After watching the Survivor 49 finale, fans know that Savannah Louie became the season's winner after prevailing thanks to a 5-2-1 vote.
Even with Savannah's dominant win, things easily could have gone another way. Louie could have found herself on the jury had she lost to Rizo Velovic in the fire-making challenge.
With that in mind, Louie recently revealed who she would have given her jury vote to if she didn't make it to Survivor 49's Final Tribal Council.
Savannah Louie would have voted for Rizo Velovic to win if she were on Survivor 49's jury
During Survivor 49's finale, Sophi Balerdi won the last immunity challenge, which allowed her to decide that Rizo and Savannah would battle during the fire-making challenge. After Louie built a strong enough fire first, she went on to win the season. However, things could have gone another direction if Velovic had prevailed during the fire-making challenge instead.
On Dec. 18, 2025, Entertainment Weekly published a transcript of the outlet's interview with Louie. During that conversation, Louie was asked if she would have voted for Velovic if she'd lost the fire-making challenge since they worked together throughout the season. In response, Louie confirmed that Velovic would have gotten her theoretical jury vote. "Yeah, absolutely."
It is fascinating to wonder if Velovic would have won Survivor 49 if he got to the Final Tribal Council with Sage Ahrens-Nichols and Sophi Balerdi. While that is impossible to know, one thing is clear. The fact that Louie spoke like her voting for Velovic was a given has implications for Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans. For example, the fact that Louie appears to have been very loyal to Velovic makes it seem likelier that they could continue working together during the next season, if given the chance.
The most interesting wrinkle about Louie's comments is that it could be a teaser about what is to come during Survivor 50. After all, if Louie and Velovic had a falling out during Survivor 50, she may not have said that she "absolutely" would have given him her vote during Survivor 49.
While what happens during Survivor 50 couldn't have retroactively affected how Louie would have handled having a theoretical Survivor 49 jury vote, it may have made her see her first season differently and effect how she answered that question.
Watch Savannah and Rizo on Survivor 50 starting on Feb. 25, 2026, on CBS and Paramount+.