Survivor 50 Bombshell: Rick Devens Breaks Down the Chaos Behind That Epic Survivor 50 coin flip!
“I knew that coin was going to hit. I just knew it. It was like my whole life had led to the moment.”
Before we get into the coin flip, take me through the reaction around you as you tossed that grenade into the middle of Tribal Council by throwing everyone, including yourself for dropping Rizo’s name, under the bus.
RICK DEVENS: I knew I was in a desperate situation. The crazy scramble by EVERYONE at camp before Tribal was unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of on Survivor. So when I “blew up Tribal,” the reactions were a mixed bag. I think some people were shell-shocked, others were straight up mad, and some players were just majorly annoyed.
But then others were eating it up! Aubry appreciated that I was putting the target on someone that wasn’t her or me. Tiff was always entertained by my Tribal antics, and obviously so was Rizo. Emily and I were a chaotic mess together all season, and this episode really showed how much fun we had together. And, of course, Cirie is taking it all in…
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Was the reason you volunteered for the coin flip because you felt in serious danger, you wanted that immunity idol, you just wanted to have fun and impress your kids who are big MrBeast fans, or a combination of the above?
All of the above. I felt I had done a good enough job of putting the target on Steph and Jonathan that I was going to be safe at that Tribal. But to this day, I’m not sure whether that’s true or not, so I definitely felt at risk. In my experience, revisionist history is very real among castaways. Even if I was safe for one night, I knew I’d be back in the firing line the next day, so I really wanted that idol. I’d been dying to get my hands on an actual real genuine idol all season! So I felt it was worth the risk.
But I also wanted the moment. I said in my preseason interviews that I was willing to make less than ideal strategic decisions to give the fans a great season. This is season 50 for goodness sake. With the fake idol, Christian and I had already pulled off a move that no one else had done in 50 seasons. Now another opportunity to make Survivor history fell in my lap. And a moment that I knew my kids would go nuts over! I wanted it bad.
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Are you surprised nobody tried to stop or challenge you for the opportunity?
I was a little surprised. I think people get so scared that they will make a move that cost them the game and that obviously could have happened. But I thought some of the castaways I had just flipped the script on may want to take advantage of this opportunity. When I saw that they were all too cautious to go for it, it emboldened me even more. I think people underestimate how starving the jury is for action and what a huge impact these moments can have on them.
Did you get the sense players were rooting for you to succeed on the coin flip because it would double the prize pot to $2 million, or lose it so you went to the jury?
That’s one thing I love about this twist: I don’t think anyone wanted me to be the one to flip that coin. They want me gone, and if I nail the flip, not only am I safe that night, but now I have a REAL idol. That’s the last thing they want. But once it was decided that, yes, I would be the flipper, I think they were all rooting for me to land it.
At that point, Ozzy became my biggest cheerleader. He was so encouraging and supportive before and after the flip. It’s one of many great Ozzy memories I take from 50. This is $2 million dollars we’re talking about. Doubling the prize! They can worry about the Devens problem later. I think they all wanted me to succeed on the flip.
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What was going through your head as that coin was rolling around there on the Tribal Council floor seemingly forever with your fate hanging in the balance?
Can we just take a second to talk about that flip? As Rizo would say, it was cinema. I mean, I could flip that coin 50 more times and not land it in such a perfect way that it rolled around on its edge like that and wobbled back and forth. Unreal.
In terms of how I felt, I was so confident. Like ridiculously, manically confident. I was at peace with the fact that if it didn’t come up heads, I’d be heading home, and okay, well, no one in 50 seasons has gone home the way I did. I can say they never voted me out, right? But, dude, I knew that coin was going to hit. I just knew it. It was like my whole life had led to the moment.
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