‘Survivor 50’: Rick Devens Reveals His Jury Support at Ponderosa

Rick Devens, with the help of YouTube sensation Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, is to thank for the Survivor 50 prize money increase to $2 million. Unfortunately, he won’t be winning it. The Edge of Extinction alum was voted out in Episode 12 on May 13, but he had quite the run as one of the season’s most entertaining players.

From his fake idol hidden at tribal council to accepting the challenge to flip a coin with MrBeast for the chance to win $2 million, Devens was instrumental in keeping this season lively. He had a strong alliance with Christian Hubicki and Emily Flippen, plus some other key relationships, that kept him safe for most of the game as well. With his allies gone, his flashy moves made him a big target in Episode 12. He played his Shot in the Dark for one last chance at survival, to no avail.

Here, Devens breaks down his big moves of the season, revealing which jury members at Ponderosa were gunning for him to win it all.

Congrats on making it as far as you did on Survivor 50. It was so fun to watch you this season. You kept things so lively, so thank you for that first and foremost.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

What did that moment of connection with Ozzy that you had in last week’s episode mean to you?

Oh man, I was so glad that they showed that. He really ambushed me on that. I’m sitting on the hammock, and he comes up, and it’s like, “Hey, Oz, what’s up, buddy?” And he just released that emotional story, and it meant a whole lot that he said it to me. I think that he had heard me talk a lot about my kids, understood my perspective of being a dad at that point, because we’d spent so much time together in the game on the original Cila, and then since the merge. And so the fact that he opened up to me like that meant a lot, caught me totally off guard, which is why I’m tearing up like I was not ready for it. And I just felt his pain, and I have not lost a parent, thank goodness. I don’t know what it’s like to have that regret of like, “Oh, I wish I had been able to say this one last thing to someone that now I don’t have the chance to say it to their face.” And so I really just wanted to listen to him, let him get it out, and then just let him know that as a dad, there’s nothing our kids can do to us that we’re not going to forgive and understand to an extent.

It was really one of my favorite moments in the game. He’s such a special guy, and I’m really glad we got to share that. And it meant a lot to me that he chose me to talk about that with.

Yeah, it was a really nice moment to see. It was nice to see men be tender with each other.

Yeah. And I got to tell you, there were a lot of moments like that. I think most of these men could be tender. Joe, who I know we had our moments, is the most amazing guy in terms of being such a masculine, strong presence, so much charisma, but he can just open up to you emotionally, and it really makes you feel like you have permission to do the same thing. And there were some early days in Cila where that happened, and I was just like, “This guy is so magnetic. It’s really amazing.” And so I give Joe a lot of credit for being able to do the same thing that Ozzy can do and just be totally vulnerable with people.

Of course, you and Joe had your differences this season. Where do you guys stand now?

Love Joe. He’s a great dude. If any fan ever meets him, they’re going to see what I just talked about: his magnetism, his charisma, and genuine kindness to be with you. The game is the game, and he’s a football player. I’m sure he tackled the heck out of people when he was at UCLA and shook their hands afterwards. We’ve sent a lot of messages back and forth during the season. Hopefully, our kids get to swim in the pool together at the finale next week. Love Joe. He’s a great dude.

How did your kids react to your MrBeast moment?

Loved it. Their definite favorite moment of the season. They couldn’t believe that I’m there hugging Mr. Beast, that I went for it. They’re still waiting to meet Jimmy. They’re like, “When are we going to meet him?” Now that you guys are friends. And it’s like, “Well, friends might be overselling it. I want to be his friend.” But they were so amped. And then the fact that our dude Rizo said their names on TV, Jack and Juju, Rizo’s beloved in our house forever and always now because he did that. So it was really cool. They jumped up after the coin hit. They were hugging me. It was awesome.

Robert Voets / CBS

It’s obvious why you were down to play the coin toss, because you control your elimination in that regard, but explain to me your thought process behind saying yes.

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So I honestly had thought that I had done enough to flip the vote from me onto Steph by laying everything else that had happened at camp that afternoon. I really felt in my heart in that moment that I had done that. But then I also knew I’m just going to be the target tomorrow. So when MrBeast, when it came with an immunity idol, which I was dying to get my hands on a real immunity idol for the first time of the season, it just seemed like it was a moment literally made for me. I just knew in my heart, this is me. I said it on the show. I’m born for this. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted it. It was just a matter of if anyone else was going to step up and try to take it from me. But I even shocked Jeff.

Jeff couldn’t believe that someone right away was going, “Give it to me. Give it to me. ” And let me be honest with you, Kelli, I wanted that moment too. It’s MrBeast. My kids love him. It’s a big splash at tribal. I can’t let someone else come in here and take that from me. This is Rick Devens. If I’m Cirie and I’m in a great place in the game, maybe I’m not thinking that quite so much, but oh, I wanted it so bad. And my confidence was just through the roof, stupid, made no sense. I was sure I was going to hit it.

Even if you didn’t, though, what a way to go out.

Exactly. I was totally at peace with that. The fact that when I had hidden the fake idol at Tribal and then gotten it, I’m like, I’d done things that haven’t been done in 50 seasons of Survivor. So here was another opportunity, win, lose, or draw, that no one’s ever done it. I could say no one voted me out. I was like, I’m at peace with that, but also I know I’m going to hit it because I’m Rick Devens. I was really insane at that point. And Jeff was even looking at me. He could see the manic in my eyes, and he was going, “You have a lot of endorphins going through your body right now. You might want to take a second.” And I’m like, “No, Jeff, I’m born for this.”

Adrenaline rush. And it’s so good for the plot. How could you not do it?

Exactly. One person’s going to win Survivor 50, and I wanted it to be me, and that was always my focus: winning. But yeah, I want these moments along the way, not just because they’re great moments, but also that’s fun. Hiding and being under the radar to me is not fun. Some people really enjoy pulling the little strings. I need to be out front. I need to be entertaining the jury. This was my moment.

Robert Voets / CBS

Jeff has said in the past that they would never hide a real idol at tribal council. Were you surprised that nobody remembered that?

I had that in my mind, and other people probably did too, but Jeff says stuff that Jeff says, and then it changes along the way. I just thought in my mind it wasn’t with Adam’s thing, it could be anywhere at tribal. And I thought that that was what Jeff was speaking to is we don’t need people coming and tearing up tribal, looking everywhere. But for me, on Season 38, when I found my idol above the shelter, what I had found was a clue with literally a painting of the shelter and an arrow pointing right to where the idol was. So that’s what, in my mind, my fake idol was. I had found a clue with a picture showing exactly where it is in tribal. So I’m not going to be tearing up tribal. I’m going exactly to where an idol is. So it all made sense to me.

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And then also a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks, “Oh, he walked right to it. He should have done it differently, even though it worked. I should have done it differently.” And it’s like, no, in my mind, I know exactly where it is. And also, I’m scared one of these people’s going to jump off the bench and try to beat me to it, which would be a nightmare because there’s not even a fake idol in there. It’s just a nut and shells and all this stuff. So that’s what I was thinking about.

You clearly thought of every layer of this lie that you were building. Did you practice what you would say after you “found” it in front of everybody, or did you just completely improvise your responses?

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No, I had thought about it ever since we had planted it there. What am I going to say when I get it? And so I needed to make it clear, I found a clue that told me where this thing was, and now I need to go get it. And I think the trick is less is more. Go get it, come back. And then I know how I am when I have an idol. I’m very confident. I got to act like I know I’m totally safe, even though inside I’m going, oh God, if I get sent home, I’m going to look really stupid. So I’m like, yeah, da, da, da. And then when Joe and Jonathan are talking, it’s like I’m pointing out that they’re talking because I got to have that. I can’t even think of the word, but I’ve got to just act like I’m totally confident and out of my skin that I have this idol.

But also trying to be a little quiet and not answer questions, show it to us. It’s like, no, I don’t have to show it to you. Less is more. I want this to move on.

When Stephenie was like, “Show me the idol,” that’s where I would have failed if I were you in that scenario. Are you just really good at thinking on your feet, or was that also a thing that you had rehearsed?

I’m good at thinking on my feet, but I also knew that if they asked me to show it to them, I’m just going to say no. Why would I show it to you? I don’t have to show it to you. Go ahead and again, you have to have that confidence that it’s a real idol, where it’s like take a chance. I would love for you to vote for me, and then I can pick who goes home. I don’t care. And also, it helped that it’s not even a fake idol in there. Like I said, what can I show them? Nothing.

Christian was actually funny because he was like, after we had planted it, he’s like, “What if we make a fake idol? And when you go and get it, you can have it come out of your sleeve.” And I’m like, I can’t do street magic, dude. Again, let’s keep it simple and just say no and dare them to vote for me. And I think people are so scared that it’s going to cost them their game that it’s like, well, we could press Devens on this, or we could just switch the vote to our second next person that we want to go. And that’s what happened.

Robert Voets / CBS

After Christian and Emily got voted out, your top allies, what was your ideal final three, and how would you have pitched your game in the end?

Ooh, that’s a good question. My game, I think, would’ve spoken for itself because so much of it was in front of the jury. I would’ve just said, “Underdog, I did this. I never bashed any of you. ” The people I was loyal to, I was so loyal to, never voted against Christian, never voted against Emily, never voted against anyone who would’ve been shocked by it. I played an incredibly loyal game, and I’d be looking at the jury with a lot of honor and integrity folks up there, Chrissy and Steph and Coach, and I think they can respect that sort of thing.

In terms of who I wanted to be next to, I’m not a “I want to be next to the best player” person. I would’ve absolutely gone to the end with Christian and Emily because I’m stupid loyal. Never would’ve gone against Cirie, which is why I think she picked when she decided to go away from Emily and Christian and I and was forced to pick sides, I think she picked the right side because we love Cirie and we would’ve been loyal to her more, but I don’t think any of us would’ve ever taken her to the end if we had that choice.

I don’t really even want to say who I would’ve wanted to go next to because I don’t want to put anything out there about vibes, but I would’ve wanted to sit next to the people who I thought would get no votes.

Would you have been happy to lose to Christian or Emily?

I would not be happy to lose, but if I’m going to lose to somebody, those were the two I would want to lose to. And I think it would’ve been a big battle at the end, and I would’ve loved to have been able to vote for either of them to win, too. And when I went out, the jury was like, “We were rooting for you. We wanted you to win.” And again, there’s still a lot of time left, and people played much more under-the-radar games that they would’ve been able to talk about, but I was shocked. I knew I had Emily and I knew I had Christian, but Dee, who I love by the way, Ponderosa, getting to know Dee and Coach was such a gift. But yeah, Coach and Chrissy and Steph were rooting for me. I’m like, “Oh man, I should have done more to stay in. This could have been great.”

But yeah, if I could have lost to somebody, if Cirie had gotten there and I lost to her, it’s like that just is what it is. It’d be incredible for her to get to the end because we all knew what a threat she was coming into the game, much less the masterclass she put on this season. And then I love Tiff so much, but yeah, I would’ve been most happy to lose to Christian or Emily.

Robert Voets / CBS

Do you think you have another season in you?

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Can’t possibly go as well as the first two did. I mean, I could win. That’d be nice. I can’t imagine coming up with more big moments, but I’ll try. I can’t say no to Jeff. I love that guy.

Well, hope to see you again on Survivor. You made this season so much fun. And I think that gift of you looking at Jeff and menacingly smiling is going to be my most used GIF for a long time. It’s so good.

Well, that’s my gift to you. And I really appreciate the feedback. Thank you so much.

Survivor 50, Three-Hour Season Finale, Wednesday, May 20, 8/7c, 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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