Joe Hunter became a two-time finalist in Survivor 50, but unlike Survivor 48—when he received one vote against him and one vote to win—the fire captain didn’t see his name written down on parchment a single time all season, including the finale.
However, at least one juror considered voting for Joe prior to learning about the "Jonathan Young vs. Aubry Bracco" debate happening between the players who had been out of the game longer than they were. That led to them casting one of the eight votes for Aubry to win Survivor 50.
Rizo Velovic originally planned to vote for Joe Hunter to win Survivor 50.
When Rizo Velovic lost the Final Four fire-making challenge for the second time in as many seasons, he went into Ponderosa with an open mind. The "Rizgod" built a close bond with Joe and Jonathan that helped him make it one fire away from the end, and he considered throwing a vote to one of his closest allies on the island.
“To be honest, I was actually very open and willing to vote for Joe,” Rizo told Rob Cesternino on "Rob Has a Podcast" after Wednesday’s live finale. “Something that we didn’t see was me and Joe had a Final Two out there. Joe and I had a very close relationship. We saw something in a secret scene where I talked about how Joe meant so much to my family because of my brother’s autism and what he did for Eva on 48. I wanted to go to the end to Joe.”
As I mentioned above, though, Rizo’s mind shifted course once he learned what the debate was from the outside looking in: “Once I got to Ponderosa, a lot of the discourse was Jonathan and Aubry. I felt like had I thrown a vote at Joe, it might have been a closer vote,” he explained. “So I was now thinking, alright, I don’t want to throw a hinkie vote and force someone to lose?"
He then decided to view the game more strategically and says, "I thought Aubry had no pre-existing relationships... She played her game. She articulated her game. And to be quite honest, I voted for her based on her Survivor legacy… What she articulated is what gained my respect."
Rizo thought he had a good chance to win Survivor 50 had he made it to the Final Three.
While Rizo ended up on the jury for the second straight season, he felt like he would’ve had a “good shot to win the game” had he made it to the end with a Final Three of him, Joe, and Jonathan.
“I think what was great about Joe and Jonathan was they were a part of the same alliance. So the alliance would have to ultimately pick who they wanted to vote for,” he explained. “I had a lot of the nerd group. I had great alliances with Dee and Cirie," the 26-year-old told Cesternino. “I don’t think I would have gotten Ozzy’s vote. But I think six-five, seven-four. I had a really good shot had I been able to articulate my game.”
Ultimately, though, Rizo couldn’t find the literal spark he needed to get him to the Final Three and articulate that game. And instead of throwing a vote for Joe, he did what some other jurors in the past have done to make sure that the person they thought deserved to win the game between the two openly discussed finalists came away with the victory.
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