Kaleb Gebrewold makes ‘Survivor’ history, entire tribe (minus J. Maya) celebrates
Since the creation of the Shot in the Dark twist at the start of the “new era” that began with “Survivor 41,” several castaways have tried using the one-in-six advantage to save their ailing games, but no one ever had luck on their side. Until now. Warning: this article contains spoilers from “Survivor 45,” Episode 6, so read at your own risk!
After the remaining 13 players attended a group tribal council in the pre-merge phase of the game, Kaleb Gebrewold knew he was in danger. He tried pegging J. Maya Krishnan-Jha as a bigger threat, but it didn’t seem to work. One by one, each player went to the cast their votes and all of them wrote down Kaleb’s name. Kaleb, having been warned by Emily Flippen that his game was hanging from a thread, didn’t vote and instead opted to play his Shot in the Dark.
“I’m gonna buy a Lotto ticket if this works, so fingers crossed,” Kaleb told host Jeff Probst as he handed him the scroll. Jeff then opened the parchment, and it shockingly declared Kaleb was “SAFE.” The entire tribe (minus J. Maya) celebrated Kaleb’s sheer luck, reveling in the fact that they were all witnessing “Survivor” history together.
Jeff then read all of the votes, and one by one, they all said “Kaleb.” If we’re being technical, Kaleb didn’t vote because he used his advantage, and Austin Li Coon didn’t vote because he wanted to power up his immunity idol. But all of the other 11 castaways wrote down Kaleb’s name. “Finally, for once, this game goes in my direction,” Kaleb exclaimed.
At that point, Jeff instructed the players, “All the votes were for Kaleb. Kaleb is safe. So we’re going to revote.” They all took “a moment” to break into small groups where they discussed who would be the Plan B boot. Emily and J. Maya’s names were both thrown out there, and in the end, it was J. Maya who ended up getting her torch snuffed.
SEE ‘Survivor’ winners list: All seasons
Prior to this episode, only one other person had earned the “SAFE” scroll after playing their Shot in the Dark: Jaime Lynn Ruiz in the “Survivor 44” premiere. But she didn’t receive a single vote at that tribal council, so she didn’t actually need to play it. While Jaime remains in the record book for that achievement, Kaleb now makes “Survivor” history by being the first person whose game was saved from the twist.
To date, the Shot in the Dark has now been used by the following 10 contestants: Sydney Segal in Season 41; Zach Wurtenberger, Marya Sherron, Swati Goel and Tori Meehan in Season 42; Sami Layadi in Season 43; Jaime, Matthew Grinstead-Mayle and Claire Rafson in Season 44; and Kaleb in Season 45. All were “NOT SAFE” except for Jaime and Kaleb.
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