Australian Survivor Sandra Diaz-Twine

‘Survivor’ Fans Are Mourning Sandra Getting Eliminated In A Devastating Blindside

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It’s a dark day for Australian Survivor fans after last night’s nail-biting tribal council sent home absolute superstar Sandra Diaz-Twine.

Sandra’s inclusion in this year’s Blood Vs Water season left the reality show’s superfans beyond hyped. After all, Sandra is considered Survivor royalty: she has won not one but two seasons, making her the show’s first two-time winner.

On last night’s episode, Sandra spoke about a “Day 16 curse” that had plagued her on other seasons she didn’t win. This is true, Sandra was voted out on Day 16 on the two seasons that followed her double win. And just like clockwork, as Day 16 rolled around on the Australian season, Sandra was blindsided and sent home.

After being voted out, Sandra said she had no regrets. “Jonathan, I’m not even mad. I’ve played for 166 consecutive days, no one can take that away from me. And I appreciate being able to play the game I love in Australia, so thank you very much to all of those that reached out to me and invited me to play.”

Sandra got played a difficult hand in Sunday night’s tribe swap, leaving her in the minority with few alliances — with only four members of her old tribe crossing over and her only true ally was her daughter, Nina. Then in one of the most savage moments of last night’s tribal, Nina voted out her mum after realising she had to vote with the majority in order to secure her position in the tribe.

While Sandra’s blindside wasn’t all that surprising — given how much of a threat she was to everyone’s game– the producers not dropping in some twist to save her did come as a shock to some viewers.

Love it or hate it, Australian Survivor is known for its twists and advantages, which some fans believe are often strategically added in an attempt to protect certain players. Who can forget how easily last year’s George Mladenov stumbled upon idol clues? And often just when he was under threat of being voted out at tribal. Then there’s 2021 winner Hayley Leake, she was a firm fan favourite and was saved from elimination on Day 30 and sent to Redemption Rock.

Fans hoped ands prayed that a last-minute twist might save Sandra but it wasn’t meant to be. The Day 16 curse is too powerful!

It’s safe to say that Survivor viewers aren’t quite coping with our queen being dethroned:

A special shoutout to Shay Lajoie, who played her idol to save herself last night… for some reason???

We hate to see it but at least Sandra took it graciously. She also seized the chance to impart some wisdom on her tribe, sensing her impending blindside. She told her tribe that targeting physically weaker players, like herself, will do them no favours post-merge when castaways play individually.

For what it’s worth, Sandra made it a lot further than other former winners who competed on Australian Survivor. On the All-Stars season in 2020, former winners Shane Gould and Jericho Malabonga were the first two voted out.

Sadly, this doesn’t make the exit of this absolute icon any less devastating.

Sandra’s daughter Nina is still in the game and we reckon she could go all the way to the end.

But seriously…

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Australian Survivor returns tonight at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10Play.