Naseer Reacts to Being Blindsided by His Allies

YouTube Naseer Muttalif on Survivor 41

In episode 9 of “Survivor 41,” which aired November 17, castaway Naseer Muttalif was blindsided by his close allies Shan Smith and Ricard Foye. Naseer was originally a member of the Luvu tribe but became close allies with Ua Tribe members Shan and Ricard after the merge.

Naseer Reacts to Being Blindsided

In a November 2021 interview with Parade, Naseer revealed how he felt about being blindsided by Shan and Ricard.

“I don’t think that was the right way to vote me out. I was a loyal, solid number for them,” Naseer told Parade. “I thought the vote was a no-brainer; Ricard and Shan would vote for Heather. I don’t have to waste my idol, and Shan doesn’t have to waste her extra vote.”

Naseer told the magazine he went into Tribal Council confident, but things didn’t go according to plan. The November 17 episode titled “Who’s Who in the Zoo,” featured the first tie vote at Tribal Council this season. Naseer and Heather received an equal amount of votes, so everyone had to vote again. The second time around, Naseer received the majority of votes.

It turns out; Shan did use her extra vote at Tribal Council. She cast one vote for Naser and one vote for Heather to tie up the votes. Then she cast her sole vote for Naseer in the second round of voting.

In the episode, Naseer revealed that the elimination completely blindsided him.

“I felt confident. I knew I was a solid alliance for them; I was loyal to Shan and Ricard,” Naseer told Parade. “On that day, it felt right. I stepped out of the challenge the previous day with Shan to get the rice, so we built a relationship. Sometimes you have to trust someone and have a human connection. That wasn’t the right person to trust, obviously.”

Fans React to Split Vote at Tribal Council

Shan’s decision to use her extra vote in this week’s Tribal Council received mixed reactions from “Survivor” fans. Some fans felt it was an innovative way to use the extra vote. Others said it was a waste of an extra vote.

One Twitter user wrote, “okay why did Shan waste that vote they could’ve easily voted naseer out????” Another user tweeted, “That was a waste of an extra vote.”

Other fans defended Shan’s decision and attempted to justify her logic. One Twitter user wrote, “Shan used her extra vote because she and Ricard weren’t sure if they could trust Heather/Erika. If Erika/Heather voted Shan, Naseer voted Heather, Shan/Ricard voted Naseer and Naseer used his idol, Shan would go home.” Another fan wrote, “Really fun split. Beyond any idol use, if they don’t use the extra vote for Naseer, & Erika & Heather go rogue, it would be a 2-2-1 & E/H [Erika and Heather] would hold the power on the revote.”

Naseer on Finding the Idol

If his alliance members betraying him wasn’t bad enough, Naseer was eliminated from “Survivor” with an immunity idol in hand. Naseer found the immunity idol pre-merge but never used the idol. In a November 2021 interview, Naseer told Entertainment Weekly that finding an immunity idol was his dream.

“That was my dream. One day I will be on ‘Survivor’ and I’ll find an idol. I will keep it as [a] secret to the entire tribe,” Naseer told the outlet.

Naseer did keep the idol a secret for a little bit, but this season, players that found the three hidden immunity idols had to recite a strange phrase in front of the other players to activate the idol. Naseer’s phrase was, “confused as a goat on Astroturf.” Once all three phrases were said, the idols were activated. The phrases were bizarre and hard to slip into casual conversation, so the players who found the idols had difficulty keeping it a secret from fellow castaways.

“Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.