Jenna Lewis-Dougherty Says Having 'Zero Pregame' Alliances Led to Her 'Survivor 50' Exit (Exclusive)
Jenna Lewis-Dougherty's long-awaited return to Survivor unfortunately didn’t last long when the Survivor: Borneo alum became the first player voted out of Survivor 50–a shocking early exit that stunned fans who were eager to see one of the franchise’s most recognizable OGs back in the game after more than two decades.
In her exit interview with Men’s Journal, Jenna explains that her fate was sealed before the first vote was even cast. She opens up about how she entered the milestone season with “zero pregame” alliances and “knew nobody out there,” which put her at an inherent disadvantage against tightly connected players with years of history.
Despite her early elimination, Jenna doesn't seem to have regrets and is happy with the way her story unfolded on screen and how the edit "paid homage" to her journey.
Scroll down to read the full exit interview with Jenna.
Men's Journal: Jenna, how are you feeling today?
Jenna Lewis-Dougherty: I actually feel really good for a couple reasons. No. 1, CBS, Paramount, Jeff [Probst]—they gave me a beautiful edit, and they really paid homage to Survivor 1. It comes in with my eyes; it was really beautiful. I think they did an amazing job because when you go home, you're always worried they could edit that to make me look so bitchy. But no, it's so different now than it was on the first one. They really try to give you a good edit, but also they take the whole performance, not just one or two things that you said for sensationalism. So I feel great. Seeing the things I didn't know were going on—because I’m not all-present and I don’t know who’s talking to who—seeing how some of that went down, I would love to clarify some of that.
Men's Journal: Yes, please do. What did you see that surprised you?
Jenna Lewis-Dougherty: What surprised me was [Rick] Devens telling Cirie [Fields] at the water well that I said her name. I will depose Christian [Hubicki] with an attorney that this is how it happened: Day one, we were all sitting around getting to know each other, and I said, "Hey, how do you feel about the group?" He says, in his little Christian way, "I'm going to go sit down by somebody and you know that person's a threat." He goes over, sits next to Cirie, talks to her for two minutes, comes back over and he goes, "Do you see who I sat next to?" I said, "Yeah, Cirie." And he goes, verbatim, "If she gets to a tribe swap or a merge, she will be lost in the wind and will never have a chance at her again."
I was like, "Yes, she's a threat and a liability." The challenges were just—I knew it was going to be awful, but it was worse than I could have ever imagined. Threat and a liability and in a duo. We all knew it was Ozzy [Lusth] and Cirie. You will be the collateral damage with a duo that strong. I really thought they saw that. This is not Cirie's game; this is Christian's game. Christian is playing everyone over there. He is absolutely the chess master. He even says it in the episode: "I'm Spock, your Captain Kirk. I'm doing all the thinking. I'm going to send you to do my dirty work." Cut to Devins going to the water well and telling Cirie. It literally shows you in that episode I'm saying I'm going to use him to go do my dirty work so it's not on my hands.
Men's Journal: So Christian was a little bit more involved than we saw in terms of Cirie’s name?
Jenna Lewis-Dougherty: 100 percent involved.
Men's Journal: Interesting. When you saw your tribe, were you like, "This is great," or "I'm in trouble"?
Jenna Lewis-Dougherty: I've had this conversation so many times. This is awful. Especially when I looked over at the tribe where Stephanie [LaGrossa Kendrick] and Colby [Donaldson] are—they played together, been in an alliance together. I knew immediately that's where Ozzy and Cirie were. And Devens and Christian and Emily [Flippen]—Devens in his pre-game calls Emily his very good friend. To be able to play a social game with your very good friend, you have a big advantage over all of us. I knew we'd lose because of Cirie. Knew it in my heart of hearts.
I didn't believe a thing Ozzy was saying when he was talking about going against Cirie. You can see it in my face. Talking to Christian and them, they were even throwing out Ozzy's name. I was like, "You do want to win a challenge at some point, right?" Getting rid of a strong person and keeping the dead weight is the worst decision. I was really trying to rally Savannah [Louie] and Joe [Hunter]. Everybody says "New Era, they play so fast." I don't think they were getting their stuff together. I was like, "Guys, we have to have plans." Savannah was so concerned that she could be the name, so am I. I'm a complete odd man out. I knew nobody out there but Colby and I saw him 20-something years ago. I know everyone else has been calling each other, Zooming, FaceTiming, and I have zero. I was scrambling. I was playing from the bottom the second I landed.
Men's Journal: You said on CBS Mornings that at least you went out swinging. Does that give you a good feeling?
Jenna Lewis-Dougherty: Yes. There's absolutely a good feeling about like, I was right. I wasn't comfortable because I was right, and I wasn't going to just go, "Oh well, it could be me" and roll over. If you want to say I played too hard in a game called Survivor, I'll take it. That's how we all should be playing.
Men's Journal: Did you have any conversations with Cirie out there? We didn't see you interact at all.
Jenna Lewis-Dougherty: No. She truly thinks that was all me coming for her the whole time. It honestly was just a no-brainer to try and break up the duo. It wasn't just because of Cirie in the challenge. Break up the duo and it weakens Ozzy for a future vote. I think she thinks I was all after her, and Christian told Emily I had her name on my lips. I was fine with Cirie; I just knew that I didn't want her to go any further because we would die in the water on every immunity challenge.
Men's Journal: At tribal council, there was a point where I remember you having a realization that something was off. What was that point?
Jenna Lewis-Dougherty: I knew that I would probably get a vote from Cirie and Ozzy. But because all of us were chatting and they were even throwing at Ozzy's name to the last minute, I was like, "Okay, I'll get two votes, but I should be okay." But as soon as we sat there and they asked what the criteria was for voting with Emily, she was like, "There's different criteria. You can't always vote on the criteria of who's going to be the best in that challenge." That's when I called her. I said, "Wait, you're talking differently." People are talking differently to Jeff than they talk to me. Christian had been very clear that he was running the show with Emily because he used the words, "I told her how to vote." It registered immediately that he said "I told her," not "we chatted." I was like, "Okay, he wants to be king." When she said that, I was like, "Okay, is that Emily trying to be nice, or Emily making it softer for Cirie? Is that Emily going, 'Yeah, we're all voting different criteria than you think we are, Jenna'?"
Men's Journal: Everyone loved to see you fired up in the preseason. Did it feel good after 20 years to see people excited to see you play?
Jenna Lewis-Dougherty: Yes, absolutely. This game has given me my life. I was a single mother with young kids working two jobs in a small town in New Hampshire, and I probably would have ended up there—that stereotypical movie plot where she works in a coal mine. Survivor opened up the world. I have the most beautiful life and I have confidence in myself all because of Survivor. I have a book inside me that has got to be written all because of Survivor. I will say a very big thank you to Survivor and CBS and Jeff, because that edit was like a love letter. It felt like a love letter. I've been worried for eight months about how this will look, but they did me really well.
Men's Journal: Is the chapter closed on Survivor, or did this open another door?
Jenna Lewis-Dougherty: I never ever say—you never want to burn a bridge, right? I will never say never on anything because I'm still young enough and physically strong, and obviously my feelings are right. I knew that everything was wacky out there. I'd be open.