The Survivor 47 Fire-Making Challenge was one for the ages.
Teeny Chirichillo raced out to a big lead over Sam Phalen, but the winds of Fiji gave Sam enough time to catch up.
Sam beat Teeny in the Fire-Making Challenge to make the final three, and he finished as the runner-up to Rachel LaMont.
As expressed earlier in part two of the season finale, Sam never learned how to make a fire, and it showed as he struggled through the challenge.
But it often doesn’t matter how you start; it matters how you finish. And Sam came through when it counted most on finale night.
Now Sam has been speaking about why he never learned to make fire and what he did to prepare for playing Survivor.
Sam Phalen reveals what he did instead of learning to make fire
During one of his Survivor exit interviews, Sam was asked why he never learned to make fire, despite knowing he was about to appear on Survivor.
“What were you doing getting ready for Survivor and not ever picking up a flint?” Rob Cesternino from RHAP asked Sam Phalen.
“I don’t know. I don’t know!” an exasperated Sam responded. “It’s the best way I can say. I don’t know.”
“I swam, I, you know, did balance, did a lot of yoga, did a lot of things. Tried to get comfortable with things. I guess it’s a level of overconfidence or hubris in me that I felt like, yeah, in the moment, I’ll be able to figure it out,” Sam elaborated.
Sam’s response was sincere as he pondered what he was saying, and it sounded like he felt it would be easy to learn if the spotlight was on him.
“You give me a flint and steel; give me all day to practice, I’ll be able to get it down,” he added.
Sam admitted to panicking during Day 25 as he tried to practice making fire. Sam beat Teeny when it came time to build the fire, so he walked away without regrets.
Below is Sam’s full exit interview with RHAP, including who he felt would vote for him at the final Tribal Council.
More Survivor news and notes
Survivor 48 cast footage has been revealed. The new players are ready to take over primetime this winter and spring.
Many Survivor alums are on The Traitors 3 this winter. A new season of the hit reality competition show debuts soon.
Previous seasons of Survivor are streaming on Paramount+. That includes all episodes of the season featuring Sam Phalen as a player (Survivor 47).
Survivor is on hiatus at CBS.
All episodes of Survivor are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
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