'Survivor' 50's Ozzy Lusth speaks out after Rizo's heartbreaking blindside: 'I always had doubts'
'Survivor 50' sent home two players during Wednesday night's episode, ‘Everyone Will Be Shooketh!,’ which aired on May 6 on CBS. Ozzy Lusth and Emily Flippen were eliminated only two weeks before the finale, which is set to air on May 20. Despite the brutal double elimination, what sparked buzz after the episode was Rizo Velovic's betrayal of his close ally, Ozzy. Cirie Fields, Ozzy, and Rizo formed a tight alliance in the latest season of 'Survivor,' working behind the scenes to eliminate other players and secure their place in the finale. But the latest episode proved that no one is really safe. Ozzy walked into Tribal Council expecting Aubry Bracco to be on the chopping block, unaware that she had turned the tables on him. His fatal mistake? Trusting Aubry with his game plan, in the hopes that she would support him as a potential juror.
Following his departure, Ozzy spoke to Parade about Rizo's betrayal. He revealed that he wasn't sure about Rizo's intentions from the start, but decided to trust him at Cirie's behest. "At the end of the day, Cirie vouched for him. I have always had reservations. I always had doubts about Rizo, just because you don’t know his game. You don’t know how he’s going to play. So I do think, though, that Rizo had a major advantage. We didn’t see how he played his first game. But yeah, it was really painful to know that, again, I had intuition about him not knowing I could trust him. But Cirie felt good about him, so I said, 'Okay, well, Cirie’s obviously got better observation skills than I do. She’s vouched for him. So you know what? I’m going to trust Cirie, and I’m not going to second-guess.' I should have," he said.
Ozzy's name had been thrown around at the last two Tribal Councils, but Cirie was his guardian angel, always deflecting attention to other players to keep her close ally safe. However, in the latest episode, Ozzy and Cirie were split into different groups, with the move proving fatal for the 44-year-old business owner. Ozzy's group included Rizo, Aubry, and Joe Hunter. When Rizo got word of Ozzy talking to Aubry about their secret alliance, he saw Ozzy as a loose cannon and kept him in the dark about Aubry leading the charge against him. Ozzy didn't play his idol at Tribal Council because he was convinced that he was safe from this week's elimination. However, he was unanimously voted out by Aubry, Rizo, Joe, and Jonathan 4-1. His elimination was a brutal repeat of 'Survivor' Season 16, where he was similarly sent home after he failed to use his idol.
Notably, Ozzy had a dream about being eliminated in a similar fashion the night before. However, he decided to trust his team, as they assured him they were targeting Aubry at Tribal Council. During the interview, he termed his decision not to play the idol a "really stupid mistake," admittedly a costly one, as the cash prize was doubled to $2 million during last week's episode. New episodes of 'Survivor 50' air on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
