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Survivor SA: Playing Idol to save Shane backfires for Marian

Johannesburg – Mischievous master-manipulator Marian de Vos and her Survivor partner-in-crime Shane Hattingh ran the show for 10 episodes of M-Net’s Survivor: South Africa: Champions, but their sneaky moves misfired this week and sent Marian, 25, packing after a tumultuous Tribal Council.

After Shane surprised Marian by giving her the Hidden Immunity Idol at Tribal Council, Marian - who suspected that Shane was in grave danger - decided to go with her gut and rather play the Idol for her buddy. She was right: Shane did receive the most votes, four in total – but they were all voided, thanks to her generosity.

Unfortunately the votes that were not for Shane delivered the first tie of the season – three votes each for Graham and Marian. Marian had hoped that saving Shane would send Graham home, but it wasn’t to be. The tribe had to go to the ballot again and when the votes were read, Marian became the first member of merge tribe Juara to be eliminated - and the first member of the jury that will choose the Ultimate Survivor in the end.

"There have been many blindsides, twists, shocks and drama at this season’s Tribal Councils, but what happened at this one will go down in Survivor SA history as the most mind-boggling to date," says M-Net’s Head of Publicity, Lani Lombard.

"Why didn’t Shane tell Marian what his plans were? How much did the news about the Salvation Cup rattle the Survivors? And why didn’t Shane play the other Hidden Immunity Idol in his possession when he had heard that there would be a revote? The answers to these questions might lead to interesting intrigue in the episodes to come."

To add to the drama, the result might have been different if either Shane or Marian pleaded with Captain Mark Fish to use the Salvation Cup in their favour. Winning the Cup gives the Captain the right to burn - and thereby nullifies - one vote against a contestant of their choice. Instead Mark, who only has limited info on what is going on at Juara, chose Buhle.

In the events leading up to the intense Tribal Council, wedding planner Zavion picked up the first individual Immunity Challenge win when he showed finesse in combining brains with his trademark brawn to outwit the contestants in a puzzle game that nudged the 90-minute mark.

The activities at camp this week included plenty of alliance-talk and efforts from Shane and Marian to manipulate the numbers, as well as a ploy by Shane in which he announced to the tribe that his Hidden Immunity Idol had been stolen. His motive was to turn it into a ‘whodunnit’ that would create chaos and mistrust.

David returned to the original Selatan Rugrats alliance fold, with tribe swap newcomers Buhle, Vel and Solly staying true to their new tribe mates. The Rugrats originally wanted to split the vote 4-4 between Shane and Marian, but wavered on the back of uncertainty over whether both had Hidden Immunity Idols in their possession, with a last-minute switch to a Shane/Sivu split engineered by Graham. Little did they know how Tribal Council would play out, with Graham thanking his lucky stars that Marian had opted for valour.

Survivor South Africa: Champions is broadcast on M-Net on Sundays at 17:30, with a repeat on M-Net Series Zone on Saturdays at 13:00.
 
For the latest updates, go to the official Facebook page SurvivorSA or join in the Twitter conversation @Survivor_SA.

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