'Survivor' 46: First eliminated castaway calls out tribemate for pushing him to quit challenge
"There wasn't even an idea in my mind to quit until he presented it to me," the reality TV star said
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No one wants to be the first person kicked off of a reality TV show, but it has to happen, and in the case of Survivor Season 46, David Jelinsky insisted another competitor's move led to his elimination.
Where to watch Survivor 46: Global TV in Canada, CBS in the U.S., Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT Where to stream Survivor 46: Stream with STACKTV channel through Prime Video in Canada, or through Paramount+ in the U.S.
Watch Survivor Season 46 by adding the STACKTV channel to your Prime Video subscription. 14-day free trial then $12.99/month
As we saw in the season premiere, the 22-year-old from Las Vegas, Nev., part of the Yanu tribe, was also the first Survivor 46 quitter during the "sweat" challenge, having to carry a bucket filled with water, which also had small holes, across the beach to fill larger containers. That led Q Burdette to question his tribemate's worthiness to stay in the game.
But Jelinsky maintains that quitting was all Q's idea.
"My biggest surprise was Q, Q and I just got off on the wrong foot from the get go," Jelinsky told Yahoo Canada. "We clicked on a personal standpoint, but ... you're crazy out there, ... you're put in this situation that would never happen otherwise"
"In that sweat task, Q actually presented the idea to me, to quit, and obviously seeing how we were performing, I was like, 'Yeah man, let's quit. Let's conserve our energy.' ... I was just surprised how strongly Q held that against me. ... There wasn't even an idea in my mind to quit until he presented it to me. And it's unfortunate, and props to Q for spinning it the way that he did."
Even host Jeff Probst was quick to call out Jelinsky for being a quitter, or specifically, for Jelinsky to have reluctance to call himself a quitter. But the competitor still described the host as having "Matthew McConaughey level cool."
"I will say, I was surprised with him calling me out the way he was," Jelinsky said. "I was not expecting that because, from my perspective, it was a mutual decision."
'I couldn't wear shoes for a month'
While he was only there for a short time, Jelinsky shared that something he underestimated before arriving on the island was how physically taxing Survivor is.
"The elements are outrageous," he said. "I live in Vegas and it's dry and hot here, but it's no joke out in Fiji."
"It's wet, humid, hot. I live in a desert, I've never seen water in my life, practically. I've never gone to the beach. So walking on coral, my feet were messed up for a month after the show was over. I couldn't wear shoes for a month."
In terms of what inspired Jelinsky to apply for Survivor in the first place, he's been a fan of the show for a long time, and despite his early exit, he'd still go back if he had the opportunity.
"I'd love to get the chance out there and redeem myself," Jelinsky said.
"I love the strategy. I love human behaviour. I love the relationships, everything about it is just up my alley."
Watch Survivor Season 46 by adding the STACKTV channel to your Prime Video subscription. 14-day free trial then $12.99/month
While Jelinsky admitted that initially he was "devastated" to be eliminated first, he kept being told how much presence he had in the competition.
"Even after I was out, it was joked [about that the] merge tribe was named Jelinsky, ... I was brought up at multiple tribal councils, and just throughout the entire game," he highlighted.
"So I'm really happy with how I went out because oftentimes, you don't remember who the fifth person was voted out, you don't remember who the eighth person was voted out. Sometimes you don't even remember the runner up. But you always remember the winner and the first boot."
But despite Jelinsky's time on Survivor being cut short, the star returned home. with a strong craving American food.
"I was ready for some junk food," he shared. "The first thing I did was go to Starbucks, got a venti iced white mocha. It was delicious."
