'Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water' eliminates Jeremy Collins

Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water's merged Huyopa tribe eliminated Jeremy Collins during Wednesday night's ninth episode of the CBS reality competition's 29th season.


Jeremy, a 36-year-old firefighter from Foxboro, MA, was voted out of his Huyopa tribe on Night 24 at the season's eighth Tribal Council session. 

"They got me. They pulled a fast one on me. I did not see that one coming at all. I was so forthcoming with everything, and in my alliance, I thought we were all set. If I knew that we were going to be like this, I would've taken that last Reward. I don't know. I don't have an alliance, obviously. I'm just shocked, that's all. It's too bad. A good guy lost. A good guy lost this time," Jeremy said following his ouster.

On Night 21, at the Huyopa camp, Reed Kelly -- a 31-year-old Broadway performer, model and aerialist from New York, NY -- was upset his boyfriend Josh Canfield had been voted out of the game and he wasn't sure whom to turn to now as a castaway in the minority alliance.

Jon Misch, a 26-year-old financial assistant from Waterford, MI, was pushed over the edge to join Jeremy's alliance because Josh's alliance had been treating his girlfriend Jaclyn Schultz, a 25-year-old media buyer from Las Vegas, NV, pretty poorly. Jon felt it was important to trust his own instincts, and those instincts told him to work with the singles rather than the couples.


Keith Nale, a 53-year-old fire captain from Shreveport, LA, said his group would probably be picked off one at a time but he had an idol, so if he played it at the right time, he could hopefully get someone on the other side out. Keith even considered getting everyone to write his name down just so he could play his idol and turn the tables.

Keith was working with Jaclyn; Jon; Jeremy; Alec Christy, a 22-year-old student from Winter Park, FL; and his son Wes Nale, a 23-year-old firefighter from Shreveport, LA.

On Day 22, all the castaways met Survivor host Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge.

For the challenge, the players were divided into two teams and had to face off one-on-one while balancing on a wobbly beam positioned above a pit of mud. Each castaway's job was to knock his or her opponent into the mud first. The first team to five points would win Reward in the form of boarding a luxury fishing yacht to cruise down San Juan del Sur's coastline and enjoying sandwiches, soft drinks and champagne along the way.

Keith; Jaclyn; Jon; Wes; and Missy Payne, a 47-year-old owner of a competitive cheerleading gym from Dallas, TX, were on one team. They competed against Alec; Reed; Jeremy; Natalie Anderson, a 28-year-old student and crossfit coach from Edgewater, NJ; and Baylor Wilson, a 20-year-old student from Nashville, TN.


Reed first faced off against Wes and beat him. Natalie went up against Jaclyn and beat her. Jon and Jeremy then squared off and Jon won. Missy then faced her daughter Baylor and Baylor won. Keith went up against Alec and won. Reed and Wes got a re-match, and this time, Wes took it home.

Jaclyn and Natalie got their re-match next and Natalie defeated her once again. Jeremy and Jon also took another stab at it, and Jon won again. Lastly, Baylor and Missy faced off against one another for a second time and Baylor won again.

In the end, Baylor's team won. Natalie then asked Jeff if she could give up her Reward to a member on the opposite team. A surprised Jeff gave her permission, and then Natalie announced she wanted to give it up for Jon. Likewise, Jeremy then offered his spot on the Reward trip to Jaclyn. Both Jeremy and Natalie wanted to show their respect and thanks to the couple for being loyal to them.

Although it appeared like a selfless move, Natalie told the cameras she hoped she could use the gesture as leverage down the road. Reed also saw through the "transparent" act and said in a confessional that it made him want to "hurl."

The winning team then had to select one person to send to Exile Island, and they picked Jeremy. He went from winning Reward to being cast off to exile. Baylor hoped Jeremy could find the hidden Immunity Idol so their alliance could utilize it if necessary.


On Night 23, Jeremy was feeling down and lethargic on Exile Island. He was also frustrated because he couldn't find the idol. As a result, he wondered whether Jon had already found it since he was in exile before him. But if that was the case, Jon had been lying to his alliance.

Back at camp, Jon told Jaclyn that people were going to think either Jeremy was extremely stupid for not being able to find the idol or he had been dishonest with everyone -- meaning Jon had an idol in his possession and his cover would be blown.

On Day 24, all 10 remaining castaways arrived for the season's next Individual Immunity Challenge.

Each player was instructed to unspool a rope, dropping blocks into a basket. The first person to stack his or her blocks and put a flag in the middle of the structure would win the challenge. However, there was a catch. For the first time in Survivor history, they had to do the entire challenge using only their feet.

Baylor ended up winning the challenge and therefore received immunity and a one-in-nine shot of winning the game.


Jeremy was happy about Baylor's win because all he cared about was that someone in his own alliance won.

Once everyone returned to camp, Reed looked through Keith's bag and found a clue. He shared that information with Jaclyn and Missy, and the girls weren't happy about it. Baylor couldn't believe Keith had it and hid it for so long.

It didn't take long for Keith to discover someone had rummaged through his bag, and he expressed his fears to Wes about being outed. Keith didn't appreciate someone's lack of manners, not knowing it was Reed.

Jaclyn told Jon about Keith's clue, and the idea of him having an idol clearly complicated things for them.

Jeremy and Natalie then discussed Jon's position in the game. Jeremy was convinced that Jon had an idol and he was probably trying to set Keith up. Jeremy talked with Jon for a bit afterwards to try to read his face for a lie, but he couldn't figure it out and realized he needed to have more faith in his alliance members.


However, Jeremy's behavior made Jon nervous because he thought Jeremy was very skeptical of him.

Jon then confided in Missy about having an idol. He also explained to her that Jeremy was a threat and they needed to get him out now. Missy was thrown a bit and her thoughts were cloudy because she had been closely aligned with Jeremy and Natalie for a while. But Missy figured the best move might be to split the vote between Keith and Reed, keeping the vote six strong in order to try to flush the idol.

At Tribal Council that night, it was obviously a group of six against a group of four. Jaclyn told Jeff that Natalie and Jeremy's decision to give up their Reward reassured her that she and Jon had made the right decision in working with them. Jaclyn didn't think Josh's alliance would've done the same thing.

Jaclyn also made it known that she believed Keith or Wes had an idol because they exuded confidence and never tried to strategize with herself and Jon. Keith argued back that the couple never tried talking to him or his son either.

Before the vote commenced, Natalie asked her alliance to stick with their long-term goals and not get distracted by desperate people fighting to remain in the game.

Jeff then revealed the votes. Two castaways voted for Keith, three people voted for Reed, and five players voted for Jeremy. Jeremy was therefore blindsided and eliminated from the game.


"What the f-ck Missy?!" Natalie said as Jeremy walked off.

In the episode's closing credits, it showed that Reed, Missy, Jon, Jaclyn, and Baylor voted for Jeremy. Keith, Wes, and Alec voted for Reed. Jeremy and Natalie voted for Keith.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski