The runner-up also shares what we didn’t see at final Tribal Council.

Sophi Balerdi reveals why she was the ‘happiest Survivor loser ever’

The runner-up also shares what we didn't see at final Tribal Council.

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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December 18, 2025 1:07 p.m. ET

Sophi Balerdi on 'Survivor 49'. Credit:

She kept saying it. And saying it. And saying it. And then she finally did it.

For weeks, Sophi Balerdi had been threatening to take a shot at her two allies of Savannah Louie and Rizo Velovic, and the shot was taken on the *Survivor 49 *season finale when Sophi won the final immunity challenge and put both Savannah and Rizo into the final four fire-making competition. And had Rizo won, Sophi may have indeed found herself being crowned the Sole Survivor the very next day. But it didn’t turn out that way.

Savannah won at fire and then cruised to a 5-2-1 jury vote victory at the final Tribal Council, leaving Sophi as the runner-up. That’s still an impressive accomplishment for a player whose initial tribe was brutally inept and lost every single challenge.

What does Sophi say about making one step away from the winner’s platform? And has the Silent Assassin emotionally recovered from her infamous Knowledge Is Power snafu? We asked the *Survivor 49* second place finisher all that and more, and you can watch or read the entire interview below.

**: First question: Do you always talk to yourself while failing spectacularly at physical activities?**

**SOPHI BALERDI:** Always. I mean, if nobody's there to pump you up, you gotta do it yourself, you know? So that's what I was doing. It's funny because the audio lady at *Survivor*, she was like, “You were the funniest person to listen to out there while you were doing the challenges.” Because I was talking. I didn't realize I did it so much, but it was fun to watch back.

**How were you feeling about your chances walking into final Tribal Council?**

After the Knowledge Is Power play, I was a little embarrassed, but I knew the relationships I had with the jury and they were really good. And I had a game that I knew a lot of them respected because of the start that I had. I went to so many Tribal Councils and so I think if Rizo won fire, I had a good chance. But when Savannah won fire, I knew that I lost the game. I mean, I respected her game even more than mine at that point. Four immunity wins, winning fire — that was even more ammo for her game.

So going into Tribal, I knew I was going to throw everything at the wall and give it all I had going up against a résumé like that. So I didn't think my chances were great, but you know, it's not over until it's over. And this wasn't on air, but right before Jeff read the votes, Sav turned to me and she goes, “You just won the game.” And then Nate, Alex and Steven told me they were 50-50. I did a really good job and I'm really proud of myself, because even sitting next to Sav, I had a good chance according to everybody there.

Sophi Balerdi and Rizo Velovic on 'Survivor 49'.

**Even MC said while voting that she changed her vote to you because of your performance at Tribal Council. So did any of the votes end up surprising you when you saw them in terms of who went which way?**

Yeah, I thought MC was going to vote for Sav because she's a competitor and I think she would've rewarded a physical game. But the fact that she rewarded me meant everything. I was a little surprised about Alex not voting for me. I remember calling him a name after, but I was such a good sport about it. I think my gratitude for the experience totally outweighed the loss for me. Going out there was a win. And so I was happy regardless. Like, I think I was the happiest loser ever after that final Tribal. Even Jeff was like, “Why are you so happy?” And I'm like, “I don't know. I'll probably cry myself to sleep tonight, but right now I'm feeling just proud of myself.”

'Survivor 49' winner Savannah Louie reacts to Kristina's diabolical jury question

'Survivor 49' finale recap: The jury gets it right

**Give Sophi a bottle of champagne and it's all good. When you said you called Alex a name, was that legitimately angry or was it sort of playful?**

No, I understood. I mean, he's a juror. Everybody makes their own decision based on whatever they deem is worthy of winning the *Survivor* prize. So I respected whatever he did. I was surprised because I just thought that I at least would have his little vote from our start — that he would just give it to me. But it's fine. It's okay. I'm not salty about it. Alex is one of my really good friends after the show.

Sophi Balerdi on 'Survivor 49'.

**Anything else that went down at that final Tribal that we did not see on TV?**

Yeah, I think a big part of the reason I swayed MC was my explanation of the Knowledge Is Power play. And that didn't make it to air. And I'm surprised because I knew that that was a really good answer, and the jurors were surprised and they were happy that I explained it. And I think it provided a little context. I think the audience, if they heard it too, it would've provided a lot more context to why I made the decision.

Because I think in the episode it looked like I had some margaritas and tacos and was like, “I don't care about winning this game anymore.” But that's not what was the case. I wish they would've shown that, but I think it would've given me a lot more ammo for why I should have won if it was shown.

Sophi Balerdi of 'Survivor 49'.

**You already sort of alluded to the fact that you were clearly rooting for Rizo to win at fire because you thought you would've had a better chance against him. Let's play *Survivor* What If? Let's say that Rizo does win at fire. What happens in the final three jury vote between you, Sage, and Rizo?**

So I'll be honest. Sage, she played a great game, but watching it back, I had gone to five Tribal Councils before she even went to one. And there was a lot of things that I could have said. I love Sage, but to win *Survivor*, I think it should have been between me and Sav. That was my opinion. And it would've been the same with Rizo. But Rizo, he didn't have four immunity wins. I think I had a better connection with the people in the jury and there was a lot of moves that me and Rizo did together. We tag-teamed and the audience didn't get to see, and I would've been able to kind of speak to that at Final Tribal.

Like the Alex vote. I feel like I had just as much to do with Alex going, if not more, because of relationships I had that weren't shown. And I would've been able, I think, to one up him. Rizo is incredible, I would say he's better than me. He's an amazing *Survivor* player. I think there's a world where he deserves to win for sure. But with our jury, I think sitting next to Rizo and Sage that I would've won, and I've been told by the jury that would've been the case as well.

Sophi Balerdi on Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**All right, let's do the sort of the opposite. I hate to do this to you, but I'm going to take away your final immunity win for a second. Say you don't win it and you do lose at fire. I guess what I'm asking is: If Savannah and Rizo are somehow sitting there at the end next to each other, Who gets your vote?**

Wow, that's tough.

**You’ve got to pick between your besties here. Who's it going to be?**

They’re going to get mad at me if I make a decision.

**Yep. Tread carefully. You gotta give a name though.**

Who wins the final immunity though?

**Savannah. Rizo doesn't win anything. Why do you even have to ask that?**

Don't do that to my boy! [*Laughs*] So the thing is, on paper, I respect someone like Rizo's game more because it's something that I kind of did. Like, it was more strategic and social. Because we aren't athletically inclined. And I think there's something to be said about being able to get to the end of *Survivor* without needing to win immunities and stuff. So that's impressive in its own right. But I think if Sav broke the record and won the fifth immunity, I would have 100 percent given it to her for sure.

Rizo Velovic, Savannah Louie, and Sophi Balerdi on 'Survivor 49'.

**Savannah was pretty hurt that you not only put her into fire but wouldn’t give her a chance to talk to you about it. Did it get awkward at all before that final four Tribal?**

Oh yeah, it was very awkward. I could feel the tension. I could feel her being pissed off at me, but I'm like, “Sav, I just had the most embarrassing final Tribal last night because I went with you guys and my heart. I'm not doing that this time.”

And it's not that they could've influenced me. I was set on putting them in fire. The reason why I kind of took myself away from the situation was because I was contemplating two things: either putting Sav and Rizo in fire, or putting myself in fire against Sav. And so I was going through that all day. I spent hours on that beach figuring out what to do. And I just thought: I want at least a shot to prove myself at that final Tribal. I've been through so much in this game. I think there's a chance. And I wasn't wrong. I know she played such a dominant game, but from what the jury has told me, I think I still had a chance to potentially win even sitting next to her.

**Are you good at fire? How would you have done?**

I actually was okay at fire. That's honestly one of the regrets that I have. I had two. One is not taking Rizo’s idol, and two is probably not putting myself in fire against Sav, even though she did pretty well on that fire. Who knows? She probably would've beat beat me in that too because she was such a badass.

Sophi Balerdi on 'Survivor 49'.

**Let’s talk about the Knowledge Is Power. Be honest with me Sophi. Keep it 100. How long did you work on your little speech there that you delivered to Steven when you tried to take his advantage?**

I think a couple hours before Tribal. I was so excited. I was so confident. I think it was just having had kept that power to myself for so long, I was so excited to use it and do this thing in front of the jury, and it just blew up in my face. It was so embarrassing. But I mean, whatever. Did you catch that when Steven was talking about me in the finale, he called me a Silent Assassin. I wasn't totally wrong. There was a lot of things that were not shown. I hate to be the person that's like, “They didn't show it in the edit,” because I'm grateful for my edit, but there was a lot that they didn't show that I did post merge. You guys saw my pre-emerge journey. You think I was just sitting on my hands doing nothing for the rest of the merge? Hell no!

There's a reason me, Sav, and Rizo got so far, and it wasn't just because of them. They will tell you that themselves too. I was a little bit of a silent assassin and had that little thing of him having to play it in a confessional not been true that that would've been my flashy move and I would've felt so comfortable sitting with Sav and Rizo at the end, because I knew that the jury liked me over them. And I'll say that confidently. If I sat next to Sav and Rizo, I still think I had a good chance. Who knows what would've happened?

Sophi Balerdi on 'Survivor 49'.

**You appeared to be the swing vote between eliminating Kristina or Sage at the final five. Why did you ultimately decide to knock Kristina out, or was Savannah just insistent?**

It was kind of me and Rizo making the decision, and him and I talked all day long about both options. And I thought the logical move was to take Kristina to the end because though I love the girl, again, perception in the game is reality. And I thought, at the very least, you go with Kristina to final three, you get at least second place. And Sage, we didn't know. We thought that she had some friends in the jury and some of those votes that she could have potentially gotten would've taken away from one of ours.

So we thought the logical move was to bring Kristina, but Sav was really afraid to lose to Kristina at fire potentially. And then it kind of got into Rizo's head. And so Rizo ended up flipping and deciding to vote Sage out. And I was like, “What's the point of me voting Kristina out if both of their votes are going to get Kristina out anyways? What's the point in voting Sage out if their votes are going to get Kristina out any anyways?” Either way, I think we all felt like we had a good chance against them, so it didn't really matter that much.

Especially after that back and forth that they had at final five Tribal. Both of them were talking about how bad their games were to make a point that they should be taken to the final four. So I was like, *Honestly, I feel good sitting next to either one of them now. Like, please keep tanking your game in front of the jury.*

Sophi Balerdi on 'Survivor 49'.

**What's going through your mind when Kristina asked Savannah to name a loved one of every single juror? Are you doing a happy dance inside?**

In the moment, I was doing a super happy dance, because this was also a moment for me to shine. And there was a lot edited out of that, but I used that as an opportunity. Because when Sav failed at answering that question to be like, “Nico, Wyatt, Kelsey…” and go through each person and name their families — that was my strength in the game, my social game, my relationships. And so I was able to do that. I was able to name a family member for each person sitting there.

I don't know why they didn't show it because it was kind of badass and Kristina loved it. She was like, “Honestly, that was one of the things that earned you my vote because it proved your social game.” But I didn't think it was totally fair because it takes a lot more than knowing people's family members to win *Survivor* and get to where Sav got herself. But I did think it was kind of fun and it was like old school *Survivor* and reminded me of the crazy questions that they used to ask in the past that were kind of petty. And it benefited me, kind of, so I loved it.

Sophi Balerdi on 'Survivor 49'.

**Last one for you. You can only pick one. Who do you root for to *win Survivor 50*:* *Savannah or Rizo?**

I'm going to say Rizo and I'll tell you why. Because Sav already won. She doesn't need another million now. She could just put that in a high yield savings and make more than Rizo and I made together in one year. So I'm going to give this to Rizo. I think he deserves it. It's season 50. If there's anyone that could do it, it's my boy right there. I hope that he wins it.

**Is Savannah paying for all the drinks for you three now?**

She bought my coffee this morning! And I hope she buys me dinner tonight. I'm going to make a reservation at Ruth's Chris. She owes both of us a steak. Why did she take Sage? Sage was talking crap about her the entire game. I think you owed it to me and Rizo, who had your backs even when it didn't make sense.

**Were you legit pissed about that?**

No, the steak at that point, it was like the home stretch. We were about to have pizza and all that, so I wasn't too mad. But I did think it was weird to take Sage. She legit was crapping on Sav the entire game. And me and Rizo, we are her best friends, so she just should have taken one of us.

**Well, you got $100,000 you can buy yourself a steak now.**

That's true. I can afford it.

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