Emily Flippen Reveals Why She Almost Hoped 'Survivor 50' Wouldn’t Call Her (Exclusive)
Emily Flippen had perhaps the biggest growth arc during her first Survivorrun on Season 45. She arrived as a socially abrasive outsider and left as a savvy, respected strategist, but the experience took a huge mental toll. In fact, at the time, she was adamant that she would never return to the game. But as the milestone 50th season approached, those "absolutes" became less clear.
The investment analyst, 30, arrived in Fiji for Survivor 50 with a mix of hesitation and a newfound sense of freedom. After a "mental spiral" during the casting process, she realized that her fear of returning was tied more to pressure to perform for fans rather than just being herself. Now, she’s ready to have fun, even if it means being a little "unhinged" on camera.
"I was lying to myself too when I said I wasn't ever gonna play again," Flippen told Men’s Journal on set before the game. "I was just hoping somebody would tell me 'no.' But the decision came to me, and I’m happy to be here. I don't think I’m gonna look back and regret taking the opportunity."
Without a deep bench of built-in allies—though she is open to working with her season's winner, Dee Valladares—she's feeling a little "insecure" that she's not "particularly well aligned." Still, she's eyeing players like Benjamin "Coach" Wade for a fun potential partnership, while also noting a "sad" energy from legend Cirie Fields and a "jaded" intensity from Season 49 unknown Rizo Velovic.
Below, Flippen further breaks down why she’s banking on the bigger legends to act as shields while she navigates the "culling" she expects to hit the new era players in the pre-merge.
Men's Journal: I thought you weren't ever going to play again, Emily!
Emily Flippen: To be honest, I wasn't just lying to you and everybody else; I was lying to myself too when I said I wasn't ever going to play again. That's the problem—speaking in absolutes. But yeah, I got the call in August, and to be honest—and I hate saying this because there's so many people [who want to be here]—but I was just kind of hoping I wouldn't even get the call, because that just makes a decision for you. But they called in August, and I was hesitant. And you know, the casting director's like, "Just fill out the forms. You don't have to make a decision right now. So just get the process going. If you change your mind, let us know." So then the months start to go by. And every month that passed, I was just like—I wasn't saying no. And then I guess at some point I was just kind of like, "Well, if I really didn't want to, I would have pulled out by now." So yeah, it happened. I was just hoping somebody would tell me "no." The decision came to me, but I'm happy to be here. I actually don't think I'm going to look back and regret taking the opportunity.
Men's Journal: If anything, it would be the opposite, no?
Emily Flippen: Exactly my thought. I'm like, what's the worst that comes out of this? I always feel like in life, there's opportunities that you don't take that you always look back on and regret. It's not the opportunity that you do take and fail and then go like, "Oh, I shouldn't have tried." It's like, no. You always wonder, like, "What if I had tried?" So I'm happy to give it a try, I guess.
Men's Journal: Your arc on your season was really interesting.
Emily Flippen: I do feel like that arc almost set the expectation high, and it's scary, because as much as it was genuine—like, I think what people saw was real—I learned a lot, and I hope that I can take and implement lessons from that season. I'm still the same person. And so I almost feel like I'm just setting people up for disappointment, because I'm going to make mistakes, I'm going to put my foot in my mouth, and I don't know—I just think part of the reason why I didn't want to come back was because, yeah, I feel like I was just disappointing people. But I guess I have to focus on myself. I don't want to disappoint myself.
Men's Journal: Don't worry about that. You earned your spot here. So you have one other person here from your season in Dee Valladares. What is your relationship like and do you see yourself working with her?
Emily Flippen: I actually think that working with people who are big targets can be beneficial, because who is like, "Oh, if I want to vote out somebody from Season 45 and I have a choice between Dee and Emily," is like, "Oh yeah, Emily's the big threat." Dee is one of the most dominant players. I don't know, maybe I just have—I’m biased because I play strategic and social, and I mean, I haven't met a single person who has met Dee and isn't like, "She's great." Everybody loves her. And so I have a positive relationship with her outside the game, of course, and we’re friends. I think we both have the mindset, though, that like, you can be friends outside the game, but when you come into the game, we're here to play individual games. So if it makes sense for me to work with her, that's great. I'll work with her, but if it makes sense for me to vote her out, I'll vote her out, and I know we'll get dinner a week after and it'll be fine. I'm not going to have any hard feelings about that.
Men's Journal: Love that. Looking at the rest of the cast, who do you want to play with and who are you wary of?
Emily Flippen: Everyone! I'm nervous about this cast. And I don't know if this is just all of my insecurities bubbling up, but they're very—it's a very physical bunch. And so I feel a little bit like I'm already a bit on the outs, physically speaking, that whatever tribe I'm going to end up on, I'm probably going to be seen as a liability, at least in the first half of the game. But then there's also just a ton of very social and strategic people, and my only hope is that I can work with people who don't view me as a liability, but as an opportunity. And so there's some people out here that I know that I'm going to vibe with, and there's new era people in that group. I feel really positive about Christian [Hubicki] and some others from the older era. [Benjamin] Coach [Wade], actually—I feel like we could vibe. I'm hoping the producers would also like to see that and put us on the same tribe. But there's some people that I feel like I'm getting good, positive vibes out of. But the problem is that you just never know what anybody else is thinking. I could come into it and be like, "I really like you. Let's work together." And they could in the back of their head be thinking, like, "I don't need her."
Men's Journal: Has Ponderosa been a little different than your first time?
Emily Flippen: It's incredible. I actually feel like this is almost post-game Ponderosa, which is so happy and positive—and maybe just my mindset. I was very anxious and neurotic and uptight and just intense, I think, going into 45 because of all the uncertainty. And when you're at Ponderosa now, it's like—I'm looking around, and of course, we're not allowed to talk, but I know these people. They know me, at least to some extent. They've seen me on TV. I know their names, so there's a lot less secretiveness. You know, instead of calling me "EF," it's "Emily."
Men's Journal: Any vibes or cues you're picking up on at Ponderosa?
Emily Flippen: I love calling out specific people, because it's just fun to look back on—was I totally off-base, or was I right? I'm getting a positive vibe from Coach. I don't know why, but his energy is just really great. And I'm like, "I feel like I can work with that." I'm getting a—I don't know if negative is the right word—but like, an "I don't want to be here" vibe from Cirie [Fields]. Head down, headphones on, like, almost sad? Like, the vibe is almost sad. And I could totally be wrong. The vibe that I'm getting from Cirie is almost like an "I don't want to be here" vibe.
This Season 49 male player, I believe his name is Rizo. I'm so curious about the dynamic between Rizo and the other 49 player. Because obviously, if I'm thinking in the minds of production, I either want two people who hate each other, or two people who work together really well. And they're avoiding each other at Ponderosa—like one person's on one side. I'm not even sure if they made eye contact, but that's exactly what I would do if I worked well with somebody and I didn't want anybody to know that. But with Rizo in particular, his vibe is almost like... jaded. Like, that's the best word I have for it. Like, "I'm here to fight. I want a second chance." Maybe that's just his personality, because obviously those are the two people that I don't know the most. But his vibe is almost like a little bit jaded, a little intense, a little like, "I want a second chance." And it makes me so curious what happened.
Men's Journal: I doubt he had much time to process everything.
Emily Flippen: I can't imagine doing that. It took me two years even to think about doing it again. So the idea that somebody, you know, two weeks afterwards would be like, "Yeah, I'll do it again," that already makes me think that both of them are psychos. Genuinely! You're like, "Who the hell would do that?"
Men's Journal: Are you happy to see Season 49 people here because maybe there'll be a target in front of you? Or do you want to work with them?
Emily Flippen: I'm happy to see them here only because I think it offers a really interesting dynamic that's important, because they're the unknown quantity. You need that, right? And I think back to—I know Russell [Hantz] played back-to-back. And I think in that regard, people could view them as a threat and be like, "Oh, I want to vote them out," but I generally view both of them as an opportunity. They're blank slates in my mind, and that's probably where they're feeling the most insecure. And I know that I'm feeling insecure in terms of—I don't feel particularly well-aligned with any of these people already. So if they're coming in feeling like they're starting on a back leg, I also feel like I'm starting on a back leg. Okay, let's work together then. Let's get the front leg.
Men's Journal: Have you met any of these people in person? Do you go to events?
Emily Flippen: The short answer is yes. I've been to events and I've met a fair number of these people—not just new era, but some of the older era contestants in person as well, very casually. Part of the reason why I always hated returning seasons as a fan was because I was like, "I don't know the full social dynamics of these people because I didn't get to see them recorded at a party saying 'hi' to each other the way I did when I saw them meeting for the first time on the island." But I also think about it like this: if there was a Blood vs. Water season, it'd probably be me versus my sister—or with my sister. I shouldn't say "versus," but that gives you context. I love my sister so much; our only goal would be to vote each other off. Like, the victory would not necessarily be winning, it would be outlasting the other person.
And I actually feel like that's kind of the vibe around the new era contestants as well. As friendly as people are and as willing as they are to go to events together, there's the context of: this is a game. You leave everything else—all your personal relationships—at the door, and I'm here to play and win the game. And I actually think there's almost more willingness to cut each other's throats because of that awareness than there is even for the older era contestants. I think we're in for—and I'm putting it out there now that I come back and say I said it—I think pre-merge is going to be a new era culling. I think older era is really set up well. I don't know post-merge, but I think there's going to be a lot of new era contestants that are viewed as threats, and I think their counterparts—if they played with them or otherwise—are going to think to themselves, "I'd rather not have them here."
Men's Journal: Are you looking for it to be new era versus old era?
Emily Flippen: No, I don't want any of that. That's not to say I'm going to completely ignore relationships—the fact that there are a few seasons that have three people from those seasons. I think it's a safe assumption to come into the game and say, "If they can work together—not that they will, but if they can—it makes sense for them, they probably will." Right? Those relationships already exist. But that being said, I play with people, not seasons. And I think there's a lot of people in the new era who I'll sit down with and we're not going to vibe, like Jonathan [Young]. I could totally be wrong—I've never talked to the guy before—but I imagine, from what I've seen, we're very different people. I'm probably not going to vibe with Jonathan the way that I know that I vibe with somebody like Christian, or could vibe with somebody like Coach, or even Stephanie [LaGrossa Kendrick]. So I'm a lot more open-minded to being like, "Okay, I'm fine totally voting off somebody who's a new era." I don't care what season you played on; if I don't vibe with you, we're not going to work together. Let's work with somebody who's willing to work with me.
Men's Journal: How do you plan on navigating the early game? What do you think people's perception of you is?
Emily Flippen: In terms of my perception, I think my perception is I'm open-minded but also loud and aggressive, very direct but honest, transparent, and also very loyal. And in terms of changing that perception or leaning into it, those are just qualities of me, and I think if I tried to change them, I'd be more disingenuous, and I think that would come across as being inauthentic. So I guess my only option is to lean into it. I think I'm probably going to play a similar game to the game that I played in 45, I hope with a little bit more tact. But yeah, I imagine that perception is probably still going to be there.
And in terms of surviving the first part of the game or the first few boots—that's actually where I am the most anxious and most nervous about, because I think I could be a very easy consensus vote-out. Coming into this game, I don't have anybody that I'm like, "We're 100% working together." Any tribe that I get on, I am on the physically weaker side. And we already know that people who are socially more abrasive—which is me—outspoken, and a little bit risk-taking, and also not an asset to their tribe, whether that be with the puzzles or the physical aspects of the challenges, are just easy votes out. So I'm really hoping for a tribe that sees me not necessarily as a liability, but as a number and an opportunity. Because Emily doesn't bring much maybe to the tribe winning challenges, but that is a person who I can work with and have a number, and then later in the game, we can make a really solid alliance there. So I think surviving the first few votes will be really difficult for me, but if I'm able to do that, I'd feel better.
Men's Journal: Did you do any preparation for the game?
Emily Flippen: The short answer is yes; the long answer is no. I definitely worked out more. You can't see, there's a little muscle, but this is nothing. I'm looking at that group out there. I could have worked out for years leading up to this, and I probably still wouldn't hold a candle against the majority of the people that are out there now. They live lifestyles that are a lot less sedentary than myself. So I definitely felt the pressure to physically work out more. But to be honest, the mental stress of this whole experience—coming out of 45, part of the reason why I said I wouldn't play it again was because it took such a mental toll on me and it just sent me for a total spiral in my life. And it takes a long time to crawl yourself out of that and make sense of it. And even going through the process from August until being here, that was like an entire new mental spiral. So I think I spent most of my preparation energy just trying to make sure that I was in the right headspace. While I physically and strategically and socially may not be that different, I'm a lot more positive right now than I was on 45. On 45, I was upset, I was anxious, I was intense—like I was unhappy going into the game. I had no fun. I'm happy I did it, don't get me wrong, but I'm ready to have fun this time. I feel positive being here. It's an awesome freaking experience. And what happens, happens, but the only thing in my control is my attitude and my outlook about it, and that is where I think I spent the most time preparing.
Men's Journal: Even if you don't get to the end, what do you want to get out of this experience if you don't win?
Emily Flippen: Statistically speaking, it's not going to happen! Part of the reason why I didn't want to go on 50 was because of the fan base. Everybody has been incredibly kind in person, but it's the feeling that I'm trying to perform for somebody. I'm no longer being myself. I'm always consciously thinking, "I'm being recorded right now. How is anybody going to respond to the words that I'm saying?" I didn't want to go on the show because I felt like I couldn't really be an authentic version of myself. And I actually had a long conversation with Kaleb [Gebrewold] from my season, who is—I wish he was here—he's so lovely. Now, that's a person I would 100 percent work with. But he kind of sat me down and he was like, "Emily, why do you think they cast you in the first place? They don't put on people who are capable of being anybody but themselves." He's like, "You could try to fight it as much as you want, you can be as conscious as you want that you're being recorded—you are still going to say the same exact thing. You're still going to be the same person. You're still going to act the same way." I think that's actually genuine. Part of the casting process is finding somebody who, for lack of a better word, can't help themselves when it comes to who they are. So I'm actually less worried about that. I gave my first confessional yesterday and it was an unhinged confessional, and afterwards I reflected on it and I was like, "Oh, I wish I didn't say all that," because I totally forgot there was a camera sitting there recording me. But that is the point—I'm not doing it for the fans or how I'm going to be perceived. I'm just here for myself, and there's some freedom in knowing that I went through that spiral of caring and I came out the other end, and I'm so done caring.
Men's Journal: Exactly! Anyone you wish was out here with you?
Emily Flippen: Obviously I wish Kaleb was out here. But there's some people in the new era that I've met and interacted with, and I was surprised to not see them out here because I know them in person and they're such good characters. Obviously there's Carolyn [Wiger], there's Jesse [Lopez], there's Omar [Zaheer]—there's so many. There are so many big characters that I understand that maybe they didn't fit into whatever archetypes or foils that production is looking for. But I'm so hopeful that there will be like another era returning season in the future because I would pay money—I mean, Omar and Maryanne [Oketch]. I'd pay money to see them go at it on the island again. That is a duo that I think is worth their weight in gold.
Men's Journal: Are you hoping the fans vote for rice or no rice?
Emily Flippen: I want your thoughts. What do you think?
Men's Journal: I think this game is hard, so I don't know if I care about whether players get rice or not.
Emily Flippen: I actually think that's the reason why fans are probably going to vote for rice. People just want change. So I feel like people will vote for whatever the contrary thing is, and that is, in this case, giving people rice. But I voted for "no rice." And my reasoning is a little bit of like, the frat bro hazing—like, if I had to suffer, you have to suffer! But I actually felt the difference. I went about 14 or 15 days without eating. Lulu didn't win anything, obviously. And after about two weeks, we got rice. And obviously, we're only eating a handful of rice a day. But the difference it made in my mental stimulation, just having a little bit of glucose running through my body, was wild.
I remember like day 10 or 11, I kept doing confessionals where I was calling Brando [Meyer] "Brendo," and production kept being like, "We can't use this because you're calling him by the wrong name." But my brain had started to shut down. I just had nothing to run off of. And then I had the rice and all of a sudden—I wasn't full, don't get me wrong—but just a few hundred calories, suddenly my brain was kicking into gear. While that might be good to vote for rice and have everybody functioning at some level, I also think it's such a unique experience. And the older school players haven't gone through something like that before where genuinely their brain starts to shut down. You're no longer capable of strategizing at the level you would if you were fully fed anyway. It's a unique experience. And if I had to suffer through it, I think somebody else should too!
Men's Journal: Presuming it's 26 days and 24 players, it's going to be fast-paced, too?
Emily Flippen: It's going to be dropping like flies. A lot of people every day. And so that is just a really fast-paced game. But I don't think that the old school players are inherently at a disadvantage. I actually think that it's a personality type that's at a disadvantage. I think somebody who is more flexible and willing to roll with the punches—they're going to love it. And I think an old school era player could have done really well in the new era if they were cast in new era, and vice-versa. I actually think there's some new era players that probably won't do well with all of the tribal councils and all the change just because, like myself, they could be a little bit more stuck in their ways.
Men's Journal: Final Four fire-making? How do you feel about that?
Emily Flippen: I voted against Final Four fire-making! I voted against it only because I don't know how to make fire! I've practiced, I've tried—I swear to God, I've tried. I suck at it so bad. And so in my mind, you know, at that point in the game, if I'm not getting dragged to the end by somebody, I've messed up already. I think that's my angle—to kind of pretend to be a little bit of a goat to be taken to the end. I'm a little bit afraid that if I got put into fire, I would just lose. But to be honest, I actually think fire is better for the fan base because I think it adds an opportunity for somebody who is a bigger threat to make it to Final Three. Otherwise, all you do at Final Four is just vote off the person who's going to win. And I like the fact that you have to put the person you think is going to win into fire, and that gives them at least one opportunity to win. So as a fan, I say fire. As a player, I say no.
The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.