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Why didn’t Bruce Perreault play his Hidden Immunity Idol on ‘Survivor 45?’

He needed to, that's for sure.

Image via CBS

It’s a tale as old as time in the reality competition universe — castaways being voted out of Survivor after not playing their Hidden Immunity Idol. And season 45’s Bruce Perreault is the latest to suffer the relatively embarrassing fate.

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Bruce walked into day 19’s Tribal Council without an Immunity Necklace. Instead, he had a Hidden Immunity Idol in his pocket. Bruce had long been the castaways’ biggest target, but considering he was immune at the only four voting ceremonies he attended up to episode 10 — which included back-to-back Immunity Challenge wins on days 16 and 17 — it was primetime for “Reba 4” to oust the insurance agent.

Bruce knew the crosshairs were on him, and was open about wanting to use his advantage that night. But, he was convinced by Emily Flippen that he was a part of another plan, one that’d directly lead to the elimination of Julie Alley — one of four ex-Reba contestants locked into the dominant alliance.

The idea was that Bruce was voting alongside Emily, Jake O’Kane, and Katurah Topps, while the other four were splitting their votes between him and Jake in anticipation of Bruce’s Idol play. Well, Tribal Council rolled around and Bruce believed the plan was about to be enacted.

But, unfortunately for the 47-year-old, it was all a ruse made up by Emily to make him feel comfortable enough not to play his Idol. Along with Julie, Emily, Katurah, and Jake piled their votes onto Bruce, while Austin Li Coon, Drew Basile, and Dee Valladres wrote Jake’s name down.

And when it came time for Bruce to use it, he didn’t. And that was the final domino in Bruce’s two-season story arc on Survivor. He joined the Jury as its fourth member while moving to Ponderosa with a souvenir — his unplayed Idol.

Why didn’t Bruce use his Hidden Immunity Idol in episode 10?

Did Bruce keep his Idol holstered because his trust in Emily, the woman who publicly called him out as a threat on day 1, was so great? Well, yes. That’s exactly why he didn’t use it.

Bruce spoke with Parade in an exit interview after episode 10 aired. Although some of what the castaways were saying at Tribal Council had his spidey senses tingling, he said he ultimately chose to keep his Idol for another day. He was convinced that Julie was heading home, not him.

“Drew, with his comments that he said [at Tribal], he got my mind spinning a little bit. And I was very close to taking off my left shoe–that’s where I had the idol hidden–and just taking out that idol and playing it on myself. But when you have some very convincing people that can tell very good lies right to your face, it changes your thought process a little bit. And credit to the people that are there. Back when we voted off Sifu, I was gonna play my idol then. And I was convinced not to with the great conversations that I had. And they kind of echoed the very same thing this time. So they got me.”

Bruce also confirmed that it was Emily who streamlined the entire narrative that the Reba 4 gang was about to lose “Mama J.” But, as we saw in the episode, Emily was lying through her teeth. It’s still unclear why she did it, besides to boost her resume if she finds herself still in the game during the final Tribal Council. On paper, ousting a member of Reba 4 would’ve boded well for Emily’s game. But, taking out Bruce was her priority on day 19.

Bruce told the outlet that he and Emily had a much stronger connection than the edit showed. He’d consistently relay any information he had to her, and vice versa. “Now, how much of that was a truth?” Bruce said. “We don’t know. But when I go back and think about it, it was more along the matter of fact that, ‘This is going on, this was saying this, this was saying that.'”

Knowing Emily was nearly voted out of Lulu on day 3, and that the threat of Reba 4 was ever-present, Bruce believed Emily wouldn’t lie to him because working together was in their best interest. “But, she was good,” Bruce said about Emily’s deceitful move. “She was very good.”

Now, you really can’t fault Bruce too much. Some of the best contestants ever held onto their Idols in uneasy situations, which only helped their game in the long run. If Bruce didn’t play his Idol and Julie went home, it’d be considered a master stroke by the insurance agent. But, she didn’t, and Bruce left with a bulge in his sock.

Now that we’re at the final seven and Reba 4 has the majority, we’ll see in episode 11 if Emily derailing Bruce’s campaign for $1 million helps her in the end game.