"He played an incredible game": Survivor's Sophi breaks down Rizo's strategy, final Tribal Council, and more

Survivor Season 49 finalist Sophi opened up about the show's finale in her December 18, 2025, interview with Mike Bloom.

Sophi, along with Sage and Savannah, went through the final Tribal Council in the competition. Fans witnessed Savanah winning the show with the most votes from the Jury.

When asked to share more events from the final Tribal Council, Sophi talked about Savannah and Rizo. He and Kristina were also among the five finalists of the show. Survivor star talked about Rizo playing an incredible game.

"I'll be honest, when I put Sav and Rizo fire, I thought I had a good chance against Rizo. And I know that, you know, the story, the edit says something different, and he played an incredible game, arguably better than mine, but I knew the relationships I had with the jury and the start to my game, I knew that they had respected it," shared Sophi.

Survivor Season 49: Sophi shares her thoughts on the final Tribal Council, Rizo's strategy, and more

Survivor star Sophi attended an interview with Mike Bloom on December 18, 2025. She talked about the final Tribal Council, Rizo's performance, final votes, and the jury members.

Sophie noted that at first, she thought she had a chance of winning. However, soon, after she witnessed Rizo's game and Savannah's wins, her thoughts changed.

"And sitting next to him, I thought I had a good chance. But sitting next to someone like Sav, who won four immunities, now, she won fire, gave her even more ammo. I knew in that moment that I had lost the game," added Sophi.

That was the reason why she thought of giving her "all" during the final Tribal Council. She was referring to answering jury members' questions, which would affect her chances of winning.

Along with that, Survivor's Sophi also noted that there were many moments from the final Tribal Council, that did not make it to the final episode. Talking more about that, Sophi said that there were multiple jury members still unsure of their votes. This included Steven, Nate, and Alex. While she thought Savannah would won Savannah thought the same of her.

Survivor star noted that she was surprised to get any votes from the jury members. For that, she was grateful. She recalled that there were many "really great answers," which were not included in the final edit.

She admitted that she went into the final Tribal Council prepared. Along with that, she reflected on her "Knowledge is Power" explanation, which also didn't make it to the final cut. She wished that the producers had shown that in the final cut.

"MC told me that that's actually what...what convinced her to vote for me," said Sophi.

Survivor star recalled many incidents and moments where she, Savannah, and Rizo received information from fellow contestants. However, not all of those times were shown on the show.

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To know more about the show's finale, fans can head to Paramount+ and stream the episode.

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