Just as he did in that six-hour challenge, the 14th castaway eliminated from Survivor: David vs. Goliath had plenty to say in his post-game comments.
In a surprising blindside, we had to say goodbye to one of the most dynamic and likable characters that have grazed our screens in the past 15 seasons of Survivor. Even though there are several other great castaways this season, it wouldn’t have been nearly as entertaining without Christian Hubicki.
That didn’t change with his exit comments either! His interviews with RHAP and The Hollywood Reporter contained several major details that the edit didn’t capture!
Christian was totally blindsided by that last vote. Based on his conversations during the past couple of days, he was confident that the majority were going for Alison and he had no clue he was going to get multiple votes. He praised Mike for his great social play that made this blindside happen. He thought he was absolutely solid with Mike after having a one on one conversation with him. But after that was over, Christian watched person after person go up to Mike to have a one on one as well.
At that point, Christian realized that Mike was in the perfect position to make a move because everyone was opening up and putting their trust in him. He just thought Mike would be a threat to consider when they were down to five or four people left, not that night!
Davie has a spy shack! When Gabby plotted to blindside her closest ally, Davie alerted Christian to play his idol… but in a far more entertaining chain of events than the edit portrayed. Nick and Christian just finished talking on the beach, so Nick left back for camp while Christian stayed there a little longer to avoid suspicion. As he was sitting on the beach he felt sand hitting him, and then more sand, and then he got drilled with sand!
Finally, he turned around and saw Davie partially hidden. Davie whispered that it was him from his spy shack. He told Christian to trust no one and that they would talk tomorrow, and then he disappeared into the night! Too bad that scene didn’t make the edit.
Davie wasn’t the only one that told him to play his idol. Shortly before Tribal, Mike confronted Christian with the plan and told him to play his idol. This was followed by Nick and even Angelina encouraging him to play it as well. So the three former Jabeni members were unified in their decision to keep Christian.
Christian’s dramatic last-second idol play was 100% for show, but it wasn’t for the audience you’re thinking of. Since the Jabeni three went behind Alison and Kara’s back, Christian wanted to make it look like he played his idol because of his own instincts. That way, Alison and Kara aren’t aware that their fellow Goliaths sided with Christian for that vote.
Other interesting details Christian talked about was him fully understanding Gabby’s move, so he wasn’t upset at her betrayal at all. During the six-hour epic challenge, Christian not only told stories but he even played 20 questions, quizzed Jeff about the Survivor auction, and was composing a song with Kara! He also wished he could have kept the Strike Force intact by being more compliant with Mike on the Elizabeth vote.
We’ll never forget about this extraordinary castaway and it will be fun to see the perspective he offers during Final Tribal.