Jimmy Fallon offered a mea culpa Thursday night for his role in a Survivor player’s semi-unexpected elimination.
In the Survivor episode that aired Wednesday, Christian Hubicki—a fan-favorite from 2018’s “David vs. Goliath” season—was sent on a journey that invited him to complete a puzzle in order to win a “bonus” vote at that night’s tribal.
Alas, Christian failed that “One in the Urn” immunity challenge created by Tonight Show host/Survivor superfan Jimmy Fallon, so instead of gaining any advantage, he was instructed to read the contents of a sealed envelope in front of everyone at camp.
“Because you failed on your journey, you will make history at tonight’s tribal council by being the first player to cast a vote against themselves,” the shocking missive read.
Christian blamed Fallon for the twist of fate, saying to the camera as he was forced to cast his vote against himself, “This message is for Jimmy Fallon: How dare you? The idea you had is terrible. No more ideas for you. I look forward to your apology.” (Moments later, Christian was indeed voted off, having received four votes in addition to his own.)
Face-to-face with Hubicki on Thursday’s The Tonight Show, a sheepish Fallon said, “I am so sorry,” before letting slip a giggle.
“I am so sorry about this,” he reiterated. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this, it wasn’t supposed to be you.
“But technically, you made history last night,” he said, trying to spin the situation. “No one’s voted for themselves in 50 seasons of Survivor.”
Hubicki shed some light on his thinking while casting the vote against himself, saying he in a way appreciated Fallon’s role in his ouster.
“I decided, ‘Finally, all my frustrations in the game I can take out in the best way possible, on a celebrity 8,000 miles away,'” he said.
Hubicki said he actually did a “five-minute set” of jokes about Fallon in the voting booth, though much was cut for time. Fallon said that Survivor host Jeff Probst alerted him to the “funny” ribbing while editing the episode, and asked, “Do you care if we leave it in?”
“Leave it all in,” Fallon says he told Probst. “You have to! Give the guy something.”
