Jesse Lopez reveals one last Survivor shocker

Dalton Ross
·12 min read
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Jesse Lopez reveals one last Survivor shocker
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He made the move of the Survivor 43 season. Which is why the other players had to move him over to the jury. Jesse Lopez dropped jaws when he used his Cody's Assenmacher idol against him, blindsiding his biggest ally in the game. He dropped jaws again when he revealed that Jeanine Zheng's idol — long thought to have left the game with Dwight Moore — was actually in his pocket the whole time.

The problem is, all these big moves made Jesse a big target — a target he could not escape when he was put into a final four fire-making contest against Mike Gabler. The AlliGabler ate Jesse up at fire, sending the distraught fan favorite to the jury in fourth place.

What happened after Jesse walked off that Tribal Council set? What was his reunion with Cody like? And why did he vote for Gabler to win the game? We got into it all with the 30-year-old political science data analyst, including whether the data points to him returning to the island anytime soon. And he revealed one last surprise about his game. (Also make sure to read our finale recap and exit interview with Mike Gabler and finale Q&A's with Cassidy Clark, Owen Knight, and Karla Cruz Godoy.)

Survivor
Survivor

Robert Voets/CBS Jesse Lopez on 'Survivor 43'

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY First off, let's get into your vote. Why Gabler?

JESSE LOPEZ: I think, for me, it was coming out of the final 4 fire-making challenge. I only have less than 24 hours to process the whole Survivor experience. The whole game, I'm focused on me and my game and getting to the end. And I'm not really trying to contemplate like, "Oh, who has the best game between everyone else," except for when I'm [figuring out] who I'm trying to vote out? And so I had to just make a checklist in my head of who to vote for. And I had asked a question at Tribal that was like, "Tell me a time that you persuaded us to vote for someone?" And Gabler threw out Elie, and that was true. Gabler spearheaded that vote.

And I think another really important factor in my vote for Gabler was with the Cody vote. When I told Owen and Cass that I had Cody's Idol and that he wouldn't be playing it that night, I did not tell Gabler that. All I told Gabler was that "I think we need to take a shot at Cody. I know he's in our ride or die alliance, but if he gets to the end, he's a huge threat and he's going to have a great chance at winning this game." And all Gabler said was, "You know what, it doesn't matter if Cody plays his idol tonight, we got to take this shot." And for me, it showed a lot of heart, and it showed a willingness to go big or go home. And I had played my whole game taking these risks, and so I really respected that.

Now is the part of the interview when I bring up your most painful Survivor memory. I mean, it was all over your face, but tell me what was going on in your head when Gabler's rope snaps, ending your dream there?

Yeah, man. I think it was a lot of disappointment. I think as you saw, I put my heart into that game. And I mean, we all do, but every night I was up making this sort of list in my head of what I needed to do the next day. I was hardly sleeping. I was coming up with these strategies, I was 100 percent in, and I was giving it my all.

And I wanted to play a game where if I made it to the final Tribal Council, there would be very few questions asked because I would have the résumé to show that I played the best game. And so when his rope snaps, all of that goes up in the air and I just start thinking about my kids. I just start thinking about my wife and my hope is that I didn't want to let them down. And I don't think I did. I didn't win the game, but I feel I set a good example.

What happened after you walked off that Tribal Council set? Tell me how you were dealing with that as you're waiting to film your final interview and then heading off to Ponderosa?

I think the processing happened pretty quickly, honestly. For me, I was down in that moment. I was down at Tribal. Obviously, I'm ugly crying on national TV, but I was pretty quickly like, "You know what? I want to go out of here with my head held high." Because again, at the end of the day, I'm trying to set an example for my kids. I'm trying to show them that even if you lose, there's a good way to lose. And so I wanted to go out with positive energy. And so I'm sitting in the tent and I'm feeling very positive about the game that I played. And when I get back to Ponderosa, the reaction was incredible, man. There was a lot of love for me, which was really amazing considering how brutal I was. I think by the end of the night I was very happy with how it turned out. Obviously, I wanted the million, but…

Survivor 43
Survivor 43

CBS Jesse Lopez on 'Survivor 43'

Tell me about the reunion with Cody and what it was like when you two saw each other for the very first time?

I mean, Cody punched me in the face. [Laughs] As soon as I saw Cody, he gave me a handshake, he gave me a hug. And what he told me was that as soon as I pulled out Jeanine's idol, it all made sense for him. And he was just happy that I hadn't taken him out sooner. So I think it smoothed over pretty easily there.

Have you ever been that nervous in your entire life than when you played Cody's idol for Owen?

Dude, my heart was in my throat. I don't think I've ever had that much adrenaline rushing through my body right then. Not only are you playing an idol on Survivor, which is just crazy to think about in itself if you're a super fan, but it's just like, I'm also turning my back on this guy who I've been with from the very start. And there are a lot of emotions, and as cool as it looks on TV to do these cool strategic moves, it's really heavy. And so I was very nervous, but I also wanted to stand up and give him the respect that I thought he deserved. I wanted to give him a handshake. And so it led to an awkward pause.

You also had Jeanine's idol, and really the only thing you had to figure out was the most dramatic way to play it for the jury, so tell me about the different ways you considered doing that.

I mean, for me, at five, obviously I could have just saved it until the votes are read and played it or whatever. But I have so much respect and love for Karla, and when she's on the defensive, she is good. She is very persuasive. And her throwing my name out, I was very scared that she was going to convince them to actually write my name down and send me home. And so what I wanted to do at that Tribal was pull out that idol just to make sure that there was nobody who was going to do that and there was no funny business that was going to happen. I wanted to steer them away from voting me out, even as convincing as Karla can be. So I wanted to make sure that that was out there, that the cat was out of the bag, that I wasn't going home that night.

Cody Assenmacher and Jesse Lopez on 'Survivor 43'
Cody Assenmacher and Jesse Lopez on 'Survivor 43'

CBS Cody Assenmacher and Jesse Lopez on 'Survivor 43'

Well, let's say you hadn't had that idol. What do you think happens?

I still think that the relationships I had could have pulled me through, but I would've been sweating way more bullets that night. I would've had to rely on my relationships there. And I think I had strong relationships, but I don't underestimate anybody out there. Especially Karla. We connected and there were times in the game where I would be sitting back and just kind of observing people and just watching interactions. And then I'd look over and I'd see Karla doing the exact same thing. So I was terrified of Karla. I felt like she was really the only person who might be able to outwit me, really.

It seems like at first you wanted to take Cassidy out at five. Then I guess you changed your mind to Karla. At least that's the way the edit makes it seem.

I was very torn on taking out Karla. She was injured, so I was like, "Challenge-wise, she's probably my best bet to go against because I'm not that great at challenges." But what they didn't actually show that happened at the Tribal actually was we hop up, I'm talking to Karla, she turns her back, and she tells Cassidy and Gabler that she thinks my idol might be fake. And so Cassidy and Gabler immediately tell me, "Hey, she's trying to throw your name out still and she thinks your idol is fake and she wants us to write your name down." And that for me, I was like, "All right, we're done. We're done having this conversation. I'm not even going to consider Cassidy at this point. It's over."

I love that you brought up the challenges and you didn't make me do it. It seemed to be the one thing you weren't good at. What was going on there?

[Laughs] I don't know, man. I'm a dad of two kids and I play Fortnite with them a lot. I don't know. I'm just not good at it, I guess.

Is there any stuff that never made it into an episode that you wish we'd gotten a chance to see on TV?

So much of my game got shown and so many of my relationships got shown. But I will say that even though we were at odds in the end and I was constantly trying to trip Karla up, I had very honest and real conversations with Karla about our background and growing up and ending up at UC Berkeley. And I think that sort of relationship between me and Karla didn't necessarily come through. So I would've loved to have seen those very intimate conversations that we had.

Were you a villain?

I'm going to leave that to the people to decide, man.

Well, you've seen this show enough. Were you a villain?

I am a gangster in a dad bod.

Survivor
Survivor

CBS Jesse Lopez on 'Survivor 43'

When's the last time you entered the Pineapple Zone?

I'm going to be honest with you: The Pineapple Zone was totally made up. I was just reaching for any sort of strategy out there. I wanted to create this sort of area where me and Dwight could be honest. And I had just seen Ted Lasso and there's this code word that I guess he uses with his wife where he says "Oklahoma" and they have to be honest with each other. I couldn't remember the word that Ted Lasso used, so I just said, "Pineapple Zone."

So that's where that comes from. I was just trying to create this sort of zone where me and Dwight could be honest with each other. It's not a real thing. Apparently, there are alternate meanings to pineapples and I got some very weird messages early on in the season. But it is not real.

Dude, you totally messed up. You should have called it the Dangily-Doodly Zone.

I should have. That is exactly what I should have done.

What's it been like watching it all play back on TV and seeing all the reaction to everything you did on this season?

I think the word to describe it is really bittersweet. And it's mainly because when you're out there in the game, you think, "Oh, I'm playing a great game." Or you think that you're playing a good game at least. I thought like, "Man, I'm playing pretty good out here." But then to have it confirmed and to watch it back and be like, "Oh wow, I was really playing a really good game." It's amazing.

But I also know where it's heading and where it's leading. And so there's some emotion to it. It's like, "Wow, I played this really excellent game. I just couldn't quite stick the landing." And so it's been a bittersweet experience for sure. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Are you ready to go do this again when they ask you? Because you know they're going to ask you.

Absolutely. 100 percent. I will have to play a very different game, but absolutely 100 percent.

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