Survivor Game Changers: Michaela Bradshaw explains the vote chaos

In breaking down the process of her going home from Survivor Game Changers, Michaela Bradshaw gave Sarah huge credit for VoteStealGate.

What an explosive tribal council that was to cap off Survivor Game Changers before the season finale! With Cirie trying to take Sarah’s vote with Sarah’s vote-stealing advantage to Sarah stopping it dead in its tracks, to Sarah stealing Tai’s vote to take out Michaela, to Tai not using one of his idols, there was a lot going on in such a brief window of time.

While people are spouting off theories on Twitter, Michaela Bradshaw has been taking her time in her Survivor Game Changers exit interviews to help paint a better picture of exactly what happened. The first stop was Entertainment Weekly, detailing the process of her getting voted out and the status of the advantage.

"I think that Sarah said it first, ‘cause Sarah knew. And then it almost blew over. Jeff almost allowed Cirie to play it anyway. But then I think Troyzan did point out, ‘Well, non-transferable means non-transferable,’ and them Jeff said, ‘Read it again, Cirie.’ And when she read it again, it was done. So then Sarah got to take her vote back.” The game changed. Troyzan should have kept his mouth shut!"

She would later go on to say that Sarah had told Cirie about the advantage, only giving it to her physically right before heading to Tribal Council. In doing so, Cirie wouldn’t quite have the chance to read what the advantage says, in effect understanding the nature of holding such a power and the safety she would have in handing it over. As well, Michaela was the target by being guilty by association with Cirie.

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In that sense, it showed just how much of a mastermind Sarah is that while Cirie is trying to pull off vintage Cirie manipulation, Sarah still had the upper hand. Cirie obviously tried to show off for the jury with that move, but by Sarah taking control of the situation and directly voting out her partner, Sarah got to show off. Plus, getting out Michaela now prevented an Immunity Challenge run later.

In her interview with Parade, however, I do have to question just how confident Michaela Bradshaw actually is compared to how she thought she was doing on Survivor Game Changers in the first place. The reason being; she would have willingly taken Cirie Fields to the Final Tribal Council.

"One hundred percent. One hundred percent. Just like this was the first time in Survivor history that there are two African American women at the merge, it would have been the first time in Survivor history that there were two African American women at the Final Three. That’s 100% what I wanted. I 100% felt very confident that if I got there, I would have a good shot at a million dollars."

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She goes on to explain that she feels she would be the underdog in that situation, showing her worth as a player who struggled through adversity while Cirie was sitting pretty and voting out the jury.

I do not understand this line of thinking for any jury that doesn’t have Jason and Scot from Kaoh Rong on it because Survivor Game Changers players have shown respect for gameplay above most else. It’s true that Sarah’s criminal ways and Cirie’s Oprah-suited mafioso-ness could lose them votes, but players have shown time and time again not to like Michaela this season.

Next: Survivor Winners: Ranking All 33 Sole Survivors By Season

Survivor Game Changers‘ season finale airs next Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET with an episode called “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.”