'Survivor: Ghost Island' recap: Kellyn Bechtold voted out after Donathan Hurley turns on his alliance

Survivor: Ghost Island's Lavita tribe voted out Kellyn Bechtold during Wednesday night's broadcast on CBS.


Kellyn, a 31-year-old career counselor from North Manchester, IN, who currently resides in Denver, CO, was voted out of the game on Night 35 through a 3-1 re-vote at Tribal Council instead of Donathan Hurley, a 26-year-old caretaker from Kimper, KY.

On the first vote at Tribal Council, Kellyn and Donathan tied with three votes apiece, while Domenick Abbate also received one vote from Donathan.

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"This journey for me came at the exact right moment in my life, and I really needed to transition from who I thought I needed to be to the person I can dream I want to be," Kellyn, who became the season's seventh jury member, said following her ouster.


"And I'm so thankful for a once in a lifetime experience that I will never ever forget."

The Survivor broadcast began on Night 32, with Kellyn finding herself on the bottom of her alliance. She told Sebastian Noel that she knew she was next after Chelsea Townsend and that's why she had to vote against Wendell Holland at the previous Tribal Council session.

On Day 33, Laurel Johnson spoke to Donathan about how she didn't trust the girls in their tribe; however, Donathan pointed out they would be in bigger trouble going forward if they kept huge threats, like Domenick and Wendell, in the game any longer.

Laurel agreed now was the time to make a big move, because this might be the last Tribal in which Wendell and Domenick feel safe enough not to use their hidden Immunity Idols. Laurel, however, struggled with the fact the two guys were her best friends in the game.

Although Donathan and Laurel were extremely close allies, Donathan wanted to make a big move -- and if Laurel wasn't prepared to help him do that, he must prepare himself to play this game alone.


But Donathan, Angela Perkins, Kellyn and Laurel then talked amongst themselves about potentially blindsiding Wendell at the next vote. It was music to Kellyn's ears because she knew she was on the chopping block.

Donathan felt underestimated in the game because he had always been following the orders of "Top Dogs" Wendell and Domenick, but he wasn't going to let that happen anymore.

It then became time for the Lavita tribe to meet Survivor host Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge.

The castaways were divided into three teams of two people. For the challenge, a giant spool rolled down a track. The castaways' goal was to grab the spool at the bottom of the track and race up stairs, bringing it back to the top so it could roll down again.

The objective was to continue this pattern of motion to prevent the spool from dropping to the ground at the bottom of the track. To make the process more difficult, additional spools were added throughout the challenge.


There was a random draw for team captains, and those people were Kellyn, Wendell and Donathan.

Kellyn chose Sebastian as a teammate, Wendell selected Domenick, and Donathan asked Laurel to work with him. Angela was not picked to play, so she had no chance of winning the Reward or being sent to Ghost Island.

The winning pair would serve as "Survivor Ambassadors," delivering supplies to a local Fijian school. The pair would also enjoy fried chicken and chocolate cake together.

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In the end, Domenick and Wendell won the challenge, and the guys opted to have Laurel join them on the Reward.


Domenick and Wendell then had to agree to send one person to Ghost Island, and they decided to send "the pirate," Sebastian, over.

After the challenge, Donathan was pissed he wasn't selected for the special Reward, and so he was ready to go up against the big guys.

Meanwhile, on Ghost Island, Sebastian got to play a Game of Chance on Day 33. He had to risk his vote to play, but his odds of winning an advantage were 1 in 4.

Sebastian therefore chose to take a risk and play, and sure enough, he won the authentic "steal a vote" advantage that sent Michaela Bradshaw home on Survivor's 34th season and was also misplayed by Kellyn this season.

The advantage could no longer be used in the same way, but Sebastian's letter explained he could play it as "a secret extra vote" at Tribal Council.


Over at the Fijian school, Wendell explained to the cameras the guys brought Laurel on the Reward with them in order to solidify their trust and alliance. Wendell also wanted to reward Laurel for her loyalty and show how much he and Domenick cared for her.

Laurel told the guys while eating she hoped the two of them would split jury votes to win at the final Tribal Council and she would get the rest. However, Laurel realized this shouldn't be good enough for her.

On Day 34, Wendell told Donathan while they were relaxing at camp that they were "solid 100 percent."

But Donathan admitted Domenick would be really tough to beat in the end. Donathan was dropping "truth bombs," as he called them, to make Wendell paranoid and potentially split him up from Domenick.

Donathan recognized it would be great for his game if Domenick and Wendell turned on each other and stopped working together.

Donathan therefore confessed to Wendell that if it was a Wendell vs. Domenick showdown in the end, he would vote for Domenick to win. Wendell laughed off the comment but appeared shocked and confused, and Donathan hoped he had scared Wendell "to death."


Donathan then admitted to Domenick that he didn't know where he stood in the game and didn't know what to do. All Donathan said he knew was that he wouldn't be able to beat Domenick at the final jury vote.

Domenick knew Donathan was ready to strike and make his big move.

"He's scaring me. He's just blowing the entire game up," Domenick said in a confessional of Donathan.

On Day 35, the castaways gathered for the next Individual Immunity Challenge.

The challenge required each player to race to retrieve two bundles of planks and then use those planks to build a bridge. After crossing the bridge, they would come to a tower, where they must build a ladder and then climb it. At the top of a structure was a Survivor slide puzzle they must solve.

The winner of this Immunity Challenge would receive a 1 in 6 shot of getting to the end.


Wendell found himself in the lead for the entire challenge, but when he finished his puzzle in first place, he hesitated to call out Jeff's name to check his work. Laurel therefore yelled out to Jeff first and was declared the winner of the challenge.

Wendell understood the rules and said Laurel had won fair and square, but it was clear he was disappointed in himself for not speaking up. Laurel apologized to her friend for the tough break.

Once the tribe returned to camp, Laurel told the cameras she was well aware Wendell had to go. But since he technically won the Immunity Challenge and she felt bad for him, Lauren intended to make "the smart move" instead of "the big move" at the next Tribal.

The "smart move" was getting rid of Kellyn, as Domenick explained in a confessional no one wanted to go to the end with her since she had so many friends on the jury and was also capable of winning Individual Immunity Challenges.

Wendell, Domenick and Laurel all got onboard to vote Kellyn out.

But Donathan was growing paranoid and beginning to rub his allies the wrong way, so Wendell made a fake hidden Immunity Idol to nonchalantly flash in front of Donathan so he would notice.


Donathan did, in fact, notice Domenick handling something in his bag, but he just grew angry that -- once again -- he was left out of the loop.

Donathan then announced to Domenick and Wendell that if either of them used a hidden Immunity Idol to save Kellyn, he would flip.

Donathan expressed his worries to Kellyn, saying they should blindside Domenick, and she felt hope in this moment.

As for Wendell and Domenick, their vote came down to Kellyn -- a threat -- vs. Donathan, who was "unpredictable" and "volatile."

It then became time for Tribal Council, and Donathan told Jeff he was frustrated because his allies weren't giving him all of their information. Wendell said Donathan had the tendency to "spew" such information to others, which is why they had to be so cautious.

Donathan told Jeff that he was probably going home that night, but then Domenick told everyone else to "stick with the plan."


Laurel acknowledged everyone had a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C, but the cast just hoped their allies were going to follow through with the same plan.

Regardless, Kellyn was glad to hear her vote-off wasn't the only option, and she revealed people had strategized with her earlier that day, which seemed to surprise Wendell. 

Wendell told whispered to Sebastian they should vote a 3-2 split, and Sebastian agreed.

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On the first vote of the night, Domenick received one vote from Donathan. Kellyn received votes from Domenick, Wendell and Laurel. And Donathan earned votes from Kellyn, Angela and Sebastian.

On the re-vote, everyone had to vote for either Kellyn or Donathan -- and those two individuals could not vote at all.


Kelly soon discovered she had been voted out of the tribe with at least three votes.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski