One of the players we had written about during Survivor Ghost Island that had our readers ask “who?”, Chelsea Townsend speaks about her gameplay.
Anybody not named, Domenick, Wendell, Kellyn, Michael, Laurel, Chris or, surprisingly, Jacob on Survivor Ghost Island, got pushed to the sidelines. Sure, that’s more than a third of the 20-player cast, but considering Jacob had 14 confessionals in the opening two hours while Sebastian had 12 and Angela had 15 while making it to the finale, there was certainly an editing imbalance.
The worst victim of under-representation on the season was Chelsea Townsend; a player who was shown off to the audience less than any other player in the history of Survivor. I’m not exaggerating; she had four confessionals to the camera over 12 hours of play, which is actually worse than the Purple Kelly that originally represented the under-edited player.
Thankfully, now that the season is over, Chelsea Townsend can open up about her experience to the fans, answering questions in a Survivor subreddit Ask Me Anything thread.
One of the most compelling answers dealt with her decision to vote for Wendell, as her question at the Final Tribal Council was (predictably) not aired on television. Asking why she was targeted, Dom’s answer did satisfy her, despite going into the moment expecting to vote for him. She even went on to talk about how close she was with Dom, which makes her TV absence more confusing.
Other questions answered offered up another perspective on the players of Survivor Ghost Island, including going to the end with Angela and Laurel (“because a lot of people didn’t feel she was playing to win”), confirming the theory she and Dom threw an Immunity Challenge to vote out Bradley before the merge, and revealing that Chris Noble came up with a new rap every night.
Next: Survivor: Ranking 35 seasons
Most importantly, Chelsea Townsend spoke truth to power over the treatment of male and female players being represented in Survivor, saying women need to either fit in a certain role or not be included in the season’s storyline. While she may not have been the most compelling reality contestant, making 12 of 14 episodes and talking to the camera just four times proves her point.