The Survivor story for Venus Vafa was almost very different, but a bad game decision and an unused Immunity Idol kept her from surviving longer in Fiji.
Venus recently revealed that her biggest Survivor mistake was her conversation with Charlie Davis, where she alluded to having something up her sleeve.
Rather than convince him to align with her, it got Charlie suspicious and set off dominos, leading to her getting voted out at Tribal Council.
Venus also felt so confident and safe that she didn’t use the Hidden Immunity Idol she had found earlier in the episode.
But outside of her Survivor play and some missteps she may have made near the end of Survivor 46, Venus shared some frustrating experiences from Ponderosa.
As many Survivor fans know, Ponderosa is the name of the special holding area where castaways hang out before filming, and then once they have been eliminated. It can be a fun place to be reunited with players who have been eliminated earlier, but Venus did not enjoy her experience.
Venus Vafa calls Ponderosa on Survivor 46 ‘traumatizing’
“The vibes were terrible. I was terrified going to Ponderosa because I was like, ‘All of these people hate me,'” Venus told EW when asked about the vibes at Ponderosa.
“And then when I got there, several of the people there straight up did not talk to me, even though I still made an effort to be like, ‘I’m sorry if I came off negatively or if I rubbed you the wrong way, I genuinely didn’t mean it,'” she added. “Silence, did not speak to me. And then a few of them actually personally attacked me and my character, saying that I was a joke and that no one liked me.”
Venus seems to have had an even more difficult time at Ponderosa than when she was on the outs with her tribe. She is correct that Ponderosa is supposed to be a place to escape the Survivor drama. But it sounds like her difficulties bonding with other castaways followed her there.
“Honestly, Ponderosa was more traumatizing than the game because 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 later told Entertainment Weekly, noting she would tear up just thinking about it.
More villains on Survivor 46?
Reading social media, many Survivor fans found Venus a villain in the game. She noted that she believed there were much bigger villains on the island and didn’t understand the hate she had received.
“The people in my season, a lot of those who label themselves as heroes are the real villains because they had such — I don’t want to say sinister, but it was very shocking to me how cruel they were to me,” Venus elaborated.
We will likely hear Venus name names as Survivor 46 concludes, and more castaways will likely open up about their own experiences. They can’t talk about everything until the finale has been shown, and it will be interesting to see who emerges with the $1 million prize.
Could we be in for some post-season drama from the Survivor 46 cast? Stay tuned!
More from Survivor 46
A Survivor deleted scene revealed Venus also caught fire sleeping too close to the campfire.
And here are details about the upcoming Survivor 46 season finale. It’s almost time to crown a winner.
Host Jeff Probst is already teasing Survivor 50 details as well.
Previous episodes of Survivor are available for streaming on Paramount+.
Survivor 46 airs Wednesday at 8/7c on NBC.
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Another whiner! Woe is me!!!!