Even new Survivor fans who are figuring out which seasons to watch first will know a basic fact about Jeff Probst’s beloved reality show. Even though people who go on the show can be medically evacuated, and some players have refused to return, competing on Survivor is a huge deal. After all, a player has the possibility of competing during one of the best seasons, becoming one of the most legendary players, and/or ranking as one of Survivor’s greatest winners.
During Survivor 48, fans saw a truly horrible journey and a merge that actually went right, which indicates that the show can be a mixed bag. Similarly, the former winner, Rachel LaMont, revealed that a Survivor 48 competitor was playing in a way that could have been a mixed bag. As Rachel explained, she believed that a player was making mistakes that she believed they could make him “a losing finalist.”
Rachel LaMont Revealed Why Survivor 48’s Most Controversial Player Was Messing Up
Unfortunately for everyone involved with the show and fans alike, Survivor 48 hasn’t been a well-received season by many viewers. Instead, many viewers have had a lot of complaints about how Survivor 48 has played out, for a variety of reasons.
Just like Survivor 48 has a lot of detractors, the season’s most controversial player, David Kinne, has also inspired a lot of anger. While David has been criticized for many things that involved his personal behavior, he has also gotten flack for some of his strategic moves.
Amazingly enough, David was even criticized by the winner of Survivor 47, Rachel LaMont. To be clear, Rachel’s comments about David weren’t personal, as she was only criticizing his decisions in the game. That said, it is fascinating to see why Rachel stated that David was playing in a way to become “a losing finalist.”
In April 2025, Rachel was working as the co-host of the official Survivor podcast. During the April 23rd, 2025 episode of “On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast,” as can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Rachel spoke about how David was playing the game.
What Is Known About Survivor’s Rachel LaMont? | |
|---|---|
Rachel LaMont’s Hometown | Dexter, Michigan |
Where Rachel LaMont Was Living Before Survivor | Southfield, Michigan |
How Old Rachel LaMont Was When She Began Playing Survivor | 34 Years Old |
Rachel LaMont’s Profession | Graphic Designer |
Rachel LaMont’s Starting Tribe | Gata |
Votes Cast Against Rachel LaMont | 3 |
Rachel LaMont’s Placement | Sole Survivor |
That podcast was released after the 9th episode of Survivor 48 aired and that inspired a fascinating conversation. While talking about the tribal council, Rachel was asked by one of her co-hosts to comment on how David was being shown playing the game at that time.
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During the 9th episode’s tribal council, Kamilla Karthigesu called David out for how he was treating people who were being sent to the jury. During the podcast episode, Rachel was asked about Kamilla’s statement about how David was treating his tribemates and potential future jury members.
Based on how successful Rachel LaMont was during Survivor 47, other players should listen to her opinions. While Rachel had to struggle to get to the end, she’d obviously won the jury’s respect by the time she got there. After all, Rachel won seven of the jury’s votes while Sam Phalen got one and Sue Smey didn’t receive any.
In response to Kamilla’s comments, Rachel explained that a player who ignores how jury members are feeling about them will lose if they make it to the end.
Ignoring your tribemates and acting like their opinions don’t matter because you have the majority is a straight ticket to being a losing finalist.
Unfortunately for David, Rachel wasn’t finished criticizing how he was treating his tribemates that he hoped to vote out and put on the jury.
In December 2024, Jeff Probst praised Rachel LaMont as a player while talking to Entertainment Weekly about the Survivor 47 winner. “I think Rachel will go down as one of the best overall players to ever compete on Survivor. She made the most of every opportunity, and when in trouble, always found a way out. Her dominant challenge performance speaks for itself, and her final argument to the jury about why she deserved their vote was very well-crafted with just the right amount of confidence and humility. And in addition to all of those player qualities, she was also a really fun human. I enjoyed talking to her at challenges and Tribal Council.”
Instead, Rachel went on to explain that if David ignored Kamilla’s comments to him about his jury management, he was playing the game poorly.
A potential juror is telling you what they want and don’t want in a winner. If you’re not listening, you’re playing Survivor poorly.
While Rachel argued that David should listen to Kamilla’s comment, her take on the situation was more nuanced than just that.
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When first asked about the comments, Rachel stated that David shouldn’t keep Kamilla in the game just because she was stating she might not vote for him in the end.
“I mean, if Kamilla is the vote tonight, I don’t think most people are changing their plans based on this from her.”
That said, Rachel argued that David and members of his alliance at the time may want to rethink their plans for Kamilla going forward. Furthermore, Rachel argued that David and his teammates really especially listen if many of their tribemates were making similar comments.
“But maybe they’ll think twice tomorrow if they’re still planning to take her out… I think if people outside of this core alliance continue to do this, the players in the game have to adapt to it.”
Even though David Kinne has faced a lot of criticism, he hasn’t seemed to waiver in his belief in himself and how he played the game. Similarly, when David’s tribemates criticized him during the game, that didn’t seem to register.
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During Survivor 48, David made comments several times about how he wanted people who played the game in a certain way to win the season. For example, during the 9th episode of Survivor 48, David spoke in front of everyone at the tribal council about who he wanted to see win.
“I’m gonna tell everybody where I’m at. It’s a risk, like Shauhin said. But I think there is a path to win by being honest and being true to your word. And call us crazy. Maybe Eva and I will be voted out. Maybe we’ll win. But if we do make it to the final three with the game that we’re playing, I think that’s maybe something we’ve never seen a Survivor do before. And I’m willing to take that risk, take that chance just to prove that this game can be played more than one way.”
That comment by David resulted in Kamilla making the statement that inspired Rachel to call him a potential “losing finalist.”
“I think he just needs to keep the jury in mind. He might be happy with the game he’s playing, but are the people that he puts over there gonna be happy with that type of game? We don’t know. I don’t know if he knows.”
To Kamilla’s point, it is hard to overstate the importance of jury management if a Survivor player wants to win the game.
Survivor
- Release Date
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May 31, 2000
- Network
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CBS
- Showrunner
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Jeff Probst
- Directors
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Jeff Probst
- Writers
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Jeff Probst
