19 year-old Social Media Influencer Katinka’s Survivor South Africa: Philippines game went down in flames this week (2 August) as a failed coup attempt against ‘Mafia Don’ Werner cost her a shot at the R1 Million prize. When Tom leaked news to Werner that Katinka had approached him to vote out the Pastor, the ‘fireballs’ rained down as he played his Hidden Immunity Idol at Tribal Council to save Jeanne and dump Katinka out of the game.
After her overtures to the other Castaways about voting Werner out been met with cool responses, Katinka toed the party line and decided to vote for Jeanne instead. Unfortunately for her, she underestimated the power of Tom’s loyalty to Werner, whose show of clout in choosing not to use his Idol for himself, but rather for Jeanne, has further entrenched his position at the top of the food chain. Not that he made the move out of the goodness of his heart – Werner had previously decided to vote Jeanne out, with an eye on placing her on the Jury to prime them for his bid for the prize.
Once the votes at Tribal Council had been cast – including an additional one via the extra parchment Annalize picked up at Exile Island – Werner played his second Hidden Immunity idol (which Jeanne had seen him unearth at Luzon) for the Radio Producer, effectively negating any votes against her. The move shocked everyone – but nobody more than Annalize, who immediately believed her time in the game was up. The first three votes out of the urn bore Jeanne’s name – and were all rendered invalid. Annalize’s name duly came up next, followed up Katinka’s – and when host Nico Panagio read out the latter’s name a second time to complete one of this season’s most epic blindsides, Annalize couldn’t believe her luck.
Katinka, the youngest castaway in the game this season, had declared herself happy to let the others think she was ‘a dumb blonde’ and bided her time when it came to committing her allegiance to a particular group, despite playing a pivotal role in helping Mindanao win the very first challenge. An unfortunate habit of spilling the beans – from the early days of the “girls’ alliance” through to carelessly giving PK the low-down on her Top 3 alliance – ultimately cost her a place in the game after Tom took news of her coup attempt straight to Werner this week.
After moving across to Luzon with Annalize as part of the tribe shuffle in Episode 6, Katinka put herself on the map in Episode 7 when she helped Luzon come from behind in the Immunity Challenge by showing some impressive hoop-shooting skills to beat Visayas and trounce Mindanao. In Episode 8, when Jeanne was trying to rally the women to use Werner as a shield to get them to Merge, Katinka declared that Werner was someone she’d love to see on the jury, but not someone she’d like to find herself sitting alongside at the Final Two – marking her strategic emergence in the game. Despite making Jeanne happy by finally seeming to start playing, Katinka’s affinity for Annalize lead her to declare that she’d like to send the former home and take the latter with her to the final. After discussing her move with Annalize, Katinka approached Werner about voting Jeanne out the next time Luzon headed to Tribal Council. The move impressed him and the resultant trust saw him take her under his wing, right until the moment that he found out that she’d been plotting against him this week.
This week’s Reward Challenge turned into the highest-stakes game of the season, as the Castaways were tearfully reunited with their loved ones after 34 days in isolation. The prize? The chance for the winner to spend an afternoon on the Araw beach with their guest, enjoying a traditional Filipino Barbecue. The Castaways couldn’t believe their eyes as Werner’s wife Juné, Jeanne’s friend Ziningi, Annalize’s husband Paul, Tom’s wife Nicky and Katinka’s mother Maria appeared for the warmest of reunions – and took their will to win the challenge to unprecedented levels.
The chance to spend the afternoon with Juné sent Werner racing through the obstacle course, tethered to a rope, into a lead he never relinquished. He claimed the win ahead of Tom, with Katinka a distant third. When Nico offered him the chance to select two fellow Castaways and their loved ones to join him, he named Katinka and Tom – leading Jeanne to the realization that perhaps PK had been right about the ‘real’ Top 3 as she lay under the shelter with fellow ‘loser’ Annalize, who had to say goodbye to her husband before leaving the challenge. Indeed, as Werner said in an interview: “It’s a line drawn. These people are not only going with me to the Reward – they’re going with me to the end”.
Nico also handed Werner a Huawei P20 Pro to document the afternoon’s revelry, telling him that a brand-new one would be waiting for him at home as well, once the game was over. Back at Araw, the ‘winning’ Castaways feasted on Filipino Barbecue and caught up with news from home – but also took time out to test their home-stretch strategies with their most-trusted sounding-boards.
This week’s Immunity Challenge saw the Castaways manoeuvring a bowl through a series of channels on a spring-loaded metal structure and stacking them atop it. The first Castaway to leave all ten bowls standing for three seconds would win Immunity – and a guaranteed 1-in-4 shot at the Sole Survivor title. As Tom and Werner almost simultaneously placed their final bowls, Werner’s stack tantalizingly toppled over, giving Tom a fist-pumping, hat-throwing, sobbing win.
Despite all the feel-good moments this week, Nico sent the Castaways back to Araw after Tribal Council with a reminder that there are no more Idols and no more advantages to be had in the game from this point, onwards. “This is where the gloves come off,” he said. Tune in to Survivor South Africa: Philippines next week (Thursday 9 August, 19:00 on M-Net 101) to see which of the Castaways’ game is ignited by the Tribal Council ‘fireballs’.
Also make a note to catch the fun-filled YouTube episode of Live After: Survivor South Africa on the DStv Online YouTube page, where the voted-off castaway will be in conversation with host Phil Mphela at 20:05 each week, directly after Survivor SA airs on M-Net 101. Want to ask a castaway a burning question? Tweet using #LiveAfter and @survivorsa and Phil could get it answered in the ‘Ask Me Anything’ segment of the show.
There are also some magnificent prizes up for grabs on the Survivor SA: Philippines website:
- A Huawei P20 Pro phone valued at R15 499.
- A 1-year supply of Bio-Strath products valued at R10 000.
- A delicious Steers Wacky Wednesdays voucher for one year, valued at R2800.
- A brand new DStv Explora 2.
All you have to do is to go to www.mnet.tv/survivorsa and answer the weekly quiz question. Every entry then also goes into the draw for the grand prize of a tropical island holiday experience for four, brought to you by Cathay Pacific and Club Med. And, if you’d like to earn additional points, explore the island and find the Huawei P20 Pro phone in our 360 VR experience and explore the Survivor SA islands, living area,s as well as each challenge site, as the weeks progress.
Survivor South Africa: Philippines is also streamed live on DStv Now and is available on DStv Catch Up within 24 hours of the live show. You can also catch the repeat on Sunday afternoons at 17:00 on M-Net Channel 101.
Survivor SA is powered by the Huawei P20 Pro and is produced by Afrokaans Film & Television.
