The ousted player also explains why “I’m the winner of season 50 to date.”

Coach reveals why one Survivor 50 player had to go vote twice at Tribal Council

The ousted player also explains why "I'm the winner of season 50 to date."

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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April 16, 2026 11:40 a.m. ET

Benjamin "Coach" Wade on 'Survivor 50'. Credit:

Robert Voets/CBS

- He or she who has honor and integrity shall pass and read the most honorable "Survivor" exit interview ever.

- A soldier has fallen on the reality TV battlefield, yet the war continues… from the jury.

- A song emanates from the lips of a wily bard, even if that song may be slightly off-key.

Benjamin “Coach” Wade was running the votes on *Survivor 50*… until a new double-elimination twist got him run right out of the game. Coach and fellow ally Chrissy Hofbeck were both voted out after the tribe was divided up into pairs, with one pair then being voted out together.

Worried that Coach was rubbing people the wrong way, his allies begged him to tone down his act and take a seat on the hammock — and he *mostly* seemed to comply. But once the other contestants saw an opportunity to severely weaken the honor and integrity alliance by ousting Coach and Chrissy, his fate was sealed. And Rick Devens pulling a fake idol out of the Tribal Council set was the final nail in the coffin.

What does Coach make of his allies voting him out? How does he feel about some of the colorful comments made about him by castmates in their confessional interviews? And is this the end of his *Survivor* story? We asked the Dragonslayer all that and more, and you can either watch or read the entire interview below.

**: What was your initial reaction when you learned that a pair of players would be voted out together? Tell me the first thing going through your mind when Probst dropped that bomb?**

**BENJAMIN “COACH” WADE:* ****I think I should have gotten a different partner.* *[Laughs.]* Because obviously if we would've known that, we would've picked somebody outside of our alliance. Nothing about Chrissy. We started this game together, we finished this game together, we had a great relationship. But I would've picked somebody from the other alliance, for sure.

**Who would you have tried to pick?**

I probably would've picked Rizo. Or maybe Christian.

Because they're the unseen heroes at that point out there. Rizo had actually taken 10 days off. He laid flat on his back and was jumping in confessionals, but he doesn't drink coconuts and he doesn't eat anything. So the guy was literally wasted on the bamboo. They were the unsung heroes and they were in my alliance, I thought at the time, but they were outside of my alliance. So I would've chosen one of those. I mean, it's foolish to pick somebody in your alliance, right?

Chrissy Hofbeck and Coach on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**Let’s get into the Tribal Council. Did you buy that Devens’ idol was real?**

It was enough to spook everybody, right? I do really think it was gonna be touch and go, and I knew that going in. But when he did that, even Emily said, "That's not a real idol." And actually I got up—you don't see it—but I got up and I was like, "Guys, this is not a real idol." I did not think it was a real idol, but again, there's that little bit of doubt. And that was the tipping point.

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**Were you surprised that allies like Joe and Stephenie put your name down?**

I was surprised. But I'm always surprised. Let's go back in episode. The reason why I lost my marbles — two reasons: I'm a joyous person and I wanted to throw some high tunes out there; but also, I really could not believe that in *Survivor 50*, everybody would wanna go into the vote 12 on Dee. That blew my mind. It blew my mind that nobody wanted to vote anybody else. And I literally asked Chrissy, Stephenie, Ozzy, Joe —  I asked everybody: "So you don't want to split the vote because you don't want to vote for Tiffany? As somebody that actually I was in a day one alliance with, you don't want to vote anybody else, let's put all the votes on Dee?” And across the board, unanimously, that's what people wanted to do. And so I've always been surprised. I don't know why I am. The cowards are surrounding me, you know? So it's just crazy.

Coach and Jonathan Young on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**Was Joe already voting for you before that whole Devens thing? Because we saw that conversation where he was trying to lock in with Rizo. And if he *was* already putting your name down, what do you make of that?**

First of all, I don't think it was his idea. Cirie is the snake in the grass in this episode, and I messaged her last night, and everybody's cordial—you know, I have no animosity about anybody, including Ozzy—but Joe: Listen, you're in Tribal and you don't want to be that one person on the numbers that’s writing somebody's name down. In fact, we saw that last week; the people that voted Tiffany, there was a witch hunt. “Who wrote down Tiffany's name?” And then they automatically have a target.

Joe said to me, and I think that this is accurate, that he did not write my name down, and they actually made him go back in the booth because he only wrote Chrissy's name down. He says, "I'm not writing Coach's name down." They took him and they made him go back in the booth and write both names down. So no, I don't think that he was gonna do that. I don't think really that anybody was gunning for me. Even Ozzy. You know, truth be told, Dee did say to Cirie that I was putting her name out there, was not accurate. So I think that Joe and everybody was not ready to do that, coupled with the bit of magic that Cirie was spreading and then the idol, that was the downfall.

Coach on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**Cirie said, "Look, Coach and Chrissy are the head of the snake of that alliance. They are the power people. We need to take them out. " Was that a smart move on her part?**

That was not a smart move on her part.

Because the known quantity is much better than the unknown quantity on *Survivor*. And I have proven time and time again that I am a known quantity. You tell me when I've gone into Tribal saying something and then voting someplace else. When has that ever happened? It doesn't happen. And so I think it was foolish to do.

'Survivor 50' recap: Why this double elimination twist was a winner

'Survivor 50' Mystery Box: Jeff Probst clarifies rules on hiding idols at Tribal Council (exclusive)

**You are a ferocious competitor, so how did you handle your sudden demise here? How were you while heading on that boat over to Ponderosa?**

You’ve got to be magnanimous in losing. And I have very few regrets in life. Regret is a wasted emotion, but I do feel bad about being such a poor loser in *South Pacific* and, you know, calling Ozzy a whiny little B. And so when the torch is snuffed, you just gotta say, "Hey, this is destiny*."* And take it and say, "Look, who am I gonna be in my character?" when you lose. It's easy to win. Everybody can be, “Great job, well done.” But when you lose, that's when your character shows.

And so when the torch is being snuffed, I had a great moment and you saw a little bit of it. But Jeff and I had a real moment, and I closed my eyes, and I [exhaled slowly], and he did not do anything. He just looked at me. And then I opened up my eyes, and he nodded and said it. So it was cool. And Rizo is saying, "Coach, you changed my life. You're a hero." And being able to just look back at everybody, because for a split second, you want to turn around and say, "All right, listen, you mother friggers, screw all of you!" And it's like: *Yeah, but that's not who you are.*

Ozzy Lusth, Quintavius Burdette, and Coach on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**What was it like having all your allies telling you to go sit on the hammock and stay quiet?**

Check this out, right? The haikus and the kookiness, there comes a point in every season where I'm like, "All right, we are making a TV show." And I'm the winner of season 50 to date. I really am. I've showed people that there's a different side of me. There's a fatherly side. But then that Coach still is sitting there in the background ready to come out. And I won! I'm not gonna mention names, but you and I both know that there are 15 people from this season that will not be remembered. They're gonna be a footnote. And the Dragonslayer has never been a footnote. And so when my allies are telling me that, look at the progress. If somebody would've told me that in *Tocantins*, I would've gotten bent.

But wisdom is realizing that you don't have all the answers. And to be coached by Rizo — As much as I resented him and as much as I'm pissed at Colby for giving his stamp on Rizo, because I told everybody, day one, “Rizo needs to go,” because he was the unknown quantity, nothing against him. It's Russell Hantz all over again. But the allies tell me that, and Rizo tells me that — it was great wisdom. So it was very easy for me to just sit, relax. And then couldn't help myself. Had to sit there and sing and whisper a few haikus when nobody's looking.

I wake up every single morning, Dalton, and I am wildly ecstatic to be alive. God has blessed me with joy, but not patience. He's blessed me with faith, but maybe sometimes not self-control. But I'm so joyous. And you see that come out. And I love the fact that this season, except for that one episode, I was just ecstatic to be there.

Chrissy and Coach on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**You brought up Ozzy a few times. Tell me about your relationship with Ozzy. It's obviously been up and down over the past 15 years. It was certainly up and down out there for season 50. Tell me where it's at right now after watching everything play out.**

I made a decision to call him out early. He was really bent out of shape about me beating him. I almost got that key, just letting you know. Let's say Ozzy almost got that key 30 times. I almost got the key, let's say, eight times. But it wasn't like I was a complete non-factor. But I made the decision to call him out and I said, "If it blows my game up, it blows my game up.” It was great screen time. There was not a lot of conflict early on. That was a great moment. And I stand by that. I’d do that again. So Ozzy and I have this love-hate relationship, and I knew I couldn't fully trust him, but hats off to Ozzy because he is playing a more strategic game this time.

And I'll be honest, he duped me. He really did. I actually thought: *Hey, Ozzy and I can play this game together where we're at now.* And we came to a really good moment. I mean, I’ll never, ever forget… *say that again, Ozzy*: “You should have won *South Pacific*.” *Say that again, Ozzy.* It was great for him to say that at the beginning, and then for us to immediately go south. I texted him and voice messaged him and I said, "We're actually like brothers. We get in fights. We don't always seem eye to eye, but there is something there. There is this fraternal relationship that we have.”

I don't agree with his decisions and he went through a dark place. I understand that. I didn't agree with that. but I appreciate him opening up and owning that. And wherever he is at on his journey, I wanna meet him where he's at. And I have no ill will towards him whatever.

Coach and Ozzy on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**How did you feel about what some of the players said in their confessional interviews about you on the show, like Rizo saying it was embarrassing that he had to teach you, the Dragonslayer, how to act on *Survivor?***

Comical. It's all good. Rizo, Devens, me, Christian know we're filming a TV show. And he was right. I had really gotten caught up in what people were saying, right? And that was the downfall. My downfall was in trusting Colby and trusting Genevieve and trusting Stephenie, who's been duped by Cirie on five separate shows, and yet she's still like “Cirie is true, we can trust her,” and all that kind of stuff.

My downfall was in trusting other people. I didn't wanna work with Rizo. I knew that he was a snake, but Genevieve was like “Oh, he loves you. He really, really loves you. You've gotta give him a chance.” Okay. Colby: “Man, I could put my life on this guy.” And so that was kind of frustrating for me. But as far as people saying stuff about me, and Tiffany doing this. *Hey, you know what? You guys were complaining about not enough female airtime. I got broad shoulders. Come on my back, slag me off, you're gonna get your screen time.* So there you go, right? I mean, it all revolves around me! So who cares? It's totally fine. I don't take it the wrong way. A long time ago, old Dragonslayer would've been pissed and made lines in the sand, but now, it's all good.

Coach and Aubry Bracco on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**What’s something that happened out there this season that never made it to TV that you wish we had seen?**

I'll tell you two really quick ones. There was a moment when I was calculating up the days and I realized that it was my wife's big recital. She's got 270 students in her dance studio and I realized my daughter was dancing, and I know she was looking out there in the audience and wanting to see me. And it was a very hard day and I just started silently weeping. And Chrissy came over to me, put her shoulder around me, and it was just real and it was the most touching moment on *Survivor*. It was a golden moment. So that's one.

And then another one, which was, I was so mad that it didn't make the edit: We're sitting there at Tribal, and we're going back and forth and finally I was like, “All right, look everybody, let's drop the Dragonslayer shtick. I wake up every morning wildly happy to be alive.” And Jeff says, "You know what, Coach, I gotta tell you, when people come up and ask me about *Survivor*, I always ask them, ‘What do you think of Coach?’ And if somebody says, ‘Eh, I don't really care for him,’ then I know they're not a true fan. Coach, you are my litmus test of *Survivor*.”

It blew me away. I thought: *If that makes the edit, I'll die happy*. I guess I'm not gonna die happy now. But anyway, I was really honored by that. Jeff and I have a great relationship. I have nothing but respect for him. The twists and turns of this season, I wanna say, have been fascinating. You know, it sucks while you're in it and it's unsettling and some people have liked it. They've received criticism. I even criticized it at one point, the LA rock show. But you know what? That's what makes it interesting. When *Survivor* becomes predictable — look at *South Pacific* — when *Survivor* becomes predictable, it becomes boring, and this season is anything but boring.

Coach on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**You say you're the litmus test for *Survivor*, so it's worth asking you then: Is this the end of your *Survivor* story, Coach? It felt kind of definitive there with that torch snuff, but you tell me.**

You know, it's one big victory lap for me, and I didn't ever expect to come back. I don't expect to come back now. Maybe I'm the Brett Favre of *Survivor* because listen, I'm a performer, man. I love being on that stage, and *Survivor* is the ultimate stage. So I don't know if that was my last time out there. It was hard this time. I will learn lessons and try to do better next time, but I think that was the last time.

**Listen, I'm a little upset with you. You're sitting here you're putting Rizo in the Four Horsemen, you're passing out nicknames to everyone, and I'm sitting here like chopped liver. I mean, you gotta give me something, Coach!**

I do. I'm dropping nicknames on my website. There's a limited run. 200 of them. We’re way over the 100s. There are a few spots left. And so I would be remiss if I didn't give one to you. We've been here for a long time. And it came to me descended from the universe. You're gonna love it, okay? I'm gonna give you actually the full quote that I gave in last week's Tribal, and that was: “Only in silence, the word. Only in truth, dishonesty. BRIGHT! The hawk’s flight on an empty sky.”

You, my friend, are gonna be officially nicknamed the Whispering Falcon. That circles the air silently until the perfect prey comes into vision, and then descends quickly, swiftly, definitively, but with great wisdom.

**I'm soaring right now, Coach.**

Let's go! Let's go!

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Source: “EW Survivor”