The man behind a gameplay dubbed one of Survivor’s greatest has opened up about his time on the show, saying it was “the best days” of his life.
Andy Rueda, who was recently voted off the 47th season of the CBS reality series, said he was “really proud” of all he achieved while on the show.
“It’s been such a fun ride,” Rueda told Newsweek. “I really learned to have a lot of fun out there.”
The Tribal Council voted out Genevieve Mushaluk along with Rueda, with the two players just missing out on being in the final four.
Rueda and Mushaluk were part of the trio that ran “Operation Italy” the week before, a gameplay so unique that viewers quickly dubbed it one of the “most impressive” moments in the show’s history.
Along with Sam Phalen, who made it to the final four, Rueda and Mushaluk devised a plan to trick the other players into believing that one of them had an immunity idol and couldn’t be voted off that week. When the remaining players fell for the plot, the Tribal Council’s votes were split, and it sent home Caroline Vidmar.
Rueda spoke about coming up with the plan and executing it successfully.
Andy Rueda and Jeff Probst on “Survivor.” Rueda spoke with Newsweek about his time on the show.
CBS
“It’s something I’m definitely proud of. It was really cool,” he said. “One of the reasons I’m most proud of it was because I recognized it’s what I needed to do in the game.”
Rueda said that until that point in the season, he had been “playing a certain game by design of being underestimated”—with his competitors not realizing what a savvy player he was.
“But you can’t just ride that out to the final Tribal Council,” Rueda continued, adding, “I needed to develop my game from there, and I found and I saw the right opportunity. I knew it was going to be a very, very difficult move to execute, but I knew if it was going to be successful, it was going to increase my win equity.”
Rueda was glad that they managed to pull off the ruse and even more elated when he got home and watched the episode.
“Watching the episode and see the editors just knock it out of the park is so freaking awesome, and I had kind of hopes that it would be sort of this elevated, maybe special moment, but I didn’t know for sure. But based off how people responded to it … that just makes me really, really happy,” he said.
“Operation Italy” was a big move for Rueda, and though he finished in sixth place, he was proud he attempted it because it gave him “a shot to win.”
“It was a bet that paid off, and I’m curious how people look back on it. Regardless, that was two of the best days of my life,” he said.
The final four players heading into next week’s finale, who will compete for $1 million, are Phelan, Rachel LaMont, Teeny Chirichillo and Sue Smey.
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