Survivor 51began with a bang by introducing 21 new players to the exciting yet treacherous waters of this incredible game. While all castaways set themselves up for success, only one ultimately wins, and another must initially become the first boot of the season.
This season, the first to be eliminated was Aaliyah Puglia, a 25-year-old chef and food consultant from New Jersey. Puglia began the game on the Toka tribe, where she formed bonds with several of her tribe mates, particularly Devin Way and Jelly Loblack.
Everything went south for Puglia, however, at the immunity challenge, where she struggled on her portion and fell behind her tribe. Ultimately, the Toka tribe never made up the difference, and they lost their shot at safety.
Back at camp, while several of the women talked, Puglia commented on tribemate Brady Booker’s aggressive attitude during the challenge, but said he wouldn’t be targeted because of his physicality. Loblack agreed, especially as she didn’t want a woman to leave the tribe first.
Two factions within the tribe started forming: one led by Way to vote out Jenna Doore, and another led by Booker against Puglia after Doore told him about Puglia’s comments about him. At Tribal Council, both Doore and Puglia played their shots in the dark to be safe, though neither got safety that way. In the end, Puglia was eliminated by a 6-2 vote, earning her the feared first boot title of the season.
In anexit interview for Parade with Mike Bloom, Bloom asked Puglia whether she knew she was in such danger once she reached Tribal Council, or whether she realized the gravity of the situation during it. Puglia responded that her allies warned her that her name was gaining traction, which is why she was ready to play her shot in the dark regardless.
As to whether the Tribal Council was as live as we saw on TV, Puglia said, "Gosh, that Tribal [Council] was live! There’s only so much time, right? And you only can see like so little pieces of that. But the Tribal [Council] was insane. It was very long, and there was a lot of talking. I mean, look, to go out on a live Tribal [Council] like that in the first episode. If I’m gonna go out first, that’s a great way to go out!"
Puglia goes on to say that the two factors that ultimately cemented her fate were her comments about Booker and her challenge performance. Puglia has had to reconcile with the fact that even though she was brave enough to put herself in that challenge position in the first place, she ultimately underdelivered.
When asked by Bloom who she felt the most betrayed by, Puglia replied, "[Danny] Kilby! I was actually working [lots] with Kilby, and they didn’t show it. We were going to find peppers together, and he was looking for idols next to me. And he was another one that tipped me off before Tribal [Council] as well."
Lastly, as to whether she held any grudges towards anyone about her prompt elimination, Puglia expressed that she understood why Kilby didn’t put his game on the line for hers as she added, "It’s Day 3 ofSurvivor.You want to protect your game as much as you can, and I’m not mad at nobody for that."
Add us as a preferred source onGoogleLoading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations