Romeo says he will claim the Survivor pageant world sash and crown

Competition is competition. And the will and desire to win in one field can easily transfer to another. For proof, look no further than the long link between the world of beauty pageants and Survivor. Several high-profile contestants have spent time in the pageant world, including Guatemala winner (and former Miss Kansas USA) Danni Boatwright, two-time finalist (and former Miss Montana USA) Amanda Kimmel, and Micronesia champ (and Miss New York host) Parvati Shallow.

There have also been many other contestants who either competed (Ashley Underwood, Kim Mullen, and Jefra Bland, to name a few) or coached (Chet Welch) in pageants. Another pageant coach has been part of the Survivor 42 cast, and now that he has made it less than a week from the end, Romeo Escobar sees the connection between both worlds stronger than ever.

In an exclusive deleted scene from this week's episode, Romeo draws an analogy between his life back home and one on the island. "I'm thinking if this was a pageant, day 20 would be prelims," says Romeo, "where everybody has already shown what they have to offer, their speaking abilities, how much they worked out for that swimsuit competition. How much bling does that dress have? Who has the highest heels? And the next step is the final, and I'm going to do what I have to do to get to the end.

While Romeo has appeared to be on the outs ever since the merge, with all the big threats now seemingly taking aim at each other, it is entirely conceivable that he could find his way into the final three. If he does, might the jury respect his ability to stay safe while playing from the bottom the entire time? And might the fact that he did not have to burn any big allies along the way also aid his quest for the million dollars?

Romeo certainly feels confident in his current spot. "There can only be one winner of the Survivor pageant world," he tells us in the clip. "I can't wait before I claim my Survivor sash and my Survivor crown."

While this week's episode showed Romeo sneaking food for himself while the others criticized him for eating too much and not working enough for the tribe, the deleted scene shows the coach scaling and deboning fish for other tribemates to enjoy. This comes after another player goes and eats a fish, scales and all. Who would do such a thing? Watch the scene at the top of the post to see for yourself while we wait two weeks to see if Romeo will in fact claim the Survivor sash and Survivor crown.

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