‘Survivor 47’ showmance is actually a no-mance for Sam and Sierra: ‘It is a strict strategic relationship’

Rob and Amber. Colleen and Greg. Matt and Frannie. “Survivor” has produced some of the best reality TV showmances of all time. But don’t look to add Sam Phalen and Sierra Wright to that list anytime soon. During the third episode of Season 47, the idol-finding duo of the Gata tribe made it abundantly clear that they were not in a showmance, despite what their competitors were whispering over at Lavo and Tuku.

The drama started after Rome Cooney, Kyle Ostwald and Anika Dhar embarked on a journey and swapped stories from each of their camps. The conversation soon turned to Sam, the 24-year-old sports reporter from Nashville, Tennessee, and Sierra, the 27-year-old nurse from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

“My whole tribe thinks they’re a couple,” Rome stated emphatically.

And Kyle quickly chimed in, “Is there anything tying on there?”

Anika immediately shut down the rumors about her tribe mates, explaining how they both have significant others “back home” and that Sam is “actually engaged.” She then broke tribal code when she revealed, “They kind of made a really tight bond, or whatever.”

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In a private confessional, Kyle noted, “We all kind of figured that Sam was going to be running the show at Gata. But you can’t run the show by yourself. And so now that Anika exposed this information to me, I feel like I can use that to my benefit in the future.”

When Anika returned to the Gata beach, she spilled the beans to Sam and Sierra about what the other tribes were saying about them. “They asked me, were you two dating?” she recapped. “They were like, ‘You gotta tell us! Are Sam and Sierra, like, a thing?'”

Sam told the audience, “This is ridiculous. I am engaged. Hannah, babe, if you’re watching this, I am not in a relationship with Sierra on ‘Survivor.’ It is a strict strategic relationship. I promise you, I’m thinking about you the whole time and I’m talking about you every day.”

The camera then cut to Kyle’s Tuku camp, where he was filling his own people in on the latest tea. “So, they’re not a thing. They actually both have fiances, but Anika said that they’re jiving on a whole different note. They’re basically head dogs at the moment.”

We then got Sierra’s reaction to the hot goss. “What?!” she shouted. “I’m 27 years old. He’s 24 years old. He’s engaged. I better be engaged when I get home. So, it’s like, come on! It concerns me that now there’s this speculation that Sam and I are working together, because that could really blow up both of our games.” She concluded, “That’s something we definitely need to keep in mind moving forward in this game.”

As Wednesday’s episode continued on, Sam and Sierra’s Gata tribe won immunity, as did the Tuku tribe. That resulted in the Lavo tribe heading to tribal council for the first time, where Rome played his hidden immunity idol (it was only good for one vote). In the end, Aysha Welch was voted out, making her the third person to have their torch snuffed on “Survivor 47” after Jon Lovett and Terran “TK” Foster.

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