Ben explains why he voted for Kenzie in new Survivor 46 episode 12 sneak peek

Survivor 46 episode 11 featured another major blindside. Venus was voted out with a hidden immunity idol in her pocket after the tribe used another misdirection with Q as the "target" during the episode. Of all the people voted out of season 46, this was one of the most shocking.

Venus was sent home with five votes for her. Q also received a vote at tribal council, and then Kenzie also caught a vote from someone. It didn't make sense to Kenzie at the time, and she brought it up when they arrived back at camp from tribal council.

In the clip, Ben admits he voted for Kenzie, but he also claims to have had a brain fart at tribal council and couldn't remember who to vote for. He knew Kenzie wasn't going home, so he wrote her name down, I guess?

"I drew a blank," Ben tells the tribe immediately after returning from tribal council. He asks Kenzie to meet with him to talk about it.

In a confessional, Ben makes a huge confession, "Yo, for real, not lying, I was not supposed to write Kenzie's name down. I was supposed to write Venus's name down."

In her confessional, Kenzie talks about Ben's confession. She doesn't totally believe what Ben is saying. "Either, you're telling a really dumb lie, or you're telling a really dumb truth. And, I'm not going to harp on it."

After talking it out, they seem cool! But, was Ben telling the truth?

Here's why Ben voting for Kenzie makes sense

On the surface, this looks like a bone-headed move by Ben. Other than Charlie and possibly Maria, Kenzie has been Ben's biggest ally in the game so far. She's helped him through some of his night terrors or panic attacks. It appears they've developed quite a close bond in the game.

Ben might be telling the truth. It literally makes no sense, but maybe, in a state of confusion, he forgot if she should vote for Venus or Q and just did whatever. I don't believe that, though, and I don't think Kenzie believes it either.

This seems much more calculated to me. It totally makes sense why they would throw a vote on Kenzie to protect Q, or protect themselves from Q. Let's review.

For the majority of the episode, the seven remaining players were hunting for the hidden immunity idol. Well, everyone except for Liz. So, you have to factor that into every vote. I don't believe Shot in the Dark could be played at the final seven, but the hidden immunity idol was very much in play.

We know Venus was targeting Q. She tried to convince Charlie to vote with her and play ball, not necessarily for Q, but she she needed Charlie to team up with her to move forward. She hinted at having the idol or an advantage, which scared Charlie. Perhaps, they were already planning to vote for Venus, but after that interaction, it was confirmed.

The issue is that Venus could have had the hidden immunity idol, which she did. Had she played it and everyone voted for Venus, Q would have gone home, which would have eaten into Maria and Charlie's numbers. Remember, Kenzie was left out of the previous vote to take out Tiffany.

So, by throwing a vote to Kenzie, Q is protected, ensuring Maria, Charlie, and Ben's Siga alliance keeps the upperhand against Venus, Liz, and Kenzie.

If Venus played her idol, Q and Kenzie would each have a vote against them and they would be unable to re-vote. I'm assuming that the tribe would have taken out Kenzie at that point, but there's nothing for sure in those situations. Liz could have flipped to vote out Q with Venus. Charlie and Maria could have voted for Kenzie, and then Ben would have had a big decision to make to keep Q or keep Kenzie.

Personally, I think Charlie, Maria, and Ben trusted Q, Liz, and Kenzie enough to vote for Venus. They threw one vote at Kenzie to make sure Q didn't go home, and then they lied about to Kenzie. I highly doubt Kenzie will make past tribal council in episode 12 unless a major shake up happens.

Survivor 46 episode 12 airs on Wednesday, May 15! Don't miss the penultimate episode of the season.