Omar Zaheer reveals unseen idol nullifier that led to his Survivor demise
Omar Zaheer played an amazing social and strategic game on Survivor 42, made even more amazing because none of the other players seemed to realize he was doing it. But that all changed after Omar orchestrated Drea Wheeler's blindside by taking her information about the Knowledge is Power advantage and then using it against her.
That move seemed to wake up the rest of the final 6, with Maryanne Oketch leading the charge to take him out. Omar felt so safe that he and ally Lindsay Dolashewich did not even bother playing an immunity idol that was set to expire anyway after Tribal Council. (Whoops!)
At least all that is what we thought happened. Turns out there was a massive wrinkle that never made it to air that is the real reason Omar was sent to the jury. What does Omar have to say about his epic blindside? Did he underestimate Maryanne? What really caused in his ouster? The 31-year-old veterinarian reveals all!
Robert Voets/CBS Omar Zaheer on season 42 of 'Survivor'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So, what happened. Why are you here talking to me right now?
OMAR ZAHEER: Oh, you know, flew too close to the sun. When you play a game that I was playing, it's like a house of cards and it takes one little slip up for the whole thing to come tumbling down. And I'm gonna drop some good tea here. I think that the thing that really set me on a course for destruction was that I kind of became Gollum to my ring, which was this immunity idol nullifier that I had [holds up parchment to show], that nobody knew about that I was planning to use on Mike. And that's why I gave him the idol back.
Cause I was like, "Here you go. But you don't know that I'm gonna slam this on you later!" I think I just became too focused on that. And what happened was Jonathan caught me in a lie about how I told Lindsay about it. I told him I didn't, he crosschecked that with Lindsay and found out I did tell her, and that set the whole ball in motion for my demise
How and when did you procure this immunity idol nullifier?
So after the reward challenge where we won that 10 amazing delicious fish, Jonathan was getting very annoyed with Maryanne and Lindsay chatting away. And so he's like, "Let's go talk." So we went to the water well to get away from it. And right there was an idol nullifier on the ground, and I've never moved faster than Jonathan in my life until that moment I grabbed it. And so that was our secret and he's like, "Don't tell the girls." And I was like, "I won't." And I didn't for a very long time. [Laughs] And when I told Lindsay, the whole house came tumbling down.
While we're talking about idols and advantages and idols, were you in agreement with Lindsay's plan to not use her idol on you because she didn't want a new idol to be put into circulation?
That conversation was longer than they showed, and I don't honestly didn't even remember her saying that part of it. But I think the bigger issue when we talked about it was I did ask her to play it on me because I was like a self-interested player in that way. And I was like, it's the last time to use it.
But the advantage was non-transferable. So if she wanted to use it on me, she would have to do that from what I understood at Tribal Council. And she thought that her playing it on me in such an open forum would make people know that we were really tight because we had tried to be very discreet the whole time. And my whole game was not to be very pushy. So I didn't push it far enough because I didn't sense enough danger.
We're all watching the TV screen and we're like, "Why would she wanna go to the end with him anyway?"
I was actually unaware that that was even my perception. I think I underestimated myself a little bit because I thought in the history of Survivor you have players like Mike, like Jonathan, even a gregarious person like Maryanne, and they're gonna take all the attention off of me. Like, what's so special about me? Nothing. So maybe that they would not take out me over them.
And I think that I underestimated myself in that way. And with Lindsay, my first alliances in the game were definitely Maryanne and Jonathan, kind of separately. But Lindsay and my relationship grew over time because she was very reliable, and I had the same strategic mindset as her and we really were working very much in lockstep. So we just had a good bond and I don't know if we would've gone to the end-end together, but at least final four, I feel like.
Robert Voets/CBS Omar Zaheer on 'Survivor 42'
Did you underestimate Maryanne?
Yes and no. I think very early on in the season you saw me say, "Do we keep Maryanne, who's better for long term? Or do we vote out Maryanne, who is going to probably betray me before the end of the game?" I distinctly remember, she's the type that's going to cut you before the end. But after saving her at the fake merge she did a very good job being the outsider and really trying to play up her role as an outsider. And she wasn't gaining a lot of traction with the people in the main alliance.
So over time I was like, "Okay, well, she's not getting people on her side," but that was all part of her plan. And I think that was really smart. And towards the end, she got a little bit sick and constipated, so she was lying around a lot and she didn't look like she was strategizing. Much of what she was doing was while I was in confessional. So I didn't know what she was doing exactly. So I think I kind of lost that sentiment that she was one to watch out for as the game evolved. And I also thought she's a self-interested player, but she'll never see me as a bigger threat than Jonathan and Mike, but I was wrong.
In general, when you go off to do a confessional interview with the producers, how much are you dreading and worrying about what's going to be said while you're gone?
I think going into the game as a fan, I was more worried about it, but then at the same time everybody has to go off. It's all fair. So, in that sense, I also used that to my advantage at times. So I knew that was a possibility, but I couldn't worry about it because it's not anything you can change. And things had been going my way so much that I was trying not to be paranoid player.
I think the bigger thing for me is there were so many warning signs before this blindside that had I been on the wrong side of a vote or had I had some sort of inkling of what people are doing when they're not on your side, I would've probably leaned more into it. But I was so actively trying not to be paranoid, which was a trait that was very irritating for some of the other players that I think that I talked myself into safety.
When you have, you know, Mike and Jonathan who would constantly pull me aside before Tribal Council being like, "Are we good? Are we good? Is the plan the same?" And then all of a sudden they're not doing that, it raises a red flag. When Maryanne all of a sudden comes up to me and is like, "Hey, what are we going to eat on day 26 together when we get to Ponderosa," I was like, that's a weird thing to say. But you know, in the moment, you talk yourself out of being that paranoid player. But maybe I should have been more paranoid.
What was your feeling as you started to see your name come up and then realized what was happening as you watched your Survivor life and death flashing before your eyes?
I knew I was going when I saw the second Romeo vote. Even the first one, I was like, "Oh, what's going on?" Because he wasn't supposed to get any votes. And then now he has two? I was like, "This is not going the way it should." And it's so funny because I worked so hard to protect Maryanne — her idol and her extra vote. And then what took me out of the game was her extra vote, which is kind of funny.
But, in the moment, even though the warning signs were there, I was still surprised and it was a surreal feeling. I'm a fan of the show, so to get my torch stuffed is kind of cool even though I didn't want it. And I was kind of proud of them in a weird way because I said that afternoon, I was like, "They should be voting me out and they're not, I don't understand." And then when they actually did it, I was sad for me, but I was happy for them in a weird way. I never thought I would feel that. I thought I'd be so mad, but it was hard to be mad when that was the right thing for them to do.
Robert Voets/CBS Omar Zaheer on 'Survivor 42'
Was your biggest move the one that also ultimately took you out in that you got so much credit for the Drea ouster that it woke everybody up and put a big target on you?
Yes and no. I think a lot of people knew about that vote or what was happening. I think Romeo and Maryanne were the only ones who didn't know about the Knowledge is Power going into it. I think the bigger thing is how I slipped up with the nullifier.
So when Drea told me [about her Knowledge is Power advantage], I had about 30 minutes of scrambling time before we had to go to Tribal Council. So I had to figure out what to do. And my first inclination was to pull Jonathan aside — mistake! — because he's the only one who knew about the nullifier. So we had settled on voting out Mike actually, based on that information and Jonathan had been targeting Mike the day before, so I thought we we're good.
And then I pulled aside Lindsay, and she and Mike and I had formed a final three alliance at the pizza under the stars. And Lindsay was much more loyal to Mike than I was. And also Drea had really broke Lindsay's trust by spilling to Mike that Lindsay gave her information that she was going home. And so she didn't trust Drea anymore. And so she really wanted to push for Drea.
I saw them a little bit interchangeably and I think that I was so focused on idol nullifying Mike out at five that I should have just in hindsight maybe let her take it and nullified her, or taken it and voted him out. But I think the bigger thing was just me telling Lindsay about the nullifier, and Jonathan being perceptive enough to sense that we were getting too close and he crosschecked that information.
That was really the undoing. It wasn't necessarily voting Drea or Mike out at that point. I think where I lost trust was with Jonathan. And then he told Mike about the nullifier. So then Mike didn't trust me anymore. And so he broke away from our final three, and then the idol play with Drea was really what put Maryanne over the edge. But the other two, it was something different. And without those two, it wouldn't have happened, I don't think.
Do you blame Drea for calling you out on her way out?
No, I mean, I kind of anticipated something like that. When you make a big move like that, and that's such a clear betrayal at Tribal Council, I kind of expected something. So I was actually kind of happy that it was so tame. [Laughs] In the moment, I was like a little bit relieved. I didn't have any hard feelings about that because I knew by doing that, I was risking something like that. So if you're gonna do something, you have to be able to accept the consequences.
Let's talk about another big move of yours. I spoke to Hai and he said he didn't even truly know the extent of your lie to Mike about him until he saw it play back on TV. Which leads me to ask, when did Mike find out and what was his reaction?
I don't know what Mike's reaction was exactly because I didn't talk about it with him, but I will say that it was a little bit of a lie, but wasn't really a lie. I know Hai feels that he wouldn't talk to somebody that way, but the general sentiment in the game that I felt it was kind of like he said puppet without saying puppet, you know?
And what's interesting is there was actually a lie that was told that turned Mike against Hai, but it wasn't even my lie! It was Drea's lie. Because Mike did not wanna vote out Rocksroy unless Drea had green lighted it before. And the plan to vote out Rocksroy actually happened before the immunity challenge. I spoke with her about blindsiding him, and we fist bumped on it. And so Mike came to both Hai and I and said, "I'm not gonna vote out Rocksroy, unless Drea's in on it." And we both told him she was, but then when she got back, she told him that she wasn't and that really sent Mike on a collision course with Hai. And I just maybe like pushed it along a little bit. [Laughs]
Robert Voets/CBS Hai Giang and Omar Zaheer on 'Survivor 42'
Among that final six, how do you think you do if you make it to the end?
I think there was a chance I could win, but it's hard to say because so much can happen between then and the end. And also, there's a lot of Ponderosa politics that are at play. And so I think it really depends who you're up against and how the final few days play out because the final few days are so intense and can really change perceptions very quickly as well.
So, I would've liked to think that I would've had a chance, but I also know I made some people mad, and maybe too mad. So it's hard to say for sure, but I think it's definitely possible and I felt really close to the end and just didn't quite get there.
You said you made some people mad. Did you feel that at all when you got to Ponderosa? Were there some people that had some words for you?
I would say that my Ponderosa experience was very uncomfortable. And um, you know, when you make moves the way that I did, you have to understand that it's gonna come with some sort of heat. I just think that for some people, it went a little bit beyond that, and it was taken to a very personal level that was beyond the game that was kind of ugly, and it was not a pleasant experience necessarily. I think that that was, kind of amends to, if I'm a big monster, then you didn't do that bad of a job kind of thing. It got kind of taken a bit too far, I would say.
Whether that would have affected the end outcome, I don't know, because there's so much that can happen. But I thought it was a bit sad to see the perception of, "Oh, what great sports." And then seeing the other side of it was kind of hard, I would say, and a little bit disappointing. But that's the game too.
I always love to know stuff that didn't make it to air. You gave me a great one with the idol nullifier. Is there anything else that happened out there that you wish we had a chance to see on TV and didn't?
There are a couple things. I really wish they had showed my friendship with Maryanne because that was really early on. We're just very similar people. So we had a great time and I wanted her to succeed and wanted me to succeed. So part of that was like, "Oh, I wanna let her get further for that purpose." But seeing her really put the pedal to the medal to get me out, you know, I respect it. I'm proud of her in that sense. And Lindsay and I had a close relationship that they kind of showed towards the end of the run that I had. So that was nice.
And the other thing was, we lost my father a couple years ago and I've been working as a vet since then — a very intense emotional job where you have to kind of put all of your baggage aside to deal with that. And I felt like this was the first time in a long time that I had so much time to really process that. And it was really good for me. I hope he would be proud and I think he would be of how I ended up finishing.
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