This article contains spoilers for episode 7 of Survivor 45, which aired on Nov. 8.
Although Kaleb Gebrewold called himself out for being a social and physical threat, he determined that there were other Survivor 45 castaways with more strategic prowess. And at the top of that list was Drew Basile.
Kaleb entered episode 7 on Wednesday night on the heels of a historic voting ceremony, which closed with his beginning his trip to Ponderosa as the Jury’s first member. Last episode, 11 votes were cast against Kaleb, but he saved himself with his Shot in the Dark — the first time the new-era advantage was played successfully.
However, when he returned to camp after J. Maya was sent packing, Kaleb knew he was the consensus target of the newly formed Dakuwaqa merge tribe. How couldn’t he be? Every player (except for Austin Li Coon, who sacrificed his vote to extend the life of his Hidden Immunity Idol) attempted to oust the Canadian.
He still had allies — players who voted for him only because they knew he’d likely be taken out, and wanted to stick with the numbers — like Emily Flippen and Jake O’Kane. But, he also clocked multiple foes, including Drew, and Bruce Perrault, a former ally openly gunning for him and carrying a Hidden Immunity Idol.
Drew has been linked to Austin, Dee Valladares, and Julie Alley since they played together on Reba’s beach at the start of the game. Kaleb knew they were all in on voting him out. However, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly after his ceremonious elimination was aired, Kaleb explained that he viewed the 23-year-old graduate student as the more strategic threat.
He said that Drew was the magnet keeping Austin and Nicholas “Sifu” Alsup away from him, and that if he voted Drew out, he’d have an easier time pulling them over to his side.
“My number one targets coming out of the Shot in the Dark were: Number one, I felt like Bruce was going to have to go sooner [rather] than later,” Kaleb said. “And the other one was Drew. Because, ultimately, Emily was telling me at the time, ‘Hey, listen, if you want to get Austin, if you want to get Sifu, you probably have to get Drew.’ And I just felt for Austin and Sifu. It was so obvious for the meat shields to keep each other that I really looked and said, ‘Logically, if they’re listening to Drew this much that they’re going to go against their own best interests, then Drew has to be taken out sooner [rather] than later.’ So, to me, I felt like Drew was probably the biggest strategic threat. And then Bruce was probably the next best thing if he was eligible because he had an idol. And when somebody is so stark against you, it’s an immovable object.”
Regardless, Kaleb and Sifu’s luck ran out after the 12-person merged tribe split into two groups of six. After Dee won their group’s Immunity, Kaleb and the five others attended Tribal Council together. Kaleb and Jake launched a campaign to vote out Julie, but Katurah Topps sided with Julie, Austin, and Dee at Tribal Council, and Kaleb was sent to the Jury with a 4-2 spread.
Before that, Sifu was voted out of the other group, which included Drew. Although Drew liked the idea of voting out Bruce, he didn’t have the numbers to do so. Considering Sifu had been a target of Drew’s as well, he went with the majority and voted out Sifu ahead of the Jury opening up.