Jenny Kim’sSurvivor experience was hinged on unprecedented moments. Like the rest of her cast, she was thrown headfirst into this “new era” of the game, and her experience in the boardroom allowed her to keep calm and rational among the elements being thrown her way. The last challenge she participated in had a Survivor first, as it was stopped midway when she and others struggled in the massive ocean swells. But the unusual situations continued, as a series of unfortunate events led two of Jenny’s allies to walk into Tribal Council without a vote. That configuration led to a deadlocked vote and a brush with elimination via random draw. But despite walking into Tribal Council with three allies, Jenny walked out with her torch snuffed. A self-proclaimed “city girl,” Jenny felt out of her element when hunting for crabs and living in the jungle. But she took like a shark to water when it came to other game elements, helping solve a Day 1 puzzle to earn supplies for her tribe. As Vati continued to win challenges, the tribe began to divide into pairs, and she struck up a tight relationship with Mike Turner. When they eventually faced their first Tribal Council, despite Mike losing his vote from finding an idol, they were still confident the middle duo of Chanelle Howell and Daniel Strunk would side with them. And they did, until it was discovered that Chanelle crucially lost her vote on the summit she went on that day (something Jenny purposely chose not to do when she went back on Day 2). With the votes suddenly tied between her and Lydia Meredith, some tense discussion broke out about whether the rest of the tribe would be deadlocked and go to a rock draw. Unlike the Ika tribe, Daniel was not willing to see rocks on Day 7. So, after much debate, he swapped his vote over to Jenny, eliminating her in one of the tensest Tribal Councils in some time. Jenny talks with Parade.com about what went down in the chaos that led to her elimination, whether she knew that Chanelle had possibly lost her vote, and why she was “frustrated” by how things ended. Of course, we have to start with all of the havoc that ensued at Tribal Council. As everyone was hashing things out about whether to go to rocks, were you speaking up at all? Or were you hoping that they wouldn’t come to a consensus if you stayed out of it, and you would be safe? No, I was definitely talking a lot more. What they didn’t show was before Tribal Council, Hai, Mike, and I talked. And at that time, Hai threw Daniel and Lydia’s names out there. I get that he was never really going to work with us. But I used that to have my conversations moving forward. I said, “Alright, Hai, great. You want to vote out Lydia. I’m working with you, man. Let’s do this.” Then I went back and told Daniel, “Hai is throwing your name out there. So you got to work with me because you’re not safe with that guy. He’s going to slit your throat, and you’re not even seeing it coming.” So at Tribal Council, I’m definitely fighting for my life. I’m disappointed. It looks like I sort of just laid down there. But I said, “Hai, you said we would work together. Why are you going back on that right now? We were a team. We can go forward if you just change your vote right now. It’ll be fine. We can patch this up.” But at that point during Tribal, he revealed that Daniel told him what I had shared with him, that I had told him Hai threw his name out there. So I’m sitting there going, “Okay, Daniel, you are definitely working both sides.” So was that the moment you realized that Daniel and Hai wouldn’t force the rock draw? At that point, I realized my game was sunk. I always knew Daniel was working the middle. I did not realize how much information he was sharing with both sides. It was pretty much when Hai revealed that I thought, “This is unsalvageable. The only chance I have is to go to rocks.” But how do I encourage a superfan to go to rocks premerge? I mean, I’m a super fan; I would never go to rocks premerge. So it was really difficult to try to talk my way out of that situation at that point. Now, let’s talk about the Chanelle of it all. Did she tell you that she had risked her vote before Tribal Council, considering you knew exactly what dilemma she faced at the summit? Honestly, before she left for the summit, a few of us whispered to her, “Don’t lose your vote. Don’t lose your vote.” They didn’t show that when I came back from the summit, I told the entire truth of what happened. My tribe was fractured; there were three pairs of two. I knew that it was a mess. I knew I needed my vote; I needed to play it safe. The fact that I played it safe and didn’t come back with an advantage led me to believe it would be okay to tell them the truth. “This is what happened on this summit. Someone else is probably going to go at some point. You’ll see I’m telling the truth.” So when Chanelle was out there, we just kept saying, “It’d be stupid to lose her vote.” And I mean, what else can I say? She lost her vote. She wasn’t really considering all that could happen. I don’t really understand why she risked her vote at that point when we really needed it. She says it even on the summit with Omar, and yet she risked it. So I don’t fully understand what was happening in Chanelle’s head. What’s interesting is that if you four had convinced Hai and Lydia to target Mike instead of you, things would have worked out. It would have still been a 2-2 tie, but you and Daniel would have still had your votes and been able to eliminate Lydia in the revote. Did you give any thought to changing it up, considering all the factors in play? Honestly, we really did not think about changing it up. If I had known Chanelle lost a vote, I probably would have targeted her. So it was probably smart that she did not share that information with us. Daniel was the only one she shared that with. We had no idea. And honestly, Hai and Lydia were not working with me. That just wasn’t happening. So I really needed to trust in Daniel And I didn’t realize what was happening with all they were doing to screw my game. Why do you think you ended up being the target over Mike, considering that Hai and Lydia didn’t know about his idol? Between Mike and me, Lydia and Hai just never worked with us, never trusted us. And at that point, we’re still a tribe. We’re still having to get to merge. So I do believe that it was about keeping Mike’s strength over my puzzle skills. That was more important to the group at the time. That’s all I think it came down to. Hai and Lydia did not bond with Mike any more than they did with me. It was really just how do we keep the tribe as strong as possible and get out one of the people who were not in our alliance? And that fell on me. To that point, Hai said that you and Mike were targeting Lydia because of challenge strength. Is that true? She wasn’t working with us. She would not talk to us! I mean, Daniel had a bum shoulder. What they also didn’t show was Daniel popped his shoulder twice. When I’m doing that dragon puzzle, Daniel’s not helping me because he has one arm in a lot of pain. So actually, Daniel’s probably the weakest player at that point. So in a lot of ways, maybe we should have targeted him. But Lydia was giving me nothing! I’m telling you the girl was running away from me like I was coming after her with an axe. (Laughs.) It was very odd because we got along great socially. But when it came to trying to talk strategy, all I saw was dust where I thought Lydia was standing. (Laughs.) Going back to the summit, you mentioned you were very truthful about what happened. But a secret scene was just posted about you looking for a papaya tree, where it’s clear some of your tribemates like Hai and Chanelle thought you were looking for an idol. Did that surprise you, considering how honest you were? I knew that Hai was never going to believe what I said. On Day 1, I knew Hai just wasn’t trusting. So anything I say, I know Hai is going to be questioning. I thought Chanelle would have trusted me. But clearly, she didn’t. And I just thought, “I gotta find this tree to show people. I’m not lying, and I’m not crazy!” I came back from that summit really tired, dehydrated, and hot, just wanting to lie down. I found this tree, and it took me how many days to find it again? (Laughs.) But I don’t think that Chanelle was totally aligned with me in the beginning. And that may be when that confessional was taken. But I know that there was some point that I won her over, and she wanted to work with me more. So much of camp life isn’t just about strategic talk. It’s about how well you bond with people. And over a couple of days, I bonded a lot with Chanelle. And I really think that’s I swayed her over to our side. Whereas on Day 1, I think she would have really preferred to work with Hai and Lydia. Speaking of those relationships, let’s talk about your number one ally in Mike. What caused you two to bond so closely at the beginning? He just seemed really reliable and trustworthy. When you’re thinking about looking for an alliance partner, you want to know that you can trust someone, and they’re not going to act crazy and do things that are unexpected and unpredictable. Mike felt like we had a solid alliance, even when we started. We landed at the beach, and I had to do that triangle puzzle. He looks at me, and he’s like, “You can do this, can’t you?” And I’m like, “Yeah, I can.” I wish they’d shown this. Mike and I are standing back at the puzzle, while the other four are like, “How many is it?” And we’re just like, “Think, you guys. You can’t do it. Can you just step back?” Mike and I are just standing there looking at each other, shaking our heads. I said I could do it, and they’re still at 11 triangles. Let Jenny do it! To that point, how did you feel doing that triangle puzzle affected the perception of you out there? On the one hand, it helps your tribe get some much-needed supplies. On the other, it could make people think you’re smart and wanting to take charge. So I didn’t say much at first. I wasn’t like, “Hey, we’re doing this, and I’m gonna do it because I know how to [expletive] do it.” I didn’t really say any of those things. I sort of waited to see how everyone was valuing the situation. You know, Daniel was standing there saying, “Risk versus reward. Are we doing Sweat or Savvy?” And I just waited for the group to decide. Then I see that they think that they’re done at 11. And at that point, I just knew I needed the machete, and I know that I haven’t been very aggressive about trying to lead at that point. But they all looked at me, completely lost. And at that point, I’m like, “It’s okay, guys, we can do this together.” I never said, “I got this, go away.” I did try to say, “Maybe some people should go start on camp. Maybe just Daniel and Chanelle can help me here.” But everyone was terrified to walk away. So it was treading lightly, but I don’t think that I was overly aggressive in any way. We got to see you crab hunting in Episode 2. As a self-proclaimed “city girl,” were you surprised about what you were able to do out in the jungle? Yeah, it was a really validating experience. I am a city girl. I’ve been backpacking a few times, but that’s probably 15 years ago or something. So I wasn’t totally sure how I would do in the elements. But when I got out there, I really loved being out there. When I got home, I was like, “I think I need to live at the beach. What am I doing living in the city?” It was so great to find those crabs and to be able to boil them up and nourish our tribe. I don’t think that I was totally surprised by myself. But it was really validating that I’ve come a long way in my life. I’m a city girl from Brooklyn. Twenty years ago, I would have been crying over not having a toilet out there. (Laughs.) So I’m proud of myself for being able to thrive out there physically and really love camp life. You told me in the preseason that you were looking at Survivor as an adventure to shake things up and figure out what path you need to take. Were you able to find that clarity on the island? The experience was so incredible. I came home feeling really refreshed in a lot of ways. But my goal to go out there was to leave the game depleted. I wanted to feel like I put everything out there, and I was so tired that leaving the game was fine because I would have just needed to rest my mind and body. But by the time I left, I was very frustrated. I felt like I had so much more to give in the game. But it is what it is. It was a great experience. I loved every minute of it. And again, it was really validating for the journey I’ve been on as a human being for the past 43 years of my life. Knowing that I could put myself out in front of the world and not worry about what people think about me. Because you do that, and you’re asking for trouble. I was able to really forget about all of that and focus on playing the game and meeting new people I would never have met in any other scenario. It was a great, wonderful experience. To both of those points, I know there have been a lot of fans in the past twelve hours who are unhappy with your boot and felt you were robbed. I’m sure that feels validating when you do put yourself out there in front of the world, as you mention. Yeah, it’s really lovely to see all this support for sure. I was worried about what my edit would look like coming out of the game if I was going to look like I was clueless or not. But I knew I had my finger on the pulse the whole time. What could I do when two of the members of my majority alliance didn’t have a vote? And two are just acting foolishly? I am proud there is not much else I could have done differently. So it’s all good. I come out of it feeling happy with the game that I played. Next, check out our interview with Marya Sherron, who was voted out in Survivor 42 Episode 2.
