It’s never a good thing to get voted out of Survivor, but it’s an absolute nightmare to be known as the dreaded “first boot.” As Survivor: HHH (Season 35) got underway Wednesday night, one of the eighteen newbies had to go, but adding insult to injury, we barely even got to see the person during the jam-packed, over-stuffed 60-minute Premiere.
Caution, as spoilers from this week’s episode are to follow! Turn back now! If you want to get caught up, be sure to check out the Episode 1 Recap here.
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Survivor was on to something when they divided Season 33 – Millennials vs. Gen-Xers – by generation. Of all of the ways tribes have been split up to begin a season, one major division seems to always naturally occur: That between the young and old. And even though Olympic swimmer Katrina Radke is only 46, on this season full of young bucks, she might as well have been a fossil. Did age really play into Katrina becoming the first person booted from the game? It definitely seemed to play into the tribe’s initial assessment of her, as she was labeled one-half of the “Mom Squad” along with fellow 46-year-old Chrissy.
But Katrina seemed to have been given a lifeline when her ally Chrissy was gifted a “Super Idol” from Ryan at the Hustlers tribe. The Super Idol gave Chrissy the power to make a player immune AFTER the votes had been read, but it could only be used during that first Tribal Council. Viewers (like me) fully expected Chrissy to use this power to save Katrina, but not only did Chrissy not use it, she ended up casting her vote against Katrina. Say who in the what now? Or to quote Fred Willard in the movie “A Mighty Wind“: “Hey, wha’ happened?”
I had the chance to speak to Katrina today on the FilmSurvivor Podcast (the full audio of which you can find and download at the bottom of this article). But here were some highlights:
KATRINA RADKE INTERVIEW:
On Katrina’s relationship with Chrissy and what the viewers didn’t see:
Katrina Radke: I think (Chrissy) wanted me out from the beginning. She was so afraid of being the first one to go home, that she wanted to make sure that I was the first one to go home. I actually thought that I could have worked with anybody, but she just kept putting that out there, the whole not wanting to work with me. I tried to connect with her on that stuff. But there were a lot of other alliances that went on during that time depending on what day it was. But a lot of stuff happened that just was not on the show.
On if age had anything to do with her being voted out first:
Katrina: Oh I don’t know about that piece, I mean Chrissy was worried about that and the other four had said that (about “Mom Squad”) at the very beginning, but that was like Day One. But so much changes once they get to know you. Yet at the same time, it wasn’t long enough for any of us to really get to know one another.
On her lack of screen time during her only episode of the season:
Katrina: Oh I know, they didn’t portray me as doing anything. But I was building the shelter, working with the guys, doing a lot of stuff. I was one of the stronger people out there doing stuff…there were so many things out there happening, I had looked for the Idol for several hours. There were many things that I was doing out there being my go-getter self, and they made me look like a wallflower…they just really tried to portray me as a totally different person than who I was and am, which was pretty hilarious.
For much more from Katrina Radke, including my full interview, please listen to the latest episode of the FilmSurvivor Podcast below or by clicking here.
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Photo Credit: CBS/Monty Brinton/Robert Voets/Timothy Kuratek/Jeffrey Neira
