Christian Hubicki on Jimmy Fallon Twist, Mike White Relationship

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers from ‘I deserve all this’ the ninth episode of season 50 of ‘Survivor’.

It’s safe to say that “Survivor” player Christian Hubicki won’t be watching “The Tonight Show” anytime soon. Christian, who first appeared in season 37, ‘Survivor: David vs. Goliath,” became the 13th person voted out of the 50th season – thanks in part to Jimmy Fallon.

Wednesday’s episode featured two big twists. First, Jeff Probst competed alongside the group of castaways. It was part of a side bet: four of the competitors – Ozzy, Joe, Tiff and Jonathan – had to outlast Probst; if all four did so, the tribe received a large bag of rice. After seven and a half minutes, Probst dropped out and all four continued to battle it out.

During this challenge, he revealed that this was born during a conversation he had with Fallon. Keeping with the “In the Hands of the Fans” theme, Fallon polled his audience asking if the host should join in — and they voted yes.

But that’s not all Fallon had in store. After Joe won the immunity challenge, he had to send one person on a trip. Instead of choosing blindly, he asked who was interested; those who were played rock, paper, scissors. Christian won and was sent away on a boat.

He arrived at a floating dock in the middle of the sea, where he received a note from Fallon himself. Once he completed the puzzle, he could immediately place an additional vote in the urn. But he couldn’t complete the puzzle. He did not have to lie about what happened, but was instead instructed to take the note back to camp and read it out loud. Back on land, he revealed that for the first time in “Survivor” history, he would be writing his own name at the tribal council.

Although a few votes were thrown to Ozzy and Devens, in the end it was Christian who was sent home. Varietywho was on set during the emotional day in Fiji, spoke exclusively to Christian about what happened during the puzzle, his thoughts on 50 and how he feels about Mike White after voting him off.

How do you feel when you look back on the journey of 50 today?

The overall experience of the show is that it was glorious. It was a fantastic experience. There are so many ways the show could go, and you basically agree with the range of it. You could be the first to leave. You know, you could trip on a coconut and get medical help. There are worse things that could happen than Jimmy Fallon invading your life in the game and having to adapt to it. I am so grateful. It was such a wonderful time. And even the Jimmy Fallon thing is kind of hilarious. If it didn’t happen to me, I would find it very funny. Comedy is a tragedy that happens to other people. And it just happened: the other people were me.

Before we get into this episode, what did you think of the way Devens handled the fake idol?

I didn’t know at the time that he was going to pull it out. I thought we had the votes, but at the same time there was a lot of talking. People stood up and talked to people before he played it at Tribal Council, so I understood why he did that. I sit there wincing a little and thinking, I hope this was the right time. Plus, it caused so much political furor. In my eyes it would have been a tight vote, but Coach and Chrissy would have gone. That’s my perspective. I could be wrong. I’m not sure any of us will ever know who would have gone at that moment. But it went off That so far everyone better get on board. The live tribal is happening and everyone has been telling everyone else lies about how the voting would go. The wires cross, the cover stories explode. You need to create a new cover story. It’s wild. It’s crazy. It was unforgettable. I’ll never forget that series of minutes.

Okay, a dive into this week. You raised your hand for the trip, so I assume so popular to get started with it. Getting on the boat, were you excited?

When I got on the boat, I thought: this is a good thing. Whatever happens, whatever this is, I have control over it. If there’s an advantage there, no one has it but me. Even if I don’t have it, no one has it. It’s not in anyone else’s hands. So whether I won or lost was less important. And I think: what’s the worst thing that happens on a trip? If you go there, if you lose a challenge, you lose your vote. I thought, that’s not good, but it’s not potentially fatal. So I make a calculation. Do I want Ozzy to get this benefit? The other thing I thought about is this is “Survivor 50.” This could be a ‘Survivor’ trivia! If this is “Survivor” trivia, then I’ve got this. That would be perfect. It very much wasn’t. So I thought, this is okay. What’s the worst that can happen?

And then… the worst thing that could happen happened.

Then I literally had the worst thing that could happen. And we had the hint! Jeff mentions in the challenge that this is Jimmy Fallon’s idea. But far be it from me to understand the depth of Jimmy Fallon’s plans for me.

So you get the puzzle. How hard was it, and how heavy was the pressure, as the weights fell into the water?

I panicked because of the timing. You have to work out those kinds of puzzles – try the combinations, grind it out, grind it out. You have to stay on your toes. I was going to get stuck on one piece, but I should have turned to other pieces. I really had to concentrate. The weights went in and I realize that time is ticking away. You start to get into your own head. So I panicked. Now, in the cold light of day, I think it was doable. But under that pressure it really hit me.

What was camp like when you came back and read the letter? Did you immediately feel like you were done?

The disadvantage of going on a trip was that I was away from the camp, and I should have taken that into account more. Traveling wasn’t really a thing in my season. Now that I know, I just wouldn’t travel on principle. There was a point where Emily Flippen took me aside after I read the note. She says, “Christian, don’t go on a journey. Let other people go on a journey. Don’t go on a journey. Why are you going on a journey?” I’m like, “I didn’t know!” But Emily said, “Don’t worry, I have a plan. I think I can turn the votes toward Ozzy.” I had brought up this idea earlier in the episode, to mixed effects, but Emily is sharp. She is very observant and she has different relationships than I do. So this could work. But I felt a bit powerless: I couldn’t vote and I couldn’t push too hard in the position I was in, so I just talked to people.

During this process, I missed some warning signs – some warning signs that I told myself to pay attention to that this wasn’t going well. I thought: what options do I have? I can’t play my shot in the dark. The fake idol at tribal has disappeared. I have to trust Emily to pull this out. If I knew things were going sideways, I’d have to pull out something else crazier.

So at Tribal you thought you had a chance.

I was optimistic… I was really blinded. I didn’t know I was going home. I thought Emily might have collected the votes, but things went sideways, just like “Survivor.”

You were very emotional at your farewell. When I was on set, I was shown the unedited, raw version, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. How emotional was it for you to be sent home?

I always try to be a good sportsman because these people play as hard as I hope to play, so good for them. I wish them all the best, regardless of whether I worked with them or not. That’s just the nature of the game.

Obviously I wanted to win this for my son, to show that you can fight for what you think you deserve, and it can work out. It’s okay to sacrifice yourself and give to others, but this can be your thing too. And what does it mean now? The truth came in saying, “Look son, sometimes we think there’s one thing we’ll win or get in our lives that will make us happy and make all our dreams come true. But all that can happen even if you don’t win. Your dreams can still come true. You can’t control everything that happens in your life. You can control how you march forward to get what you think will make you happy.”

You came into this season with a few allies, including Mike White, who dazzled you. He said he hasn’t spoken to you since the show ended and I heard you bragged about setting him free. How do you view your relationship with him now?

I’m hopeful that Mike and I can talk again. I messaged him as soon as I got home because I knew Mike would get hurt by this. That was what I hated most about the move. When I brag about it, the only way I brag about anything is that it was an elaborate plan. What I liked least about that mood was that it would hurt him. I like him, and I always have. I’ve always found him such an interesting person. Every time I get a chance to talk to him, he has such an insightful way of redirecting and recontextualizing a conversation with so few words. I have always respected that.

The only reason I made that move is because I felt like if I didn’t, I would march into the merger like a dead man, especially with the three ‘David vs. Goliath’. I was the target of those three. It would have been seen as protecting them from multiple votes after I told people I’m not going to work with Angelina. Now I’m a liar and also a target. When Mike really started pushing to save Angelina, and I felt like he was trying to keep me from seeing the truth – which was how screwed I would be in the merger – I thought, Mike isn’t really trying to help me here. He’s not trying to say this about Emily to help me. He tries to help Angelina. And once that switch flipped, I thought, Mike is the glue between Angelina and Ozzy. So when I get rid of Mike, these two are on the run. Now we have three people, and Ozzy and Angelina probably won’t get together. I could be on the right side of the votes next time, no matter how many votes there are. That was all that mattered.

And I told this to Mike. I messaged him as soon as I got back because I knew he would be hurt and probably confused, and I hope he realizes that at some point, and I’m hopeful that one day we can talk again. When I voted him down, I said, “I’m not sure, Mike, if you’ll ever understand how much respect I write for this vote. I hope someday you’ll understand and we can talk.”

This interview has been edited and condensed.