‘Survivor 50’: Jenna Lewis Reveals Who Really Wanted to Target Cirie & Defends ‘Intense’ Gameplay

Jenna Lewis-Dougherty returned to Survivor for the first time in more than 20 years for the show’s 50th season, but unfortunately, her time on the beach was short-lived. After being accused by her Cila tribemates of playing too hard and fast out of the gate, Lewis-Dougherty was the first boot of the milestone season.

Her ousting came after she threw Cirie Fields‘ name out as a potential target before the first immunity challenge. When Fields then cost Cila the win due to her poor showing in the challenge, Lewis-Dougherty doubled down on wanting to vote her out. In the end, though, all seven of her tribemates voted for her instead.

However, Lewis-Dougherty tells TV Insider what we didn’t see is that Christian [Hubicki] was actually the one to toss out Fields’ name first. “I think the best thing about this whole thing is that I was not the first one to say Cirie,” Lewis-Dougherty shares. “OK, Christian, day one, after we kind of built a shelter, and we’re all getting to know each other, Christian and I were just chatting, and I said, ‘What do you think of everybody?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, this one’s good. Everyone looks really good. I think we’ll be strong.’ And I said, ‘Well, who do you think is a big threat?’ And he goes, ‘I’m gonna go sit by who’s a big threat,’ in his Christian way. ‘And then when I come back, you can see who I’m sitting by. OK?’ And he goes over, and he sits next to Cirie, and he shoots the crap with Cirie.”

Lewis-Dougherty swears by this version of the story and says she will “depose Christian on the record” to prove it’s the truth. “He said to me, almost verbatim, ‘If [Cirie] gets in a tribe swap or a merge with all of the other people that she knows and has, she’ll be lost to the wind. We’ll never have a chance for her.’ That’s the worst thing.”

While the Season 1 alum admits she “didn’t think [she] was going home,” she did know some votes would be coming her way. However, the votes from Savannah [Louie] and Joe [Hunter] surprised her. Scroll down to find out why and to read more of our interview with the first eliminated player of Season 50, who says not having a pregame connection with anyone was her downfall.

The edit showed that you were coming on strong for Cirie, even before the first immunity challenge. So I was going to ask if you regret coming on so strong with that, but were you only doing it because Christian gave you that idea?

Jenna Lewis-Dougherty: Yes. So let’s set this up. So when we landed on the island, I joke about it now, but everything just felt wrong. It felt like everybody just had their little groups. I know that’s true, and I really felt like that. So everything just felt really off. And then to read after the show that Christian, in one of his pregame interviews, was like, “Oh, yeah, outside the show I consider Emily [Flippen] a really good friend.” And I’m like … what a great thing to start out a social game with a really good friend! Like, those are the dynamics we were up against. Ozzy [Lusth] and Cirie, together two times before, you know they’re going to be really tight.

Robert Voets/CBS

You saw me at the water well with Ozzy, I’m like, “I don’t believe a thing you’re saying.” So I knew they were really tight. I was really hoping to get in with Christian. Here’s why. When he said Cirie, I was like yes, he’s right. I would say that she’s the biggest threat out there. She’s amazing. But she’s a liability. At that point in the beginning with pre-merge, she’s a liability for the challenges. We watch it all the time, we see her tank the challenges. That monkey pop thing was not, like, two minutes. We stood there for 20 minutes [waiting for her]. When we got back, you saw Joe and Savannah being like … it’s got to be Cirie.

I was trying to kind of get with Joe and Savannah because I felt like they didn’t have the connections, either.  I felt like the three of us were in the same boat. But I was really trying to get on Christian’s good side. I knew he had Emily and [Rick] Devens. When we were talking about Cirie after the immunity challenge, I was like, “Are you going to go talk to them? Are we solid with Cirie?” and he goes, “Yeah, I told Emily.” And I thought … that’s interesting wording. You told her, like you’re the leader, and you told her who she was voting for. I was just trying to find, like, a little opening because there wasn’t one. There were just groups that you felt like you had to try to find an in to, and I haven’t been in this universe in 20 years. I don’t know anyone. I never had any of them on socials. I had zero conversations and these guys were SET.

It ended up being a unanimous vote against you. Did any of those votes surprise you?

It would be Savannah and Joe. Christian, I was a little surprised then, but I can see it now. His thinking makes sense to me that he could flip on a dime. But Joe and Savannah were the ones where we kept talking a lot, and not just right before tribal, about Ozzy and Cirie as a duo. We kept saying that when a duo’s that strong, it doesn’t end well for anyone around them. Joe had just been, a week before on national TV, screwed by Kamilla [Karthigesu] and Kyle [Fraser, on Season 48]. So I was really pushing that, and they really seemed on board. They were both going, “I don’t want to vote for Jenna,” Joe was like, “I don’t want to be at tribal council again. Cirie will put us back at tribal council.” So I did not think that they would mobilize against me. I could see Christian doing it, but I thought I could get two votes, [from Savannah and Joe] 100%, for Cirie or Ozzy.

So you were aware that Ozzy was an option at that vote?

I was, and that’s what kind of cemented to me that I might not be on the chopping block. Because they were all going, “Ozzy or Cirie.” It wasn’t like everyone was like, “Tell Jenna it’s just Cirie, yeah, yeah.” That would have felt more suspicious. Savannah came up and was like, “Devens says Ozzy,” and I’m like, “Are we sure? We need to win challenges.” But I was like, “Look, fine, just tell me what you guys want to do.” So I thought they were on board with going Ozzy or Cirie.

I was kind of surprised that Savannah’s name wasn’t coming up more as an easy target after winning Season 49. Did her name come up at all?

It definitely did. Even Joe’s name came up. But that’s why I really felt, the second I landed, like there were two groups. There was the Devens, Christian, and Emily group. You felt it. So I was trying to get in with one of them. But with Savannah, I felt like it could either be her or me. If it was going to go south, it would be her or me. So I think Savannah had just been like, “Whoever you do, I’m fine with it, just don’t look my direction.” Like, she’ll throw anyone under the bus if it wasn’t her name. I don’t blame her. She felt in the same boat I did, uncomfortable with everyone around you.

Joe, Savannah, and I had no connections to anyone, and that’s why I was really trying to pull them in. But you’re going to hear this from everyone that comes out – if they were not pregaming or making solid connections before, I don’t think you have a shot in this game.

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In addition to having trouble making connections because it’s been so long for you, how did you find the new era gameplay?

Oh my God, you hear about all this, like how they play fast. Uh, I played fast! Joe and Savannah were the ones hemming and hawing. They were not fully with Christian and them, they were not fully with Cirie and Ozzy. I was the one going, “We need to do this,” with Joe and Savannah. Savannah was more on board, she was going to Joe, like, “We need to have a plan.” He’s like, “We’ll just talk after tribal.” They’re the new school!? You don’t get more new school than the winner of 49, and none of them were going fast. None of them. We could not get a solidified alliance, even though I was trying.

When they say I’m going too fast and hard, look at the other tribes. Immediately, while they’re still pulling bamboo, which means it’s hour two, they’ve got their ride or dies, right? And they’ve thrown out Chrissy [Hofbeck’s] name and Dee [Valladares]’ name. I wasn’t playing any harder. And it was Christian who threw out Cirie’s name!

I was surprised to see that Cirie wasn’t really campaigning for herself that much around camp and at tribal. Was that how it really went down? Did she really feel that safe?

I think she felt that safe. You know, she had Ozzy, and I think she was with Christian, as well. I think there were some crossovers there. I’m trying to find an in because if I feel like five of them are together in some way, shape, or form, I’m screwed. I’m not surprised Cirie felt comfortable. I think there was a lot of pregaming and she had a lot of hands in a lot of baskets.

Obviously, this one didn’t go as you’d hoped, but would you play Survivor again in the future?

I think they would honestly have to sequester 100 people, put them on house arrest so that they had a camera on them at all times or whatever, and take their phones and internet. I think then I might go play. If you took 100 and they agreed to give their phone and internet for six months [before.] Like, I don’t want to play against Cirie on a good day. I certainly don’t want to play against Cirie when she has a six-month head start on me, and that’s what this was. Everybody else had a six-month head start.

Survivor, Season 50, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS