After celebrating a runner-up finish during his reality TV debut on the cast of “Survivor: David vs. Goliath” in 2018, Mike White returned to the competition series for its milestone 50th season hoping to replicate his former success.
Unfortunately, in the eight years between the two seasons, White’s reputation as the Emmy-winning creator of HBO’s smash anthology drama “The White Lotus” placed a major target on his back heading into “Survivor 50” earlier this year.
As a result, the 55-year-old director found himself having his torch snuffed by longtime “Survivor” host Jeff Probst for the first time ever this week after his former “David vs. Goliath” ally Christian Hubicki orchestrated his blindside in 20th place.
In the aftermath of his elimination, White opened up about where his relationship with Hubicki stands months after filming, as well as confirming that he will continue his trend of offering his fellow castaways the opportunity to cameo on the latest installment of “The White Lotus.”
Mike White Reacts to His Shocking ‘Survivor 50’ Blindside Elimination
CBSSpeaking with PEOPLE in the hours after Episode 4 of “Survivor 50” aired on Wednesday (March 18), White revealed that he was “totally shocked” to find himself leaving the competition so early.
“It was a classic blindside. I really thought my relationships…transcended the game,” he said, referring to Hubicki’s betrayal, which ultimately resulted in the 3-2-1 vote that led to White’s torch being snuffed.
At first, White didn’t realize it was his former Season 37 co-star who had flipped on him.
“At the beginning, I was like, ‘I don’t even know where these votes are coming from!’” White revealed, adding that he only realized that Christian had puppeteered the blindside after the two shared a hug after the votes had been read.
“I was like, ‘Oh this is the hug of somebody trying to like’ – it was a Judas hug. It was a ‘I’m sorry I stabbed you in the back’ kind of hug,” White added.
The magnitude of White’s shock at Hubicki’s betrayal was further evidenced by the fact that he hadn’t even brought his bag with him to Tribal Council, telling PEOPLE, “I was like, ‘You know what? I don’t think I’m going to go home, but if I do go home, what do I want with this ratty crap that’s been sitting on the beach?’ I don’t even understand what people want with those bags. I brought my die, Shot in the Dark, I brought that in my pocket. But what am I going to do with a bag with my dirty crap? I never want to see that again.”
Mike White Reveals Where His Friendship with Christian Hubicki Stands Today
While White seemed relatively content with his elimination in the moment, he’s since revealed that he hasn’t “talked to Christian [Hubicki] since we were on the island.”
Of course, both men have been busy in the months since filming wrapped, with White jetting back to Hollywood to begin writing and preparing for the highly anticipated fourth season of “The White Lotus,” while Hubicki returned to Florida to continue his work as a robotics professor and spend time with his newborn son, whose existence Hubicki kept a secret from the rest of the Season 50 cast.
According to White, however, the separation is a far cry from their post-”David vs. Goliath” relationship, which had previously seen the duo texting on a daily basis and even going on vacations together.
“We were talking for weeks before about how we were going to play to the end, blah blah blah,” White revealed, adding that, since his elimination, “I haven’t heard from [Christian], and I haven’t seen him.”
CBSThe two even managed to miss one another during the live premiere of Season 50 in New York City last month; an event that White was noticeably absent from.
When asked if there was bad blood between himself and Hubicki, White reported, “The game is the game, but I felt like some of it creeped into real life. I felt like I was part of a very long con. I mean, if your friend doesn’t tell you he had a baby. That’s somebody, they’re putting the game – it’s like a secret reveal for the game.”
“He didn’t have to take me out,” White added. “But he took me out because he wanted to take me out.”
Mike White Confirms ‘Survivor 50’ Stars WILL Appear on ‘The White Lotus’ Season 4
Looking forward to the next chapter of his career, White teased that the forthcoming fourth season of “The White Lotus” will “start shooting in a few weeks” in France, confirming that a number of “Survivor” castaways will appear on the installment, so long as they accept the offer to cameo.
“The cast is finally coming together,” White revealed. “Maybe at some point I’ll announce the ‘Survivor’ people, but I have to tell them first before I tell the world.”
He added that he has yet to extend the offer to appear on the HBO series to any of his Season 50 co-stars, but said that he’s “pretty positive that they’ll want to do it.”
While White refused to name which castaways he plans on inviting, he did shout out a few of his original tribe mates as potential options for cameos.
“Coach [Benjamin Wade] is obviously a character, but he’s very warm. In his own way, he’s very self-aware. Jonathan [Young] is a really cool, gentle soul as well as being this monster competitor. Charlie [Davis] is great at everything he does. Dee [Valladares], Tiffany [Ervin] and Kamilla [Karthigesu] are like stand-up comedy stars – They’re all so funny,” White gushed.
Former “Survivor” stars who’ve made cameo appearances on “The White Lotus” in the past include Alec Merlino (Season 1), Angelina Keeley and Kara Kay (Season 2) and Natalie Cole, Carl Bourdreaux and Christian Hubicki (Season 3).
Stay tuned for more information about which “Survivor 50” stars join the exclusive list as “The White Lotus” Season 4 begins filming in the coming weeks. In the meantime, be sure to catch new episodes of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” every Wednesday night at 8:00pm ET on CBS.
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