Survivor Game Changers: J.T. Thomas Thought Michaela Vote Was ‘A No-Brainer’
It was clear that J.T. Thomas has problems with Michaela Bradshaw in Survivor Game Changers episode 5, and his exit interviews dive even deeper into it.
There is so much in Survivor that we don’t see. Last week, Malcolm Freberg mentioned that the toughest part of the show was the insane amounts of downtime, as the boredom of having so little to do seems to drag on and on over time. With little food in you, the little annoying aspects of others start to pile up. J.T. Thomas certainly felt that Michaela Bradshaw had gone too far in Survivor Game Changers episode 5 and that the vote was obviously going to her because of it.
We all know how that worked out.
With the benefit of time to reflect upon his time on Survivor Game Changers, J.T. Thomas opened up in exit interviews recently, lamenting not bringing his idol with him to tribal council. He was that certain that Michaela was going home over him at that time.
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"There is no doubt about it. And honestly, to me, it was a no-brainer. You have to make decisions based on what would you do in that circumstance. I was giving Sandra more credit than she probably deserved. She was strictly after a payback vote, which is never a good thing in my opinion. My way of thinking was that the only way they have a chance here is with me, and that’s kind of how I felt. So I tried to save the idol for more important days, but obviously this was the most important day."
He goes on to say that even if he had brought the idol, he might not have even played it. He felt so secure in his game, as having contacts on both original tribes let him leverage possible securities for the Nuku tribe that made him feel like an asset to the tribe.
The problem with J.T. Thomas is that his first game, Survivor Tocantins, was so built up in his favor that it’s skewed his perspective on the game in its entirety. On that season, everyone loved him on both tribes to the point where he walked home to the plate with zero votes against him and all votes at the final tribal council. With major help from Stephen Fishbach guiding him down the path to victory, he’s never truly felt in danger.
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However, having favors on both tribes puts you at a huge risk ahead of the merge because of just how well you can circumnavigate alliances with all players. Plus, he screwed his tribe over by telling Mana who Nuku was voting for, and everyone at Nuku knew it. This is Survivor Game Changers; you need to step up when playing against this quality of the field.
Jeff Probst echoes some of my ideas on this in his post-episode 5 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, noting that J.T. really didn’t change his game up as much as the name Survivor Game Changers suggests you need to do.
"When JT played the first time and won, Survivor was a very different game. I think the things JT did wrong are connected to him not being fully in sync with where the game is in Season 34. Survivor is much more sophisticated today. You have to be so aware of what is happening socially and strategically at all times. Every single move you make has a consequence. We see it play out every week. I think the “farm boy” part of JT’s personality that played as charming his first time can now come across as grumpy or a “my way or the high way” approach to the game. That won’t work."
Indeed, J.T. was so convinced his actions were right that he put down Michaela in a huge way at tribal council by calling her “honey bun,” impersonating her accent, insisting she was lazy, insisting she needed to be babysat and showed a lack of respect for her as a human being. Some of the words he used, it can be argued, was quite coded in darker overtones, and it did not do his legacy any favors.
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Survivor Game Changers episode 6, “Vote Early, Vote Often,” will air next Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. We can’t wait to see what the exiting player will say next week!