The “Survivor 45” final five speak!

Austin, Dee, Jake, Julie, and Katurah talk about their highest and lowest moments and reveal their picks for biggest threat on the jury.

Twenty-three days down, three to go. That’s how much time is left in Survivor 45. And the number of contestants still in contention for the million dollars has similarly dwindled. Austin Li Coon, Dee Valladares, Jake O’Kane, Julie Alley, and Katurah Topps are all that’s left from the original cast of 18 castaways.

Three of them will make it to final Tribal Council, where they will face-off against questions from the Survivor jury — a jury that had to handle our questions yesterday.  But before we head into Wednesday’s three-hour finale on CBS, we asked the final five to spill to EW all about the highest and lowest points in the first 23 days, as well as reveal their picks for the jury member that was the biggest threat to win the game. Your official Survivor 45 finale pre-game begins here.

What is the move you were most proud of in the first 23 days?

AUSTIN LI COON: Gotta go with the Kellie blindside. A ton of heavy leg work went behind the scenes to make this blindside happen; ever since I came back from the sandwich journey (RIP), I was working hard to pull off this move. It was especially tough convincing Dee to go with the plan because her and Kellie were quickly growing close, and we had to convince Dee that she didn’t need Kellie as a shield because the rest of the Reba 4 would protect her. And the second Bruce lost his vote at the auction, I knew it was the perfect time to strike. Drew and I were both well aware of the all-girls alliance discussions, and we used their plan to vote out Jake as a smokescreen to orchestrate Kellie’s blindside.

DEE VALLADARES: The move I was most proud of was the Emily blindside. This is because up until that point, I FELT I was playing a good game, but it wasn’t solidified in my mind until THAT moment. Austin told me the news that Julie was going home minutes before Tribal Council so you can imagine how fast my heart was racing. Luckily, Julie and I were left at camp alone for a split second and that was the scene where I told her she was the option for that night. I’ve never felt so much pressure in my life knowing I had to make a decision so quickly, and on top of that, make sure Julie doesn’t blow my cover and agrees to vote out Emily. All minutes before Tribal Council. So much could’ve gone wrong there!

JAKE O’KANE: Finding my Idol! I’ve been looking for that thing all season. I even watched Bruce find his two feet away from me! As soon as Julie played the idol, I said to myself before we even left Tribal “It’s mine, I just have to find it,” and I did. In the moment, I was upset at first only finding a clue, but coming up with the plan to wait till another castaway was using our normal changing area to make my move and using stripping as an alibi (as corny as it was) was one of the most exhilarating moments I had out there.

JULIE ALLEY: My most proud moment was winning the tree puzzle with Drew! I know it was only for a reward challenge, but I was so proud of winning a classic Survivor puzzle!! You have no idea!

KATURAH TOPPS: Finally accepting the fact that no matter how much I tried, original Belo members would never prioritize me in an alliance or include me in real strategy discussions, and therefore deciding to work with Reba to help organize the Kaleb, Kellie, and Kendra blindsides, with the belief that eventually Reba would turn on itself — and I'd become the crucial vote they needed to take out a Reba member of my choosing. When Austin and Drew agreed with me to vote out Julie, and Dee agreed with me to vote out Drew, I felt so validated that the plan I'd made on day 14 actually worked!

What was your favorite non-game interaction you had with someone out there in the first 23 days?

AUSTIN LI COON: Drew and I became master crab hunters out on the island. We would go hunting right as the sun started to set (on non-Tribal days) and bring back several little sand crabs to share with the tribe. We had a whole system that we perfected — Drew would grab live crabs from cracks in the rocks (with his bare hands!) and chuck them over to me, where I would then proceed to smack them dead with our paddle.

Drew was truly my best friend out there, and we had so much fun every day. Another hilarious moment with Drew was when he started sleep talking strategy one night shortly after the merge. In the middle of the night, he just starts rambling, “Yeah, Jeff, so I think we have the numbers…” so I immediately wake him up to prevent any secrets from spilling! Dude always kept me on my toes.

DEE VALLADARES: Even with 90-minute episodes, there are a lot of interactions that weren’t shown! One that really stands out was early on in the game with OG Reba. The six of us woke up one morning and did an affirmation circle and we really took our time with it. We highlighted positive things about each person’s character and it was absolutely wholesome. I think part of OG Reba's success in challenges (aside from some muscles) was how in tune we were with each other. We’d play “never have I ever” games and share the funniest stories about our personal lives that really bonded us at a much more humane level.

JAKE O’KANE: Aw, man. So many. I’ll do three. Bruce and I would tease each other a lot out there. He was the old man out there, and I let him know it. We had a lot of laughs. J Maya and I geeked out a bunch over our love of musicals. The theatre kid alliance that could have been! After I passed out on Lulu beach, the tribe went to go catch crabs and Kaleb sat with me for a couple minutes while I recovered. I felt even closer with him following that, and we searched for idols as we caught up with the rest of the group.

JULIE ALLEY: I LOVED my Reba tribe!! We had so many amazing moments together. But I loved my first talk with Katurah the day of the merge. She shared about being gay and felt like an outcast, and I shared about being divorced and felt the same way. Now knowing that we were both hiding the fact that we were attorneys makes the moment even sweeter.

KATURAH TOPPS: Talking about life, career, and family with Dee, Austin, and Julie days 12 through 14. They were so unbelievably kind and genuine with me, and I felt more seen and included with them than I had felt the entire first 12 days of the game. Austin's kindness in particular really shocked me, I kept telling him "OMG, you are an ideal person — beautiful AND genuinely kind. I'm sure your mother is very proud!" which, I admit, in hindsight is a little creepy, haha.

What was your lowest moment over the first 23 days?

AUSTIN LI COON: Day 10 was by far the most difficult day physically. We had recently swapped tribes, so I was with new tribe members at Belo beach. That day, hunger was at an all-time high, and the entire tribe had so little energy that we couldn’t even leave our shelter (even Kendra!). On top of all that, it rained the ENTIRE night. Belo’s shelter had a terrible roof, so we spent 10 hours being pummeled with rain. We were so cold and wet that we almost forgot about how much our stomachs hurt from hunger. The following day, we lost the immunity challenge that would have gotten us a fish reward, and immediately afterwards I had those delicious sandwiches snatched from right under my nose. Tough days.

DEE VALLADARES: Day 10 was straight out of a horror movie! This was right after the tribe swap when a huge storm kept us up all night. J, Julie, Sifu, and I tried to stay close, but we were drenched in rain shivering like I never have before. To top it off, we hadn’t eaten at that point either. I remember crying that night in silence and wondering how it’s possible that it is 2023 and there are people in this world who lack proper shelter and don’t know when their next meal will be. That was the absolute lowest point for me.

JAKE O’KANE: Once I found out Bruce lied to me about his idol being in the game and knowing I was going home if he played was a tough pill to swallow. In that moment, I knew I truly had no one out there and no one would put their eggs in my basket strategically. Not personal on their parts, they are all wonderful people. But on a lighter note, following that moment, I was really able to highlight to myself that I don’t quit. I’m a fighter. Regardless of how much I’m beat down, I will exclusively play to win.

JULIE ALLEY: Night 10 was horrific!! It poured ALL night! I finally slept curled up huddled next to Dee and Sifu but shook with cold in the rain all night. It was so terrible.

KATURAH TOPPS: The time I spent on Lulu beach (after the tribe swap). On new Lulu, it was generally understood and accepted that I was the tribe outcast, and I felt this repeatedly with almost all of my interactions with the tribe. (Kaleb tried to extend me kindness, which I saw and appreciated, but I also understood that he was limited because original Belo had the numbers and controlled the tribe dynamics.)

The tribe would all just walk away without me, and there was no need for anyone to pretend I wasn't at the bottom, because I had no agency either way. It reminded me of being a child with no agency — that feeling of wanting at least one person to speak up for you or view you as valuable, but having to accept that it doesn't exist. And knowing that if you were to voice your concerns, it would fall on deaf ears or likely be interpreted as going against the status quo that had been set — which could then provide a justification for you being further excluded.

Of the six people on the jury heading into the finale, who was the biggest threat to win?

AUSTIN LI COON: Once again, I gotta go with Kellie. Everybody wanted to work with Kellie — even players she wanted to vote out! Kellie was extremely threatening, particularly to my game, because I knew if I didn’t take her out ASAP, she would be able to rally enough people to vote me out to upgrade her own amulet. Also, Drew is an incredible player and had he made it to the end, it would be tough for anyone to beat him.

DEE VALLADARES: Early merge Kellie was extremely well positioned and was a huge social/physical threat, but when she was voted out my eyes shifted towards Emily. Emily had grown on me as a person on the island and I know for certain had our blindside on her not been successful, she would’ve won the game — no questions asked! She was much more special and strategic than what she thought she was out there.

JAKE O’KANE: Have you met Kellie Nalbandian? That girl has the sauce, she’s sharp as a tack, she’ll kick your ass in puzzles, she’ll kick your ass in physical challenges. I call her Machine Guns Kel. Had Belo been able to get their ducks in a row, she comes out on top nine times out of 10.

JULIE ALLEY: Emily. Hands down. Her growth arc, her move to get Bruce out, her journey from Lulu, and her reward win for the Thanksgiving sanctuary made her a guaranteed jury pick. Her alliances with Drew and Austin scared me, and I thought they would bring her to the end.

KATURAH TOPPS: Emily. She started the game being so harsh and abrasive that when she showed how caring, funny, and gentle she really is, I was blown away and extremely impressed. I loved that she eventually learned to balance her no nonsense "call it like it is" side with the other human parts of her — because both are really needed in Survivor. Also, I think she's just a really beautiful person inside and out, with a great strategic mind. I enjoyed our strategic plots about how we'd get out Bruce and Julie, respectively.

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.