J. Maya Krishnan-Jha (‘Survivor 45’ exit interview): ‘However upsetting it is, it is pretty freaking wild’
On Wednesday’s sixth episode of “Survivor 45,” the three tribes of Belo, Reba and Lulu joined together at one beach for the pre-merge. At the immunity challenge, the castaways were divided into two teams where seven earned immunity and a spot in the merged tribe and six others were left vulnerable to the looming vote. After a historic “Shot in the Dark” by Kaleb Gebrewold for immunity, J. Maya Krishnan-Jha became the plan B in a second vote and was eliminated from the game. Read on for J. Maya’s “Survivor 45” exit interview from the end of the episode.
On her way out, J. Maya narrated what her Tribal Council fate, summing it up as “a unanimous vote for Kaleb. He got saved through a Shot in the Dark. I guess I was the collateral damage in the re-vote.” But her impression that she was just “collateral damage” is not entirely accurate. Throughout the episode we saw her own former allies from original Reba throw her name out as a good candidate for the first vote. Sifu Alsup was already primed to take J. Maya out because he believed she was the one that had voted for him previously (she was not, but said she did in her own foolish plan). Dee Valladares and Julie Alley, apparent allies of J. Maya’s, were also down to vote her out because they felt like she would turn on original Reba the first chance she got.
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The conversation turned away from J. Maya and on to Kaleb because of Bruce Perreault and Kendra McQuarrie who saw him as a more long-term threat that should be taken out sooner rather than later. Kaleb thought he was working with them from original Belo, but his Lulu ally Emily Flippen warned him that wasn’t the case. Based on Emily’s suggestion, Kaleb played his Shot in the Dark and got the lucky 1/6 draw of safety at TC. At that point, an immediate decision was needed and so in a unanimous vote against her, J. Maya became the easy consensus to vote out instead.
“However upsetting it is, it is pretty freaking wild,” concluded J. Maya on the situation. She knew she had just been a part of a rarity in the new era — the Shot in the Dark working for someone — and was willing to embrace her place in it. Overall, she said that “[Survivor] was the greatest adventure of my entire life. There are no regrets here now, just smiles. I’m just happy that I got to come out here to play a great freaking game.”
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