Yahoo Sports 'Survivor 46': Jemila 'Jem' Hussain-Adams reveals unaired moment that could have impacted her blindsided exit
"I wanted to earn it, that's why I was playing so hard," she said
In an absolutely brutal end to her time on Survivor 46 (on Global TV in Canada, CBS in the U.S.) Jemila "Jem" Hussain-Adams was voted out by the Siga Tibe — with an idol still in her pocket.
"I just didn't know my name was going to be written down at all, whatsoever," Hussain-Adams told Yahoo Canada. "I had the alliance since day two, ... we were doing touch bases and checkpoints every single day, and we had a plan."
"So I was kind of surprised that my name was there and if I had the slightest inkling about it, I would have played my Idol. It was an honour to be blindsided, even bigger honour to have two votes put on you for no reason. I kind of had some thoughts about it after the game, but I think I'm past that where I'm kind of at ease with how it's happened. ... I just wanted to see the behind the scenes, but it didn't explain anything to me. ... So I'm still kind of up in the air about the whole thing."
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Seemingly, this week's episode led us to believe that the votes in Siga were going to be split between Ben Katzman and Charlie Davis (thinking that Tim Spicer could have immunity), with Katzman being the target.
What we saw in Wednesday's episode is Hussain-Adams trying to get information from Katzman and Spicer, and then Maria Shrime Gonzalez ultimately voting alongside the men on the tribe, voting for Hussain-Adams to leave the island. Why? We're still not entirely sure.
'I told my personal story, and I think that has a big reason why I got voted out'
But Hussain-Adams revealed that she had a conversation with the tribe before the tribal — that didn't make it to air — that could have impacted her outcome.
"The night before I told my personal story, and I think that has a big reason why I got voted out, but the story didn't show so comments about it [didn't show], and that's why it doesn't make sense to me, why Charlie and Maria went with them instead of me," Hussain-Adams said. "So I think if I had gone back, I would have probably not told my story."
"I didn't know we were going to lose the next day. It was like, we're bonding and we felt like we were never going to lose, and the merge is the next one. And so we're like, let's just all tell our story. ... It kind of portrayed that the way I spoke to Ben and Tim is a reason I got voted out, but that's not the reason, Maria and Charlie flipped."
The story that Hussain-Adams shared with her tribe was about her family life and growing up in Guyana as the fifth of six girls, and how domestic abuse has impacted her family.
"I grew up in a domestically abusive household and two years ago, I lost one of my sisters from domestic abuse," Hussain-Adams said. "I have two sisters still that's currently in domestic abusive relationship, and I wanted to play so I can get the money to help them get out of the relationship."
"That's the whole reason why I was playing and I said to them, my sisters would never have a chance to be where I am, in Fiji playing the game of Survivor, and for that reason, I want to play for them. And I want to just at least make the merge."
Hussain-Adams stressed that she's ultimately happy that story wasn't shown on TV because she didn't want "a sob story at the end," and her ultimate goal was to play hard until the end. But she does think it impacted her fate in the game.
"I think people saw that as like, OK if she makes merge and she gets to the end, then it's like a sob story that's going win the money," she said. "But that's not why I said it."
"I wanted to earn it, that's why I was playing so hard. So when I get to the end, I have a resume of things I've done."
But after an upsetting, and kind of mysterious, exit, Hussain-Adams is rooting for Moriah Gaynor to make it to the end.
"I know that Charlie and Maria flipped, ... because I know what they call me and their handwriting and such, and I know [Moriah], ... she was so shocked because now she knows she's on the bottom of the tribe, ... so still rooting for her," Hussain-Adams said.
