YouTube Ricard Foye and Shan Smith in episode 10 of "Survivor 41."
Ricard Foyé and Shan Smith made for one of the most iconic duos “Survivor” has seen in a long time. Fans got to see them dominate season 41 together, first on the Ua tribe, and then post-merge, where Ricard eventually realized he had to blindside Shan if he had any hope of progressing in the game.
Although Shan told Ricard he “has my vote for $1 million” as she was voted out, it turns out she only had his back because she was under the mistaken impression that he had remained loyal to her. After Ricard was voted out, and she had discovered the truth, she proceeded to give him the cold shoulder at Ponderosa, and the status of their relationship was unclear as of the last episode.
However, Ricard and Shan have recently spoken out about how they made up, how their friendship devolved as the season aired, and what the status of their iconic friendship is today.
Ricard Says Watching the Show Re-Opened Old Wounds
In a January “Deep Dive” interview with Rob Cesternino, Ricard revealed that the healing process between him and Shan was a “journey.” Ricard was voted out on night 24, and the finale took place on night 26; as a result, they didn’t have much time to talk. On the morning of the finale, however, Ricard explained, “we made up, kind of. We had a long talk and she explained to me her feelings and what not, and then we were tight again. It was like nothing happened, we had so much fun that day. It was the most fun day.”
Ricard said that he was overjoyed by this reunion with his “best friend,” and that he hardly even paid attention to anybody else at Ponderosa at that point. However, by the time they came back home and had to watch the show, their relationship became strained again, even to the point where Ricard didn’t know whether they’re still friends, even though he does “hope” to maintain their friendship. He explained:
I think the struggles of the anxiety of the game, having to re-watch everything, and just seeing how we’re received by the fans … I don’t know where we are in the present day. I don’t know if we’re friends, I don’t really know where we are. And it’s like, I hope that we have a future, but I think we just need some time from the finale to figure things out. I don’t know. It’s really hard watching our story be told back. It’s been wild.
When Cesternino asked him if re-watching the show re-opened old wounds, Ricard responded, “I think so. Yeah, I think so.”
Shan: Ricard Didn’t Like Talking to Me ‘When I Was Hot’
In a January interview with the Purple Pants Podcast, Shan also opened up about how her relationship with Ricard has devolved since production wrapped up.
“I have this really bad pattern in my life,” Shan said, “where I just continue to persist in relationships with people that kind of give me red flags.” While echoing how they made up at Ponderosa, she also said that watching the season back only strained their relationship, especially because Ricard didn’t like talking to her when she was popular among fans. Shan explained:
I really wanted our friendship to work, and I just had a lot of love for him – still have a lot of love for him – but then I think after everything, the watching of the season, and some of our interactions when I was hot and he was not, and how he couldn’t rock with me when I was hot and he was not. It wasn’t til I wasn’t hot that he wanted [to talk] again, so that was hard for me … he would hit me up when it was convenient for him.
Shan added that Ricard also painted her in a somewhat negative light in some podcasts, which only served to hurt their friendship further. “There was a few ‘Survivor’ alums actually that sent me a clip on a podcast that he did where he was kind of dragging me a little bit,” Shan explained, “and I was just so shocked when I saw it. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, why would you say this stuff? Like why?’ And that hit me weird.”
“It is an intense experience,” Shan went on. “But I’m able to just see it for what it was and kind of keep it as lightning in a bottle, and just leave that bottle behind. There’s no shade, there’s no hate, he’s not a terrible person, I know my circle doesn’t involve a lot of clout chasers.”
“Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS. Be sure to catch season 42 when it premieres Wednesday, March 9.