'Survivor: Ghost Island' votes off Desiree Afuye after alliance catches planning to betray them

Survivor: Ghost Island's merged Lavita tribe voted Desiree Afuye out of the game after her alliance members caught her in a lie during Wednesday night's episode on CBS.


Desiree, a 21-year-old student from New Jersey who currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, was voted out of her tribe on Night 27 of the game through an 8-2 vote at Tribal Council instead of Michael Yerger, an 18-year-old real estate agent from Knoxville, TN.

Angela Perkins, a 42-year-old Army veteran from Cincinnati, OH, was not able to vote because she had opted to play a Game of Chance on Ghost Island.

Desiree was the tenth person voted out of this game, and she became the third jury member.

"They could tell I was lying. Aww man! I gave it my all. I tried to act as real as possible. It's just such a shame because I was right there. [Kellyn Bechtold] was just the first," Desiree said following her ouster, referencing how she had attempted to orchestrate her pal Kellyn's blindside behind her back but failed to execute the plan once Laurel Johnson spilled the beans.


"I had plans, baby. I had plans and Laurel messed it all up. But hey, I trusted the wrong person I guess."

The Survivor broadcast began with seven original Naviti members on the top of the tribe, which also consisted of four original Malolo members who were on the bottom. And Michael, specifically, was the obvious target.

At Lavita on Day 26, Desiree told Laurel, Jenna Bowman and Donathan Hurley -- original Malolo members -- that she was on the bottom of the Naviti alliance and wanted to take one of her own out. Desiree believed if she didn't shift things now, she would be powerless and Naviti would control her vote.

Desiree suggested they use Michael to take out Kellyn and then target Wendell Holland and Domenick Abbate afterward. Desiree also thought she could pull in Angela and Chelsea Townsend for the vote as well. If she pulled that off, original Malolo would have the majority.

Laurel considered the idea, but what the castaways didn't know is she had a secret alliance with Wendell and Domenick. She admitted to the cameras she had reached "a critical decision point," as she was stuck in the middle of two groups.


Lavita then met Survivor host Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge, which divided the castaways into two teams of five and required two members from each team to paddle out in the ocean and rescue their other team members from cages. After unlocking puzzle pieces, each team must then solve a "giant puzzle," according to Jeff.

The winning team would be flown by helicopter for a scenic picnic complete with bread, meat and cheese for sandwiches, in addition to brownies. The winning team would also get to send someone from the losing team to Ghost Island.

Donathan, however, was not picked to play in the Reward, so he could not eat the food or be subjected to a stay on Ghost Island.

In the end, the team featuring Jenna, Kellyn, Chelsea, Michael, and Sebastian Noel won Reward. They forced the losing tribe to draw rocks to determine who would be sent to Ghost Island, and the castaway to pick the only white rock was Angela.

Michael felt he was the biggest target in the game at this point -- as he saw seven votes at the previous Tribal Council -- so he needed to stir the pot and find some cracks in the original Naviti group while enjoying Reward with them.


Once the winning team was eating their sandwiches, Michael told his group he was on the bottom and hoped they'd see value in keeping him around as an extra number. Michael promised them loyalty, but it was clear at this point Kellyn, Sebastian and Chelsea wanted to stay Naviti Strong and still take Michael out.

Meanwhile, on Ghost Island, Angela opted to play a Game of Chance that involved risking her vote for a 2/3 chance to receive an advantage.

Angela felt it was worth the risk since Naviti was solid and had the numbers, but she ended up picking the wrong container out of three choices. Angela therefore lost her vote, and she hoped this little mishap wouldn't mess up her game.

At Lavita's camp, Laurel told her ally Donathan that she actually felt safer with Domenick and Wendell than she would working with Desiree.

As a result, Laurel decided to tell Domenick what Desiree had been scheming, sharing that Desiree was trying to "rally the Malolo four" against Domenick, Kellyn and their group.


Laurel threw Chelsea's name under the bus as well. Domenick then warned Kellyn about Desiree's betrayal, adding that Chelsea was onboard with the blindside as well, but Kellyn simply didn't believe him or Laurel because she had been working with those two girls since the beginning of the game.

Kellyn also said if Chelsea really intended to pull a fast one on her, she had shockingly spent the entire day playing her.

"Someone is trying to take the target off Michael, and I'm telling you, that's never going to happen," Kellyn said in a confessional.

On Day 27, Michael told Donathan and Laurel he was going to look for an idol because his back was against the wall, and then Donathan chose to look for an idol as well. Michael knew it was a bad idea to share an idol with someone in this game, but he didn't do anything about it because he was desperate to stay.

Donathan then found Scot Pollard's authentic hidden Immunity Idol from Survivor's 32nd season back in 2016. Scot's idol came as two parts, and he had given his friend Tai Trang half of it to hold onto in order to solidify their trust and loyalty.


Once the two halves were put together, it would serve as a "Super Idol," which could save a castaway at Tribal Council after the votes are read. When Scot was voted out, he expected Tai to play his half of the idol to save him, but instead, Tai sent Scot packing and it was a huge betrayal.

Donathan therefore received half the idol and was told the other half was placed underneath the center of the tribe's shelter. Once paired, the two pieces would serve as one regular hidden Immunity Idol for Survivor: Ghost Island.

Laurel, Michael and Jenna all knew about Donathan's idol and helped him grab it.

It then became time for the season's next Individual Immunity Challenge, and Angela returned from Ghost Island for it.

The challenge required each player to balance a small ball on a disk attached to two ropes. At regular intervals, the castaways had to move their hands farther down the rope, making it more difficult to balance the ball. If the ball dropped at any point, he or she would be out of the challenge.

Wendell was the first player out of the Immunity Challenge, and it eventually came down to Kellyn, Sebastian and Chelsea. Kellyn dropped first out of the three, followed by Sebastian. So Chelsea walked out of the arena victorious with an immunity necklace around her neck.


Chelsea became the third woman in a row to win an Individual Immunity Challenge this season.

Heading back to camp, Domenick's goal was to still take Michael out and stop the others from plotting something different.

Desiree then explained to the cameras why she wanted to get rid of her good friend Kellyn. Desiree explained Kellyn was "dangerous" because she has a "great personality" and was close with many people in the tribe.

Desiree thought she was playing the game harder than anyone assumed, and she didn't think she could beat Kellyn if they were to go to the end together.

Kellyn confided in Desiree that she wasn't going to let paranoia get the best of her, as Domenick was becoming paranoid about Malolo rising up to take out a Naviti. Kellyn trusted her close girlfriends weren't going to go after her.

Kellyn then revealed to Desiree what Laurel had told Domenick, and Desiree realized in that moment her entire plan had blown up in her face thanks to Laurel. Desiree did not want to admit to Kellyn that she had been working against her, so instead, she lied and tried to cover up her tracks.


Desiree was stuck in the middle of two sides arguing different points. Kellyn said Desiree would not betray her, but the original Malolos insisted Desiree had been plotting against her. Desiree promised Kellyn that Malolo was lying, but as more people sided with Laurel, Kellyn appeared to become wary and nervous.

Domenick also told Kellyn that he wanted to target Desiree, along with Wendell. Kellyn, however, said the women were going to call the shots this vote because Domenick had his way in the past. Kelly's assertiveness made Domenick take a step back and re-examine things.

Going into Tribal Council, Desiree apparently thought Naviti's plan to take out Michael had resumed, but Domenick had spoken to Michael before the tribe left about the strong players sticking together. 

Desiree continued to whole-heartedly deny ever wanting to take out Kellyn, saying she'd look Kellyn in the face and tell her that. But Jenna, Donathan and Laurel kept forces strong against Desiree.

Meanwhile, Chelsea said she felt good with the people she was aligned with and suggested Malolo was just trying to crack Naviti.

Before voting commenced, Laurel pointed out that everything she had said at Tribal was the truth, and Kellyn noted she was going to make the decision that would benefit her game and her alliance.


After everyone -- except Angela -- cast their votes, Jeff read them aloud in the following order: Des, Des, Des, Des, Michael, Michael, Des, and Des.

"Ladies, y'all better keep winning," Desiree told them on her way out of the game.

The episode's closing credits later showed that Chelsea and Desiree were the two people who had voted to oust Michael from Survivor: Ghost Island.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski