Venus Vafa shared some thoughts about her experience at Ponderosa on Survivor 46, and Soda Thompson disagrees with her story.
Survivor 46 featured Venus and Soda on the same tribe – a tribe that found much early success at winning challenges.
The ladies seemed destined to go far in the game, but Soda got blindsided with an Immunity Idol still in her pocket to become the first jury member.
Venus also got blindsided with an Idol, even though it happened a few episodes later. It meant that Soda was waiting at Ponderosa when Venus was sent there a few days later.
Ponderosa is the name of the place where players are stationed before the game begins and after they are voted out of the game. It’s supposed to be a fun place to spend time, rehashing what has happened that season without the stress of gameplay.
Venus said her time in Ponderosa was “traumatizing” and that people were “cruel” to her in Fiji. She spoke about it in an exit interview, adding that “the vibes were terrible” when she got to Ponderosa.
“I was met with a lot of hostility that I didn’t really expect because the game was the game, and Ponderosa should be separate from that. It was a very difficult time,” Venus added.
Soda Thompson has a different story from Ponderosa on Survivor 46
“Regarding recent claims of exclusion and mistreatment, I want to clarify that these claims are untrue and hurtful,” Soda Thompson wrote on Instagram.
“Despite my sincere efforts to engage positively, it became evident that the castaway in question struggles with their communication style and emotional regulation, which inevitably influenced future interactions,” she added.
Soda shared nine slides of text on her post (posted below), explaining her side of things and why she felt “angry and hurt about this misrepresentation of my character.”
Soda also spoke about how there has been a backlash following the exit interviews that Venus provided. Social media has been pretty unkind to Soda since then, and she noted it in one of her slides.
“I’ve faced unwarranted attacks and hate due to misrepresentations of events. It is ironic to be labeled a bully and to face such attacks online, and still, have remained positive and kind, however everyone reaches a limit,” she wrote.
CBS needs a Survivor 46 reunion show
This disagreement in how events transpired is why the Survivor Reunion Shows were so neat. They allowed host Jeff Probst to probe deeper into the relationships and see where people stood months after filming.
It would be interesting to have Soda and Venus on the same stage sharing their thoughts and in front of each other.
More news from Survivor 46 and beyond
A rogue vote for Kenzie was exposed in a sneak peek. It was an interesting wrinkle to the episode that saw Venus Vafa blindsided.
It was also revealed that Kenzie Petty is pregnant!
Elsewhere in the world of Survivor, Season 33 winner Adam Klein got married.
And here are details about the upcoming Survivor 46 finale.
Previous episodes of Survivor are available for streaming on Paramount+.
Survivor 46 airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.
All episodes of Survivor are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
The link above is an affiliate link. This means that for any qualifying purchase you make, we may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.