Fan favourite Valeria Sizova was sent packing on Tuesday night’s episode of Australian Survivor after contestant Raymond Chaney put an advantage into action which saw him cast the only valid vote.
After finding an advantage in a bucket of popcorn he bought at a Survivor auction, Raymond was left with the power play that meant if he had unanimous votes placed on him, he would be able to cast the sole valid vote and decide who was leaving.
After faking mental health issues and begging all of his fellow contestants to place their votes on him to leave, he used his advantage on Valeria, who ended up being eliminated.
In a post-elimination interview with Chattr, Valeria said that the twist wasn’t fair, and believes that Raymond’s strategy was morally wrong. Referring to her former tribe mate Scott Butler, who self-eliminated straight after Merge when he felt his mental health declining, Valeria commented that it could be considered as a mockery of what he went through.
“You do this to people and you make them believe in something that is not right.
“This happened because I felt genuinely sorry for the guy. Is it fair? No, but is Survivor a fair game? No.”
Raymond’s blindsiding play also has Valeria questioning if she will be able to vote for him at the final Tribal, should he make it to the end, and says she thinks her tribe mates will feel a similar way.
“People felt a little bit of discomfort in terms of being led to feel like they have to do it for the sake of saving someone else’s mental health and struggles,” she said.
“It’s definitely splitting the group into, and if it would be me sitting on the bench and making that decision for someone, I would definitely think about that morality point of view, whether it was the right way of leading us into it.”