Survivor’s Latest Boot Denounces Frustrating Teammate: ‘You’re Trying to Be the Victim Here’
The following contains spoilers from Wednesday’s episode of Survivor 47.
If the Lavo tribe had gotten its way, they would’ve sent the majority’s No. 1 choice Rome out the door. But what happened when that top pick was armed to the gills with advantages? Aysha Welch found out the hard way when she unexpectedly found her torch snuffed in Wednesday’s Survivor.
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With Rome securing both an immunity idol and a Steal-a-Vote advantage, Teeny and Kishan felt they had no other choice than to stick with that alliance, which also included Genevieve. This “core four” left Sol and Aysha on the outs, and despite Teeny’s personal connection with the latter, Aysha received half of the votes which were enough to send the podcaster straight to Ponderosa. (Read our full recap here.)
So what was it like to live with the rambunctious Rome out on the island and how did a tribe full of duos end her game? Below, the ousted Aysha tells all.
TVLINE | How blindsided were you that night and how are you feeling about your early exit today?
AYSHA WELCH | I would say I was more hurt by this vote than blindsided. I knew there was a 50/50 chance that my name was going to be written down, or in my mind, it would have been Genevieve’s name written down. Teeny and Kishan did reassure me that they were willing to split the votes 3-1 on Genevieve and Rome. So in my mind, it wasn’t even Sol who was on the table anymore. So I thought it was Genevieve, or me or Sol, that type of situation. When I saw the votes revealed, I immediately knew that it was Genevieve, Rome and Kishan [who voted for me], and that Teeny voted Sol because I knew I didn’t vote Sol. That’s why I turned back and asked, “Wait, Sol did you know?” because I didn’t want to go back to Ponderosa and be mad at the wrong people.
So I was mostly just hurt because I felt like I had built a good relationship with Teeny. I had such a strong relationship with Sol and I felt like I was working on my relationship with Kishan. We were getting there. We had fun banter. We were slowly getting to know each other on a personal level, but I felt like from a strategic standpoint, I was really trying to reassure him. But that day, we had a conversation where he said, “My biggest concern is if we get down to four with me, you, Teeny and Sol, you’re going to pick Sol and Teeny over me.” And I was like, “Well, first of all, let’s hope we don’t get down to the four. That’s something we can worry about when we get there. But I want to reassure you, I want us four to go into the merge together, like us four being the strong four.” So that’s what I was trying to bank on, but I guess he needed more reassurance that I would have been more loyal to him over Sol. I don’t see how that would have been the case when me and Sol spent so much time together. He was like my safety blanket out there. I was very comfortable with Sol. I trusted him completely. So that’s why going into this vote, I brought all of my stuff. I knew it was a high likelihood it could be me and I was just hurt that it was.
TVLINE | You’re a podcaster with “Rob Has a Podcast.” Did you feel any pressure out there to either perform well or go deep in the game because of that?
Yes and no. I knew that from just being a podcaster, I would have the community support because I feel like if I saw a RHAP patron or if I saw another podcaster, I know I would feel like, “Oh my gosh, yes, let’s root for this person!” So then I was just like, “If I have the community support, that’d be awesome.” You can’t guarantee that, but I was optimistic about that. But then also understanding as a podcaster that just talking about the show or having opinions about the show does not mean that you will play a great game. We’ve seen so many superfans go on there and just crash and burn because it’s just the knowledge of the show. It’s the equivalent of being an NBA analyst. You could talk about it all you want to, but if you put someone on the court with a ball in their hands, then you’ll get to see what they can do. The knowledge is OK, but it just gives you the knowledge for what skills you need to have.
So that’s why I did so much preparation before going out there to make sure that I was going to be as strong as I could be. Making sure that I was doing intermittent fasting and doing puzzles. I was getting myself in the mindset of having to do these challenges on just coconut alone. I didn’t plan on being the puzzle person, but I was on a tribe where no one felt confident doing puzzles. So I was like, “OK, I’m going to step up.” I was on a tribe where no one wanted to go the first day on that camp supply journey. So it was just like, “OK, I’ll step up.” So it just was one of those situations where it was like, even though I knew as a podcaster, “Maybe don’t put yourself out there Day 1,” or “Maybe navigate the vote in a better way and plan to vote the numbers out,” once you get out there, you can’t control the people that you are with. Nothing could have prepared me for being on a tribe with someone like the guy I was on the tribe with. Nothing prepares you for that. You just don’t anticipate these things. Once you’re out there one day on coconut, you’re trying to find things in your memory bank. But then you’re like, “Wait, who won Season 45?” and that’s something that you can recite in your sleep.
TVLINE | Real talk: How frustrating was it to live with Rome out there?
It’s like having a roommate that is always in the living room talking as loud as possible about anything they’re doing. “I can make a grilled cheese sandwich in five seconds, I swear. I can melt the cheese faster than anybody else.” And you’re just like, “Do I wanna hear that today? No, I’m actually gonna spend the rest of the day in my room.” I will honestly say never in my life have I met someone like him. It just made it very challenging because I walked into this thinking, “I have five people that I have options of working with,” right? I’m not going to lock myself in, in any way. I’m just going to build strong relationships and have options to see which route I want to go. But when you have the Rome element, I’m like, “OK, that is not an option. This man has no interest in getting to know me,” and that was evident all the way through to Day 7.
And then Day 1, getting approached by Teeny about the “RHAP” information and finding out that they’re aware, I’m just like, “Oh, OK. Now, I feel kind of locked in with Teeny. There is this piece of information that’s dangling over my head that could come out and ruin my game. Who knows? Because there was also tons of conversation at camp even from Rome about knowing about “Rob Has a Podcast” and “Oh, they do this and they do this,” and he had no idea. So it was just like, “OK, if he already thinks I’m a threat or he already wants me out, then finding out this information would be just detrimental.” So I’m like, “OK, I have to be reassuring to Teeny. I have to show Teeny that I’m all in with them.” And because Teeny was so connected with Kishan, our tribe was very clear duos with Rome and Genevieve, Kishan and Teeny, and me and Sol. And everyone knew that Kishan and Teeny were in the middle. Everyone liked that duo. So they had the option of going either way, which I would think, “OK, just take out the middle. Us four could overpower the middle.” But not when the other duo contained Rome.
TVLINE | Rome catches the tiniest of fish and eats them directly in front of you. What were your thoughts in the moment?
It’s funny because Teeny and Sol were the main ones that wanted the fish. So I was shocked to see Rome even call me out in his confessional. I do not like seafood. I literally don’t even eat seafood. And so it was a matter of, “OK, we’ve been eating nothing but coconut. You’re bringing fish by fish. I’ll eat a piece, I guess.” But he acted like I was begging for something that I don’t even enjoy the taste of. At this point, I enjoy the taste of coconut more than I would enjoy the taste of fish. It’s unseasoned. I can’t even disguise the taste and it just came out of the ocean. I was not begging him for fish. So I want to make that clear. Then for him to feel the need to chow on it next to me when you had Teeny and Sol who really did want the fish. Then I feel something on my back and I’m just like, “Did you just spit a bone out and hit me?” It was just the whole sequence of events and the fact that when it aired, I had pushed that so far into my memory. I was just like, “Oh my gosh, that did actually happen.”
It was very frustrating because he was very obsessed with the fact that he had to do everything. He didn’t even give credit to the fact that we tried scaling the fish. And then it was like, “Oh, well, let me try.” And we tried doing the fire. You can’t be demanding that you do everything and then complain that you’re doing everything. You even saw in the episode. Genevieve was like, “Hey, can I go out and fish?” “No, the waters are too choppy,” but then you go out. You’re trying to be the victim here.
So first of all: calm down. Second of all, I don’t even eat fish.
TVLINE | Teeny told you she didn’t want you to leave. Did you believe everything she was saying or did it feel like something else was brewing there?
The reason I felt like there was something else brewing in that conversation with Teeny… I was kind of uneasy after we talked because Teeny told me like, “I don’t want you to go anywhere, but you should be worried about Kishan.” I was like, “OK, I’m going to focus today [on] making sure that Kishan feels validated.” I went to work on it even before we lost that immunity. I was telling Sol, “I think of us four, I have the least relationship with Kishan, and I want to focus on building that relationship.” I just wanted to make sure that Kishan felt like, “OK, we’re good,” because I didn’t feel like he felt that way as much as I did with Sol and as much as I felt with Teeny.
So when Teeny told me that and I knew that Teeny was close to Kishan, I’m like, “OK, so they’re having conversations where Kishan is floating my name.” So that’s a little concerning. But even when they approached me to say, “Hey, we want to do Sol,” I was just like, “What incentive do I have to vote out Sol at this point when we have these clear duos. You wouldn’t vote out your duo if I asked you to vote out your partner. If you wanted Sol out, you don’t need my vote. Even if I had no knowledge that Rome potentially had an extra vote or steal-a-vote, you still have three votes between Kishan, Teeny and Genevieve. So I’m like, “You could get Sol out 3-2 if you wanted to.” If you have Rome’s vote, you can get Sol out 4-2. Why do you need my vote and then punish me because I don’t want to get rid of Sol, because you think, “Oh, well, down the line, you’re not going to get rid of Sol.” Why are we worried about down the line? It’s Day 7. I was trying to press home that I wanted to go into the merge with us as a strong four. We could be the new Reba 4 and then it was just kind of like “No.” Because I was unwilling to get rid of Sol, they wanted to get rid of me, which is like, “No, you wanted to get rid of me, but you needed a reason to flip the vote.”
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