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&34;Hey, can you just start missing these shots?&34; Survivor 49 star Jason Treul wishes he had asked other tribe to throw the challenge

"Hey, can you just start missing these shots?"

Survivor 49 star Jason Treul wishes he had asked other tribe to throw the challenge

"Hey, can you just start missing these shots?"

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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October 23, 2025 11:31 a.m. ET

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Jason Treul on 'Survivor 49'. Credit:

Robert Voets/CBS

- *Survivor 49 *star Jason Treul explains how his tribemates made him comfortable enough to where he did not play his Shot in the Dark.

- The puzzle dominator reveals the nickname his rival tribe come up with for him and shares all the original Hina tribe dynamics that did not make it to air.

- Jason also takes us through exactly how he was informed that he had been promoted from alternate to cast member just hours before the game began.

He wasn't even supposed to be on the season. But once Jason Treul got word 10 hours before the start of *Survivor 49* that he was being upgraded from alternate to full contestant, it was full steam ahead.

Just minutes into the season, Jason helped his tribe win the very first challenge by showcasing his puzzle-solving skills — skills which he continued to use as Hina dominated every single contest. But then, a tribe swap happened and Jason was stuck on a new Hia tribe filled with Uli members, putting him and Matt Williams on the wrong side of the numbers. After dispatching Matt last week, the Ulis took Jason out this week to give themselves the numbers heading towards another tribe swap next week.

Was there more to Jason's pitch to stay that we did not see? Did he ever consider plying his Shot in the Dark? And where exactly did he stand in his original tribe? We asked the sixth one out all of that and more.

Jason Treul on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**: I'll start by asking you the same question I asked Matt a week ago: Were you screwed by the tribe swap?**

**JASON TREUL:** I was screwed by the tribe swap. I was a little less screwed than Matt because he screwed himself a little more than me. I think that in the grand scheme of things, *Survivor* is a game of luck. It was luck that even got on the show, and it's luck that got me off of the show. And I think that if I used a little bit more luck with my Shot in the Dark, then maybe I'd still be on the show. So I think that cosmically, who knows what would've happened.

**You just brought it up. How close did you come to playing your Shot in the Dark?**

You know what's funny? The show does a really good two episode arc for me in terms of the Shot in the Dark, where I think that Savannah and Rizo both kind of hammered into me during the Matt vote, "Hey, we understand that the Shot in the Dark is a tool that you have, but you have to understand that voting with us is a way for you to show where your alliances are."

And I think that "Why are you talking about the old Hina?" was something that they really tried to pound out of me so that by the time the second vote comes around, I'm like, "No, dude. I agree. Let's vote together!" And if it wasn't for them doing the work during the Matt vote, I would've been more inclined. But by the time two days have come on, I've kind of lived in this La-La land of like, "Hey, no, it's cool!"

By the time it happened, I was actually *way* more blindsided by it than I should have been. I think that part of it is obliviousness by me as a person, and part of it is also good gameplay by them, because it was a multi-episode arc of them trying to diffuse that bomb.

'Survivor 49' recap: Savannah's water bottle almost changes the game

Jeff Probst explains why no season 40 winners were asked back for 'Survivor 50'

**What was the feeling like as it sunk in that your game was over?**

There's just such a can-do attitude for me. I knew that I was in a tough spot, but I also think that I'm a person that's gotten out of those tough spots before. So you sort of fake it till you make it. I was like, "No, dude, we got this! We are so close to the merge! As long as we can get through this one, then we're set for the rest of the game!" So once my vote kept coming up, I'm like, "Wait, no."

Playing the Shot in the Dark really was like another path to get to the same place. Looking back on it, if your blunder is playing the Shot in the Dark right then it's like "Okay, well you were put in a spot where you had a less than one in six chance of making it through."

**Your pitch to stay involved you selling to the others how tight you were with the original Hina folks and that you could help the Ulis build bonds with them, which only seemed to make Savannah want to get rid of you even more. Was there more to your pitch that we did not see?**

That pitch was more or less like an accurate representation. I would say that Sage and Shannon on the other tribe, you can kind of see that dynamic play in different ways, right? Like, Shannon maybe tried to be a little too, "Oh, I don't care. It's you and me! We're together!" And that gets her side eyes on that side.

I think I played it a little bit on the more honest side and that got me side eyes from Savannah, right? So it's a little bit of a screwed if you do, screwed if you don't situation. I picked my lane. I tried to find people that would see me as a tool, right? Like, I'm going to try to get to know you as best as I can, but what I offer you is potentially access to relationships down the road. And that's the pitch that I kind of went with. And I think that if I swiveled, if I tried to throw names under the bus, then that undermines my value.

Jason Treul on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**Did you ever use your puzzle prowess as a pitch, that you could help them win a Tribal immunity challenge with a puzzle, or is that dangerous because you're getting close to the merge where no one wants a puzzle threat around?**

Exactly. I think that it was something that didn't really enter my mind as much because we are going to get to the individual portion of the game probably sooner rather than later. I did get my flowers though. When we did do the swap, the first thing everyone said was, " Jason, you were like killing it on the puzzles!" Rizo had like a little nickname for me on the old Uli beach. He called me Puzzle Jesus. So I was very happy to know that people were kind of getting a little taste of what that was. Even if I didn't talk to them, they still felt my presence.

**Did you ever think that your old Hina buddies on the new Kele might do you a solid and throw the challenge to protect you and then could get rid of Savannah or Sage to even the numbers?**

Once you get voted out, you run through the matrix, right? What could I have changed? And I think that throwing the challenge is something that obviously is in Kele's hands. But I was also the rebound man. I was the guy that was outside of the cage. So one of my little one-in-a-million what ifs is that I'm the person that's on the outs literally in the game, and physically out of the cage. I could have gone over to my Hina folks inside of the cage and whisper edto them, "Hey, can you just start missing these shots? We are all in on Rizo with the rock and he is not really making the second basket for us."

Jason Treul on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**How did things stand game-wise on original Hina? We saw a majority alliance form with Matt, Steven, Kristina, and MC. We also saw MC huddle with Sophie, but we never saw you in any sort of alliance. Where did you stand in the pecking order of that tribe and what would have happened had you all lost a challenge?**

Obviously, they didn't show any of my alliances for the first seven days, but that does not imply that I was not in alliances or talking for seven days. I wasn't staring at the ocean getting ready for the next puzzle, which is what the episode might make you think. If I were to peel into what the dynamics of old Hina was, there was that four alliance, but there was also, in my opinion, a stronger four alliance with MC and Steven in the center.

Me and MC were both alternates for this season. That was something that bonded us very much immediately. And me, Steven and MC on day two felt really good with each other. Not only from a point of view that we brought different things to the table, but also from just a personal point of view. I felt like we were able to converse. We were have able to have really good conversations with each other about what we want to do in the game. And I think that MC telling Sophie about the other core four was a way for her to be a fourth in our own alliance.

So if Hina were to go to Tribal, I think that MC and Steven are in the power position and they would turn on either side. If I were to give one piece of evidence that it would've been someone from the Matt and Kristina end of things [to go] is that MC actually showed me the idol. So she showed Steven on TV, but then immediately afterwards she goes and shows me. And I think that this is actually probably like my favorite moment when I was out there is there's this moment where MC shows me the idol. She's like, "Jason, I found it. We deserve to be here. We deserve to play this game."

It was like this moment between two alternates where I was all like, "Holy s---, this is like very real We can actually like make good moves. We can like do big things in this game and we deserve to be here as much as anybody else." I felt that really strongly. I felt really closer in that moment.

Jason Treul, Sophie Segreti, and Kristina Mills on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**So let's say MC and Steven do go with your side. Do you think it's Matt that goes because we saw MC say she didn't trust him? Or maybe Matt's good in challenges so you all want keep him. What do you think would've happened?**

Matt was such a wild card. It's hard to say because something else that's not shown is that I think that there was a misinterpretation on the Hina beach. Kristina was very fatigued. It was really hot out there, so she would sit back and she would hang behind to maybe work on the shelter while other people were out gathering wood and stuff.

There were inklings that Kristina might've been very schemy and looking for the idol when in reality she's just sitting by at the shelter. So I think that there are reasons for Kristina to go home and there are reasons for Matt to go home. We never really had to cross that bridge.

**Well, I caught Matt on a huge idol hunt on day two when I was at your beach, so he was definitely searching out there. Let's talk about the whole alternate thing. I I know you found out the night before the game started, but how were you informed you were no longer an alternate and were entering the game?**

I get pulled to the side and in my head I'm like, "Okay, well goodbye, folks. This is the last you'll see me because I'm going to be taken out back and shot in the yard or something because I'm out of the game. You all can focus on 49 and I'll go back to my life." But as I'm being taken, I'm getting taken past where we sleep and I'm in the middle of the field and I'm like, "Oh, okay, this is *Old Yeller.* I'm getting taken out back."

But then they inform me, "Hey, so how does it feel to be on 49?" just in the middle of this field at Ponderosa. I immediately collapsed to the ground and I am screaming maniacally. It's such a fever dream. And then that elation lasted for days. I was waking up on the island thinking, "This is not real. I'm back on Ponderosa. This is like an *Inception* style dream." It was insane to have lived it.

Jason Treul of 'Survivor 49'.

**What is something that happened out there that did not make it to TV that you wish we had seen?**

I actually think that the relationship that I have with MC is something that unfortunately, as the game plays out, isn't tested. I understand that it isn't something that is as relevant to the screen time, but that was very special to me that not only were two alternates put into the game, but we were put onto the same tribe and we get along really well as people.

That relationship is something that I cherish. I love MC to this day, and we got a lot of screen time in the challenges, but we didn't get a lot of screen time back at camp. And you know, that's the one thing that I would wish there was more of.

**That's what happens when you keep winning! The cameras aren't going show it because they have to go hang out with the losers before they vote someone out.**

Yeah, let this be a lesson to any future Survivors that if you want the screen time, think about throwing a challenge. Not for strategic reasons, but for egotistical ones.

***Want to be kept up with all things Survivor? Dig deep and sign up for 's free Survivor Weekly newsletter to have all the latest news, interviews, and commentary sent right to your inbox. ***

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