Contestant Kellie Nalbandian chats with EW about exiting 'Survivor 45'.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00 (dramatic music)
00:02 - Kelly, you actually look like you were
00:06 in a complete state of shock by your blind side.
00:10 What do you remember about that moment
00:12 or is it still just all big blur?
00:14 - Oh my God, yeah, I actually like mostly blacked out.
00:18 Obviously I think one of the most memorable things I said
00:21 was what the hell guys?
00:22 And Caleb had to tell me several days later
00:26 that I said that I had no idea,
00:28 no recollection of even saying that.
00:30 So that will tell you how shocked I was.
00:34 - What happened after you walked out of tribal council?
00:37 I mean, we see you kind of shuffling around
00:39 like a zombie on the set.
00:40 Were you still kind of reeling
00:41 as you waited to do your final words interview
00:43 and then went to Ponderosa?
00:45 Like what was the night like after the camera cut off?
00:47 - So after I walked, you know, you go into like a little area
00:51 and I ripped my buff off and threw it at the wall.
00:54 And someone was like, you have to put that back on.
00:58 I was like, okay.
00:59 I was like, I don't want to.
01:01 I was pretty shocked for like a couple minutes.
01:03 And then I was mostly just angry.
01:06 It's the game and I respect it.
01:08 And I knew the second that someone kind of figured out
01:12 where I was and what I was doing,
01:14 that it would all, you know, it would be a problem.
01:16 So it happened a little sooner than I thought.
01:18 - I mean, the thing about Survivor, it's so weird
01:20 is that, you know, you have to live through this stuff twice
01:22 once when it happens.
01:23 And then a few months later when it airs on TV.
01:25 So what was it like watching it all play back on screen?
01:28 - It's a little jarring to watch, like watch yourself,
01:30 especially 'cause I don't remember
01:32 that whole moment very much.
01:33 The thing that's burned into my memory the most
01:35 is Kendra crying for me.
01:37 I was like, get you an ally that will cry
01:39 when you leave the game.
01:41 Like I'm very honored, love her so much.
01:43 That's really all I remember from that.
01:45 And then like, obviously that I forgot my torch,
01:48 not my best moment,
01:49 but I don't really remember anything else.
01:51 So watching it back, it's like,
01:52 it is, it's a weird part of Survivor
01:54 having to sort of relive.
01:56 Like I kind of like have a couple of months
01:57 to like get in like, okay, this happened to me, I'm fine.
02:01 And then you have to relive it and watch it again.
02:03 It's like, it's like re-experiencing drama.
02:06 - Was there, I mean, listen, you, like, again,
02:08 you don't remember a lot of it,
02:09 but was there anything else notable
02:11 that went down at that Tribal that didn't make it to air
02:13 either before or after you were voted out
02:16 and trying to make sense of it all?
02:18 - Yeah, I mean, I think like we missed a lot of
02:21 what was happening on the beach right before I left.
02:23 Obviously you can see that I had like some concern
02:26 that I would be sort of like a backup vote
02:28 or a ricochet vote.
02:29 And I did spend a lot of the day
02:32 trying to avoid that problem,
02:35 basically by getting Jake to vote in a block
02:38 with me and Emily.
02:40 And unfortunately for me,
02:41 Bruce losing his vote was like really a nail in the coffin.
02:45 I did not expect that the auction would result
02:48 in something like that.
02:50 And, you know, I kept Bruce around
02:52 because he was, you know, voting with me
02:54 and loved me so much.
02:55 Like, I don't even know why.
02:57 And then when I needed him the most, he wasn't there.
02:59 And so a final 10 vote becomes a final nine vote.
03:03 And that makes it, you only need, you know,
03:05 five votes instead of four and without Bruce.
03:09 And then Jake was very clearly
03:11 gonna play his shot in the dark.
03:12 I think like people might be confused.
03:14 Like, why did I tell him that?
03:16 But it's because it was very obvious
03:18 that he was like, he was running around searching for idols.
03:20 Like he was pretty erratic that day.
03:22 I'm kind of hard to sort of get through to.
03:25 And that really limited my options there.
03:28 'Cause I'm working with, you know,
03:29 financial analyst, Emily Flippin.
03:31 She's looking at the math and the math is not math.
03:33 And when I maybe have three votes,
03:36 I'm working with me, Kendra and Ketora,
03:38 that's not gonna be able to move the needle anywhere
03:40 when I don't have Jake's gonna play shot in the dark
03:42 and Bruce doesn't have a vote.
03:44 - But let's say you had the math.
03:45 Let's say, you know, Bruce has his vote
03:47 and Jake's like now feeling a little more comfortable.
03:49 I mean, what play would you have tried to make?
03:53 - So what happened when we got first got back to the beach
03:55 was me, Emily and Kendra were at the water well.
03:58 And basically Emily and Kendra were like,
04:01 we're kind of nervous about somebody.
04:03 Like, we don't really want Jake to go.
04:04 I'm like, okay, who are you nervous about?
04:06 And it was like one of those one, two, three situations.
04:08 And they said D, which also really didn't make the show
04:10 is that like D and I did have a pretty close bond.
04:14 I'm not gonna say we had some sort of like
04:15 massive strategic relationship,
04:17 but it was very like clear to the both of us
04:20 that people were viewing us in a similar way,
04:21 especially after the poll challenge.
04:23 Like these are the threatening women on the game.
04:26 So we had a couple conversations where it was like,
04:29 okay, we should both stay here because, you know,
04:33 kind of as a shield for each other,
04:34 it was kind of like a game respect game sort of moment.
04:37 And, you know, I think that's where you can see
04:39 some of the hesitation come through
04:41 from D and Julie specifically on wanting to vote me out
04:44 because D was sort of, I think,
04:45 viewing me as a bit of a shield in that timeframe.
04:49 But so, you know, that's not like my ideal person to go,
04:52 but I was like, okay, if this is who Emily wants,
04:55 like Emily really is like a linchpin here.
04:57 You know what I mean?
04:58 Like she is in between these two old tribes.
05:00 By this point, it was sort of becoming clear.
05:03 Like I have to give the rebooked folks props for that.
05:06 Like, I don't think it's as obvious to us
05:08 playing on the island as it is to everybody at home
05:11 how tight that group was.
05:13 And so the plan was basically for, you know,
05:16 don't have Jake play a shot in the dark
05:18 and then Keturah, he, Kendra, Emily, and Jake
05:21 put all our votes on D.
05:22 - So like, it's interesting because, you know,
05:24 you're talking about taking a shot at D
05:26 and Julie took a shot at you.
05:28 Emily, we see you go to Drew
05:30 and tell him immediately about the-
05:33 - I know, what a narc!
05:34 So like, I mean, when you guys made that women's alliance,
05:38 you never talked about it.
05:40 Was anyone really like thinking
05:43 that that was a thing at all?
05:44 - Honestly, I don't think so.
05:46 I was like, obviously I would love a women's alliance.
05:49 That's like my dream scenario.
05:51 But we're a little bit too far in the game, I think,
05:53 to form a full, you know, six person women's alliance.
05:57 And so, but for me, I was just looking at it like,
05:59 you know, I love my options, Tom.
06:00 So I was like, this is another option for me.
06:02 I'm not gonna shut anybody down.
06:04 And I was a little bit frustrated with Bruce at the time.
06:08 And if this was something I could use to sort of make a move
06:11 and find some new allies,
06:12 because at this point in the game,
06:14 like really the thing I think that crushed me so much
06:16 is all of my best strategic allies were going home
06:20 when at tribal councils I was not at.
06:23 Like I lose Brando, I lost Caleb, Bruce loses his vote.
06:27 Like, it just sort of felt like,
06:29 like I couldn't catch a break in some instances.
06:32 And so I think in this game,
06:33 you really need someone who you can bounce ideas off of.
06:36 And 'cause it's hard when you're starving, you're one head.
06:39 And I, losing all those people without having any say,
06:44 it's part of the game.
06:45 It is what it is.
06:46 But I think that really put me on my back heels
06:49 in terms of coming into the merge with a really, you know,
06:52 a group that wasn't gelling together.
06:54 And I really tried my best to kind of bring them all in
06:57 and have us work together, like on the final six vote,
07:00 like trying to get Kendra and Bruce to see eye to eye.
07:03 It was like half my day.
07:04 - How would you describe your experience
07:06 of playing with Uncle Bruce out there?
07:10 - Listen, I had to say, Bruce is like,
07:12 he has such a good heart.
07:13 He is such a good man, you know,
07:15 but it was, you see how I talk about him,
07:17 like he is a little bit of an anchor.
07:19 Like he was, he was hard to work with.
07:21 You know, he's just, he just is a little bit his way
07:23 or the highway.
07:24 He had a vision of how he wanted to play the game.
07:26 It's kind of old school vibe.
07:28 And it's, I came in wanting to, you know,
07:30 I'm able to sort of look past like, oh, you know,
07:33 someone said this about me, but I need them for this vote.
07:36 That's not really how Bruce was approaching the game.
07:38 And that's what made it so frustrating to play with him.
07:40 But I mean, I, it was one of those things
07:43 where it was like day two and Bruce is like,
07:44 you're my number one ally.
07:46 I was like, really?
07:47 Like what?
07:48 But it was great.
07:50 I mean, I, for the beginning of the game,
07:52 it was beneficial to me.
07:54 And that's why I kept Bruce around.
07:55 And that's why I didn't feel that concerned with him
07:58 still having his idol,
07:59 because I thought that there was a decent chance
08:01 that if I knew I was going to go,
08:03 that Bruce would play his idol on me.
08:05 And he told me he would not play it on Jake,
08:06 which is why I didn't really go down that route.
08:09 'Cause we did explore that just a bit,
08:11 but with him not having a vote, him being immune,
08:14 like I said, like he's basically a spectator
08:16 at tribal council.
08:17 So he was like, all right, once he was like,
08:18 I'm not going to play, you know, my idol on Jake,
08:21 I was like, well, you know,
08:22 you know how hard it is to convince Bruce
08:23 to do something he doesn't want.
08:25 - Did it hurt a little bit to go before him?
08:27 Be honest, Kelly.
08:28 Be honest.
08:29 - Of course.
08:30 I'm there to win the game.
08:31 Like, you know what I mean?
08:32 I don't feel like, I know my reaction is so ridiculous.
08:35 And I'm so, but like, I, every time I've watched Survivor,
08:38 like I like it when people leave the game and they are sad.
08:41 Like we're playing a game for a million dollars.
08:43 I'm so competitive.
08:45 I had waited a long time to come play.
08:47 And yeah, I was crushed.
08:48 And I don't feel embarrassed or sad that I was like that.
08:52 I think that's the tenacity people should approach this with
08:55 that like, you know, when that all blows up in your face,
08:58 it is a bummer.
08:59 And I think I had a lot of,
09:00 I had a lot of things that was sort of one of those,
09:02 like everything just slipped through my fingers all at once.
09:04 - Your reaction is exactly what you want to see as a viewer.
09:06 There's nothing embarrassing about it.
09:08 That's what you want to see someone.
09:09 I, that is my fuel, Kelly.
09:12 Seeing people's hopes and dreams crushed
09:14 on national television.
09:14 - I'm so glad to provide entertainment for you, Dolphin.
09:18 - All right, look, we saw you in Austin a few weeks ago,
09:22 at least talking about the advantage
09:24 of possibly voting J.Mya out to up your amulet powers.
09:27 Do you think that played any role in your ouster here?
09:29 Do you think that maybe moved the needle a little bit
09:31 with Austin at the very least?
09:33 - Yeah, I mean, obviously the amulet is definitely a factor,
09:35 but I think you can see from, you know,
09:38 what was on the show,
09:38 like that was really not the primary reason
09:40 I went right now.
09:42 You know, Austin and I, like, I'm not going to be like,
09:44 we weren't like super closely working together,
09:46 but there was definitely very similar
09:48 to what I was just saying with D,
09:49 this like perception of people who were being like
09:52 labeled as threats in the game.
09:53 And Austin was one of those people.
09:55 So he and I definitely had conversations where it was like,
09:58 you know, does it really behoove us right now
10:00 to take this shot?
10:01 Probably not, because we need threats in front of us
10:04 in order to keep moving through the game.
10:06 So I definitely think that was a factor.
10:08 I know people were really like surprised
10:10 that I took the amulet,
10:11 and I feel like I got a little bit of vindication
10:13 when everyone's like, there's two Reba's, you know?
10:15 I was like, well, it was very clear that J and Austin
10:18 weren't really seeing eye to eye.
10:19 And that was part of my motivation to take the amulet
10:23 was also because, I mean, I never, people like Austin,
10:26 like these big dudes with big guns,
10:28 like they're often targeted early on in the merge.
10:31 I didn't know Austin had another idol.
10:33 I didn't know how tight he was with Drew.
10:34 Like that's sort of an unlikely duo.
10:36 And I think they did a great job
10:38 sort of hiding that to a degree.
10:41 And so that's why I took it.
10:42 I was like, people are gonna target Austin.
10:44 I might not even have to be the one
10:45 to throw his name out there.
10:47 Like, and if I can get out J Maya, or I can work with her,
10:50 I feel like there was a lot of options for me there.
10:52 And honestly, like even going into the merge
10:55 and in the early stages of the merge,
10:57 I could tell that, you know,
10:59 the Bellow group is very fractured.
11:01 I felt like a little bit of the glue.
11:04 And I wasn't sure if, was it really feasible
11:07 to keep this group together and move forward?
11:10 So I felt like I needed to find, you know,
11:12 somewhere that I could move into.
11:14 But I'm like, you know, I'm knocking on the door for Reba.
11:16 And like, no one has let me in.
11:18 Like, do you let me in just a little crack?
11:20 But you know, what are you gonna do?
11:22 It was definitely surprising to be targeted so early,
11:27 but I think what really moved the needle for me,
11:29 at least in conversations I've had post-game was,
11:32 you know, the threat of the women's alliance
11:35 and me and Dee sort of being seen as like,
11:38 we were literally just friends.
11:39 Like we weren't even that,
11:40 it's just like when you get on the beach
11:41 and you're just kind of like vibing with somebody,
11:43 like we just liked each other.
11:44 And I think that was pretty obvious to people around us.
11:47 Like we'd braid each other's hair and things like that.
11:50 And so I think that is what ultimately really pushed it.
11:53 'Cause it just, from that Reba alliance,
11:55 seeing their people have another option
11:58 is really scary, rightfully so.
12:00 And I think Drew saw me sort of, you know,
12:03 help to drive that vote last week.
12:05 And that was maybe a little bit illuminating
12:07 for what was actually going on in the fellow alliance.
12:10 - What's something that happened out there
12:11 we didn't get to see,
12:12 'cause it didn't make it into an episode.
12:13 There's so much that doesn't make the cuts.
12:15 There's so much, I'm sure you guys are like surprised
12:17 or disappointed that gets cut out even at 90 minutes.
12:20 What's something you wish had been on there?
12:22 - I think like there's two categories of things here, right?
12:25 Like first I would say,
12:26 because I don't go to tribal council in the early game,
12:30 like there was, I mean,
12:31 an astronomical amount of strategy and talking at Bello.
12:35 Like the second we were there, like every day I would wake up
12:38 and it'd be like a round robin of everybody
12:39 like talking about each other,
12:41 complaining about each other to me.
12:42 So I feel like I played so much survivor
12:45 in those first like five or six days.
12:48 That was like exhausting, that didn't make it.
12:50 And that would have been cool to see.
12:51 And then I think there's always moments
12:53 like kind of outside the game or you're at camp or,
12:56 you know, I went out snorkeling with D one day
12:59 and it was just sort of like a nice moment
13:01 to like appreciate what it's like to be on a deserted island
13:04 and be out in Fiji and be somewhere beautiful.
13:07 And it's kind of special that those moments
13:09 are just for us to a degree.
13:10 But, you know, I think it's nice to see
13:13 more of that camp life.
13:14 And I am thrilled that 90 minutes has done that.
13:17 But I think something like that,
13:18 I would have been nice to see.
13:20 - Last one before I let you go, Kelly.
13:21 What was your end game?
13:22 Who did you want to sit next to at the end?
13:24 - Yeah, I mean, I think for me,
13:25 like the person I wanted the most
13:27 to not leave the game was Kendra.
13:29 She is the one who I wanted to play with.
13:30 I think you could see she was pretty loyal to me
13:33 even till the bitter end, that's my girl.
13:35 You know, one of my regrets is not targeting Drew
13:38 at the sixth split.
13:40 I tried a little bit, but it was very,
13:43 I got a lot of pushback immediately.
13:44 So I was like, okay, this maybe is not gonna happen.
13:47 But I thought that, you know,
13:49 going deep with Kendra was my priority.
13:51 So I didn't want Bruce to play his idol
13:55 and then Kendra accidentally go home.
13:57 That was like a huge concern of mine at that sixth split,
13:59 which sort of motivated me to make sure
14:02 Bruce did not get votes.
14:03 'Cause then I thought it would be very obvious
14:04 that Drew or Emily would maybe throw a vote on Kendra.
14:07 And if he played his idol, she would go.
14:09 So I was hoping to take Kendra.
14:10 There was a part of me that was thinking like,
14:12 should I really drag Bruce all the way to the end?
14:14 And, but I also was thinking about Ketora
14:16 and I really wanted to bring like one big threat.
14:18 And then, you know, some of my core bellow lines with me.
14:22 That was my plan.
14:23 (whooshing)
14:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]