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A local contestant who reached the end of the 49th season of Survivor and finished in third place says the experience left her feeling at peace, proud of how she played the game and ready to move on, Sage Ahrens-Nichols told KIRO 7 News in a postseason interview.<\/p>\n
Sage, who is from Olympia, said watching herself on television over the course of the season was emotional at times but ultimately affirming.<\/p>\n
She attended the live finale event and later finished watching the episode, saying she now feels a sense of closure.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, I try to live by the mantra \u2018detached from the outcome,\u2019\u201d Sage said. \u201cOf course, I\u2019ve had feelings. But in this moment, I feel at peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the season, Sage became one of the more memorable personalities on the island, known for leaning into discomfort and being unapologetically herself.<\/p>\n
She said that was intentional, even if it made some viewers uneasy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like normalizing the discomfort because that\u2019s where the growth is,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don\u2019t grow being comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sage said feedback from her inner circle mattered far more to her than public reaction.<\/p>\n
She deliberately avoided online comments and focused instead on the people closest to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir words have been so meaningful,\u201d she said of her friends and family. \u201cThey\u2019ve expressed so much pride in me, and so much appreciation of, \u2018Yeah, that\u2019s the Sage I know.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking back on her time in the game, Sage said she would not change how she played, even though many of the moves she wanted to make never came together.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiterally nothing that I wanted to happen worked out,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can only push so hard. I\u2019m one person.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pushed back on the idea, shown at times during the season, that she held significant power in the game, saying several major votes would have gone differently if that had been the case.<\/p>\n
Still, Sage said her approach would work well in a different group dynamic and that every season of Survivor brings its own challenges.<\/p>\n
Sage also addressed how editing shaped viewers\u2019 understanding of the game, saying entire strategic relationships and discussions were left out of the broadcast, particularly surrounding a key vote that changed the direction of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was mind-blowing to me,\u201d she said. \u201cAll of our strategic relationship was completely edited out.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the future of the franchise, Sage shared her perspective on how returning players might fare in Survivor 50, noting that early alliances and starting tribe placement can heavily influence success.<\/p>\n
For fans hoping to follow in her footsteps, Sage offered simple advice for the audition process.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiterally be yourself,\u201d she said. \u201cKnow who you are at your core, be confident in that, and stick to it. And never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that her Survivor journey has ended, Sage said her focus has shifted back home.<\/p>\n
A self-described homebody, she said her long-term dream is to pursue a doctorate in either behavioral neuroscience or philosophy, though she acknowledged the financial hurdles of higher education.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be my dream,\u201d she said. \u201cI love learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, Sage said she is content being back in Washington with her dogs, reflecting on an experience that took her from Olympia to the end of one of television\u2019s longest-running reality competitions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A local contestant who reached the end of the 49th season of Survivor and finished in third place…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,76866,94065,23150,411],"class_list":["post-193998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sage","tag-sage-ahrens-nichols","tag-survivor","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}