YouTube Evvie Jagoda has her torch snuffed in episode 9 of "Survivor 41."
Evvie Jagoda is the most recent boot of “Survivor 41,” the second victim in Wednesday night’s double Tribal Council, following the blindside of Naseer Muttalif. Evvie was in the minority in her tribe, but had faith that tribemate Deshawn Radden might flip to her and Xander Hastings’ side. Unfortunately for her, that plan didn’t work out, and she became the third member of the jury. Since Wednesday, she has spoken out about her elimination, her tribemates, and everything that happened on the island which we didn’t get to see.
Here’s what you need to know.
Evvie Had “A Lot of Trust” in Deshawn
YouTubeDeshawn Radden and Evvie Jagoda strategize on the beach in episode 9 of “Survivor 41.”
As was clear in the episode, the key to Evvie’s safety Wednesday night lay in Deshawn. Due to the merged tribe being split in two groups of five for this week’s Tribal Councils, Evvie’s only ally in her group was ostensibly Xander. However, there was apparently much more to Evvie’s relationship with Deshawn than was shown onscreen.
According to Evvie, Deshawn had actually approached her immediately before the Tribal where Tiffany Seely was eliminated, and proposed that they work together. She broke the situation down with Rob Cesternino in her Rob Has a Podcast exit interview:
I had this relationship with Deshawn that went so far back in the game, and we were always trying to work together…he came to me [on day 16] [and said,] ‘Listen, I wanna work with you, we’re gonna do this vote and then we’re gonna work together.” And I was like, ‘hell yeah, that’s always what I wanted!’
She explained further in an interview with TVLine that “[Deshawn] came to me the next day [day 17] and told me he would never write my name down, so I did have a lot of trust in him.”
She explained in an interview with EW that while she had her trust misplaced in Deshawn, Xander may have had his trust misplaced in Danny McCray: “I think the other thing is that…Xander felt like he had a good relationship with Danny…I think Xander always thought that relationship was a bit more two-way than it was.” It was, of course, both Danny and Deshawn who ended up voting Evvie out.
She went on to explain in TVLine that she believed it was Danny’s presence in the group which led Deshawn to vote against her: “Honestly, I think Deshawn was considering it, but ultimately the Black players in the game formed an alliance based on something deep and important to them, which I completely applaud them for.”
She continued to give her thoughts about the significance of the majority “Black alliance” in an interview with Parade:
But let me just say, in the game, I didn’t know how explicitly the Black alliance was formed on something much deeper than the game. The best thing about this season is the cast. And one of the best things about the cast is its diversity. So as a fan of the show, I’m so proud that they were able to like do that. And so it makes sense that, especially the day after the Tiffany Tribal Council, when there’s not a lot of time, that they weren’t going to quickly flip on something really important to them.
When asked by Cesternino whether she thought Xander would play either his idol or his extra vote for her, Evvie made it clear that she was under no false hope in that respect, saying that the fact that he didn’t play his idol for her in episode 7 spoke volumes:
Honestly for me I was like, if Xander didnt play his idol on me at the merge vote when we were so united…to me that was like Charlie Brown with the football. I’m not gonna put my eggs in the ‘Xander’s-gonna-play-his-idol-for-me’ basket….I get that. Save your idol, it’s your idol, I haven’t been the best ally to you, I don’t fault him for that.
Evvie’s Queer Identity Is Partly Why She Came On the Show
Evvie, who is openly queer and currently has a female partner, closed out her exit speech in the episode by saying, “Any queer kids out there, be yourself, you’re amazing, love yourself.” In her interview with Parade, she expounded on why she decided to participate in the show, especially as it related to her queer identity: “One of the main reasons I wanted to do the show was because so many people look like me and are like me, and they’re never on the show. I just really thought that I could do well on the show and be a good representative for that.”
She continued to say that one of the “greatest joys of [her] life” was realizing she was queer, and that it “permeates everything I do.” She said that, “Being there and being the one that everyone likes and is like talking to you, and making strategic moves, and like freaking winning an Immunity Challenge, like it’s more than I could have ever dreamed of.”
When asked by CBSLocal whether Evvie would be interested in returning, she responded, “I’d go back in a second. I’ve got unfinished business out there. I would definitely love to do that again but, you know, are people going to let me get further? I don’t know.”
Evvie also revealed Wednesday morning that she had received her diploma from Harvard for her doctorate, officially making her a doctor. She went on to receive outpourings of congratulations from her many fans.
Be sure to catch Evvie and Naseer’s joint Ponderosa video on CBS. CBS also posted a snippet from the video of Evvie and Tiffany talking about Evvie’s queer identity on Instagram.
“Survivor 41” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.