Could there really be a 'showmance' brewing?
Spoiler alert! Do not proceed if you have not watched Wednesday's episode of Survivor.
It was back to classic Survivor on Wednesday's episode, with the season's second castaway voted out at tribal council and a surprising love confession by another that seemingly came out of nowhere.
After saying goodbye to Zach last week, the tribe facing elimination this time was Taku, the same one that overcame the odds in the premiere after unexpectedly losing a tribemate (Jackson) due to an undisclosed medical situation. Leading up to tribal, it appeared that the two frontrunners to be voted out of the game were Marya Sherron and Maryanne Oketch.
For a brief moment it seemed like Marya, who shared that her late brother was the first healthcare worker in the U.S. to die from COVID-19 in March 2020, was possibly safe from elimination when her tribemates strategized who of the two would be best to keep around. But in the end, they opted to keep Maraynne, whom they described as "a ball of energy" and the "hustle," and vote out Marya, who unsuccessfully attempted to play an advantage at tribal.
Marya's wish of burying the necklace she wore, an homage to her late brother, was quickly dashed.
Elsewhere in the episode, Maryanne revealed -- after learning that Zach Wurtenberger was voted out right before the immunity challenge -- that she harbored a crush on him, which took everyone outside of his tribemates (including Jeff Probst) by surprise.
"Zach is like every type of white guy I have a crush on," she revealed to laughs. "So there goes that."
"Really?" Probst asked, shocked. "So a blossoming love affair is over?"
"No, not on Survivor though! If we met like on a tribe swap and connected after, then after this is over...," Maryanne explained, prompting Probst to provide context for her schoolgirl crush.
"In the midst of a very difficult game, you still had a little hope for love," Probst summed up.
"I have a 100 percent rejection rate with all the guys that I've liked, so I'll focus on the game now. But a little part of me was like...," she adorably replied.
"As somebody who loves love, keep hope alive," the Survivor host advised.
And the topic of Maryanne's crush continued throughout the rest of the episode and up until tribal, when it became clear she could be on the verge of reuniting with Zach at Ponderosa, the place where the rejected castaways hang out once they're out of the game.
"Right now going to tribal is when I just realized, 'Oh, I'm actually playing Survivor.' I want to learn more, I want to do more with my tribe members. Like, don't send me to Zach! I'm not ready, please," Maryanne said with a laugh during tribal.
When Probst asked her if "love really is on her mind right now" even as the votes were about to be cast, she couldn't help but have a big laugh.
"It's like, being 23 and always single, maybe there's something wrong with you because no one romantically likes you, you know? And it's like, something that I've always been working on," she said. "And the thing is, Zach is literally picture perfect. And I'm like, 'Hey God, is that you?' Like, this is two-for-one. You win Survivor and you also get a man. And at the reunion it's like, 'Yeah! Maryanne! So you started to date Zach, how'd that work out?' 'Well Jeff, thank you for putting me on season 42!' Even though a part of the game is about winning, you still think about the little things too."
To say Probst and her tribemates were taken aback at her forecasting the future would be an understatement!
Fortunately for Maryanne, she got her wish and she skirted elimination. Instead, Marya was voted out of the game.
Survivor airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
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