Survivor’s [Spoiler] Explains Reasoning Behind That Fateful Decoy Vote

The following contains spoilers from Wednesday’s episode of Survivor 47 .

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On Survivor , even the most perfect plans can explode in one’s face.

That’s exactly what happened to the Lavo tribe’s Kishan after he floated Genevieve’s name as a decoy to placate his real target Rome. But after Rome squealed to Genevieve about the name-drop, she began to reconsider exactly how big of a threat Kishan was to her game, and ultimately, the lawyer from Winnipeg, Manitoba flipped the script and sent a truly flabbergasted Kishan packing. ( Read our recap here .)

Below, Kishan talks to TVLine about what we didn’t see on TV, including his close ties with Genevieve, how she knew (and agreed to!) his decoy plan, and of course, all things Rome.

TVLINE | Never would I have guessed that I’d be speaking to you today. How surprised were you in the moment?
KISHAN PATEL | Pure shock. You’re sitting there and the moment’s just so palpable. Everything is going right. Rome stands up. He’s like, “I’m gonna use my Steal-a-Vote on Kishan,” and I’m like, “What? What is happening?” You’re like, “OK, this is what a blindside is! This is what it feels like. Stay calm. S–t’s going down,” and in that moment it was just… I knew what was gonna happen. I saw things unfolding. The look on my face was the realization of like, “Alright. My time has come.”

TVLINE | Heading into Tribal, how confident were you that you could still pull off a Rome vote?
Oh, 99.9% sure. In my mind, it just made perfect sense vote because of the relationships that I had solidified. What’s not shown is that Genevieve and I were very tight. Genevieve was someone who I shared a lot of personal details with. Teeny and I were super close, but Genevieve and I were super close, too. We three were also super close as a trio. And we had talked about this beforehand of being like, “Hey, the moment Rome doesn’t have an idol, let’s vote him out.” We had already talked about it. Genevieve was agreeable to it. She knew that this was gonna happen. So when the time came to make the decision of like, “Hey, look, Rome doesn’t have an idol. Let’s do it,” it made sense. We even locked eyes immediately after we got back and were like, “You know what needs to be done.” We talked and we’re like, “Rome, right?” And she’s like, “Yeah.” I was getting reciprocal feedback of, “OK, we’ve talked about this, we’re super tight. Let’s make it happen.” This is why, regardless of what Teeny comes back with [on her journey], it’s still gonna happen. We’re fine. So when she decided to turn it was just unexpected. I did not realize that that would happen or she would consider that because of what she had been saying to me.

TVLINE | How aware were you of Genevieve and Rome’s connection?
I knew that she and Rome were “a duo.” There was a trio of duos on the island. However, what I understood was that it was a duo of circumstance. They were left over together as two. So they chatted with each other and I knew that they got along. However, I thought her relationship with Teeny and I was a lot stronger than her relationship with Rome. And that’s what I underestimated.

TVLINE | You floated Genevieve’s name to Rome, which ended up sealing your fate. What was the thinking behind that?
It was a shared decision and I also informed Genevieve of this plan. It was not a shock to her that her name was being floated. Rome was like, “Hey, we should come up with a decoy vote.” I was like, “Sure. The most logical one is you, Rome. Sol hates your guts. It makes sense.” And he’s like, “No, no, not me. It can’t be me. Why would you use me? What about you?” And I’m like, “Well, that just doesn’t make sense.” Sol and I were actually really close. He was still willing to work with us. So I’m like, “Why would Sol want to vote me out? It just doesn’t make sense.” Sol hates two people on this island. That’s Rome and Genevieve. “He’s not working with you guys. What about Genevieve?”

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At that point, only Teeny and Genevieve’s names were left in my mind. Genevieve’s name made sense. Rome agreed. I immediately go over to Genevieve and I’m like, “Hey, look, FYI, your name is gonna be a decoy vote. What are your thoughts? Are you ok with that?” She’s like, “Well, not really, but why?” I’m like, “Well, this is the reasoning.” And she’s like, “When you explain it like that, it makes sense.” So she was OK with it. It wasn’t just me throwing her name out there. So I thought we buried the hatchet. It made sense. We were ok with that plan. I think there were a lot of other different things that were making her think I was more dangerous rather than me just throwing her name out. There was a lot more underneath that than just me proposing that name.

TVLINE | Can you elaborate on that? What else made her think you were dangerous?
I think she realized that I was a lot less of a background player and not just in the middle. I was making a lot of decisions in that moment. It was pretty well known that Teeny and I were in the middle and we were making decisions together. Every single time we came back, we sat together, weighed our options and made the decision, even for the first vote. I was very involved in that. I was very involved in the decision to vote out Rome. Again, not only me, but I was verbalizing things. I was involved in getting Sol to come with us to vote out Rome. So there was a lot of things that I think she was finally kind of putting together that was like, “Hey, he’s not just Teeny’s lackey. He’s making decisions too. So, let’s get him out… and he’s proposed my name. He said my name as a decoy. So I think the logical step is to go for him.”

TVLINE | Alright, let’s have it. What was it really like living with Rome out there?
[ Laughs ] Oh, boy. You know, screentime, there’s maybe several minutes. We lived with that for 24 hours a day. Seven days. It’s a lot ! I don’t speak ill of anyone. He’s genuinely very positive. He is a kind human. He has a lot of energy. However, when you’re around that all the time… think about coming home from work tired and then having like an energetic toddler who just wants to play. Who just wants to go run around. You’re like, “I can’t do this right now.” It’s more of that. It’s like, “Hey, I really admire you, but I just can’t do this right now.”

TVLINE | There’s been a lot of online speculation that Rome might’ve thrown the challenge. Thoughts?
Absolutely not. Rome has a huge ego. He’s not gonna be throwing a challenge. He’s gonna want to win. He does have a winner’s mentality. He wants to win all the time. He’s just not good at puzzles. Maybe never play a puzzle again, buddy. I didn’t realize he was that bad at puzzles because I purposely sat out that challenge because I was like, “Hey, I lost a vertical puzzle last time. This isn’t my strength. Let’s have someone else try it.” And Rome being a competitor, he’s like, “Yeah, I got this. I’m great at puzzles.” Maybe I should have done it. Maybe.

TVLINE | I’m guessing you would’ve at least been able to get one puzzle piece in.
I would have gotten at least one piece. [ Laughs ] 1,000%.

TVLINE | What’s something that happened out there that we didn’t see on TV?
I think one of the biggest things to clarify is in the third episode. I say at Tribal Council, “Hey, there is a core alliance, a four-person alliance.” That was an intentional statement that I made and it was calculated and it was for a reason. That was because T and I, we were so in the middle. We were so close with both Genevieve and Rome, as well as Sol and Aysha. I think it wasn’t shown how close we were to both duos. We had talked about lots of long-term game strategy with both of those pairs. So it was an intentional statement to signal to Sol and Aysha, who I was sensing were feeling a bit more precarious. It was a signal to them, “Hey, look, we’re OK. It’s OK. Trust the four. Don’t play a Shot in the Dark,” which they didn’t. So it was more of a signal than a slip-up.

We created genuine relationships. You’re there, you’re sharing so many intimate details. You’re sharing so many hopes and dreams and you’re talking nonstop with each other because that’s all there is to do. You truly create powerful relationships with these people. I think Teeny and I had a strong sense of both duos, whereas the other two groups just weren’t talking to each other. We were in a good spot.

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