The most recent episode of “Survivor 49,” which aired on Wednesday, November 12, saw castaway Michelle “MC” Chukwujekwu become the second member of the jury following the first “live” Tribal Council of the season.
In a heartbreaking confession following her elimination, MC opened up about the unseen “out-of-game” conversation with her ally Jawan Pitts that ultimately brought an end to her “Survivor” journey.
MC Reveals The Real Reason She Turned Against Sophie
While MC was allied with the majority of the players attending the split Tribal Council – including Jawan Pitts, Sophie Segreti and Sage Ahrens-Nichols – the quartet’s original plan to eliminate Rizo Velovic was foiled after they learned that his closest ally, Savannah Louie, would also be joining them for the elimination ceremony.
CBSWith Rizo protected by Savannah’s unprecedented extra vote and his still-unplayed Hidden Immunity Idol, MC’s closest ally, Sophie Segreti, suggested turning the votes on Jawan Pitts, a move didn’t sit right with MC – for reasons that had nothing to do with the game.
Despite having been allied with Sophie for the majority of the season, MC told Entertainment Weekly’s Mike Bloom, “I didn’t want to do that. It messed with my heart a little bit. Because, just in case, somehow the vote on Jawan did send him home, I did not want to have or see two Black people in a row on the jury.”
MC Opens Up About ‘Survivor’s New Era ‘Race Problem’
During last week’s Merge episode, former Marvel Studios executive Nate Moore became the first member of the jury, a blindside that MC herself participated in pulling off. But when it came to voting off a second Black castaway in quick succession, MC tried tirelessly to avoid an outcome that has become all too common in the new era of “Survivor.”
“I watched ‘Survivor 42’ and I saw how there was multiple Black people in a row getting put on the jury,” said MC in a separate video interview with The Post. “And I didn’t want that to happen again, because it made me feel horrible watching it.”
The troubling trend MC highlighted actually extends beyond “Survivor 42,” which saw Black castaways Chanelle Howell and Rocksroy Bailey become the first two members of the season’s jury as the result of a similar split Tribal Council episode.
Over subsequent seasons, eight more Black castaways were eliminated as the result of split Tribals, including James Jones and Ryan Medrano on “Survivor 43,” Sifu Alsup and Kelb Gebrewold on “Survivor 45,” Tim Spicer and Soda Thompson on “Survivor 46” and Sai Hughley and Cedrek McFadden on “Survivor 48.”
The back-to-back eliminations of Nate Moore and MC Chukwujeku made “Survivor 49” the sixth new era season to follow the trend of beginning the Merge portion of the game by eliminating Black castaways, the vast majority of which followed as the result of a split Tribal Council ceremony.
MC Details Her Unseen ‘Out-of-Game’ Conversation with Jawan
MC revealed that she tried to warn Jawan that Sophie was targeting him during an “out-of-game” conversation about the troubling race trend.
“I am on your side,” MC reportedly told Jawan. “I’m not going to vote for you. I will vote against [Sophie], my ally, to prevent this from happening.”
Unfortunately for MC, her private conversation with Jawan didn’t stay that way for long and, at Tribal Council, the 30-year-old fitness trainer became the second member of the “Survivor 49” jury after a unanimous vote against her.
“I know some people might say, ‘Oh, you’re playing the game for $1 million. Oh, don’t bring race into it,’” MC continued. “I think people that are not people of color or Black, they’re not going to understand that this is always a chip on your shoulder that you have to deal with.”
MC similarly revealed she found Jawan’s decision to turn on her despite their conversation “very hurtful.”
“Maybe shame on me for trying to have an out-of-game moment in the game, but I felt like we were on the same page,” she said. “So yeah, it was extremely hurtful that I was protecting him and I was on his side and he didn’t do the same for me.”
