‘Survivor 50’: Joe Hunter Rejects Idea That He Wasn’t Fit to Play

Joe Hunter‘s honest game got him into the final three in Survivor 48, but not being able to clock a lie lost him the game. He wanted to play honestly again in Survivor 50, but it quickly became clear that his style wasn’t popular among his fellow returning players. Still, Joe made it to the final three again, and in the same way he did before: being chosen for the final three by the last immunity winner. He tells TV Insider that it was immediately clear at the beginning of the final tribal council that he wasn’t getting any votes. In fact, he felt like some players hated him. (Read our finale recap here.)

Joe didn’t get any votes in the end, but he’s also never been voted out. Here, he explains why he felt his fate was sealed from the start in the final tribal, and why people are wrong when they say his style wasn’t a good fit for this season.

Well, Joe, how are you feeling today? Congratulations on making it to the final three.

Joe Hunter: Thank you. I feel great. I’m living in gratitude. I’m proud as hell. I feel great.

How was it in the live finale last night? Was it fun?

Yeah, it’s one of those moments where what are the odds of you being able to experience that live finale? When you think about anyone that’s played Survivor period, there’s not many in the new generation that can say they ever have, so it’s awesome.

What was the vibe like on set in the live finale before and after the Rizo confusion? That was clearly a big highlight of the night.

You know what sucks about that is I go, man, Jeff Probst is the head of the show, and he’s hit every single time. So both my seasons, every single tribal live, no repeats, every challenge, he’s guiding us, he’s narrating, he’s doing it all. Every Applebee’s thing you see does all that live. Never misses a beat, never cue cards, no rebut, no pause button. And it’s like, what about this? ” And I’m like, “Man.” And he has to wear it. There’s a lot of other working parts to that that when you see it live, you just go, “Man.” I focus on the fact of look at how he handled it. Leaned into it, poked at it, laughed at it, made a joke of it, tried to recover. I thought it just showed how awesome he is. That’s to me, just showed on live television how others would’ve failed. Other people in that spot, it’s over. He crushed it. So I thought it was awesome that he recovered.

Yeah, he doesn’t even say “um.”

No.

He doesn’t trip over his words. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the guy stutter. He doesn’t say um or like, and so to see that was a wild experience, but then of course I thought his recovery was really funny.

Awesome.

Robert Voets / CBS

When did you realize during filming that your honor and honesty strategy was not going to work with this cast?

I never thought of it that way that it wasn’t going to work. And I think that, here’s what’s funny is I never said the words “honor and integrity.” I never forced it. I never said it. But it’s like-

Just a common Survivor label.

Yeah. It’s just like, here you go. And I’m like, OK. Well, I mean, out of the gate, I’ve never mentioned it before, during, or after this season. And I was just being me. And what I realized was in this cast, based on previous relationships, didn’t like more personality. And I just thought, man, I don’t know how to navigate. You know what it’s like is you ever go to a house party or a situation, it’s like, man, you walk in, you’re trying to mingle, and it’s like couples, couples, couples, couples. Well, then there’s no game there. It’s like there’s nothing. I’m just trying to fit into a groove. And I thought what I realized was you can’t have a plan when the game is already rolling. You have to adapt. So what I really tried to do was just be me and use relationships to adapt in the game.

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So that’s really what it was. I didn’t go into it like, “You can’t do this. I was just trying to be me and hook up with the right people.”

Did the experience this season make you reconsider the value of lying in the game? I know you like to operate with transparency, but how did Season 50 challenge you in that regard?

It just challenged me into believing in: don’t let the world tell you you have to play Survivor a certain way, period. Everyone says, “That’s Survivor.” Says who? You tell me a winner that’s won the same way every time, and then you can tell me that Survivor has to be played this way. So you go, OK, so every single winner has done it exactly the same way. It’s shocking to me that we get caught up in this, which is our own self reason of how you would play. I’m in the world of like we need every single type. How Rick played is amazing and should be played. How I play someone should play that way. I just feel like the problem is more about not giving people the space to play it and realizing you have to adapt to your season.

That’s really what it is. And instead of like, well, that’s Survivor. Says who? It’s about you doing the right version of that at the right time. That’s what it is. There’s times to be loyal. There’s times to cut. There’s time to stab. So I feel that’s my answer to that. I was like, you just have to be more adapting to the situation.

Did you ever lie this season?

Of course.

Tell me about your lies.

Of course, the negative [smiles].

Not negative. It’s strategy.

I lied to Ozzy when he said, “Am I going to be safe? I lied to Tiffany. I lied to Cirie. I lied to Stephenie when she was going out about her idol or playing a shot in the dark.” I mean, those are all dishonest moments, and I’m sure I’m missing some. It’s those moments in the moment. It’s like, “Hey, does anyone realize there’s a Shot in the Dark?” Hey, Jenna, in the very beginning, it’s like, “Am I going home?” “Well, you have a Shot in the Dark.” This isn’t take away the Shot in the Dark. I can always just say, “Man, you’re going home.” But now you have to think about [the fact that] these players all know that Joe is going to tell you the truth. If they tell me the plan, and then I go over there and tell them, “You’re going home,” they’re going to know that I told you. What’s hard now is they used that against me, if that makes any sense.

It does. You helped Rizo prepare for the fire-making challenge. You said people in sword fights all need swords, which I think was fair. But was Jonathan upset about that?

I don’t know. Again, it’s one of those moments where people will jump over the fact that it’s like, yeah, people need a sword to fight fair. It’s like, yeah, yeah. I heard this even last night. I was like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” But it’s a good thing. Here’s another question. If I don’t help Rizo, is that bad for Rizo, but good for Jonathan? Either way, it’s going to be like, “Well, how’d Jonathan feel about that? Well, OK, well, if I don’t help him, how’s Rizo going to feel about that?” So it’s like, hey, man, can you just help Jonathan, who’s in my alliance, but also not totally screw over Rizo and try to make it a fair fight? Can it just be that? That’s really where that came from. I’m just trying to make it more balanced. That’s all.

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I mean, I think it should be a fair fight. It’s not entertaining if it’s not an even playing field.

If they both don’t bleed.

There are a lot of parallels in this finale. Rizo and Jonathan both had to face the fire-making challenge in their first seasons. You were taken into the final three in both of your seasons by the immunity winner. What do you make of that? How did it make you feel for your history to repeat?

I felt great. I feel that both have advantages. If you’re chosen, that’s a skillset. Now, granted, others would argue they’re taking you into it for a reason strategically without a doubt, but that same move is all part of the strategy of your game, too. However, you get their benefits and hurts both people. Same with making fire. I feel fortunate that I feel very confident in my fire-making skills, but I never want to leave anything up to chance. I was proud that if you can make it and be competitive enough to get there, and then you can secure your spot in the final three. I feel the new generation does not value that fire-making challenge enough. In old-school, I feel that if you stepped up to say, “I’m going to sacrifice [immunity] for fire,” now it doesn’t hold enough value to me as it did. So, I want to secure a spot. And then my argument is, let’s just beat each other head-to-head in the jury. That’s how I feel. I felt fortunate to be picked both times.

Were you surprised that fans voted for fire-making?

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No. I wanted it. I don’t know if I was surprised. I think it adds a level of, oh my gosh, that unexpected. I just don’t want to be a part of it, but I love it.

Heading into tribal the finale, what were your feelings about your chances of winning?

Oh, right when I sat down on that stool in Fiji, right away — this is me being totally transparent — I go, “Well, OK, should I go home? What are we doing here?” It was literally, I’m not kidding you. I sit down, and I’m like, “Ooh, all right. Hate me, hate me as a person. Hate me, hate me, hate me, hate me. Maybe.” And I’m like, “What are we even doing?” There’s no chance in hell [that people would vote for him], with the exception of people like Emily, people like Christian, people like Rick Devens, and Dee. I felt they truly tried to throw things out there that were like, “Hey, give this person a chance. Hey, let’s keep it back to this.” Other than that, say what they want. It was locked. Whatever their deal was, it was locked.

I’m going to be honest with you, I was like, I’m lucky. The second I sat down, we didn’t do anything. And in the game, I’m thinking I had a better chance. But when I sat down, I’m like, “Ah, damn, maybe a vote.” I hadn’t said a word, maybe two votes. That’s a fact.

Who did you think you might get?

Rizo, maybe. And then I wasn’t sure about the Rick Devens, Emily, and Christian. I know that sounds crazy indeed, but they seemed open. So I was like, well, I mean, you got a shot. They seemed open. What’s the point if you’re already locked in? It’s like, what are we doing? Why are we sitting here? I mean, honestly, it’s like, OK, well, I’m not going to just get punched in the face. You want a fair chance. Even if your game is weak, you want the shot to wow them. What’s the point if there isn’t? But that’s the game. That’s the game.

Robert Voets / CBS

When you say locked in, do you mean it felt like locked in for Aubry or locked in that it wasn’t going to be you?

I couldn’t tell that from sitting there what it was because I didn’t have the perspective like everyone else does with an edit and watching it secondhand. So, I didn’t have that 30,000-foot view of, “oh yeah, I’m sure it’s this person.” But I knew for me personally, you’re looking at them. And then especially when you open your mouth, you haven’t even said anything, and it’s like, you know what I mean? If I’m like, “Hey, eye roll.” It’s like, well, okay. Well, I mean, I knew for me, I’m like, it’s over, which just it is what it is. I mean, it was over and they can say what they want. That’s a fact.

So, in the live finale, you didn’t expect to get any votes?

You don’t want to ever go in [thinking you’ll lose]. You want to will it. You want to stay positive, but I’m a realist, too. And I’ll say this, this isn’t a victim moment. Things like this, you’re emotional or you need to be taken care of. Listen, if you are my friend and I view you as a friend, I’m going to share things with you that I would share with no one else. I’m going to complain about traffic. I’m going to complain about coffee. I’m going to complain about blah, blah, blah. If I don’t like you, I don’t speak to you one. If I don’t like you, I give you generic, like this interview, it would be like good-

Oh, so I thought you were saying you were giving me generic!

No, no, no, no, no. I mean it would be like, “Good. Yes. No. Yes.” It would be this. So then, if I am just me, thinking we’re actually friends because I’m trying to build an alliance, I’m going to pour it out. And then if it gets taken out of context, it’s like, well, I just showed you a side of me that I don’t let most people see, and that is also OK and allowed. But if I were to go back to the final tribal, I just realized sitting there that it wasn’t me. And I thought maybe I’d get a vote from that. And I thought maybe because of that, Emily, Christian, and Rick and then would switch it, but I just didn’t happen.

You said in the final tribal council that you were feeling embarrassed. Why did you feel that way, and is that impacting your interest in appearing on Survivor again in the future?

Embarrassed? I forget. How did I say it? I’ve totally forgotten.

The vibe was maybe that you felt embarrassed that people weren’t going to vote for you, or you felt embarrassed that you were in the final three or something like that. I didn’t know exactly how you meant it.

No, no, no. I don’t remember. I was not embarrassed. I’ll go back every time, every single. I stand ten toes down. I’m so proud of how I played. I’m so proud. You know what they don’t ask is, “Hey, how many challenges put you in the top three, who have ever played in two seasons, never have your torch snuffed ever?” People have been voted out, never have the torch snuffed, your name written down once in two seasons, and then out of your two seasons, all the people that have played, there’s only a handful that could say they beat you. Those are the moments where I go, yeah, I’m not embarrassed at all. It’s more about I regret doing certain things because most people in their exit press blame everybody else. I just blame myself. Whatever I did or didn’t do in the game is why I didn’t get votes, so I have more regret than embarrassment.

But you’d come back if you were asked?

One-hundred percent.

Survivor 50, Available Now, Paramount+, Season 51 Premiere, Fall 2026, CBS

For more inside scoop on Survivor 50 from the set, pick up a copy of TV Guide Magazine’s Survivor at 50 Special Collector’s Issue, available at Survivor.TVGM2026.com and on newsstands now.

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