Reality TV fans rejoice, because “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” has officially begun!
Last night (Feb. 25), the highly-anticipated three-hour premiere of the competition series’ milestone 50th season finally aired on CBS screens across the country. The anniversary season’s first episode witnessed the return of longtime host Jeff Probst, who welcomed 24 former castaways back onto the “Survivor” island for another shot at claiming the $1 million grand prize and the coveted title of “Sole Survivor.”
The record-breaking cast – composed of players representing the entirety of “Survivor”s 26-year history, from Season 1 to Season 49 – proved in the debut episode that they came to play the game hard, fast and cutthroat. As a result, last night’s premiere episode also saw one castaway’s “Survivor 50” journey come to an end as Probst snuffed their torch at the season’s first Tribal Council ceremony.
SPOILER ALERT!!! This article will contain spoilers for the first episode of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans,” including the identity of the first-eliminated contestant. If you haven’t seen the premiere just yet, save this post and circle back later. If you’re all caught up, keep reading to hear what this season’s first boot had to say about their short-lived journey of the milestone season.
Who was Eliminated First on ‘Survivor 50’?
CBSAfter revealing the results of some of the “In the Hands of the Fans” voting polls and the return of Exile Island, the castaways competed in the first Immunity Challenge of the season.
Ultimately, the Cila Tribe – composed of returning players Christian Hubicki, Cirie Fields, Emily Flippen, Joe Hunter, Ozzy Lusth, Rick Devens and Savannah Louie – finished the competition in last place, earning themselves a date with Jeff Probst at the inaugural Tribal Council of “Survivor 50.”
While fifth-time castaway Cirie was primarily responsible for losing the challenge for her tribe, a strategizing montage at camp resulted in both Ozzy and Jenna joining her on the chopping block as Cila departed to cast their first votes.
In the end, Jenna Lewis-Dougherty – who originally appeared on the first-ever season of “Survivor” all the way back in 2000 – became the unfortunate first boot of the season.
While Jenna herself voted to eliminate Cirie, the remainder of the tribe were unanimous in their decision to target the OG castaway.
Who is ‘Survivor 50’ Contestant Jenna Lewis-Dougherty?
CBSJenna Lewis-Dougherty was one of the first 16 contestants to join the very first season of “Survivor,” which debuted to CBS audiences in the summer of 2000.
At the time, the fledgling show’s contestants weren’t well-versed in employing modern-day strategy and blindsiding techniques. Instead, the majority of the game’s players were eliminated either by the majority Tagi Alliance – which contained the eventual winner of “Survivor: Borneo,” Richard Hatch – or by Sean Kenniff’s arbitrary alphabetical voting strategy.
CBS/GettyJenna, then 22 years old, eventually fell victim to both the Tagi Alliance and Kenniff’s strategy, being eliminated from the season in 8th place.
She returned to the competition in 2003 on the cast of the show’s first-ever returning-players season: “Survivor: All-Stars.”
Hellbent on targeting returning champions like Tina Wesson and Ethan Zohn, Jenna managed to secure a spot in the Final 3 alongside “Survivor” power couple Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich.
23 years later, Jenna would be revealed as one of the castaways returning to compete on “Survivor 50.” Now 49 years old, Lewis-Dougherty works as a successful realtor in Woodland, California, where she lives with her twin daughters, Sadie and Sabrina, who she’d already had when she appeared on “Survivor: Borneo” in 2000.
Jenna later remarried, welcoming two more children – Dan and Evie – with her husband Dillon Dougherty.
Jenna Reacts to Her ‘First In, First Out’ Season 50 Elimination
CBSWhen Lewis-Dougherty was revealed as the first eliminated player of the season, she uttered four devastating words that summed up her “Survivor” journey: “First in, first out.”
Speaking to Parade following her last place finish on “Survivor 50,” Jenna looked back on her elimination, telling the publication, “I’ve seen [the premiere] three times in three days. I’ve also had eight months of processing. But the eight months of processing was actually much harder, I think, because you’re sitting there wondering what you said, how you’re going to be portrayed…So when you see it, you finally get to process actually what happened of how the edit looks, and you get to see what other players were saying to other players, which you don’t know.”
Despite her legacy as one of the OG “Survivor” castaways, Jenna ultimately sealed her fate by choosing to target fifth-time player and franchise darling Cirie Fields straight out of the gate.
According to Jenna, who describes herself as a “New Era” player at heart, the decision was motivated by not wanting to repeat the decisions that landed her a third-place finish on “Survivor: All-Stars.”
“If you’re the third, it never ends well for you,” she explained, rationalizing why she didn’t want to ally herself with her fellow “Old School” tribemates Cirie and Ozzy Lusth, who competed on both “Survivor: Micronesia” and “Survivor: Game Changers” together.
“I know from ‘Survivor: All-Stars,’” she continued. “So if I had been with Cirie and Ozzy, [the fans] would have been like, ‘Oh, Jenna, don’t do it again. Don’t do it again.”
Jenna Reveals the Real ‘Puppet Master’ Behind Her Elimination
CBSJenna similarly revealed that the plan to target Cirie wasn’t even of her own design. Instead, she claimed that it was orchestrated, and then abandoned, by Christian Hubicki.
“I really didn’t grasp the chess master that Christian is,” Jenna said. “I’m telling you. He’s so far beyond.”
“He’s not just smart, he’s brilliant,” she continued, singing the praises of the “David vs. Goliath” returnee. “He caused the Cirie thing. I did not even bring Cirie’s name up. He caused all of that. I think he’s gonna puppet them. [Rick] Devens, Emily [Flippen], I think he’s got them right under this thumb.”
Jenna reinforced her “puppetmaster” vision of Hubicki during the premiere episode, likening the robotics professor to a real-life Chucky doll.
“I told you he would get a knife and murder everyone,” she added, speaking to the threat Christian poses as the game moves forward. “That’s exactly what he’s gonna do.”
“Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” will return to CBS screens on Wednesday, March 3 at 8:00pm ET.
