Survivor: Why was _____ sent to the Edge of Extinction eleventh?

In a shocking blindside, Kelley Wentworth was voted out with a hidden immunity idol in her pocket by one of her closest allies, Wardog.

For Wentworth, her game looked to be on the upswing. Wentworth had been on the bottom for a majority of the merge phase. However, after Julia was blindsided on Day 23, it looked like she had a new majority alliance with Gavin, Julie, Ron, Lauren, and Wardog. It also looked like she had a tight three within that six consisting of her, Lauren, and Wardog. She was also in possession of a hidden immunity idol, which she had found at Lesu.

In Survivor, though, things can change on a dime.

Following Julia’s blindside, Wentworth’s new alliance looked to target Aurora. However, Aurora won the immunity challenge, and her alliance had to find a new target. That target ended up being David, who was voted out 8-2 over Wardog. David’s departure meant Wentworth was now the last remaining returning player.

Following David’s vote-out, Wentworth’s alliance wanted Aurora out for being a physical threat should she not win immunity. Meanwhile, on the Edge of Extinction, David found an advantage in the next immunity challenge, which he was to give to a player of his choice. He gave it to his closest ally Rick. Rick used the advantage to win immunity on Day 27.

Back at camp, Wardog’s alliance planned to go through with the plan to vote out Aurora at tribal council. However, Wardog had other ideas. He decided to betray Wentworth since she was the last returning player left in the game. To help execute his plan, Wardog recruited Aurora, Rick, Ron, and Victoria. To secure Ron’s loyalty, Aurora gave him her extra vote.

At tribal council, even though Wentworth noted the lack of scrambling, she trusted her alliance and elected to hold on to her hidden immunity idol. However, she was blindsided by a vote of 5-4. Wentworth became just the third female to be voted out with a hidden immunity idol in her pocket following Andrea Boehlke (Survivor: Caramoan) and Aubry Bracco (Survivor: Edge of Extinction). Luckily for Wentworth, she will now head to the Edge of Extinction where she will have a chance to get back in the game.

The main reason Wentworth was sent to the Edge of Extinction eleventh is that she is a returning player. The newbies this season have seen the returning players as the biggest threat since Day 1. As Wardog noted, in seasons of Survivor where returnees are pitted against newbies, at least one returnee had made it to the end in each of those seasons. With Wentworth being the lone returning player, she stuck out like a sore thumb as a target for the newbies.