Survivor 42 castoff Drea Wheeler has revealed why she told Omar Zaheer about her "Knowledge is Power" advantage before Tribal Council, which left her vulnerable and ultimately got her voted out.
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Survivor's latest episode featured the Kula Kula tribe voting out Drea Wheeler in a 5-3 vote instead of Mike Turner after she played two advantages: the Knowledge is Power advantage as well as an extra vote.
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Drea's attempt to use her Knowledge of Power advantage failed because she had shared her plan to steal Mike's hidden Immunity Idol with Omar before Tribal Council, which allowed Omar to warn Mike ahead of time and convince the 58-year-old retired firefighter to pass the idol off.
Drea admitted her big mistake was trusting Omar during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
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"You know what, kudos to him. His strategic game is emotional. We related to him in very emotional ways; I guess ways that I thought were bigger than the game, and that we had each other's back. But, for him, it was just all gameplay. So that's how he got me," Drea said.
The 35-year-old fitness consultant from San Antonio, TX, revealed that she decided to share the news of her special advantage with Omar, knowing knowledge can make or break a person's game in Survivor, because he was "panicking."
"He was panicking. He was going everywhere, talking to everyone. And he was just getting a little sloppy," Drea explained.
"So people were starting to notice that he was talking to everyone. I think he was becoming a bit aware of the fact that people were watching him as well."
Drea apparently believed Omar would keep the information a secret because they had built a solid alliance prior to Day 21.
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"Omar, [Hai Giang] and I had an alliance and people didn't see how close the three of us actually were," Drea shared.
"And after Hai went out, I was like, 'Well, you're just as much as a threat as me.' So it would not benefit him taking me out so soon because that's just how I thought. So that's why I told him we needed to work together."
"That's how I felt, like, 'Help me help you!'" she added. "We can go after each other later in the game, but let's get the firefighter out."
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Drea said she "instantly" realized Omar was behind everything when Mike said he didn't have an idol to give away. (If Mike did have his idol, he'd have to give it to Drea to keep).
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"He was the only person I told, because I genuinely felt that he and I could go farther in the game together."
Drea was clearly shocked when she asked Mike for his idol and he was empty-handed.
"So I say my riddle, I ask Mike for the idol, Mike says no, and I automatically know I'm playing everything I've got. I'm like, 'I'm playing my extra vote,'" Drea said.
"I honestly forgot about the 'Shot in the Dark' because it was just so new to the game. And then I always knew that if I was ever in that position, I would never not vote. That's the one power you have in the game, right?"
Drea therefore determined she would cast two votes for Mike, hoping others would see him as a threat and write down Mike's name.
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"[I was hoping] other people realize that maybe taking a firefighter [further] in a game isn't in their best interest. So we gotta get Mike out because Mike was relating to everyone," Drea explained, adding how she thought Mike's social game was "amazing" at the time.
"So I was just like, it's a game. I gotta go up and I gotta play. I gotta play everything I got. And I hope someone else believes in me."
Drea also revealed her comments directed at particular tribemates on her way out of the game at Tribal Council on Night 21 was "100 percent strategy."
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"I felt like they were all just like playing kumbaya, like they were all at camp liking each other. So that was just like, come on! I said that to Lindsay because they should know: 'She has something and you should probably figure out what she has,'" Drea shared.
Drea suggested that Jonathan Young was "going for the wrong people."
"I would have taken [Jonathan] to the Final 3 because I wanted to play with strong people," Drea noted. "And then Omar, he can't keep a secret. [So I warned them], 'What he's telling you is probably a lie. So listen to that.'"
Drea also complimented Mike's game by saying he'd probably win Survivor if he made it to the end.
"[I hinted], 'If he makes it to the end, he could be a likable person. Or maybe you're smart enough to get rid of him now. And then [Romeo Escobar], start playing because you're always the decoy,'" Drea told EW.
"I love Romeo, but Romeo was just fading at the end. And I was just like, 'Your name is always out there. Get out there, start making moves, Romeo, because eventually someone's actually gonna put your name down and you might be gone.' So no, it was very intentional. And then [Maryanne Oketch] was just Maryanne."
At one point in the game, Drea had four different powers in her pocket -- an immunity idol, an extra vote, the Amulet advantage, and the Knowledge is Power advantage.
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Drea therefore believes if she had made it to the end of Survivor 42, she "would've won for sure."
"For sure. I was Drea in the game. If anyone who knows me saw me, they were like, you were yourself. I was myself. I played hard. I related to people. I told people how I truly felt. They knew where I stood," Drea boasted.
"I would've given honest answers to the jury. I would have won. I genuinely feel like I would've won."
Drea even insisted she sat out of the peanut butter and jelly challenge earlier in the season because she assumed there may be an advantage over by her bench.
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"I thought about every move. I really weighed the pros and cons. What would benefit me? I really just didn't care. I was just like, if I'm gonna go out, I'm gonna go out playing hard," Drea concluded.
Survivor 42 is now down to the Final 6 castaways: Mike, Lindsay, Jonathan, Romeo, Maryanne, and Omar.