Australian Survivor: Heroes V Villains 2023 star Shaun Hampson has revealed the real reason why he didn’t play his idol for castmate Sam Webb during the March 5 episode.
The former AFL player instead chose to play his immunity idol for himself during the nail-biting Tribal Council, despite Sam literally begging Shaun to play it for him after receiving intel from Hayley Leak that he was on the chopping block.
The decision sent Sam packing and left fans gobsmacked as the minority alliance fumbled their chance to eliminate the game’s arguably biggest player: George Mladenov.
Shaun, Sam and Nina Twine were in the minority alliance but had managed to flip Simon Mee from the majority alliance – aka the “Vigilantes” – to vote with them on George.
They had also received secret intel from Hayley about who the votes would be landing on (Sam). Not to mention, they also had two idols between them.
However, come Tribal Council, despite having all the ingredients to make an epic blindside and send the self-proclaimed ‘King of Survivor’ home, their plan failed.
Nina also played her idol for herself, as did Shaun, despite desperate pleas from Sam. However, both idols were unnecessarily flushed as neither player received any votes and Sam was eliminated.
Afterwards, Shaun appeared visibly embarrassed, promising Sam moments earlier “a case of beer if I get this wrong.”
The fumble has been dubbed by fans as the “biggest fail in the history of Survivor.”
What did Australian Survivor’s Shaun Hampson say about the nail-biting Tribal Council decision?
Now, Shaun has taken to Instagram to “justify my play of the idol” after backlash from fans.
“Please remember, it’s a lot easier playing from home,” he started. “Everyone watching at home was privy to Hayley’s mindset and comments, we weren’t.
“Had she pushed it harder and spoken to the three of us, things might have been different. I also understand why she didn’t go harder, it was smart play on her part.”
Shaun went on to reveal that a number of scenes were left on the cutting room floor, removing important context behind his decision.
“What they didn’t show was Simon telling us the votes were split on Nina and I. This was well played and read by George and why I thought I was in trouble,” he explained.
“We did the best with the information we had. And put in the same position with the same information, I’d make the same choice again and again (sorry Sam).”
The father-of-two also expressed the huge sacrifice he’d made to play.
“Most importantly, I left my INCREDIBLE partner and children for eight weeks!” he said.
“This is a part of it and a sacrifice we all make to play. There was no way I was leaving myself open to being voted out that night to save someone else UNLESS it was certain.”
He concluded by saying: “If you disagree, I can also respect that view, but please try and do so respectfully.”
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