‘Survivor 50’: Christian Reveals Deleted Jimmy Fallon Roast Scene From Voting Booth

Christian Hubicki joins fellow Survivor 50 star Cirie Fields in a very small group of Survivor players who have been voted out of the game in ways no one else has before. In Survivor: Game Changers, Cirie was sent home with no votes after “advantage-geddon” left everyone safe from elimination but her. In Survivor 50 Episode 9, Christian was forced to vote for himself at tribal council. It wasn’t the only reason he was sent home, but it was the first time anyone has ever been forced to cast a vote for themselves — and be forced to tell every single other player that he had to do so, removing his ability to lie in a game full of lying.

The “One in the Urn” twist was designed by Jimmy Fallon and debuted on a journey in the April 22 episode of the milestone season. After winning a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Christian went on a journey where he had to complete a puzzle on a barge before an anchor yanked it away and plummeted it into the ocean. The prize was getting to cast a vote early, without anyone knowing. The punishment was having to vote for himself and tell everyone about it. Christian, known for his puzzle skills on Survivor: David vs. Goliath, lost, and he hurt his game more when he suggested voting out Cirie’s No. 1 ally, Ozzy Lusth.

Christian roasted Fallon in the voting booth in the episode, but he tells TV Insider that there was another five minutes of footage that didn’t make it into the final cut during which he razzed The Tonight Show host even more. Here, Christian reveals what he said and more deleted scenes. Plus, he gives his analysis on the merits of the new twist that has fans debating, and shares what he thinks about Mike White and Angelina Keeley’s early eliminations in hindsight.

Have you gotten that apology from Jimmy Fallon yet that you talked about in the episode?

Christian Hubicki: It just happened. I think the day is still young, so maybe stay tuned on that.

How do you feel today after this episode? Because this is a really unique elimination, one that we’ve never seen before. How are you feeling about the fan reactions?

From what I’ve seen, I mean, look, I’m just grateful I got to be there. It’s a little cliche. I think it’s easy to lose perspective on the fact that I got to be on Survivor 50, and not only did I get to be on it, I got to do so much. It’s like there’s so many crazy tribal councils. I think it’s just have a crazy ending almost feels fitting. And whether people loved or hated the twist is almost ancillary to just the feeling of joy I have for the journey.

Yeah. Do your feelings about the twist differ now than they did when you first found out about it while filming?

I mean, I think that no, I still don’t love it. I still don’t love the having to vote for myself and publicly state that I have to vote for myself. I mean, that did put me in a bind, but I mean, I can’t pretend like I didn’t put myself in a bad position. That was probably my worst day on the island was on day 18, because that’s not only when I got the Jimmy Fallon disadvantage for not doing the puzzle, but also it’s when I told Cirie the idea of voting out Ozzy. So it was like those two things together made it very difficult for me to survive that. And I certainly got to own them.

Was there anything that you saw watching the episode last night that helped you understand your elimination more? Or were you pretty clear on what happened?

I feel validated that I felt that I pieced together most of what happened. Once I got eliminated, I tried to piece together, “Where did it go wrong?” And my answer was: “Cirie.” And I was like, “Yeah, what probably happened is that Cirie flipped, oh, it’s Ozzy.” Of course, I shouldn’t have pitched Ozzy to Cirie. And then over time, yeah, that was exactly what happened. And now I see it. So I wasn’t terribly surprised. There were, of course, scenes I didn’t see that were funny, but yeah, that all tracked to my experience.

When you were watching the earlier episodes, and you first saw the Cirie and Ozzy Alliance forming, were you like, “OK, this is coming together now. I understand a little more.”

Yeah. I mean, certainly, the thing is, in the early days, we were very much aware of it. And I think that there was a mounting momentum at one point to vote out Ozzy at the very first tribal council that got thwarted. That was not fake. That was very real. And Emily almost personally marshaled the votes herself to get him out. And I was just like, “No, this is too soon. This is going to be a dirty, crazy vote at the first vote. This is chaos. Let’s not do that.” That was my position on it. I mean, Emily’s a delight, by the way. I love that she came out swinging for me in this episode. That’s an aside. But we knew about this relationship. And I remember I made the arguments like, “Look, we know about it. We just can’t forget about it.” Ironically, I forgot about it 15 days later. And credit to Cirie and Ozzy to manage their relationship in such a way that I could forget about it. And I think that I have to give them credit for that for sure.

To speak of Emily a little bit, in tribal council, when she said there comes a point in Survivor where everyone has to betray their alliances, did you sense that that was about you at all? I think she was talking about Ozzy in that moment, but I think it could be read as talking about you as well.

Emily has a fantastic bluffed tribal council speech that she does. She intentionally throws out things to send signals that are wrong at tribal council. So I didn’t give anything to that, and she didn’t flip on me. So that wasn’t the intent. I think that she was trying to give a different impression as to what was going on. So honestly, the chatter at Tribal Council is something you should almost never take at face value, so it’s very hard to read into.

Do you feel that there was actually enough time to finish the puzzle on your journey? It seemed fast in the episode.

It was fast, but I think it was doable. So my memory of all the events, just in the middle, I panicked a bit, and I kind of got over-focused on one part because I thought that something had to go here, but that I didn’t back out that it was split up into two pieces. Anyway, these details you don’t need. But if I hadn’t gotten stuck on that and I zoomed out a bit, I think I would’ve … They only needed four more pieces or so. And the thing about these puzzles, they come exponentially easier as you get to the end because far fewer possibilities to look through. So it was doable. I’m sure that someone on the dream team did this in that timeframe. I think it was doable, but I have to take ownership as you’re only as good as your worst day and that was a bad day.

Yeah, unfortunately. I want your analysis on the merits of the One in the Urn twist. In your mind, are the reward-punishment scales balanced with this new twist?

I think this one definitely scales on the harsher side, for sure. I mean, the downside was really, really harsh. Again, I’m not saying it’s the only reason I went home, certainly not. But the upside in and of itself is complicated. The way it plays, an extra vote would be better. An extra vote because, [with an] extra vote, you could play at any time, and you don’t have to bank a vote, and you don’t have to write it on an island before you have a chance to talk to everybody. So it’s a more complicated … In a sense, it’s interesting, but it’s not very powerful. The only way that it could be powerful before you write it for tribal council would be like, imagine if you made the vote super elaborate-looking and it took forever to write. But when you go up to vote in that actual trial council, you zip there and back, and it’ll be impossible for you to have written it in that time. And therefore, you claim you never wrote that vote. But it’s kind of an on-the-margins thing. So it’s not a super powerful advantage, but not every advantage needs to be. But the downside was very bad.

I agree the punishment was too harsh. Having to vote for yourself is bonkers.

And having to tell everyone about it. That’s the thing. But I didn’t have to go on that journey. I mean, although it’s funny, Joe could have just picked someone. He could have just said, “You go on that journey.” I volunteered to go “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” so I own that. And I’m thinking, “What is the worst thing that could happen?” And what’s the worst thing that can happen on a journey is you lose your vote, and that’s not good, but you can also lie about whether or not you lost your vote. So I just didn’t expect in the meta of the game that it would go so negative. And I’m like, “OK,” and I miscalculated.

Who could predict that they would take away your ability to lie in Survivor?

Fair enough. But I mean, I think that a lot of people would agree with you, and I think that it’s just — I have to take ownership of the things I can control, and I think that’s where I tend to focus. Those are things you could do better in the future in whatever decision-making comes down the pipe.

“Rock Paper Scissors” is a game of chance at the end of the day, but there is a degree of choice there. I wonder if you and Cirie have ever commiserated about the fact that you both are in a very small group of people who have been voted out in Survivor in ways that no one else has before.

Well, not over that specific thing, but I have nothing but respect for Cirie’s ability to maneuver through the game. I mean, hopefully she knows the respect I have for that, but at some point, maybe we can just have a drink and say, “Oh, what it’s like to be voted out. “I guess the upside is that I voted at every tribal council I went to, I voted for whoever went home, including me.

That’s bleak, but it’s true. You were never on the wrong side of the vote.

Cold comfort, but it’s fine.

That’s what I was thinking about last night, watching the episode. I was like, Cirie got sent home with no votes, which is crazy, in that previous season. And then you voted for yourself, which is crazy. People have asked to be voted for in the past, but never have been forced to vote for themselves.

It’s a brand-new thing. But I will say it’s easy because it just happened for me to focus on this exact twist. But my overall take of just this whole experience, it was just such a positive experience. Yes, there were ups and downs of things like going to all these tribal councils, people you got to vote off, all this crazy stuff, but it was such a joy. It was such a joy. I got to razz Jimmy Fallon on national TV in a much longer five-minute set that I gave in the voting confessional and the voting booth about Jimmy Fallon. And I went on at length, even there. There was fun to have even then. So I do like to focus on the joy of that and all the jokes I got to make.

What were some things you said in that confessional that didn’t make the final cut?

Oh, I was like, “Jimmy, Jimmy, I’m not sure I like this idea. What other ideas have been yours? Were you looking at the Titanic and you’re like, ‘You know what? Too many lifeboats.’ Were you on the Hindenburg, and you said, ‘You know what this needs? A smoking section.’ What other ideas, Jimmy? I think you don’t need any more ideas. I think you can have a seat and let us play.” Something like that. Anyway, Jimmy Fallon never claimed to be a game designer, so I don’t blame him too harshly.

I wish we could have seen some of those jokes. That would’ve been great TV. Is there anything else that happened in this episode or previous ones that didn’t make the cut that you really wish had?

Oh my goodness. When Rick and I were planning that fake idol, there was so much that went into that, including setting up the … We had this whole routine of Rick’s like, “If I sit here, you do this.” It was this whole planning session that we had. And on top of that, he wanted to have a really realistic-looking fake idol. Now, I had the wrapping, but I swear I lost the special twine that’s of the right diameter that looks like an idol twine, and he wanted that. And understandably, I was like, “Where did it go? I don’t know where … It must be along this path.”

We all went looking up and down the path, “Where is this twine?” And sure enough, we eventually find what we think is the twine. “Miraculous. On the path, that’s great.” And there’s something in my brain that must misfire. I dropped it again. And Rick was so patient with me. He’s probably so frustrated because, look, he’s the artist. He needs the tools and paintbrushes that he needs to make his fake idols. In this case, the right diameter twine, and I dropped it twice, and yet we somehow made it work. But that was, I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I dropped the twine again.”

The fake idol still worked. We saw a small cut to you when Devens was doing his big fake idol performance in tribal in the last episode, but what were you thinking and feeling? Did you think it was a hit?

Oh, I thought he executed on it beautifully, and the whole idea was his. I was glad I got to play a supporting role in that awesome, awesome plan. I think that the challenge was, strategically, we knew it put us in a dicey situation for the next vote. But I think performatively, the way he dialed in every element, “Why is he playing at this vote? Oh, why didn’t he get it before?” He had all the answers to these questions, and why can’t you show it to us? It’s like, “I’m not letting you know what the idols look like this season.” It was well thought through. The guy knows how to put on the right kind of show at the right time. That’s one of his many skills. Thank you, Captain Kirk.

To quote Rizo, it was cinema. It was so electric.

Oh, yeah.

But did you know heading into that tribal that he was going to play it, or was it a surprise?

I did not know. It was a surprise. I thought we had the votes, but people were already getting up and talking, and there’s a little live tribal stuff going on right beforehand, so I could understand why he thought things were going sideways. And so he pulled it out, and it was his butt on the line. And I wasn’t so confident, I could say 100 percent, “No, Rick, you don’t do it.” So I understand why he did, but I didn’t anticipate he would.

And then heading into your final tribal council for this episode, did you feel like your fate was sealed? I admit I was a little surprised by how the votes got split because it did seem that, with you having a vote for yourself, people would go that way.

No, it was a proper blindside. People put on a front that the Ozzy vote was going through because Emily was trying to whip this Ozzy vote together, which I appreciated. She was in my corner. She could have easily pitched me under the bus, but she didn’t. She tried to get Ozzy out. So I thought that that was the plan. I felt there were signs I shouldn’t have ignored that things were going sideways, but to me, the whole vote was weird already because who cares what they have to say to me because I’m voting for myself. There’s literally nothing I can do at tribal council. I’m not important, but I really should have taken those signs more seriously that this is not going to work as well as I thought.

What were those signs?

Sometimes you just ask follow-up questions of people of the plan, and they’re really vague, or they don’t know the answer to follow-up questions. And also when I handed Jonathan my shot in the dark, after he handed it to him, he’s like, “Oh, thanks, Christian. I trust you again.” And I didn’t buy that he trusted me again. So I made some kind of face and just sort of like, “Oh gosh, we’ll see how this goes.” And Tiffany saw it, me make this face and said, “Christian, what is that face that you made just now?” I’m like, “Honestly, I just make faces.” I just apparently … And she interrogated me about this face I was making. And I was like, is she worried that Jonathan gave away the plan to me? It’s probably what she is thinking. And there are all little signs like that. If I added them up, it was like, “This is not good.” And I have to come up with some other kind of fake plan, pretending that Jimmy Fallon also gave me an idol in addition to voting for myself as some kind of funny, Faustian bargain.

So you considered something like that?

Not at the time, no. But if I knew I was on the hot seat, I would have to come up with something fast.

In hindsight, do you think that Mike and Angelina might have been allies to you later in the game? How do you feel about how your fellow David vs. Goliath alums now?

I don’t think that they were targeting me at the point where I targeted them. That was not the point. The point was I would be a target at the merge if both were the men were in tow. And that’s why originally I was thinking, “Let’s do Angelina.” And then Mike really stood up for Angelina as “No,” and tried to pitch Emily in a way that I ultimately realized was not ultimately honest. He’s trying to convince me there’s no reason. Yeah, maybe I can’t trust Emily at the final four, but this is not now. Why not Stephenie? Why not somebody else? So that’s why ultimately I pinned it over to Mike because it would separate Angelina and Ozzy.

But the thing is, I would’ve been the target at the vote. As much as Mike is a very good player, if I’m at a vote with 14 people and people say, Christian is one of the DVG three, the DVG three are very tight. He’s the one you want to get rid of. Can Mike turn all those votes? I don’t think so. So I needed to diffuse the target. I mean, was Angelina looking to go deep with me in the game? I’m not confident in that. I think that maybe you can go to things that she said in the past as to whether or not you would believe that or not. But I think, honestly, I made the right choice. Even Emily was loyal to me all the way down to the end for me. Actually, there’s nothing I regret about that choice other than the fact that it had to hurt some people’s feelings. I didn’t like that.

It’s the game of Survivor. It’s tough sometimes.

Yeah.

Survivor 50, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS