Christian Hubicki talks 'Survivor': His "really big mistake," when he felt "doomed," and Gabby Pascuzzi's betrayal (Exclusive)

Christian Hubicki was eliminated from Survivor: David vs. Goliath during Wednesday night's Survivor Season 37 episode on CBS.


Christian, a 32-year-old robotics scientist from Baltimore, MD, who currently resides in Tallahassee, FL, was voted out on Night 35 through a 3-2-2 vote at Tribal Council. He became the fourteenth castaway to leave the game and Survivor: David vs. Goliath's seventh jury member.

The castaways who received two votes apiece were Alison Raybould, a 28-year-old physician from Leawood, KS, who currently resides in Chapel Hill, NC, and Davie Rickenbacker, a 30-year-old social media manager from Orangeburg, SC, who currently resides in Atlanta, GA.

Davie and Nick Wilson, a 27-year-old public defender from Williamsburg, KY, who currently resides in London, KY, both played hidden Immunity Idols for themselves, but the idols were clearly wasted.

"It surprised me that people thought I was such a huge threat that I needed to go as soon as they could marshal the votes. Eighteen votes, if I can count. That's an accomplishment!" Christian said in his final words.


"It makes me feel big. It makes me feel formidable, like, a person who has earned the respect of his colleagues. So, maybe I should respect myself more as a consequence."

During an exclusive interview with Reality TV World on Thursday, Christian talked about his Survivor experience. Below is a portion of what he had to say.

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Reality TV World: Did you personally go out looking for the idol once it was placed back in the game? We saw Davie and Nick searching for it in the days before your ouster, but we didn't see you looking for it.

Christian Hubicki: I actually made a really big mistake in that in my head, I thought that after the merge, they don't rehide idols when there is still one in play. So, I'm thinking back to Season 35... I don't think there were two idols roaming around late into the merge.


And I'm out on the island and didn't have Wikipedia, so I couldn't remember. So I thought that after [Dan Rengering] played his last idol, I thought, "This is great! I have the only merge idol left."

But I should've just kept looking. I should've just kept looking right there, and that's why Nick was able to find it. And that was a huge mistake on my part.

Reality TV World: You said you thought Mike White was underestimated in the game. What about Davie? Davie has been a part of many idol and advantage plays in the game, but he was flying under the radar up until this point. It seemed like he only became a target after Nick heard Davie was gunning for him.

Christian Hubicki: Yeah, that's how it plays in the episode. I will say that Davie was seen as a target for a while. Normally he was used as, like, a decoy target. I talked to these Goliaths over and over again, and he was always the name that would come up, like, "Oh, Davie is the guy with all the idols."

And I was like, "Oh sure, yeah, Davie!" Meanwhile, though, Davie and I are actually very close and we would meet in secret like once per day to talk and then go back to camp and not interact.


That's probably why people were so surprised that Davie would bother to play his idol on me, because we were closer than people thought. But yeah, he was seen as a bit of a threat. I think Mike did a great job of making him that way, actually.

There are people that Mike would just talk about in a certain way that would put out there in the universe of the camp that these people were threats -- and these were always people he wanted to go.

He, very fittingly as a writer, was very good at shaping the narrative of who should win this season or who we should worry about. I think that was one of his strengths.

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Reality TV World: You seemed to be in a great position right up until the Carl Boudreaux blindside, because that left Nick really mad at you and the Davids were upset because they had stuck their necks out for you so many times. Looking back, do you think that was the wrong move to make at that time?


Christian Hubicki: So, actually, the reason I made the Carl move was mostly that I was worried -- I knew that the game, once the Davids were "David Strong," I'd eventually have no allies left and they'd pick me off.

So, I couldn't let the Davids get this big majority where they'd just pick off the Goliaths, because then I'd have no one left to work with once the Goliaths are gone. So that was my reasoning at the time, and really, the only reason I voted out Carl.

It had very little to do with [Gabby Pascuzzi] and had a lot to do with how I was concerned about the way the game was shaping up going forward.

So while I can totally see people saying my game was fine up until then, I actually saw that my game was doomed at that point -- before that! Because I was already labeled as a big threat and they would just eventually pick me off, unless something changed.

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Reality TV World: Carl had told me you lost focus in the game because you were so motivated to protect Gabby. It therefore sounds like you disagree with that notion?

Christian Hubicki: Yes, I disagree with that. I mean, it makes sense Carl would not be a fan of the Carl move, but that doesn't invalidate his point though. He thinks I was just trying to protect Gabby, but no.

I knew Gabby was going to turn on me at some point, so it was less about that and more that, "God, how do I just not get picked off right near the end of the game?! How do I avoid that aside from finding idols and winning immunity?"

Something needed to change and certainly, people are free to criticize the way I went about it, but I wasn't just going to walk to the slaughter at the Final 6 or the Final 5. I had to find a way to shake up the game.

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Reality TV World: Going back to Gabby's vote off, Davie warned you she was trying to blindside you. Why not confront Gabby about her alleged betrayal and then try to change her mind? Because it seemed like you didn't even believe Davie's claim at first.


Christian Hubicki: Well, first, I did believe Davie immediately. I'm just telling you what I felt in that moment. I mean certainly in the episode it came across as, "Oh, I don't believe him." But if you actually watch me in that scene, I say, "Davie, you're next if that happens."

It made perfect sense to me because I knew Gabby was going to come for me at some point; I just didn't expect it so early.

So when Davie tells me that, I'm like, "Oh my God, this makes perfect sense! She knows I'll see this at seven, which is why she's coming for me at eight and hoping to take me out with an idol in my pocket."

But your question is very apt! Why not talk to Gabby?

I mean, if the only reason she's coming for me at Final 8, this early, because she doesn't think I'll see it coming, there is some merit to the idea I go up to her and say, "I see it coming! Now is not the time. Let's keep working together and we can flip the game around on all of these people who are trying to throw you under the bus by tipping me off."

And by the way, it was more than just Davie who tipped me off. Before Tribal Council, individually, Mike, [Angelina Keeley] and Nick each pulled me aside one by one and said, "Guess what? You're being targeted. If you have an idol, you might want to play it." So they were all [in on it].


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To read the first portion of Reality TV World's exclusive Survivor interview with Christian Hubicki, click here. And be sure to check back with us soon for the remaining portion.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski