'Survivor: Ghost Island' recap: Chris Noble voted out despite having idol in his pocket

Survivor: Ghost Island merged the three tribes into one called Lavita, and then the tribe voted out Chris Noble during Wednesday night's episode on CBS.


Chris, a 27-year-old male model from Florida Keys, FL, was voted out of newly-merged Lavita on Night 22 of the game at Tribal Council -- the first Tribal Council he actually attended all season long -- through a 10-2 vote instead of Libby Vincek, a 24-year-old social media strategist from Houston, TX.

Survivor host Jeff Probst only revealed seven of the votes for Chris at Tribal Council. The two castaways who voted for Libby were Desiree Afuye, a 21-year-old student from Brooklyn, NY, and Angela Perkins, a 42-year-old Army veteran from Cincinnati, OH.

Chris, however, could not vote because he had wagered his vote on Ghost Island in attempt to lengthen the time he could play a hidden Immunity Idol he had found.

"I just got blindsided with this damn idol sitting in my back pocket. At least I didn't leave it back on the island," Chris, who is the first jury member this season, said following his ouster.


"Obviously [Domenick Abbate] was able to pull off a blindside and some of my own tribe members wanted me out. [J.T. Thomas] and Chris Noble -- aka "The Noble One" -- are 0 for 2. This idol is definitely cursed. I'm going to have nightmares about this little haunted thing for a while."

The Survivor broadcast began on Day 20, with the Naviti, Malolo and Yanuya tribes receiving Tree Mail, informing them of the merge.

All the castaways then gathered on Naviti beach, with Domenick, a 38-year-old construction supervisor from Nesconset, NY, calling Chris his "No. 1 archnemesis." Domenick hoped Chris wouldn't try to cut his throat right away.

At this point in the game, Domenick; Wendell Holland, a 33-year-old furniture designer from Philadelphia, PA; and Michael Yerger, an 18-year-old real estate agent from Knoxville, TN, each had a hidden Immunity Idol.

Meanwhile, Domenick also had a fake idol he was using to trick Chris as well as the Legacy Advantage, which could be played as an Immunity Idol when 13 or six people are left in the game, and Kellyn Bechtold, a 31-year-old career counselor from North Manchester, IN, had an advantage as well in the form of an extra vote.


Domenick had a solid four-person alliance with Wendell; Laurel Johnson, a 29-year-old financial consultant from Philadelphia, PA; and Donathan Hurley, a 26-year-old caretaker from Phelps, KY. Domenick acknowledged another option would be to stick with the original Naviti players in order to have the majority.

However, Domenick and his group could only team up with the original Naviti castaways if Chris was onboard, and Domenick knew Chris was "a wild card." Domenick also admitted Chris was a big "pain in my ass" and getting rid of him would release a huge weight off his shoulders.

Chris then discovered a letter inside of the buff he picked at random at camp when the three tribes merged. The letter led him to Tree Mail, where he then found a clue to a hidden Immunity Idol good for the next Tribal Council session and potentially beyond.

But there was a catch. Chris learned he must sneak out of camp late at night and take a fast round-trip boat ride to Ghost Island, where the idol awaited him. Would Chris risk getting caught for an advantage in the game?

Chris said he was "all in," so he was ready to take a chance, especially since he was well aware he was a huge physical threat and the game was switching to Individual Immunity Challenges.


Wendell, Kellyn, Domenick, and Chelsea Townsend, a 24-year-old EMT from Salt Lake City, UT, were then shown discussing the possibility of staying "Naviti strong" for just one vote and targeting either Michael or Libby.

Wendell hoped to bridge the gap between Domenick and Chris so they could work together for the vote, but when they sat down and asked the male model whether he'd be onboard with targeting one of the three original Malolo, Chris refused to give an answer and cooperate.

Chris assumed the guys were trying to befriend him just so they could slit his throat at the first opportunity. Chris said there was "too much turbulence" with Domenick to work together, and so his goal was to take Domenick out of the game.

Wendell realized after that conversation "peace talks" were over and the gloves had to come off. Wendell said it was "time to go to war" with Chris.

On Night 20 at Lavita, Chris snuck out in the middle of the night while everyone was sleeping. Chris then received J.T.'s authentic idol from Survivor: Game Changers in 2017. J.T. had left the idol at camp when he went to Tribal Council and was actually blindsided that night.


Chris learned the idol was good only at the next Tribal Council; however, he could wager his vote to play a Game of Chance and hopefully increase the idol's power.

Although he was worried to risk his own vote given he was trying to orchestrate Domenick's vote-off, he decided to play. Chris was able to choose a bamboo container with either a "no vote" message inside or a letter telling him that the power of his idol would be extended by one additional Tribal Council session.

Chris could play up to five times -- or until he picked a bamboo container with the "no vote" letter inside.

Chris' first pick was successful, allowing him to use his idol at the next two Tribal Council sessions, but when he went to play the game again, he received the "no vote" consequence. Chris, however, intended to play his idol when necessary and "reverse the curse."

On Day 21 at Lavita, Domenick noticed Chris was especially cranky and tired. Domenick hated how Chris allegedly barked orders at people and then just slept.


Chris later shared with Laurel, Desiree and Angela that Domenick had an idol and they needed to flush it. Chris was talking about Domenick's fake shell idol he had previously shown him in attempt to squash their beef.

Domenick was then shown explaining to Libby and Jenna Bowman, a 23-year-old account executive from Detroit, MI, that he had shown Chris a fake idol.

Once Domenick walked away, the two girls discussed how Chris was loyal and never lied but Domenick was strategic and "so dangerous." But Jenna was just glad the heat was off Michael, Libby and herself. They had a lot of the control and power due to the Domenick vs. Chris rivalry.

On Day 22, all of the castaways met Jeff for the season's first Individual Immunity Challenge.

For the challenge, each player was required to stand on a narrow beam while balancing a statue on a long pole over his or her head. At regular intervals, the castaways had to move down the beam, making it more difficult to balance their statues. If a statue fell at any time, that person would be out.

The order in which people dropped was as follows: Jenna, Donathan, Desiree, Angela, and Sebastian Noel, a 22-year-old fishing guide from Melbourne, FL.


After 20 minutes, Domenick was out, and he was then followed by Michael, Chris, Laurel, and Wendell -- leaving Kellyn, Chelsea and Libby. Chelsea was the next castaway to drop out, and then Libby couldn't hold on any longer.

Kellyn therefore won Individual Immunity, and she was extremely proud of herself as well as relieved.

Later that day, once everyone returned to camp, Chris gathered the troops and took everyone to the well to chat, except for Wendell and Domenick. Chris suggested splitting the vote between Domenick and Wendell to ensure one of them would go home, even in the case of there being an idol in play.

Chris told the group that Domenick and Wendell were targeting Libby, so he suggested his plan would benefit both the original Malolo and Naviti tribes. Chris told the cameras his gameplay was personal at this point.

Michael thought it would be great to separate the power pair of Wendell and Domenick, but he couldn't tell if Chris was lying about Domenick's alleged idol.

Meanwhile, Wendell and Domenick were annoyed that Chris was conspiring behind their backs, and Wendell called Chris' ego "ridiculous." Wendell, starting to feel like they were in trouble, told Domenick that he had an idol and was willing to play it that night if necessary.


After talking to Chris, however, Donathan ran up to Domenick and told him the plan. Donathan seemed onboard with blindsiding Chris instead, and then Domenick told Laurel to vote Chris as well, adding that he believed Jenna and Libby would join them for the vote.

Donathan feared Libby and Jenna were bluffing, but then Wendell talked to the girls and Sebastian about not falling under Chris' "dictatorship."

While Chris and Domenick were busy going after each other, the original Naviti girls -- Kellyn, Angela, Desiree and Chelsea -- had a different agenda.

The ladies talked about targeting an original Malolo, either Libby or Michael. The girls mentioned how Michael was a big threat but Libby had the ability to connect with people and fly under the radar, so Desiree thought Libby was more of a threat and wanted her gone.

At Tribal Council on Night 22, Wendell didn't think Chris had an idol to play.

Domenick and Chris then both shared their sides of the story in regards to how their feud got started. And at the end of Domenick's little speech, he pulled out his fake shell-necklace idol and put it around his neck, suggested he was going to be safe.


Chris reminded the tribe that Domenick and Wendell went after one of their own original Naviti members, Angela, and couldn't be trusted. Meanwhile, Chris felt his tribemates were comfortable around him and felt like they could confide in him.

Before votes were cast, Domenick announced that he needed to figure out whether to protect his friend, Wendell, or himself with his shell idol. (Little did they know, Domenick had a real idol in his pocket as well as the Legacy Advantage, which held immunity power).

When Domenick walked over to the voting stand and wrote down Chris' name on the parchment paper, he said Chris' name very loudly so all the castaways could hear him.

"See you on the other side, brother," Domenick noted.

And when Wendell cast his vote for Chris, he told the cameras, "We won a lot together -- respect for that. But socially, you have no idea what you're doing. I hope you stop saying 'I' so much. I hope you start listening to people. Oh yeah, and finally, somebody had to say it -- I'll say it -- stop rapping... You're garbage at rapping."

Before Jeff read the votes aloud, Domenick decided to play his Legacy Advantage, which started in Jacob Derwin's pocket and then went to Morgan Ricke, who then willed it to himself. The advantage originally belonged to Sierra Dawn Thomas on a previous Survivor season.


Since Domenick could play the advantage with 13 people left in the game, any votes cast against him would not count. Jeff then read the votes aloud, and he showed seven votes for Chris and two votes for Libby.

On Chris' way out of the game, he wished luck and love to everyone, and there seemed to be no hard feelings between Domenick and himself. Chris was the eighth person voted out of the game.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski