Survivor: Philippines made its CBS debut on Wednesday night with a new group of castaways, previously injured Survivors, and a few more familiar faces.
For the 25th season of Survivor, host Jeff Probst and the cast headed to the Philippines for a new season of outwitting, outplaying and outlasting.
Although Survivor fans were treated to the return of Michael Skupin, Russell Swan, and Jonathan Penner, all former Survivor contestants who had their journeys cut short by injury, Survivor: Philippines also introduced former Facts of Life star, Lisa Welchel, and one-time National League MVP baseball player, Jeff Kent.
However, when the drama and scheming on Survivor: Philippines began, Virginia tire repairman Zane Knight found himself on a tribe with the returning Russell Swan, who was forced to leave Survivor: Samoa early due to dehydration. As it turned out on Wednesday, Russell came off too strong as a returning player and rubbed his tribe mates the wrong way, including Zane whose strategy to get Russell out of the game backfired.
The day after being the first voted out of Survivor: Philippines, The Deadbolt caught up with Zane Knight for a few minutes of tribal fun.
THE DEADBOLT: Looking back now, what did you think of Russell’s leadership and what he should have done differently?
ZANE KNIGHT: He was a little abrasive at first. But once you get that ball rolling, it’s kind of hard to let go of it. You’re always going to be that leader. He couldn’t help it, it was just part of his character.
THE DEADBOLT: What do you think Russell needs to do to redeem himself with everyone, or do they need to vote him out?
ZANE: My thoughts, I tried to get rid of him myself. A strong tribe is one that’s going to stick together and learn stuff as they go, and figure it out because we’re all figuring it out.
The weak tribe is the one that falls in line. We saw it happen with Coach. He basically had a colt. You know what I mean? They actually think that the celebrity, the returning player, is taking care of them.
THE DEADBOLT: Why did you choose to tell Russell and Malcolm that you made alliances with everyone else?
ZANE: Why do you choose to bust your ass because you’ve been drinkin’? You don’t really do that, but it happens. It’s kind of stupid. I put it out there, to tell them, so that it would get me ultimate trust so they wouldn’t second guess me again. Malcolm, he didn’t take it like that. It didn’t really work out, man.
How do you guys feel about the first vote on Survivor: Philippines?