Jenna Doore is the fifth person to leave Survivor 51, calling her Episode 4 blindside “brutal.” Watch the video above.
The Ohio-based wedding photographer (and yes, she offers proof that really is her profession) dives into her elimination with Gold Derby, admitting, “I was the most heartbroken I’ve been in my entire life.” She was ousted following a tribe swap in which she moved over to Savu, which had only five people compared to Dina and Toka with six apiece.
She ended up voting for Alexis Levine, who made the “incredible move” of trying to take Jenna’s shoes as collateral. But she actually went into Tribal Council thinking that Angelica “Jelly” Loblack might be the one going home instead, since she had no idea about the Helicopter Alliance that was created in the season premiere between Jelly, Ori Jean-Charles, and Devin Way.
Some fans on social media are calling out host Jeff Probst for giving immunity to Toka despite their ball not landing in the water dish. However, Jenna says their victory should still count: “Production did an absolutely amazing job explaining it to us. What happened was, it was a crazy windy day, and they completed the entire maze. The ball literally flew out. They completed the challenge. To me, that doesn’t feel like a debate at all.”
Read on for our full exit interview with Jenna.
Gold Derby: We are here with Jenna from Survivor 51, who may or may not be a wedding photographer. What is the truth?
Jenna Doore: I still don’t know. Listen, I think you’re going to have to search me on Instagram to find out: @jennadoorephoto. Like, I don’t know. Look for yourself.
I like that. A little investigative reporting.
Exactly. Boots-on-the-ground journalism.
At the end of the episode, unfortunately, you were booted and said you were feeling “heartbroken” by the blindside. Tell us about the emotion of that moment.
I don’t know if people think this is ridiculous, but I was the most heartbroken I’ve been in my entire life. And I’m proud of that because my heart was so in it and had so much invested. It literally feels like running 100 miles an hour at your dream and then running into a brick wall. And I really was blindsided. I didn’t think I was going home. Of course, seeing all of the information play out, I can see that, yeah, I was in a really tough spot and a really bad position, more than I thought. The heartbreak was brutal, and it is evidence of how fiercely I chased after this dream and how much I had invested in it.
How convinced were you that Alexis was actually the one going home instead of you?
I was very convinced. And the other thing is, I think all of the information out there made it seem obvious: “Oh, it’s either Alexis or Jenna.” But to me, in real time, that was not how I saw it. I thought it was either Alexis or Jelly, and I thought I was in the middle. The reason I thought that is because, one, I didn’t know about the Helicopter Alliance, so that was 0% of my calculation. All I saw on paper was Alexis and Ori, Dev and Jelly, and me in the middle. Alexis was telling me, “Dev and Jelly are coming for you.” And I’m like, “I don’t know this girl. Is she just desperate?” I legitimately had a moment where I was like, “Oh my God, they’re coming for me. This is crazy.”
But then I went to Ori to corroborate this information, and he didn’t corroborate it at all. He was just playing the, “Oh my gosh, do we have any options? Jenna, tell us what’s happening” game. I’m like, “Are Dev and Jelly coming for me?” And he’s like, “No.” Of course he said that. Of course that makes sense now. But at the time, what that meant to me was, “Oh, so Alexis is lying. Dev and Jelly are not coming for me. Alexis and Ori’s only play is to vote with me because otherwise they would be going home. Now they’re like 2-2, and Dev has a public extra vote.” So that doesn’t make sense versus swooping me up. I’m like, “We’re aligned.” And then Dev and Jelly, I’m actually really trying to work with them, and I don’t believe they’re coming for me. Does that make sense? [Laughs.]
Yeah. So they did a really good job of lying.
They did a good job of lying, and I think Ori especially — I didn’t clock any of the fact that they were all aligned.
Even if you had your Shot in the Dark, you wouldn’t have used it?
No, absolutely not.
People online are debating this, so I want to get your expert thoughts. Should Toka’s immunity have counted since the ball did not land in the water dish?
I thought you were going to say, “Should wedding photographers use a shot list?” Anyway, we’re going to pivot from that thought. Should their immunity win count? Yes. And production did an absolutely amazing job explaining it to us. What happened was, it was a crazy windy day, and they completed the entire maze. The ball literally flew out. They completed the challenge. To me, that doesn’t feel like a debate at all.
There’s a moment going viral on social media where Brady [Booker] yells at Eric [Macksoud] to “stop talking” on the sit-out bench. What’s your reaction to that clip?
I haven’t seen it yet. Oh my gosh, I can’t wait! All I know is, listen, I respect Brady as a competitor. The challenge where we’re going through the sawdust, I’m getting pounced on by other people, and they’re like, “Ow, help!” I’m trying to get through, and I get to the mat. Brady just looks at me and he’s like, “Jenna, F them.” And I’m like, “Yeah,” trying to do it. Man, Brady, I respect him as a competitor.
He lost part of his thumb and he still stuck around.
Exactly. That man can rally.
When you first learned that there would be a tribe swap, what went through your head? You had just locked down this majority alliance with [Danny] Kilby’s group.
Yep, exactly. It was like that all game long. I was like, “I’m really in a bad spot. We’ve got to win, or I have to pray for a tribe swap.” Then, of course, it’s miraculously on the right side of the numbers, all of these alliances coming to fruition, all of these things happening — and then the tribe swap. Not ideal timing. I was terrified to put my hand in that bag and pull out a buff.
Permanent uncertainty, right? I think you called that.
Name of the game.
Are you glad you didn’t end up giving your shoes to Alexis as collateral? She really wanted those shoes.
Girl, I literally want to give her her flowers because she is such a competitor, and I respect her fire. Honestly, I thought it was an incredible move because, of course, in real time I’m like, “I can’t give you my shoes. I’m trying to vote you out.” Would it have changed things? Probably not. But I love the move. It’s like, why wouldn’t I just give her my shoes? I wish in hindsight I had given her my shoes and just been like, “That’s a problem for another day.” I thought it was incredible.
Going back to the very first Tribal Council, how shocked were you when Devin threw your name out in front of everybody? We don’t see that a lot.
I wasn’t that shocked because he did it to me. We had a conversation at the well, and I was like, “Dev, I hear there’s this rumor I’m not a wedding photographer. Where’s your hat at?” Meanwhile, he’s the one who started this rumor. And he’s just straight-up like, “Yeah, no, so I’m voting for you.” My favorite part of this conversation is that I’m like, “Dev, what if we just didn’t? So you’re telling me you’re going to vote for me. What if we found a different way? This does not have to be what happens.”
And he’s like, “No, I have to vote for you, but if you do survive, will you still work with me in the future?” I thought it was so funny because the honest answer is that the kind of player I am, this is my strength and my absolute weakness: I’m very bad at cutting people off. I’m not someone who’s like, “You’re coming for me, so I’m going to come for you.” It’s the opposite approach for me, which didn’t work for me in this iteration of the game. But I thought it was so funny because I’m like, “Dev, I am not about to give you permission. Yeah, go ahead and slap me in the face, and it’ll be totally fine. I will rid you of all consequences.” No, I’m not doing that.
Who is the funniest castaway in the Survivor group chat?
Oh my gosh. We have so many funny people in this group chat. I’ve got to give it to my girl Patt [Cannaday]. Patt sometimes comes in with these one-liners, and I’m like, “Girl, she is funny.” There are a lot of good contenders in there, though.
Pantsless Patt!
She’s our girl.
Who are you personally rooting for to win the $1 million — or maybe $2 million?
Thien An [Nguyen] was my absolute girl, one of the first people I kind of opened up to, and I love the game she’s playing. I’m so incredibly proud of her, and I’m absolutely rooting for her. I’m also rooting for my guy Lewis [Kelly]. I’m rooting for him. I think he’s causing a good deal of chaos, and I can’t wait to see them both continue to play. This cast is amazing.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.