In the weeks since Survivor 49 ended, the season has taken on an entirely new legacy after it was rocked by a major scandal that is riveting for fans of the show. First, Sage Ahrens-Nichols claimed that several of the season's players cheated by pregaming without naming anyone specific. Then, Ahrens-Nichols alleged that Sophi Balerdi and Jake Latimer were two of the season's cheaters.
Since Ahrens-Nichols' allegations became the talk of the Survivor community, her claims have generated a lot of reactions. On top of many fans talking about the situation endlessly, it was remarkable that Erik Reichenbach weighed in with a perfect response to the controversy. Now, another Survivor 49 player has weighed in on the cheating allegations with fascinating comments that back up some of Ahrens-Nichols' claims.
Annie Davis has confirmed Survivor 49 cheating without naming anyone specific
During Survivor 49, Kimberly "Annie" Davis became the second player voted out. No matter how long a player lasts in Survivor, they invariably walk away from the game with a fascinating perspective that fans can never have. As a result, it is always exciting when former players like Davis get interviewed.
Despite that, there was no way to know that Davis' recent podcast appearance would result in her making comments that have now involved her in a scandal. On Jan. 6, 2026, Davis appeared on a show hosted by another former Survivor player, Lauren Ashley Beck's "Beyond the Edit" podcast. During that discussion, Davis confirmed many of the claims that Ahrens-Nichols has made, without naming anyone and while stating that she doesn't blame CBS.
During the interview, Beck asked Davis if she could confirm that extensive pre-gaming had happened before Survivor 49. "So, you did witness people talking?"
In response, Davis attested that pregame discussions were happening regularly. "Oh, for sure. Multiple times a day."
Davis also confirmed Ahrens-Nichols' statements that pregame discussions were happening at night and during the day.
“I did observe and hear and see some things going on at night in tent city… When they take you to tent city, you're supposed to just go to your tent, go to sleep… People would get up and kind of be moving around camp at night and talking to people. You'd hear tents opening up and closing and people going in and people going over to the bathroom together and talking and people doing loops and things..."
Davis continued, “That stuff was happening in the middle of the night. There was chitter-chattering in the mornings while we would get out of our tents and sort of sit and wait for production to come get us and take us to breakfast. There were people talking.”
Unlike Ahrens-Nichols, Davis never stated how many people she knows were pre-gaming. However, based on one part of the discussion, it seems clear that Davis knows that there were more cheaters than just the two players who were removed from the game before it started. As the discussion progressed, Beck asked Davis if the two removed players pre-gamed the most.
"Jeff confirmed that two players were taken out of prior to the game even started. Did you feel like those two people were the worst of the two culprits?"
Instead of saying those two were the only cheaters, Davis stated she wasn't sure who the worst pre-gamers were, which seems to confirm that some cheaters competed during the season.
“I think it's hard to gauge who was the worst because I didn't see everything that happened all the time. I only saw from my little lens, you know, this going on or that going on. I don't really know who the worst were.”
It is also worth noting that Davis' comments about people talking at night match Ahrens-Nichols' claims that Sophi Balerdi and Jake Latimer would have discussions at night. However, it is important to note Davis didn't mention either of them.
Arguably, the most important part of the discussion came when Davis stated that she believes that her not pre-gaming affected her in the game. While she also stated she might have been voted out second, whether the pre-gaming happened or not, and that her social game was bad, Davis had a strong argument for why the pre-gaming almost certainly affected her in the game. It truly is sad that Davis has to walk away from her Survivor experience, drawing that conclusion.
“I had another cast member after all of this was all said and done tell me, ‘Annie, I saw somebody try to talk to you and you said, I can't talk to you and turn around and walked away.’ If we don't think that affected my relationship with that person on the island, we are vastly misjudging, you know, how much that stuff matters. So I think when you turn away and say, ‘No, I can't talk to you,’ of course, it's going to affect the relationship."
We'll share more updates about the Survivor 49 cheating scandal as it develops.