Justine Brennan (‘Survivor 43’ exit interview): ‘I got completely hoodwinked by Jesse’
After being voted out of the second episode of “Survivor 43,” Justine Brennan was all smiles during her end-of-show exit interview on CBS. “I got completely hoodwinked by Jesse,” sighed the 29-year-old cyber security saleswoman from Marina Del Rey, California. She added that it “sucks” to be eliminated so soon, especially because of someone who was “very visibly playing both sides.”
Justine was referring to Jesse Lopez, who found himself as the swing vote between two other pairs on the red Vesi tribe. Ultimately he decided to write down Justine’s name because he really never bonded with her. As an example, viewers saw a hilarious scene of Jesse being annoyed at her fear of spiders, and another moment where Justine bragged about having a “good lying face.”
SEE Everything to know about ‘Survivor 43’
“I feel sad about leaving this family,” Justine declared. Despite the early elimination, she confirmed that she’s “still rooting for Vesi.” Justine added, “My dream was to be on ‘Survivor’ and I’m gonna take it for what it is. I had an amazing time out here. I’m so lucky to be on this show. So I’m walking away with a smile on my face.”
At tribal council, Jesse, Nneka Ejere and Cody Assenmacher all voted for Justine, which was enough to send her packing. Noelle Lambert voted for Nneka, while Justine voted for Cody. The sixth tribe member, Dwight Moore, could not vote because he lost his vote during the risk/reward summit in the season premiere.
SEE ‘Survivor’ deaths: Full list of castaways we’ve lost
Much of the Vesi tribe’s pre-tribal council drama centered around Cody temporarily losing his vote due to opening the Beware Advantage. In order to get his vote back (and power up his immunity idol bracelet), he had to convince all of his tribe mates to give him their beads attached to their bags. Jesse and Nneka helped Cody by convincing the others to use their beads to decorate Cody’s palm frond hat. The lone holdout appeared to be Noelle, but viewers learned later in the episode she did indeed hand over her beads. That meant Cody’s vote was reinstated and he simultaneously became the holder of a shiny new idol.
Justine is now the second person to have her torch snuffed on “Survivor 43,” following Morriah Young last week. There are only 16 players left in the hunt for the $1 million prize. Who will be voted off next week?
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