Matt Liguori ranks the players each week with his own guest in RHAP’s Survivor Power Rankings. This week Matt is joined by two-time Survivor player, from Survivor: San Juan del Sur and Survivor: Cambodia, Kelley Wentworth!
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RHAP Survivor Power Rankings Week 8 with Kelley Wentworth
My opinions on Survivor players and seasons generally stray from popular opinion. I enjoyed this episode, but it seems like most people didn’t. The main criticism I saw was about the show doing a poor job explaining why Desi was voted out, and I get that. As annoying as it is to some people, we can’t discount the blindside element that contributes towards keeping the casual viewers excited and on their toes each week. I think (and hope) we’ll hear from somebody in the opening scenes next week about why Joe was saved over Desi. Regardless, as “superfans”, we can figure out that it was because Desi was seen as a much bigger social and physical threat than Joe.
I see both sides of the argument regarding who was the better option to go home. There are so many factors in Survivor that are impossible to predict, such as idol findings and immunity wins. Sometimes, you have to take a step back and say, “Which of these is the better overall player and could win a jury vote based on what we’ve seen from them so far?” and I think Desi is the clear answer to that question.
That’s my take. The fun part about Survivor is that there’s no way of knowing what’s around the corner, and everybody having different favorites and opinions is why the online Survivor community has grown to what it is. Imagine if we all had the same opinion? Ha, how boring.
I’m very excited about my guest this week. It’s somebody you all know very well. It’s somebody I was proudly an OG fan of since the Drew Christy days of pre-merge San Juan del Sur. It’s somebody I used every vote I had to try to elect as the final Miss Survivor RHAP has crowned (as of now). And it’s somebody who has made a huge splash in the modern era of Survivor to truly deserve the title of robbed g.oddess… it’s Kelley Wentworth!
Since returning home from Survivor: Cambodia as a huge fan-favorite, Kelley has gotten married and been accumulating appearances all over CBS game shows such as The Price is Right and the most anticipated series of 2017, Candy Crush. Now, Kelley’s here to let us know what she thinks of these final 10 players. I’m sure everybody is already following Kelley on Twitter (@kelleywentworth), but I’m @mattliguori and we’d love to hear what you guys are thinking. Tweet us or leave a comment below!
First of all, catch us up a little. How’s life been?! I know you got married over the summer, so congrats again on that!
Life is great, thanks for asking! I wish I had more exciting news to report but life just keeps rolling on. Over here working and being an old married lady these days 🙂
How have you been enjoying this season so far? Are there any players that really stand out to you as compelling players or characters? Any heartbreaking vote-outs from these first eight Tribals?
I’ve enjoyed it up to this point. I thought there were some slow episodes early in the season but the last episode was amazing. I had such a fun time watching the entire idol clue plate scene and how things went down once they all got back to camp. Joe is clearly a stand out character. I personally really like Dr. Mike. And no heartbreaking vote outs — I don’t really get invested in players until they are in the home stretch (top 5-6).
Is there anyone you have your eye on as a winner pick from this point in the season?
I’ve been Team Ben for a while but I’m slowly moving away from that, especially after last week. At this point, I’m undecided — HA.
You famously found two idols during your time in Cambodia. A lot has been made this season about there being too many idols and advantages on the island. What do you think… too many, or is this just a part of the modern game of Survivor?
I love the suspense that idols and/or advantages can bring, but on the flip side when they are just wasted or don’t provide that “OMG” moment it’s really pointless for me. I do think they are teetering on the line of too many this season, but I understand why they are constantly trying to spice up the game in new ways.
In Cambodia, you spent some time on the bottom. In seasons like Cambodia or this one where a couple of people are clearly outside the majority alliance, is there anything you can really do to work your way into a group that appears unbreakable? Is there any hope for the remaining Healers (specifically Cole and Joe) or are they dead men walking?
There’s always hope. In Survivor, you have to look at each day as a brand new day. Anything can happen on any given day but you also have to bust your butt if you want to see any change.
We haven’t seen a Blood vs. Water season since yours, which (hard to believe) was already three years ago. Do you think there’s any reason we haven’t gone back to it yet, or are we probably due for another one soon? It’s such an interesting twist on Survivor to have loved ones out there, personally, I hope we don’t have to wait too long to see it again.
I feel like I should tread lightly, but that would be no fun. I think the theme is… it’s garbage in my opinion. Very rarely are loved ones going to go against each other. If you don’t get the perfect cast then it can be boring. I’d prefer to see strangers play together than pairs. Maybe I’m just holding on to negative feelings over here…. 🙂
Finally, I don’t think we’ve heard from you much since your super successful showing this summer on CBS’s Candy Crush. To refresh everyone’s memory, you and Joe narrowly beat out Woo and Jeremy in the final round to take home the top prize. So which was harder… The Price is Right or Candy Crush?
Candy Crush. That thing took 11+ hours to film.
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Matt
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Kelley
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1. Ryan 
Same
After outsmarting Cole’s strategy for hiding the idol clue, Ryan successfully found the idol back at camp without anybody outside of his alliance noticing. With his alliance members stepping out in front and creating big targets of themselves, Ryan has been able to sink even further under-the-radar while still having full control over the game.
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1. Ryan
Putting him at the top because he’s a smart super fan and the only person savvy enough to hide the idol clue (plate) AND sneaky enough to dig up the idol while putting the target on someone else. Not bad for a newb.
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2. Ashley Same
Ashley’s been pretty quiet since the merge. It’s not surprising, since her alliance is solid and the Healers are focused on taking down Ben and Chrissy. I still expect Ashley to be in this until the end, but I’d like to hear what she’s thinking sometime soon with regards to her plan once the Healers are gone.
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2. Chrissy
Loose lips sink ships, lady! Only putting her near the top since she’s ride or die with Ryan.
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3. Dr. Mike 
1
It’s interesting that when Chrissy talks about the Healers they have remaining to pick off, she includes Dr. Mike in the count. If you asked Ben or Lauren, they would probably leave Mike out of that group since they’re working with him. Regardless, the Doctor remains in a good spot with Cole and Joe both still around.
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3. Devon
Devon is one haircut away from being one of the hottest guys to ever play Survivor. And, like, he just wants to be happy y’all. I think he’s riding the Peace Train all the way to the end.
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4. Lauren 
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So Lauren’s alliance’s target did go home and now Lauren has an extra vote next week. I’d love to see her make a power play and try to take out a big player with the extra vote, but she’d need Ben on board and he seems pretty set in taking down Joe as soon as possible.
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4. Mike
Waiting to strike with that idol. Clearly, I’m a fan of this strategy. Go get ‘em, tiger!
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5. Devon 2
I haven’t been too high on Devon’s chances this season, but seeing the spot he’s now in with his two closest allies relatively safe and calling the shots, what’s getting in Devon’s way? I think it would take a betrayal from Ryan to take Devon out, and with Ryan’s game smooth sailing, it wouldn’t make sense to change up the formula yet.
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5. Ashley
Knock knock? Who’s there? Ashley! Ashley who? Exactly.
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6. Chrissy Same
There’s a dark cloud moving in, settling itself right on top of Chrissy’s game. Despite the bad press, Chrissy seems likely to stick around for the long haul. But can she win? As of now, she has Ryan, Ashley, JP, and Ben in her back pocket. Lauren or Dr. Mike would need to act quickly and pull in one of Chrissy’s tight allies in order to take her out.
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6. Lauren
I like that she doesn’t seem to give a sh*t about anyone but herself. She basically told Ben that her advantage was more important than her alliance, and he didn’t even care. Boss status.
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7. JP 1
When it comes to chances of winning the game, JP is dead last. Realistically, JP’s game could end any minute because of the challenge threat thing. But if I was out there and looking around for some final 3 goats, JP seems like the best candidate.
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7. Ben
I feel like his ship is sinking fast, and I don’t know who would be willing to throw out a life preserver to save him.
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8. Ben 3
Remember in Millennials vs. GenX, the players all liked David, but they KNEW they couldn’t take him to the end or he’d win? That’s what it seems like the vibe is around Ben right now, and putting himself out there in this feud with Joe isn’t a great way to sink into the background like he should be doing.
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8. JP
Did he actually pretend to see nothing when Ryan was shoving an idol down his undies? I just don’t get “winner vibes” from this one.
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9. Cole Same
It’s fascinating that two of the strongest looking guys on the island (Cole and JP) could be the two biggest goat candidates to drag to the final 3. “Take me to the end. I suck at this game” is probably the only argument Cole has left. Otherwise, he better hope to break the individual immunities record and get there on his own.
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9. Joe
I’m not feeling the Tony 2.0 comparisons. Yeah, he’s loud and tries to stir up drama, but he’s hardly in control of the game.
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10. Joe Same
Nobody in the game has less power than Joe. He was completely written off by the majority alliance as soon as they met him. I’ve always said I’ll never count him out, but the walls have closed in around him and it’s hard to see his game progressing much further.
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10. Cole
Every tribe member to Cole… “You know that I can’t take no more, It ain’t no lie, I want to see you out that door, Baby bye bye bye.”
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Matt’s Power Rankings By Week
