Every season of “Survivor” has its fair share of twists and shocking moments and “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” is no different in that respect. Packed with a cast of returning fan-favorite players, the 50th season has already seen some dramatic eliminations and surprising challenges.
However, with so many returning players who may already know each other, there have also been some accusations of cheating. A number of castaways have suggested that their fellow players may well have broken rules by pre-gaming —where individuals communicate with other players prior to filming starting on the Fiji island. One contestant who faced these accusations was Dee Valladares, who has now addressed the claims.
Dee Valladares Responds To Accusations That She Pre-Gamed
While speaking with Parade, Valladares was asked about comments made by Charlie Davis following his own elimination from the show. Davis said that Valladares and Rizo Velovic had spoken before the game began, something that is explicitly banned in the rules of “Survivor.”
Valladares confirmed that she and Velovic had spoken pre-game but that they did not discuss strategy or make plans to work together.
“I have a lot of good things to say about Rizo,” revealed Valladares. “I’m sure people in exit press will not have good things to say about him. But let me tell you that boy, man, whatever he is, is so self-aware. I see him like a little brother, and he was so fragile out there, because he had just played 49 too. He is so self-aware and very, very funny. That guy is so funny. So immediately from meeting him, super funny.”
She went on to say that the conversation actually had a negative affect on their relationship as it led to her ultimately not trusting Velovic when they initially met in season 50.
Valladares said, “This little gremlin Rizo lied to me on that FaceTime call and told me that Savannah got fifth place and he got fourth or something like that. So, going into 50 every single preseason interview, I said I did not want to be near Season 49 because they were all playing games.”
She continued, “Every preseason interview, I said, ‘I do not like them,’ and that was because I knew that Rizo lied to me. So actually, going into 50, I did not trust Rizo. Here’s the thing. It actually was not a good thing that we had that call, because I didn’t trust him. But the thing that you need to ask yourself is, he’s not complaining about the call; everyone has conversations.”
Kamilla Karthigesu Opens Up About Cheating on ‘Survivor’ 50
Valladares is not the only competitor to speak out about cheating on the current season of “Survivor.” Kamilla Karthigesu recently confirmed that a number of her fellow players were pre-gaming before appearing on the series.
After revealing that it was obvious that some players had spoken prior to their appearance in season 50, Karthigesu then went on to explain how some competitors openly discussed having conversations before filming took place.
“So my thinking was, and this once again goes back to the knowledge that Mike has brought back to us from his journey with Savannah and Colby,” she said. “I thought that everyone knew it was open knowledge.”
She continued, “People were talking about pregaming alliances very openly this season. And so I thought maybe he knew, like, ‘Hey, if I wanna signal to people at this 17-person merge that I am not locked down, that I am willing to play with other people,’ that would’ve been the perfect time to do that. And so I seriously thought he was gonna do that.”
