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Cape Town – After another blindside from her alliance Toni Tebbutt became the twelfth contestant to be voted off the island on Survivor SA: Philippines.
The 38-year-old content developer from Johannesburg was an original member of the ‘Mindanao Strong’ bloc and was one of the Blues’ most fervent supporters.
However, after a tribal shuffle she fell out of good-standing with her original alliance and struggled to get back into the hierarchy after merge.
We chatted to Toni about blind loyalty, her relationship with Werner and found out who she thinks is playing the best game at this point.
You were visibly surprised that your name came up. Why did you think the alliance would stay true to you after all the backstabbing?
I knew they weren’t going to stay true to me. I thought I had one more vote to go. I really thought it was going to be PK going and that I was going to be next. My initial shock was that I just didn’t think it was my turn yet.
You changed your mind about Werner when it was too late. Why did you remain loyal to him?
I saw that things were going a bit south with him but I still wanted to play with strong players. I wanted to keep with them. I didn’t want to jump ship and go to somebody weaker. It was actually the day before when we voted Palesa out that he said something to me that made the penny drop. And I was like ‘oh damn this guy has totally cut me off’. It was just too late, I had no numbers and no game plan after that.
Watching the show now and seeing all the wheeling and dealing Annalize has been doing - do you regret leaving her that extra vote?
No, I don’t. Because part of her wheeling and dealing is to get rid of Jeanne and I don’t think she deserves to be on the island. I want her to use that correctly. I hope she sticks to it and gets rid of somebody who truly shouldn’t be there.
What would you like to see the alliance do to shake things up?
I would like to see them blindside Werner. He needs to feel what it’s like to be betrayed. It would almost vindicate and validate what I said. If he stuck with me, I was truly never going to write his name down.
Who in your opinion is playing the best game at this point?
The only person who I think at this point is playing the game is Tom. If you watch him he is actually strong in the alliance. Everyone thinks that he is being dragged along but he actually gets to make decisions. He didn’t write my name down last night.
A 19-year-old looked at everyone last night and said Toni and he said no. He voted for PK he stuck to that because he has a spine. He makes his own decisions and I really respect him for that.
He is also very similar to me because he says what he means and he will tune people. And he contributes so well to the tribe, he makes fire and does the fishing. If I am going to get stuck on the island it would be with someone like Tom. I think he is being undermined but he makes his own decisions. Let’s see how he goes I hope he continues on that trajectory.
Tune in to Survivor SA: Philippines Thursdays at 19:00 on M-Net (DStv 101).
(Photos supplied: M-Net)
