Rick Devens, with the help of YouTube sensation Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, is to thank for the Survivor 50 prize money increase to $2 million. Unfortunately, he won’t be winning it. The Edge of Extinction alum was voted out in Episode 12 on May 13, but he had quite the run as one of the season’s most entertaining players.
From his fake idol hidden at tribal council to accepting the challenge to flip a coin with MrBeast for the chance to win $2 million, Devens was instrumental in keeping this season lively. He had a strong alliance with Christian Hubicki and Emily Flippen, plus some other key relationships, that kept him safe for most of the game as well. With his allies gone, his flashy moves made him a big target in Episode 12. He played his Shot in the Dark for one last chance at survival, to no avail.
Here, Devens breaks down his big moves of the season, revealing which jury members at Ponderosa were gunning for him to win it all.
Congrats on making it as far as you did on Survivor 50. It was so fun to watch you this season. You kept things so lively, so thank you for that first and foremost.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
What did that moment of connection with Ozzy that you had in last week’s episode mean to you?
Oh man, I was so glad that they showed that. He really ambushed me on that. I’m sitting on the hammock, and he comes up, and it’s like, “Hey, Oz, what’s up, buddy?” And he just released that emotional story, and it meant a whole lot that he said it to me. I think that he had heard me talk a lot about my kids, understood my perspective of being a dad at that point, because we’d spent so much time together in the game on the original Cila, and then since the merge. And so the fact that he opened up to me like that meant a lot, caught me totally off guard, which is why I’m tearing up like I was not ready for it. And I just felt his pain, and I have not lost a parent, thank goodness. I don’t know what it’s like to have that regret of like, “Oh, I wish I had been able to say this one last thing to someone that now I don’t have the chance to say it to their face.” And so I really just wanted to listen to him, let him get it out, and then just let him know that as a dad, there’s nothing our kids can do to us that we’re not going to forgive and understand to an extent.
It was really one of my favorite moments in the game. He’s such a special guy, and I’m really glad we got to share that. And it meant a lot to me that he chose me to talk about that with.
Yeah, it was a really nice moment to see. It was nice to see men be tender with each other.
Yeah. And I got to tell you, there were a lot of moments like that. I think most of these men could be tender. Joe, who I know we had our moments, is the most amazing guy in terms of being such a masculine, strong presence, so much charisma, but he can just open up to you emotionally, and it really makes you feel like you have permission to do the same thing. And there were some early days in Cila where that happened, and I was just like, “This guy is so magnetic. It’s really amazing.” And so I give Joe a lot of credit for being able to do the same thing that Ozzy can do and just be totally vulnerable with people.
Of course, you and Joe had your differences this season. Where do you guys stand now?
Love Joe. He’s a great dude. If any fan ever meets him, they’re going to see what I just talked about: his magnetism, his charisma, and genuine kindness to be with you. The game is the game, and he’s a football player. I’m sure he tackled the heck out of people when he was at UCLA and shook their hands afterwards. We’ve sent a lot of messages back and forth during the season. Hopefully, our kids get to swim in the pool together at the finale next week. Love Joe. He’s a great dude.
How did your kids react to your MrBeast moment?
Loved it. Their definite favorite moment of the season. They couldn’t believe that I’m there hugging Mr. Beast, that I went for it. They’re still waiting to meet Jimmy. They’re like, “When are we going to meet him?” Now that you guys are friends. And it’s like, “Well, friends might be overselling it. I want to be his friend.” But they were so amped. And then the fact that our dude Rizo said their names on TV, Jack and Juju, Rizo’s beloved in our house forever and always now because he did that. So it was really cool. They jumped up after the coin hit. They were hugging me. It was awesome.
Robert Voets / CBS
Adrenaline rush. And it’s so good for the plot. How could you not do it?
Exactly. One person’s going to win Survivor 50, and I wanted it to be me, and that was always my focus: winning. But yeah, I want these moments along the way, not just because they’re great moments, but also that’s fun. Hiding and being under the radar to me is not fun. Some people really enjoy pulling the little strings. I need to be out front. I need to be entertaining the jury. This was my moment.
Robert Voets / CBS
Jeff has said in the past that they would never hide a real idol at tribal council. Were you surprised that nobody remembered that?
I had that in my mind, and other people probably did too, but Jeff says stuff that Jeff says, and then it changes along the way. I just thought in my mind it wasn’t with Adam’s thing, it could be anywhere at tribal. And I thought that that was what Jeff was speaking to is we don’t need people coming and tearing up tribal, looking everywhere. But for me, on Season 38, when I found my idol above the shelter, what I had found was a clue with literally a painting of the shelter and an arrow pointing right to where the idol was. So that’s what, in my mind, my fake idol was. I had found a clue with a picture showing exactly where it is in tribal. So I’m not going to be tearing up tribal. I’m going exactly to where an idol is. So it all made sense to me.
And then also a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks, “Oh, he walked right to it. He should have done it differently, even though it worked. I should have done it differently.” And it’s like, no, in my mind, I know exactly where it is. And also, I’m scared one of these people’s going to jump off the bench and try to beat me to it, which would be a nightmare because there’s not even a fake idol in there. It’s just a nut and shells and all this stuff. So that’s what I was thinking about.
When Stephenie was like, “Show me the idol,” that’s where I would have failed if I were you in that scenario. Are you just really good at thinking on your feet, or was that also a thing that you had rehearsed?
I’m good at thinking on my feet, but I also knew that if they asked me to show it to them, I’m just going to say no. Why would I show it to you? I don’t have to show it to you. Go ahead and again, you have to have that confidence that it’s a real idol, where it’s like take a chance. I would love for you to vote for me, and then I can pick who goes home. I don’t care. And also, it helped that it’s not even a fake idol in there. Like I said, what can I show them? Nothing.
Christian was actually funny because he was like, after we had planted it, he’s like, “What if we make a fake idol? And when you go and get it, you can have it come out of your sleeve.” And I’m like, I can’t do street magic, dude. Again, let’s keep it simple and just say no and dare them to vote for me. And I think people are so scared that it’s going to cost them their game that it’s like, well, we could press Devens on this, or we could just switch the vote to our second next person that we want to go. And that’s what happened.
Robert Voets / CBS
After Christian and Emily got voted out, your top allies, what was your ideal final three, and how would you have pitched your game in the end?
Ooh, that’s a good question. My game, I think, would’ve spoken for itself because so much of it was in front of the jury. I would’ve just said, “Underdog, I did this. I never bashed any of you. ” The people I was loyal to, I was so loyal to, never voted against Christian, never voted against Emily, never voted against anyone who would’ve been shocked by it. I played an incredibly loyal game, and I’d be looking at the jury with a lot of honor and integrity folks up there, Chrissy and Steph and Coach, and I think they can respect that sort of thing.
In terms of who I wanted to be next to, I’m not a “I want to be next to the best player” person. I would’ve absolutely gone to the end with Christian and Emily because I’m stupid loyal. Never would’ve gone against Cirie, which is why I think she picked when she decided to go away from Emily and Christian and I and was forced to pick sides, I think she picked the right side because we love Cirie and we would’ve been loyal to her more, but I don’t think any of us would’ve ever taken her to the end if we had that choice.
I don’t really even want to say who I would’ve wanted to go next to because I don’t want to put anything out there about vibes, but I would’ve wanted to sit next to the people who I thought would get no votes.
Would you have been happy to lose to Christian or Emily?
I would not be happy to lose, but if I’m going to lose to somebody, those were the two I would want to lose to. And I think it would’ve been a big battle at the end, and I would’ve loved to have been able to vote for either of them to win, too. And when I went out, the jury was like, “We were rooting for you. We wanted you to win.” And again, there’s still a lot of time left, and people played much more under-the-radar games that they would’ve been able to talk about, but I was shocked. I knew I had Emily and I knew I had Christian, but Dee, who I love by the way, Ponderosa, getting to know Dee and Coach was such a gift. But yeah, Coach and Chrissy and Steph were rooting for me. I’m like, “Oh man, I should have done more to stay in. This could have been great.”
But yeah, if I could have lost to somebody, if Cirie had gotten there and I lost to her, it’s like that just is what it is. It’d be incredible for her to get to the end because we all knew what a threat she was coming into the game, much less the masterclass she put on this season. And then I love Tiff so much, but yeah, I would’ve been most happy to lose to Christian or Emily.
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