Christian Hubicki came into Survivor 50 with a plan, and for most of the season, it was working. The robotics professor and season 37 alum orchestrated one of the biggest blindsides of the season, maneuvering Mike White out of the game before the merge could make Hubicki a target. “Maneuvering to get out Mike White,” he said, “was both strategically and tactically the right move in a lot of ways, as much as it was counterintuitive.”
But big moves come with consequences. His decision to pitch voting out Ozzy Lusth to the wrong person set off a chain reaction that ultimately cost him the game. “Talking to Cirie [Fields] about getting rid of Ozzy—that was a mistake,” he admitted. “Far and away, the clearest thing I would call a mistake.” It made him a target for Lusth’s closest ally, Cirie Fields, and if you know anything about Survivor, that is not a position you want to be in.
He headed into Tribal Council already in a hole, having lost the Jimmy Fallon puzzle challenge, which forced him to vote for himself at Tribal because he couldn’t finish the puzzle in time during the challenge.
Still, Hubicki is leaving proud. “I’m kind of the luckiest man alive,” he said. He played twice and he spent most of his time in the driver’s seat. That counts for a lot.
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Editor’s Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
My first question, the obvious one: how are you feeling?
I’m doing great, feeling great. I think it’s easy to get lost in all the details and ins and outs of what happened at a vote, with a twist and things like that. You have to take a step back. I got to play, as a professor, on a show that I love, twice, and once for its 50th season. I’m kind of the luckiest man alive in a lot of ways. I feel fantastic.
And the other obvious question: because of that Jimmy Fallon challenge and the direction that puzzle went, are you ever going to watch The Tonight Show again?
I always have hope for reconciliation. The day is still young. I can see a mediator between me and Jimmy to really work through our differences, because there could still be a relationship here. I never say never.
When I was watching that, and when that puzzle went into the ocean, I was like, there is no way in the world I would ever watch Jimmy Fallon again. He would haunt me.
I think that’s kind of you. What it comes down to is there’s a lot of factors that go into Survivor, and a lot of luck. Sometimes you get good luck and sometimes you get bad luck. There were times I caught good breaks this season and times I caught bad ones. We all fight for our shot to win this crazy game, but if we’re honest, we only have so much control over that. Bad things happen, and you also make some suboptimal moves and mistakes. So as much as I’m proud, and I stand by so much of what I’ve done, that’s life.
Let’s break that down. What is a move you made during your time on Survivor 50 that you think was a success?
Maneuvering to get out Mike White was both strategically and tactically the right move in a lot of ways, as much as it was counterintuitive. In the sciences, sometimes you look for counterintuitive solutions that turn out to be perfect. As much as I liked Mike and wanted to work with him, the merge was coming. I had three people from my original season. People saw me, Mike and Angelina [Keeley] as a trio, and yes, I was close to Mike, but Angelina and I were not super close. Being perceived as a trio is bad. Being seen as protecting that trio for multiple votes is worse. At the merge, I become the target. That’s literally happened to me before. So how do I defuse that? I could try to get out Angelina, but Mike was steadfast against that. He was trying to protect her and convince me I had nothing to worry about going into the merge—just get rid of Emily [Flippen]. But at that point I had to look at Mike differently. As much as I liked him, I had to view him not as a potential closest ally but as the glue between Angelina and Ozzy, who didn’t necessarily get along. Take out Mike and suddenly those two don’t work together, and my three does. The trio gets broken up, you set up a next vote where Angelina goes home, and at the merge people aren’t saying Christian’s gotta go because he’s part of this trio.
True. And what’s the decision you made that you regret most?
One hundred percent talking to Cirie about getting rid of Ozzy. That was far and away the clearest mistake I made. It was such a pivotal one because I had such hopes of working with Cirie deep into the game, and we were working together throughout. One of the benefits of playing Survivor a second time is you know generally how the game goes for you, when you’ll be targeted and when you’re a little safer. For me, I was going to be targeted at the merge, then again near the end. That’s typically what happens. And I needed to find someone else who gets targeted near the end, and that’s Cirie. I wanted to work with her so badly that I think I didn’t see, despite plenty of signs, how close she was with Ozzy. Pitching Ozzy to her was a very bad idea. If I hadn’t done that, I don’t think she would have been so quick to throw me under the bus. She said I was her number three, I’m happy to take that. That’s a flattering thing.
Compared to your original season, it felt like you came in to play in 50 from the jump, faster, more aggressive strategically. How do you feel about how you played the game?
I’m thrilled with how I played. It was a very different trajectory for me. In my first season I didn’t go to nearly as many tribal councils, and once I started going, I was the target over and over again, just trying to survive each vote. This time I had a lot more agency. I was never the target, never caught any votes until the episode I went home. I had much more of a hand in shaping the battlefield, who do I take off the board here so this looks better for me long term? I had a much more defined doctrine: these are the types of people that make sense to take out early, in the middle, at the end. And I was able to follow that playbook for so much of it. Ironically, Ozzy wasn’t on the playbook. I lost sight of it. If I had followed it closer, the answer was clear: don’t go for Ozzy. That doesn’t make any sense. And I think that was correct.
What I loved about your game is that someone like Mike White is popular in the Survivor world and in the outside world—Emmys, White Lotus, all of it. Targeting him puts a spotlight on you. And then with Ozzy, who is such a legend in this game, it feels like you were making these big moves against icons. That’s what Survivor fans want to see.
That’s very kind. I really was proud. Obviously there’s a lot more game left and I wish I had gone deeper, but I’m immensely proud of what I was able to do. I got to play with all of these incredible players. And the fact that I was taken out, in my estimation, by Cirie, there are worse things in the world than losing Survivor to Cirie. I was fighting to go deeper, but when it’s all said and done, look what I did. And I think that’s partly the message I want to send to my son: you should be kind in life, you should be giving and self-sacrificing where you should, but you should also stand up for yourself and fight for what you feel you can earn. That’s the attitude I came into this with. Maybe that’s what you’re sensing.
Is there anyone you’re rooting for to go all the way?
Of course my buddy Rick Devens. And I’ll also say Emily came out swinging for me, she almost went home trying to save me. She could have just thrown me under the bus. People were telling me, “Don’t save her, she’s going to flip on you.” But she had the perfect opportunity to do that and she didn’t. So Rick and Emily, I really hope they can pull something out. Rick is Captain Kirk to my Mr. Spock. He has such a clever way of going about the game. I had such a fun time playing with him. I would love to see him go the distance.
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