Zach Wurtenberger on how it all went so wrong so fast on Survivor 42

Well, that didn't go very well. A Survivor super-fan, Zach Wurtenberger had visions of grandeur and oversized million-dollar novelty checks dancing in his head when he was selected as a cast member on Survivor 42. Little did he know, he would also be the first person voted out.

Zach became the first truly unanimous person voted off the show because he did not even cast a vote himself, opting instead to play his 1-in-6 chance Shot in the Dark. And once his five Ika tribemates all wrote his name down, Zach's fate was sealed, making him the second person out of the game after Jackson Fox was pulled for medical reasons.

What happened to that youngster alliance on Ika, with Swati and Tori both turning firmly against him? Who would have gone home had his Shot in the Dark actually worked? And how does Zach feel now about watching his dream get cut short after just three days on the island? We asked the 22-year-old student all that and more the morning after his televised demise. (Also read our exit interview with Jackson Fox.)

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Okay, let's start here: What happened?

ZACH WURTENBERGER: I mean, a lot happened, as you could tell from the episode. It was definitely very much a whirlwind tribe that I got put on. And there were a lot of names that were being thrown out there in those first three days. I think it started with Drea and Tori having a conflict, and Drea throwing Tori's name out and Tori kind of responding to that. And then Rocksroy was just pissing everyone off. So Rocksroy's name was out there. And then there was also me as kind of a safe option as well. And then the puzzle thing didn't help. And they were able to kind of put the puzzle on me. So it was a lot of bouncing around and it ultimately landed on me.

Form the edit, you, Tori, and Swati seemed to have this youngster alliance going on at the start. Was that never a thing or did it just dissolve really, really quickly?

No, that was a thing. That definitely was a thing. And there were a couple big issues with the divide, because honestly the people that I did really connect with were Swati and Tori right from the get-go. And our original plan with that threesome was, let's pull Romeo over. We felt like, okay, Romeo is someone that, me and him have like the skinny guy alliance. Tori and him had that pageant connection, where we were like, okay, we can get Romeo over. It became clear very quickly on day three that we were not pulling Romeo over.

I remember we were walking out, the three young kids, walking away, and Romeo was going to follow us. And I just saw Romeo talking with Drea and being like, "What do I do?." And I was like, 'Oh, okay, so that's what Romeo is doing right now.' So we then had to pivot. We pivoted in different ways. Tori obviously jumped ship, because she was targeting Rocksroy to some degree. Swati also jumped ship. Basically, that whole thing fell apart. And the other element of it is, we knew Drea had something. And that was very scary for us when it was a tenuous three.

How did you know she had something?

So this isn't something they showed on the show, but Drea's lie when she came back from the island was, "Okay guys, they had this big hike. We walked all the way up the hike. And then we went all the way down the hike. And that was it." [Laughing] Yeah, that was the big opening episode twist. And then she was like, "But I know some information now. There is something hidden on this island." And I was like, "That's just Survivor! That's not a twist. That's just how the game works." So based on the quality of that lie, we were pretty certain she had some type of advantage.

Were you guys confused about the whole blood thing? I know Hai put blood all over himself, which just makes no sense whatsoever. How much blood did she have on herself, and were you like, "What is that all about?"

No, I mean, there was too much actual blood out there thanks to Daniel, that we were not distracted by the fake blood, at least for me. But it was funny.

It seemed to get a bit snippy between you and Tori. How did that go south there at the end?

Honestly, for me, that was the part of the game that I was not expecting, was how hard it was going to be for me. Because I look at Tori, who's someone who it also is her dream and all that. And I genuinely felt gutted when I had to target her and put her name out there. And I think for me that manifested in kind of just a sadness and being really like, "Oh my God, I can't believe I have to do this. Why did I think I could do this? This is just such a miserable thing that I have to do." And I think for her, it manifested more as an anger towards me and being upset at me and blaming me for our situation, which is fine. I remember that beach conversation between her very well, and I think it was easily the worst conversation I had with anyone in the game.

You had walked away. Did you hear her say, "Nice job on the puzzle," or not?

No. I just heard all of the things she said to me beforehand. I do want to say, Tori is a very nice person, by the way.

Were you surprised Swati was so quick to want you gone? She seemed to get back from that puzzle and was like, "That guy's gotta go."

I mean, I am, and I'm not. I am surprised because me and Swati did connect instantly and we were very close, and we were trying to work together. But at the same time, she just screwed up that puzzle, too. Some would say she screwed it up worse. And her name could have been out there just as much had there not been so much chaos going on all around her. So for her, she's just trying to keep her neck in the game. Also, she was the one who most clearly tipped me off that my name was out there originally. She was the one who gave me the look of being like, you're in danger and letting me know. So I'll always appreciate her for that.

You mentioned the puzzle. Take us through the puzzle. What happened? You just said maybe she was even more to blame. You two clearly didn't work well together.

So starting off the puzzle, we were about 15 minutes behind. So it was going to take a biggest comeback in Survivor history for us to actually still come back from that. The issue with the puzzle was, it's a two-sided puzzle, right? So you need to make sure that you're putting the correct sides in. And as you can see, on Swati's side, she wasn't doing that. The pieces she was putting in were a lighter shade of blue. She was putting them in the wrong way, which meant that my pieces were just not there on my side.

Now this was also a problem with our approach, because we probably shouldn't have been doing it like two completely different sides at the same time. We probably should have been working on one side. But that was the biggest issue we had, because then I didn't have any of my pieces. Also, I don't get why we had two yellow dragons while all the other ones got a purple dragon and a white dragon, and a red dragon and a white dragon. Where's my Lex and Big Tom money right now, CBS?

You clearly knew it was you. You played your Shot in the Dark. What tipped off the Spidey sense that it was you heading into Tribal?

I've just been watching this show for so long, and even though I did really connect with all my tribemates really well, it wasn't like a social issue or anything. I was just not getting the confirmation from people that I needed. I feel like when you're safe on Survivor, you have people coming up to you being like, "Don't worry. Trust me, trust me. It's not you. It's not you. It's Tori, it's Tori."

And I got that a little bit from Romeo, but really not from the other people. I feel like Swati, for me, was a really good litmus test. And the fact that Swati couldn't even look me in the eyes was a pretty good sign of like, oh wow, this is not going to be going well.

Let's say your Shot in the Dark works. There are no votes on anyone else, so who goes home on the revote?

Tori.

Easily?

Yes.

Unanimous?

Yes.

In Survivor, you can mess up in a challenge if your social game is good enough, so what do you think was lacking there? Was that the issue? Was it social connections? Was it not being more aggressive?

I think it was, No. 1, when you're on a tribe with Rocksroy, there's always going to be a big discussion of challenge performance. I think that Tori, as someone who was the name who'd been the most thrown out there, very smartly latched onto that after the challenge. Tori would never be someone who actually cares about keeping the tribe strong or whatever, except when it serves her. And in that moment, it very much served her to jump into that kind of mentality. And you've got Swati who's in the military and is very much willing to kind of go along with that as well. Drea is a fitness trainer. And that leaves me and Romeo just hanging around.

So I think that challenge performance was a very strong element, especially considering the fact that me and Romeo were on the same tribe. So if you don't vote one of us out, you're keeping both of us to still lose another challenge. And then beyond that, I mean, if we're talking just me and Romeo, it's like one of us had to go. I mean, Romeo just had the better social connections. He was more in touch with the people who had power in the tribe and was able to get by without his name being thrown out there.

I've talked to pretty much every player that has played this game over the past 22 years and it is hard for anyone to get voted out, especially folks that are voted out first, and especially folks that are voted out first who were superfans. And a lot of them have been very open about how difficult it is. How have you been dealing with it, both in the moment, in the 10 months or so since, and watching it play out again last night?

I feel like Survivor screws everyone off in some way, and it's kind of your own special thing, like what do you take away from it that's wrong with you? And I really do feel lucky overall. I view my Survivor experience as overwhelmingly positive. I mean, the day I got voted out, I go back, I get to hang out at Ponderosa. I get to hang out with Jackson. It was such a relief to have someone there that I got to hang out with, and Jackson's an amazing person. And then, I've had the past 10 months to kind of play through what I would've done differently and what I could have changed.

At the end of the day, I kind of realized, it's Survivor. And you can come in, do everything perfectly, which I'm not saying I did. You can do everything perfectly and get voted out, and then you can do everything wrong and make it far. So ultimately, I'm just proud of myself for putting myself out there and trying and getting onto the show. And then watching the episode last night, I mean, I had a total blast. I really thought it was a great premiere.

There's only so much they can fit into an episode, even a two-hour one. What's something that happened out there that you wish had made it to screen?

Yes. I found a fake-fake-idol out there!

What does that even mean?

We were on the beach and there was just this blue plank. And I was with Romeo and Drea. And I see this blue plank and I instantly go towards it and kind of put my foot under it. And on it there was this little kind of tube with a blue ribbon around it. So I was like, "Oh my God." And then I literally grab it, I sneak it into my pocket. I'm behind Romeo and Drea as we're walking, fist bumping, they've got all this footage and stuff. And then I finally, I'm so excited I sneak off, I pull it out. It is literal trash. It is a literal blue tube with a blue ribbon on it. And I'm looking at the producers and I'm like, "Do I do something with this? I do something with this?" And they're just like, "Nope." I wish I took it home. I really wish I had that souvenir.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

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