The newest champion also reveals what went down after the final Tribal Council.
Im not going to say I drove a vote.
Yet, that strategy paid off literally forKenzie Petty.
Kenzie Petty on ‘Survivor 46’.CBS
She even shockingly scored the vote of Charlies biggest ally, Maria Shrime Gonzalez, to seal the deal.
CBS
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you think your chances were looking walking into that final Tribal Council?
KENZIE PETTY:Walking in, I thought I had a pretty good chance.
Kenzie Petty on ‘Survivor 46’.CBS
I’m not going to lie.
I had practiced my story all day, I was ready to go.
I have to really go for it.
Kenzie Petty and Maria Shrime Gonzalez on ‘Survivor 46’.CBS
It was just a lot of moving parts.
Like if I say one thing, I could lose someone.
You know what I mean?
Kenzie Petty on ‘Survivor 46’.CBS
Does that make sense?
Yeah, that makes sense.
But you say you became unsure during Tribal.
Kenzie Petty on ‘Survivor 46’.CBS
Did you feel like things were going your way or not?
It’s hard to say because Charlie and Ben were so convincing as well.
I think I can pull it out.
Kenzie Petty and Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 46’.Robert Voets/CBS
But it feels so surreal when you’re so close, and I fought so hard …
I don’t even know how to describe how I felt in that moment.
I felt like it was right there, or it was going to slip away.
Kenzie Petty, Charlie Davis, and Maria Shrime Gonzalez on ‘Survivor 46’.CBS
It could have gone either way.
It was so close.
I mean, look at the votes.
She didn’t seem to react to that.
Did she not hear that, or register that, or did she not care what happened there?
So it was a pretty fleeting thing for me actually.
So do without what you will.
It wouldn’t have been Yanu without Yanu arguing amongst themselves at the final Tribal Council.
It’s just so on brand for us.
We never stop entertaining.
At least there’s that.
How shocked were you by the Maria vote?
I literally said, There’s no way I am getting Maria, so that’s out.
I was like, maybe I’ll get seven, but there’s no way I am getting Maria.
I’m just a people person and I wanted to build bridges with everybody.
And so I did spend a lot of time getting to know Maria.
Did any other votes surprise me?
Q is a wild card.
You never know what that guy’s going to do.
I wasn’t surprised by any of the other ones.
It was pretty hard to be surprised when it’s compared to Maria, you know what I mean?
But Q, I was pleasantly like, Thanks, bud.
We went through a lot together.
Thanks for coming through for me at the end.
We saw how much Ben was struggling with the fire-making decision.
What if he had to struggle with an even bigger decision?
What if it had come down to him and the tiebreaker?
What do you think he would’ve done?
I think he would’ve gone Charlie, and that’s just the way the cookie would’ve crumbled.
I would’ve helped Ben the same way, regardless.
I won fair and square.
We can go down the hypothetical route all day, but it doesn’t really matter.
I love the hypothetical route!
That’s my lane!
Do you not know that about me?
No, I’m living in reality.
It didn’t go to that.
Alright, let’s talk about some other stuff.
Had you and Liz spoken beforehand about teaming up in a challenge to take down Maria?
How did that transpire?
I am good at puzzles.
So I had mine done pretty quick, and then Liz just started counting.
She was stacking her puzzle pieces kind of strange.
And I was like, Okay, maybe this is Liz’s puzzle strategy.
And then she was like, It’s 28!
or whatever, and I was like, What’s 28?
Liz is giving me the answer right now.
Liz knew she wasn’t going to finish and had already started stacking.
And then when the plank thing clicked, I was like, What plank?
And Liz was just like, I know the plank.
and just took off.
And I was like, Oh, she’s really helping me.
I couldn’t believe it.
So thank goodness I had Liz.
I was like, Puzzle’s done, we’re good.
What do you think about that assessment?
Well, I think it’s interesting because everything is perspective.
And I was like, Lizwasa threat to me sitting there.
She had the jury full of Nami.
She told us she was tight with all of them.
I was like, She’s got four votes.
So did you directly ask Ben to go to fire?
Actually, I choked that day.
I had been making fire every day.
People were calling me the Fire Sprite.
It was nothing until that day.
I was like, I know how to do it.
Charlie, if it’s possible for you to do it, why don’t you do it?
But ultimately, I would’ve done it and I’m glad I did it and I am grateful.
But I definitely was not begging to be in that position at the moment.
Is that what happened?
Yeah, that’s exactly how it happened.
I got in my own way.
Take a deep breath.
You know what you’re doing, believe in yourself."
So that was my moment where I was like, I have to show up for me.
There’s no one else looking out for me.
This is my moment.
Take a deep breath and get your head back in the game.
you could do this.
Did you believe Ben when he told you that he had mistakenly voted for you?
It’s so unbelievably difficult.
And if it wasn’t an accident, what other options did I have?
I knew I wouldn’t have beaten Q and Maria in the final three.
So ultimately, I was like, whether accident or not, this is where I’m going.
Robert Voets/CBS
I’ll admit it, I didn’t see you being like a semi-challenge beast out there.
Did you surprise yourself by winning two individual immunities?
I would not call me a challenge beast, Dalton.
I did my best.
I was surprised at how bad I was at most of them.
The throwing the ball over the platform situation.
The mud crawling nets were my kryptonite.
I really thought I would do a lot better.
But I think winning two was amazing.
And I think winning one with the help of a friend is just so quintessential for my life.
I just love community and helping each other get through things.
We could do whatever we wanted.
Yeah, the savvySurvivorplayer knows you never ask first because then they can say no.
You just do it and they will stop you if you cant.
So much doesn’t make the edit, even for someone like you that had five million confessionals.
Oh my gosh, there’s so much.
One of my favorite moments, I didn’t get to fish until the last day basically.
And then I had some downtime and I was like, Okay, I want to try fishing.
And Charlie was like, Don’t worry, I’ll show you how to use it.
And I was like, Perfect!
So we get out there.
And it was so funny.
It just felt like a blooper.
I was witnessing a blooper reel in real time and it was such a funny, beautiful moment.
So what happened after the cameras turned off?
You win a million dollars, are drinking champagne, there’s pizza, you do the after-show.
What happens after that?
After that, the final three, it’s so hard.
I was so blacked out processing everything.
I was like, I just won.
I felt awful for Ben and Charlie.
It was like a weird guilt, excitement mixture.
And then we were partying with everyone, but we were so dirty.
It was actually a bathtub outside, and we hung out and processed everything together.
It was really special to end it with them.
I am investing it, actually.
I’m not touching it.
I really did go out there to set up myself for retirement.
I’m living the same.
So what do you do if Jeff Probst comes calling for you to head back to the island?
I’ve gotten asked this a hundred times in the last 12 hours.
I think mySurvivorexperience was everything I wanted it to be.
I know what it’s like to be on the bottom.
I know what it’s like to be on the top.
I think I’m good.
Of course, if they call, it’s crucial that you think about it.
But I am very full fromSurvivorand I don’t have anything else that I need from the island.
I went out there to win, I won.
I would love to watch all of my friends win, so I don’t know.
