Survivor 41 contestant Ricard Foyé discusses what was going through his head during the final moments before his elimination. Ricard performed well throughout the competition and frequently found himself at an advantage against other players with a strong alliance with one of the game’s most clever contestants Shan Smith. Now, he opens up about what it meant for him to betray Shan, and why he felt that was the right decision to make at the time.
Ricard is from Sedro-Wooley, Washington, and has been a long-time fan of the Survivor franchise previous to his appearance on Survivor 41. Outside of being one of Survivor’s most recent castaways, Ricard has worked as a flight attendant. He has been one of this season’s top competitors and, before his recent elimination, Ricard was predicted to be this season’s winner.
Now that Ricard has been eliminated, he tells Parade that there are a few things he might have done differently. When voicing his opinions during the final Tribal Council, he feels he may have been too passionate in trying to enact his strategic plans to ensure that Erika would win and saying that Deshawn Radden had spoken negatively about the Luvus. “You could see it in my eyes. I got crazy. I got too angry, and I had to calm down.” While Ricard wasn’t completely confident he would be able to avoid elimination, he says he had hoped he would be able to convince Xander Hastings not to use his idol on him by convincing Xander that saving him was his only opportunity to win the game. He adds that had he been in Xander’s shoes, he may not have believed his advice.
Ricard says that his relationship with Shan during the competition was a bit different from the way it was shown on television. Ricard claims that the two only had one thing in common at first, saying “the power dynamic with Shan and I was we both wanted power; we wanted to be in charge. ” He explains that he realized it would be in his best interest to team up with Shan when he realized Sara Wilson would likely be sent home. Despite this being the case, Ricard says he wishes viewers had been able to see why he bonded with Shan, saying “She didn’t say she was living with MS at the time. But she said she was living with autoimmune diseases and had just gotten chemo. We bonded over the fact that I had had surgery to have something removed from my neck. We just bonded over medical stuff.” They became very close, but Ricard says things took a turn when Shan told him she wanted to keep Deshawn in the game. Ricard explains that Deshawn posed a threat to him in the competition, and Shan had previously stated that she would help have Deshawn eliminated. “With that backpedaling, I knew it just had to be the time. It had to be that moment.”
Like many other contestants on Survivor 41, Ricard put forth his best efforts throughout the competition. While it was not enough to prevent his elimination, he made it pretty far and was often pulling the strings as others were taken out of the game. Shan and Ricard seemed to have created a strong friendship, but they were also both noted as being some of the biggest threats to the competition. Together, they seemed to be in control of things. They were arguably one of the coldest and most calculated duos in the game, but Ricard’s betrayal of Shan was ultimately inevitable. Not everyone can win, and the two most competitive players were sure to turn on one another eventually, even if they bonded over shared medical experiences and a thirst for power. Still, it seems like Shan and Ricard have spoken highly of each other in other regards, and hopefully will be on good terms in the future.
Source: Parade
