‘Survivor 49’ Finalist Accuses Several Cast Members of Pre-Gaming Before Her Season

Survivor 49 finalist Sage Ahrens-Nichols has been opening up about her experience on the long-running CBS reality series, including accusations of unprecedented pre-gaming taking place before filming began.

For context, Survivor host and executive producer Jeff Probst previously revealed that two contestants were dropped from the Survivor 49 cast just 12 hours before filming was scheduled to start. This was due to those two players allegedly communicating in Ponderosa — the on-site location in Fiji where contestants are sequestered before the show begins.

“I cannot think of a time we have ever pulled somebody for violating our pre-game rule policy of not talking to other players,” Probst told TV Insider. “I’m sure over the years we’ve had people push the envelope a bit, and then our casting team will step in and say, ‘Hey, we know it’s difficult, but just remember you can’t talk until the game starts. And that’s when you’re in front of Jeff.’ This was very different. This was blatant disrespect for the casting team.”

Jason Treul and Michelle “MC” Chukwujekwu — the two Survivor 49 alternates — were ultimately chosen to be on the final cast after the rule-breakers were dismissed and sent home.

However, Ahrens-Nichols claims other cast members also broke the pre-gaming rules and yet weren’t dropped from the show. On Monday (December 29), the third-place finisher took to her Instagram Stories to share her perspective on pre-gaming and the rumors that jury member Sophie Segreti was involved.

“I saw the theory about @sophiesegreti being ‘bad’ during pre-game in terms of talking,” Ahrens-Nichols wrote. “As some people know, I was the alternate for season 47. So I got the unique experience of being able to compare pre-game for 47 and for 49.”

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She went on to describe the pre-gaming during Survivor 47 as a “2/10 (with ’10’ being the worst ever)” and the Survivor 49 pre-gaming as “9.9999/10.”

“It was insane and caused our game to actually start during pre-game (and absolutely influenced dynamics within our game),” Ahrens-Nichols continued, noting that there were “tiers” to the “talking offenders.”

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“But when it comes to Sophie Segreti, she was hands down the best behaved person in our cast,” she stated. “She wouldn’t even look at anybody during pre-game. I actually thought she was the alternate for our season since she wouldn’t engage with anyone.”

Ahrens-Nichols posted a follow-up on Tuesday (December 30), where she once again claimed several of her cast members were involved in pre-gaming. In a lengthy post, the Survivor castaway said she will eventually be “naming names” and encouraged those involved to come forward.

“The people involved know who they are, and while they will likely deny it, that is not surprising based on how they have moved post-game,” she wrote. Ahrens-Nichols claimed that while “production did try to intervene,” they didn’t know “the extent of what was happening.”

She went on to say she is open to speaking with those involved if they “reach out in a respectful way” and “take accountability.”

“I will eventually be naming names, and this is an opportunity to be part of that process,” she added.

Ahrens-Nichols finished Survivor 49 in third place, behind runner-up Sophi Balerdi and winner Savannah Louie.