Survivor Island of the Idols: Kellee Kim discusses the finale and Jeff’s apology
Kellee Kim courageously spoke up during the Island of the Idols finale. We take a look at her interviews following this big Survivor moment.
There’s no way of understanding how nerve-wracking and downright scary it would be to address a live audience and millions of people around the world in the way that Kellee did. She boldly and eloquently spoke up on an important topic with Survivor‘s host Jeff Probst. Following the finale, RHAP and EW got a chance to speak with Kellee, and here are some of the key details she shared.
Thankful for Jeff’s sincere apology
As Jeff is a big part of Survivor‘s production, Kellee said that it meant a lot to hear his genuine apology. She was quick to take the focus off of her and put it on this incident as a whole, as it didn’t just affect her, but also the rest of the cast and viewers everywhere. As great as an apology is, Kellee wants to make sure that real action is taken so nobody will have to be put in another situation like this one again.
Kellee was involved with forming the new Survivor policies
During this conversation at the finale, Jeff mentioned some of the policy changes CBS has decided on implementing. This includes enhancing training procedures for the crew, hiring an on-site professional for the cast to turn to and a new zero-tolerance rule for unwelcomed physical contact.
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Kellee told Rob Cesternino that she was involved with creating every single one of the new policies CBS announced. It’s important to her that everyone understands where to go and how to handle issues related to inappropriate touching and sexual harassment. She also emphasized the importance of the new zero-tolerance rule and how that can prevent situations like this in the future.
Jeff informed the jury of Dan’s removal
This is a detail that the edit didn’t include. At the Final Five Tribal Council, Jeff told the jury as a group that Dan was removed from the game after another inappropriate touching incident. Kellee was shocked by this revelation, and at the time, she didn’t even know that removing Dan was an option.
Respected Tommy’s old school game
Kellee explained that the friend Dean and herself had in common had no effect on her final vote. She respects the strategy and social components of the game and is a fan of Survivor seasons that weren’t overrun by idols and advantages. For those reasons, she felt Tommy played the best game out of the Final Three and is well-deserving of his Sole Survivor title.
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Kellee will consider playing again if the time is right
The negative events from this season clouded over some of Kellee’s savvy moves including hiding her idol in her hair and making the brilliant move of secretly giving her idol for Dean to play. She enjoyed those positive moments and wouldn’t count out a return to Survivor. She did mention that Island of the Idols came at a perfect time in her life that allowed her to take part in this adventure, but it won’t be easy for her to squeeze another season out with her new job and busy schedule.