‘Survivor 49’ Castoff Apologizes to Sandra Diaz-Twine for ‘Anyone but Me’ Comments

The Tribe Has Spoken

For exclusive news and updates, subscribe to our Survivor Newsletter:

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Survivor Season 49 Episode 4, “Go Kick Rocks, Bro.”]

Matt Williams was being honest when he said that he hated how two-time Survivor winner Sandra Diaz-Twine played the game in Survivor 49 Episode 4, which aired on Wednesday, October 15, on CBS. But hindsight is 20/20. The fourth player voted out of the season (and fifth player sent home overall) has changed his tune about disliking Diaz-Twine’s “anyone but me” strategy and is apologizing to her for his criticism in the episode. Williams hadn’t seen Diaz-Twine’s Instagram post (below) calling him out for the comments before our exit interview. Here, he explains his thought process. (Read our Episode 4 recap here.)

“Sandra, I apologize for thinking that what you were doing was not playing Survivor,” Williams says in our exit interview. “When you’re there in the moment, sometimes that’s absolutely playing Survivor.”

Diaz-Twine is one of the all-time Survivor legends. She’s the first castaway to ever win the game twice. Her first victory was Season 7, Pearl Islands (the season with the infamous Survivor villain, Jonny Fairplay), and her second was Season 20, Heroes vs. Villains.

“Here I am having a blast in Hawaii. Enjoying my husband‘s birthday week. When @car0lynr0se [Carolyn Wiger from Survivor 44] notifies me that I’m being talked about on Episode 4 of Season 49,” Diaz-Twine said in her Instagram post, which featured a picture of Williams in his first and now only Tribal Council. “All I’m gonna say is that my strategy has paid dividends not once but twice. You better ask somebody.”

Williams was trying to stage a blindside against Nate Moore, whom he viewed as being at the top of the new Hina tribe after the Episode 4 tribe swap. In a one-on-one chat with Moore, Williams said, “I hate how Sandra played the game, but I’m going to say it,” about her “anyone but me” strategy. Williams tells us he was shocked when he found himself playing that card.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sandra Diaz-Twine (@sassysdt)

Williams reveals that he “toyed around with trying to make a fake idol and trying to cause some sort of confusion.” He also shares that he considered campaigning for Jason Treul’s elimination (Treul was Williams’ only other teammate from the original Hina tribe left after the tribe swap — the new Hina now consists of four former Ulis and one former Kele, in addition to Treul). But he wanted to stay Hina strong.

Related

‘Survivor’: Jeff Probst Pushes Back on ‘Harsh’ Flint Punishment

“I thought, you know what? No, I love Jason. That’s not going to be my play. I’m not going to be the guy that’s flipping on my buddy. And I thought there’s a possibility that [a Moore blindside] works,” he tells us. “And so I went in the direction of, ‘Hey, let’s all write down Nate’s name.’ But when Nate said, ‘Dude, you were throwing people under the bus,’ I said, ‘How so, Nate? I didn’t throw anybody.’ He said, ‘You said anyone but me.’ I was like, I absolutely did. And I don’t consider that throwing Jason or Sophi under the bus. You got options. Pick one of them. I’m not campaigning against them, but this is why you should keep me, was my argument.”

He admits that Diaz-Twine was right to play the way she did.

“Anybody but me, it became my strategy. So Sandra, I apologize for thinking that what you were doing was not playing Survivor,” Williams says. “When you’re there in the moment, sometimes that’s absolutely playing Survivor. I did it. I’m Sandra’s little minion, following in her footsteps.”

Read our in-depth exit interview with Williams here.

Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS