Exit Interview: First Player Voted Out Survivor 47
Rob Cesternino (@RobCesternino) interviews the latest castaway voted off the Survivor 47 island, followed by This Week In Survivor History with Jordan Kalish (@JordanKalish) where Rob plays against patron Lila Drasner.
Rob Cesternino interviews the first castaway eliminated from Survivor 47, Jon Lovett. The “Pod Save America” host dives into his short stint on the show and how he feels about the Andy call-out that led to his demise.
Jon Lovett, known for his work on “Pod Save America” and “Lovett or Leave It,” discusses his time on Survivor, including his unexpected challenges and how Andy’s actions impacted his game plan.
Jon and Rob discuss:
– How Jon navigated forming alliances and the impact of Andy’s unexpected behavior on his strategy.
– Jon’s thoughts on the importance of social connections and how they can make or break a player’s game.
– The behind-the-scenes insights Jon gained from his brief but intense Survivor experience.
– Jon’s candid reflections on being the first contestant voted out and how he balanced public perception with personal disappointment.
– Jon’s interest in returning to Survivor and what he hopes to achieve if given another chance
Follow Jon Lovett on Pod Save America & Love It or Leave It
https://www.instagram.com/jonlovett/?hl=en
https://x.com/jonlovett
https://crooked.com/podcast-series/pod-save-america/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKRoXz3hHAu2XL_k3Ef4vJQ
https://crooked.com/podcast-series/lovett-or-leave-it/
https://www.youtube.com/@lovettorleaveitpodcast
Never miss a minute of RHAP’s extensive Survivor coverage!
LISTEN! Subscribe to the Survivor podcast feed
WATCH! Watch and subscribe to the podcast on YouTube
SUPPORT! Become a RHAP Patron for bonus content, access to Facebook and Discord groups plus more great perks!
FULL INTERVIEW
Rob Cesternino [0:02 – 0:16]: Hey, Jon. Good morning, Rob Cesternino, I am so bummed out to have you only in our Survivor world for one exciting day, but gone too soon.
Jon Lovett [0:17 – 0:21]: Gone but not forgotten. One day so far. One day so far.
Rob Cesternino [0:21 – 0:41]: One day so far. Okay, Jon, I watched the episode last night. I felt like you’re doing great. I really thought that you had so much. I thought going your way. I was not feeling like that you were in danger. And then we get to the vote, and then they’re all for you. What happened?
Jon Lovett [0:42 – 1:46]: So what. Such an important question. Yeah. So I’ve thought about this, and I. So there’s. After the immunity challenges, before the immunity challenge. After the immunity challenge, you think through all the different ways a challenge could go, a vote could go, relationships could go, strategy could go. I did not think enough about maybe I couldn’t have thought that much about what happens if somebody really loses it. Like, you know, you. We’ve all seen people kind of lose it, and we’ve all seen people turn on their alliances. It’s rare to put them together. Rare to put them together. Maybe never before have anyone seen anything like that. And so if Andy doesn’t flip out, I think there’s a lot of different paths it could have gone, and I would have, I think, been okay.
Rob Cesternino [1:46 – 1:51]: What would have happened had you just lost the challenge in a regular fashion?
Jon Lovett [1:52 – 2:54]: So, obviously, it’s a hypothetical, but what I had expected and hoped for is I had actually had a good relationship with Anika. The reason the vote ends up onto her is complicated, and there’s a lot of pieces you don’t see, but I had hoped and expected that Anika would have pulled in Rachel, I would have pulled in Andy, and that would have been a four. There were a few reasons for that, but there’s just a natural affinity there. Now, I did not see just how much. There had been a moment where Andy had alienated Rachel a bit, but I still think there was something connection with me and Anika. We could have pulled in Rachel. That was a natural group. But once Andy does that, it really narrows the possibilities. We get back and the conversation is pretty neat and clean, which is we got to get rid of Andy.
Rob Cesternino [2:54 – 2:55]: Yeah.
Jon Lovett [2:56 – 3:12]: But I just didn’t believe it at all. Like, this is what was frustrating about all of this is it’s not like I went into this with any kind of unawareness. I really was. I felt like I understood what was going on.
Rob Cesternino [3:12 – 3:39]: We got that. We get that. You took this very seriously, and you did a ton of research to get to this point. So when you have that conversation with the three women and they’re telling you, okay, it’s Andy and you’re. And you’re not buying it, that do you feel like that knowing what you know now that they were being straight with you, or do you feel like that you putting the Ana good name out there ultimately got it back to you?
Jon Lovett [3:40 – 3:48]: No. I feel very confident that what I was sensing was true.
Rob Cesternino [3:48 – 3:49]: Yeah.
Jon Lovett [3:49 – 5:43]: That I feel very confident that what I was sensing is true. That the vote was on me and it was to tell Andy it was me. Tell me it was Andy. Try to get me to not play the shot in the dark. I was a threat, Andy was not. And the challenge I had. Right. And the reason I ultimately tried to pull in, really, it was Andy because I do think he actually was uncertain, even though it was obvious to me that he was safe. That because Anika’s name had been floated before to try to get the vote on to Annika, because, basically, how do you persuade a group of people to vote for Andy when they’re already telling you the vote is Andy? Right. That’s such a strange, like, hey. Like, it’s, I think, pretty clear to all of us we need to vote Andy. We all agree. Shit. Like, I don’t. I like, and there’s moments I, like, had a pretty direct conversation with Rachel about this, which is like, Rachel, I understand you’re telling me that it’s Andy, and I understand why you’re doing that. I’m asking, can we please get a group together right now and have a serious conversation about why it actually should be right. Like, I was. There was a. There’s a bunch of different things I was trying. It was basically, as we headed into tribal, I was like, do I play the shot in the dark if I don’t have a regret about it? But I do think it would have been really funny. And I thought about doing this of, like, before I went up and voted, dumping my bag out and taking out the shot in the dark in front of everybody and going and playing it. But that is how sure. I basically felt like it wasn’t whether or not the vote was on me. It was, what do I think is more likely, a one in six chance with a shot in the darkest or the chances that I’ve actually pulled off getting the vote off of me? And I really felt like it was a wash. Like a one in six in both directions. Like, I had a small chance in both directions and I decided I’d rather go out voting than not voting.
Rob Cesternino [5:43 – 5:53]: Sure. So we saw you doing your best to try to connect with the group. Do you feel like that you made strides in connecting with them?
Jon Lovett [5:55 – 6:50]: Yes. You know, it’s such a short period of time, and, like, you’re thinking, like, have I built enough with this group of people? Have I not? Like, I obviously would have liked more time, but, like, I don’t think this was like a social, and I, and I’m really trying to be honest about it. Like, this wasn’t a social issue that played out. Right. I think everybody, like, and you saw Andy kind of basically flip out and be like, oh, people like Jon, they don’t like me. People, everyone likes each other. Like, that really was the feeling. And so I really do think it was much more of, well, Jon’s clearly a threat. Andy no longer is. Maybe he’s a little stronger in challenges, maybe not, but this guy needs us now. He’s just imploded in front of everybody.
Rob Cesternino [6:51 – 7:02]: Can you size up the rest of this group? I think we got a pretty clear picture about Andy and where he’s at from the episode. But could you tell us your perception of the rest of this group?
Jon Lovett [7:03 – 7:14]: No, no, I can’t. No, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t, look, I, you know, I’ve got to be, I’m going to be good. There’s all. Rob, there’s so much I could tell you.
Rob Cesternino [7:14 – 7:19]: Yeah, no doubt. Yeah. Okay. We’ll keep watching. We were on the fence.
Jon Lovett [7:19 – 7:31]: Mm hmm. I, listen, if people feel so brokenhearted about my absence that they’re gonna, no, I’m kidding. No, I, everybody should keep watching. It’s a great, it’s, there’s, there’s a lot to come.
Rob Cesternino [7:32 – 7:41]: You said your friends and family are going to you let you have it over this. What’s been the response to you being the first out?
Jon Lovett [7:42 – 8:18]: I’ll tell you, like, I was bummed about being the first out, and there was, I think, the real reason and the kind of shallow reason, the real reason is I wanted to play more, and I felt like I had a lot more to play. I just, this was an unusual, unprecedented situation. And so, like, I feel bummed about that. The shallow reason was like, oh, everybody’s going to see this. Like, you’ve, now I’ve, you know, you’ve been through this. You’re basically putting on my Google calendar. Everyone’s going to make fun of you on this day. Like, that’s a strange thing to see coming up, but actually, like, I thought people would be a little bit meaner to, but wait, what were you gonna say?
Rob Cesternino [8:18 – 8:19]: That’s every day for me, Jon.
Jon Lovett [8:19 – 8:20]: Oh, that’s every day? That’s every day.
Rob Cesternino [8:20 – 8:21]: Yeah.
Jon Lovett [8:21 – 8:46]: But so must be nice, both publicly and from friends and family. Everybody’s pretty mad. I’ve been genuinely surprised by just how much the reaction is sort of like, this is bullshit that we wanted more. And also, this was such a strange situation. You sort of didn’t get the full experience. So I. Look, I get the right balance of people mad on my behalf and mocking me for my friends and family.
Rob Cesternino [8:46 – 9:14]: Yeah. There was a lot of interest from people who are fans of your work, and I would like to add that. Lovett or Leave it. Very fun. Listen, for me on the weekend to the live show, and I think people are really bummed out that we don’t get to get your survivor takes anymore. You watched the whole show in private, didn’t tell anybody. We get you for one night, and then that’s it. Are you done talking about survivor?
Jon Lovett [9:14 – 10:30]: No. Now I’m in it. Now I’m in it Rob. And, like, I. I feel like so I had watched and not told everybody that I was catching up because I didn’t want to be spoiled. But now I’m. Now I’m in it. Now I’m caught up. Now I can talk about it. And, like, I love talking about Survivor. I love getting to do Survivor. Like, I don’t have any regrets about it. It was like a fascinating, rewarding experience. And by the way, like. And I obviously can’t go into it, but, like, Ponderosa, like, when people get voted off Survivor, myself included, you figure out the story you tell not just the world, but the one you tell yourself about what happened, right. And you start figuring out the little pieces of the narrative you like that make you feel better and the ones you kind of cast aside. But when people get voted off for that first couple of hours, they are so raw and they have so much information and they’re just spilling about what happened. And I learned more about Survivor from each player as they were voted off than I did in watching or even being a part of it. I sincerely like you learn so much in those moments before people have figured out how they’re going to talk about it. They just lay it all out there. And so that did leave me. Did leave me wanting more. I will say.
Rob Cesternino [10:30 – 10:33]: now, would you do it again?
Jon Lovett [10:35 – 10:39]: Would you do it again, Rob? The answer is yes.
Rob Cesternino [10:39 – 10:43]: Okay. All right. You can answer both of us. You could answer for both of us.
Jon Lovett [10:43 – 10:46]: I like. I would listen, but how many?
Rob Cesternino [10:46 – 10:51]: How many you know, 40 something white podcasters. Can they have, Jon?
Jon Lovett [10:52 – 10:54]: Well, they can have, I think, two.
Rob Cesternino [10:54 – 10:56]: Okay. All right. Fair enough.
Jon Lovett [10:56 – 11:15]: Oh, and no, I would. I’ve, like, I love getting to do it. I did my. I don’t care that, like, oh, I have first boot. Obviously not ideal. Like, I wanted to play more. I had more that I could do, and I was excited about all the different parts of it. So, like, obviously, I went to play Survivor. I would like to play more. Yeah.
Rob Cesternino [11:16 – 11:28]: Okay, Jon, what could you tell us about the whole situation with Andy? Watching it play out in real time? We get a version on television. But what was it like in the real time for you?
Jon Lovett [11:31 – 12:51]: It was confusing. It was. It was confusing. It was just confusing. Like, in the moment, while we’re standing there on the mat, it’s like you’re like, is this real? Is this maneuvering? Is it a. Is it paranoia? Is it a combination of both? It’s hard to know what to believe. Like, you can’t. And, like, you were like, is this. First of all, like, I. You. I could vaguely. You see it in the thing. I say something like, is he. I think he’s all right. Like, I. Like. Because I was. I could hear a little bit of the conversation that was happening around him, and I was hearing, like, Doctor Joe being like, you’re okay. You’re just hot or overheating. You’re fine. Like, you know, you just, like, take him. Like, so it was very clear he pretty quickly that he’s like, fine. And so then you’re thinking, like, is he just trying to stop the challenge? Is he trying to. Is this. Is this, like, what’s happening? Right? And then he throws my name out there, and it’s like, again, like, is this a move? I guess he says it isn’t okay? And, like, you know, you’re watching something unfold. Like, you’re like, oh, someone’s, like, really breaking down in front of you. Like, how do you react to that? I don’t know. I don’t know.
Rob Cesternino [12:51 – 12:59]: I thought you handled that incredibly well. When he threw your name out there, I thought you. Your answer in the moment was. Was really, really great.
Jon Lovett [12:59 – 13:32]: Well, all I was trying to do. All I was trying to do is get out of this with some optionality, right? Like. Cause what there’s. I thought about. I was like, I could hit him back or be angry at him or deny it. I could make this more of a thing. But really, all I was thinking is, like, I need to get out of this with Andy not thinking he’s lost me. Right. So that if I need to go back to him, I can still do that while at the same time trying to, like, keep myself aligned with the rest of the group. Right. Like, it was a very delicate and confusing thing.
Rob Cesternino [13:32 – 13:48]: Yeah. Now, Jon, your appeal to swing voters on the Gata tribe may have fallen on deaf ears, but I. Is there anything that you would want to direct the attention to of any potential American swing voters?
Jon Lovett [13:48 – 14:25]: Yes. Hey, listen, you see what happens when a vote doesn’t go your way. I will be doing an insurrection in episode two, which you can all look forward to. We have less than seven weeks until the election. Everybody go to vote save. This is a show about voting. To show about important, your vote is go to votesaveamerica.com. sign up, make sure you’re registered. Make sure your friends and family are registered. And then do one more thing than you otherwise would have done. One volunteer shift, one small donation. Vote Save America will show you the best ways to help, the most effective ways to help. Please, please do me a favor and go.
Rob Cesternino [14:25 – 14:28]: Shouldn’t they have put you on the blue tribe? Wouldn’t that have made sense?
Jon Lovett [14:29 – 14:34]: Yeah, sure. Anywhere but where I was. Hey, Rob. Couldn’t have gone worse.
Rob Cesternino [14:34 – 14:49]: Yeah. Jon, I’m very bummed out to lose you this soon, but we’ll be following for more Survivor takes and please, more Allison Reese, okay.
Jon Lovett [14:49 – 14:58]: Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. Yeah. By the way, if you wish you had more of me, you can get plenty of me at Pod Save America and Lovett or leave it.
Rob Cesternino [14:58 – 15:09]: Yup. Okay. All right. I think that you must have had, like, a. You being on survivor was a huge bump for the show because it seems like it’s doing great. A lot of interest this summer.
Jon Lovett [15:09 – 15:15]: Yeah, I agree, Rob. I agree. And you know what? I think that’s something that everybody should keep in mind over there. All right.
Rob Cesternino [15:15 – 15:16]: Yeah.
Jon Lovett [15:16 – 15:18]: Jeff, you hear that? You hear that? You hear what Rob said?
Rob Cesternino [15:18 – 15:21]: Yep. Okay. I know you need to run. All right. Thanks so much, Jon. Take care.
Jon Lovett [15:21 – 15:22]: Thanks, Rob. Bye.
