“Survivor” season 49 star Sage Ahrens-Nichols has explained why she didn’t hug Shannon Fairweather during a recent episode of “Survivor.” Defending her decision, Ahrens-Nichols details her thought process behind the snub and reveals the pair have since reconciled outside of the hit reality series.
Sage Ahrens-Nichols Explains Hug Snub
Last week’s episode of “Survivor” saw Fairweather become the seventh person eliminated from the show. Having been blindsided by her fellow tribe members and in an emotional state, Fairweather asked the three contestants who had voted her out for a hug before departing.
While the other two quickly embraced Fairweather, Ahrens-Nichols turned down the request. Explaining her decision at the time, she said, “I’m gonna give you a handshake because I want the hug to be genuine and I don’t think I can give that to you right now. But I look forward to hugging you in the future, okay? Take care.”
Fairweather subsequently told Entertainment Weekly she was “heartbroken” and “confused” by the decision. However, she did confirm the two players have become closer since filming ended.
In a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ahrens-Nichols has now defended her decision and explained why she often finds touching others uncomfortable.
“I’m not naturally physically affectionate, and being socialized as a woman, I wasn’t taught to honor boundaries around touch,” she says.
“Even today, there’s a default expectation to hug someone when meeting them, which I’ve been reprogramming because it’s uncomfortable for both me and potentially the other person. If I feel emotionally connected to someone, I may be more physically affectionate, but even then, I have limits.”
The “Survivor” 49 castaway also revealed that she had been willing to hug Fairweather earlier as she had felt friendlier with her and knew it would be strategically important.
“On the original Uli beach, I felt emotionally close enough to Shannon that I could tolerate hugs,” she explains. “From a strategic perspective, she was my best ally at that point, so I couldn’t risk coming off standoffish.”
Sage Ahrens-Nichols Felt She Was Being True to Herself
The decision not to hug Fairweather came about because Ahrens-Nichols knew that she was no longer a threat as she was leaving the show, meaning that she could be fully honest.
She says, “I could either give another fake hug, knowing it would likely hurt her more later when she watched everything back, or be real in that moment, respecting both her dignity and mine.”
“I chose the latter,” she continues. “She was out of the game; it was the first moment I got to be 100 percent real with her. Faking things doesn’t align with the way I try to show up in this world, but you’re going to have to get uncomfortable if you want the chance at winning.”
Ahrens-Nichols went on to say that she believed it was more important to be truthful at that moment so that they would still be able to be friendly outside of the show.
“If I were in her shoes and someone hugged me on the way out, and I later watched everything back only to find they’d been fake to me almost the entire time, I probably would never be able to fully trust that person outside of the game,” she explains. “Because why did you continue to be fake when you didn’t have to, especially since she wasn’t going to be on the jury?
