On the most recent episode of “Survivor 49” castaway Matt Williams critiqued the game play of one of the show’s most iconic winners just moments before he became the fifth person voted out of the season.
Throughout the episode, which aired on Wednesday, October 15, Williams spoke candidly about how he “hated” two-time champion Sandra Diaz-Twine’s “anyone but me” strategy, despite the fact that it earned the decorated alum the “Sole Survivor” title on both “Survivor: Pearl Islands” and “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.”
Matt’s Critique of Sandra’s Strategy Backfires Big Time
The comments came after a tribe swap left Matt, who up until that point had been spared a trip to Tribal Council on his original Hina tribe, on the bottom of a newly reconfigured tribe dominated by former Uli members. Matt was joined on the chopping block by his fellow original Hina tribemate Jason Treul and former Kele member Sophi Balerdi.
As the trio scrambled for safety in the face of a majority Uli alliance, Williams made a jab at the expense of Diaz-Twine, telling his tribemates and longtime “Survivor” host Jeff Probst, “I don’t like the way Sandra played the game.”
“But here I am, quoting Sandra, anybody but me,” added Matt at Tribal Council, trying to convince the Uli 4 to target either Jason or Sophi instead.
Ultimately, Williams’ slight against Sandra – widely considered to be one of the greatest strategists the game has ever seen – alongside his general “cagey”-ness, was his downfall.
Sandra Responds to Matt’s Comments on Social Media
Sandra, who was on vacation in Hawaii at the time the episode aired, responded to Matt’s comment on Instagram after “Survivor 44” alum Carolyn Wiger informed her that the new contestants had mentioned her name in a less-than-complimentary manner.
“All I’m gonna say is that my strategy has paid dividends not once but twice,” she wrote under a screenshot of Williams on Season 49. The sentiment was similarly echoed by Probst ahead of Matt’s elimination, who said “Well, [Sandra’s strategy] worked twice.”
“Girl bye,” Diaz-Twine added in the actual photo. “Queen stays Queen.”
Matt Apologizes to ‘Survivor Queen’ After Clap Back Comments
Williams has since apologized for his comments, telling TV Insider after his elimination, “Sandra, I apologize for thinking that what you were doing was not playing ‘Survivor.’ When you’re there in the moment, sometimes that’s absolutely playing ‘Survivor.’”
“As a fan of the show, watching, I’m like, ‘How can you go in there, and that’s your strategy?’ But it obviously worked,” he continued. “It worked twice, as Jeff pointed out to me in Tribal. But I never thought in a million years I would go on ‘Survivor’ and those words would come out of my mouth. But I thought, ‘I really don’t have a whole lot of options.’”
