. What comes out of her brain is really it.
Everyone’s learning, and I don’t know if everyone learned in season, that if you tell her a secret, she doesn’t care to keep it. And that’s a choice she can make. That’s fine, it makes for good TV.
That’s her gameplay, absolutely. It makes for good TV. It hurts us, the players, more, obviously, but it makes for good TV. We’re going to look back on this and laugh, because girl, what are you doing?
So you and Emily are on good terms?
Yes, 100 percent.
What about you and Coach, and you and Jonathan?
I think we’re on good terms. I don’t really talk to many people. Even to this day, I’ve not reached out to one player to see why they voted for me or what they said about me. Absolutely not. Once the game is all said and done and you’re in the real world, I told two people, “Hey, you guys are not safe from my confessionals.” That’s all I said. “Just so you know, you’re not marked safe.” I think I’m on good terms. I feel that there’s some feelings of bitterness or some resentment. I feel it, I’m not saying it’s true. But things get back to you. Things have gotten back to me, but I [couldn’t] care less. I just laugh about it. I have no ill will towards anybody. If someone is hurt by something I said, just call me, and we’ll talk about it. That’s it.
Who did you tell that they were not safe from your confessionals?
[Laughs] Chrissy and Coach. I told them. I didn’t tell Jonathan, but at one point, way later, I said, “Hey, you guys are not safe.” Chrissy was like, “You’re not safe either.” It just wasn’t shown. Everything has been said. Some things just get shown, and other things don’t get shown.
Is there anything else that didn’t get shown this season that you really wish had?
Just the fashion show. It was a lot of fun. We were so hungry. It was that moment when the starvation’s starting to kick in. I was wearing Jonathan’s clothes, he was wearing mine, my little crop top. Mike [White] was Kamilla, Kamilla was Mike, and then Chrissy and Coach were each other. It was so funny. We went all out. Chrissy put feathers in her hair. We did a whole palm frond entrance. It was hilarious. That was it, because it was a fun character development moment.
Survivor 50, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS