Since fans first learned that Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans would be a landmark season, they have been imagining how the season would play out. After the cast for the season was announced, viewers had a lot more fodder for their theories and debates.
As the premiere of Survivor 50 is nearing, the conjecture about how the season will play out has continued. In the middle of those debates, Survivor fans have been given fascinating information for those discussions due to a shocking turn of events.
A recently released video shows Survivor 50’s cast being asked to vote on who should be eliminated before the game starts. While that vote was requested by a media outlet and certainly wasn’t binding, its results are fascinating to learn about.
Survivor 50’s Rizo ‘RizGod” Velovic would be eliminated if a non-binding pregame cast vote were real
On January 9, 2026, Entertainment Weekly published a truly fascinating pregame video on its website. In the video, every Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans cast member was asked to vote to eliminate someone from the game before it started. To be clear, the players all knew it was a non-binding theoretical vote. Still, the video appeared to show that players took the vote seriously.
Based on Entertainment Weekly’s theoretical vote, Survivor 49’s Rizo “RizGod” Velovic would have been eliminated before the game if the vote were binding. While Velovic got the most votes, other players weren’t far behind him. Kyle Fraser, Dee Valladares, and Benjamin “Coach” Wade all received only one less vote than Velovic.
Breakdown of which Survivor 50 players revealed votes in Entertainment Weekly’s theoretical vote:
Rizo “RizGod” Velovic – 4 Votes from Joe Hunter, Kyle Fraser, Tiffany Nicole Ervin, and Benjamin “Coach” Wade
Benjamin “Coach” Wade – 3 Votes from Jenna Lewis-Dougherty, Colby Donaldson, and Rizo Velovic
Kyle Fraser – 3 Votes from Mike White, Cirie Fields, and Ozzy Lusth
Dee Valladares – 3 Votes from Quintavius “Q” Burdette, Savannah Louie, and Rick Devens
Colby Donaldson – 2 Votes from Dee Valladares and Angelina Keeley
Quintavius “Q” Burdette – 2 Votes from Aubry Bracco and Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick
Savannah Louie – 2 Votes from Chrissy Hofbeck and Tiffany Nicole Ervin
Charlie Davis – 2 Votes from Jonathan Young and Christian Hubicki
Joe Hunter – 1 Vote from Genevieve Mushaluk
Genevieve Mushaluk – 1 Vote from Kamilla Karthigesu
Jonathan Young – 1 Vote from Emily Flippen
Rick Devens – 1 Vote from Charlie Davis
It has to be noted that two people broke the rules of the fake vote, which is fine since it wasn’t real, even though it was very revealing. First off, instead of voting for one other player, Tiffany Nicole Ervin voted against Savannah Louie and Rizo “RizGod”Velovic. Secondly, Cirie Fields didn’t vote against any other Survivor 50 players. Instead, the iconic Survivor Hall of Famer voted against a famous journalist who covers Survivor, Dalton Ross.
Another result of the vote that was fascinating was the list of Survivor 50 players who didn’t receive any votes against them. Cirie Fields, Ozzy Lusth, Mike White, Jenna Lewis-Dougherty, Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Tiffany Nicole Ervin, Rick Devens, Kamilla Karthigesu, Emily Flippen, Christian Hubicki, Chrissy Hofbeck, Aubry Bracco, and Angelina Keeley all didn’t get any votes.
