The “devastated” player revisits his “brutal” exit from the game.
Randen Montalvo was sitting in a pretty good spot onSurvivor 46.
He was on a tribe that came in first place in every single challenge.
Randen Montalvo of ‘Survivor 46’.Robert Voets/CBS
He had an advantage in the game.
He had an ally that desperately needed him in Venus Vafa.
And he had bigger personalities around to hog the spotlight and keep his threat level way down.
Tevin Davis and Randen Montalvo on ‘Survivor 46’.Robert Voets/CBS
So what went down after Randen walked off the beach?
What was the end result diagnosis?
And how has he dealt with being medically evacuated out of the game?
Soda Thompson, Hunter McKnight, Tevin Davis, Liz Wilcox, Randen Montalvo, and Venus Vafa on ‘Survivor 46’.Robert Voets/CBS
We asked the third one out ofSurvivor 46all that and more.
Robert Voets/CBS
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When did you first notice you were having an issue?
RANDEN MONTALVO:It was the night before what you see on camera.
Randen Montalvo, Hunter McKnight, and Tevin Davis.Robert Voets/CBS
That night we had a really bad storm and I was having a huge problem sleeping.
The storm just wrecked us in general.
And I remember seeing everything very blurry, and then I thought it would go away.
The Nami tribe on ‘Survivor 46’.cbs
It felt like the biggest migraine ever.
But when you’re playing the game, I was like: I don’t want to show weakness.
But it was the night before what you saw on camera.
And we actually have an exclusive deleted scene on EW wherefolks can see the storm itself.
It looked pretty gnarly.
So Dr. Will comes, he checks you out.
Did they look at you again at the challenge?
And that’s when I knew that I was potentially going to get pulled from the game.
So when you saw Jeff Probst walking up your beach, what were you thinking?
I’m so mad.
I was mad at that point.
The odds are very good for me.
I was like: I’m going to make merge.
This is what I’ve always wanted.
And I knew it.
I was telling everybody, Be strong, be strong, be strong.
And it was devastating.
It was probably a moment I will never forget, but I tried to be as strong as possible.
I knew that my kids and everybody was watching.
But if you watch that scene, I mean, that was an exercise in a lot of self-control.
That’s all I can say.
Anything else we didnt see in regards to how that all went down?
You do see me hugging, but it doesn’t show the audio.
I said to each and every one of them how I felt about them in the game.
And that was a hundred percent genuine.
That was not game.
That was just how I felt about the person.
And it was all genuinely good.
I could see what’s happening.
You get to feel the ambiance.
So I asked her, Do you want it?
I said, Then I have to get to my coat.
It’s in my coat.
We have to get there."
I have to give it to her.
I would’ve done it in secret.
I would’ve done it when I would’ve said bye to her.
I would’ve done one of these [mimics secretly transferring an advantage in a handshake].
I would’ve never done it blatantly.
So that was the goal, but I did want to give it to her.
It didn’t happen.
There was a lot of variables.
It was very intense.
I don’t know!
I don’t know the rules.
But I felt like I did not want that to go away in the garbage.
I didn’t want it to go away.
I’m like, Hey, listen, V, you’re my alliance right now.
You’re my wild card.
Take it, because these guys are good.
If you go to Tribal, they’re going to vote you out.
I wanted the game to be interesting.
I wanted her to go far.
I kind of understood why she was playing and that was very impactful to me.
So I was like, Here, take it and run with it.
It’s no use for me now.
And it just didn’t happen.
Take us through what happened after you left the beach.
A very intense boat ride and a very intense self-reflection of my whole game.
I was very disappointed.
I was like, Vote me out, man.
I don’t want be a medevaced!"
I just didn’t want to do that.
Because I’m a risk taker and they were going to have to drag me out of the game.
I would’ve done anything I could to maintain my status in the game.
And then they told me there was going to be a helicopter and MRIs.
This is your health now.
And I’m like, game, game, game.
I want to go back.
And that’s that mentality you have.
That’s when it got really real really fast.
And they were going to call my wife and I was going to go to Australia for surgery.
It was very scary.
So what was the official diagnosis after you got the MRI?
What did they say was wrong and what did you have to do?
It was nerve wracking.
I had a very long MRI.
So the swelling they felt like would go down with anti-inflammatories and not require surgery.
And shout out to CBS.
I never felt in danger, even though I might’ve been in danger.
I always felt taken care of, and the medics and everything were amazing.
They looked at it and they immediately put me on anti-inflammatories and I went into therapy for my arm.
And then I felt okay, thank God, because you could’t repair a disc.
It’s a very serious thing.
Were you surprised that Venus of all people seemed to become your biggest ally in the game?
Lemme tell you something: She has an army on social media that is no joke!
So I’m glad I’m on the good graces of that army now.
But anyway, in the game ofSurvivor, sometimes it better to know your enemy than not to.
And that’s where we were.
We were on the outs and we’re kind of alike, coincidentally.
And it was just really chaotic.
But I felt like we had an understanding of each other up until that point.
And it was worthwhile to diversify my island portfolio.
And then I was good with Venus just in case we made merge.
I think I would’ve gone pretty deep.
And I bond pretty well with guys like Q and guys like Ben and other people.
So I think that I would’ve gone pretty far.
I think the Beware Advantage would’ve became an idol for certain.
I would’ve gotten it.
And I think the game would’ve been very interesting.
What’s so crazy is we didn’t even go to Tribal!
Every day somebody’s turning a palm tree and it’s like, We’re voting out Jeff Probst.
I’m like, How are we going to do that?
You don’t have a non-Tribal vote.
What is going on right now?
cbs
Anything that didnt make it to an episode that you wish we got a chance to see?
I would just tell you in episode 1, you see me say bring up Parvati, right?
And I did message her and I gave her context.
I said, Sorry for invoking the name of one of the GOATs.
But it was troll.
I needed to test Soda, because Soda was selling real estate to everybody.
I wanted to work with Soda first.
That was my instinct coming off the boat.
She reminds me of a family member of mine and I had to give a test.
And it proved my point.
It came right back to me.
She couldn’t keep that little thing.
So then I shifted to other people to work with immediately.
How much of the What if?
game have you played in the past nine months?
How would I have impacted it?
Would my alliance with V sour?
It probably would have at some point.
I am well aware of that.
How would it have worked out with Tevin?
I would’ve, 100%.
What was it like watching it all play back on TV last night?
I’ve never seen myself crying and emotional, and neither has anybody who knows me, actually.
So it was really hard for me.
My social media right now is insane.
Survivor’s a powerful brand.
I’ve got people all over the world telling me, We want you in the game.
If they brought back Bruce, they’ll bring back you.
Everybody’s story is different.
It’s been a very humbling experience and I’m trying to take it all with stride.
So it was surreal, but I’m appreciative of CBS andSurvivor.
