Hunter McKnight (‘Survivor 46’ exit interview): ‘I was lulled into my own doom’
On Wednesday’s ninth episode of “Survivor 46,” chaos reigned at the Nuinui camp as Hunter McKnight reeled from an apparent upheaval of his game at the previous tribal council. Hunter was left out of a majority blindside and without any allies he trusted or wanted to work with going forward. Then, after losing the immunity challenge, the group saw and seized their opportunity to get out the biggest challenge threat. Read on for Hunter’s “Survivor 46” exit interview from the end of the episode.
Last week, when Q Burdette effectively dismantled the alliance of six that he and Hunter were apart of, Hunter was left in a spot where he no longer wanted to work with Q and his other closest ally Tevin Davis was not out of the game. Hunter knew that his only options for survival were to continue to win immunity or use his hidden (and still secret from everyone) idol so effectively that it neutralizes the group of people unwilling to work with him. Despite assurances that Tiffany Nicole Ervin or Q would be the target, Hunter felt uneasy minutes before tribal council and let it out that he had an idol and would play it, all in an effort to switch the vote to Ben Katzman.
At tribal council, once again Q caused chaos and there was a wave of whispers supporting getting Q out and more assurances thrown at Hunter that everyone would vote for Q. Because of those assurances, Hunter opted out of playing his idol. In the end, only Liz Wilcox, Venus Vafa and Kenzie Petty joined Hunter in voting for Q, while four others had their votes on Hunter and Q’s was on Ben, resulting in a 4-4 tie. After the necessary re-vote, Hunter received all but one vote and was eliminated.
After leaving the game and pulling out his idol, Hunter said, “There it is, in all of its splendor. I had convinced myself that I was playing my idol going into this, but I was lulled into my own doom is what happened and it’s so irritating.” As frustrating as it was for him, he understood the move and knew that on some level it was his own fault for not playing his idol based on assurances from people he couldn’t trust. “I love the experience,” he concluded. “But not how I wanted it to end.”
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