Quote from Xander in a recent interview that his the nail on the head:
Quote:
XANDER HASTINGS: I was surprised at no votes. I wasn't surprised at the loss. I knew I lost the moment I stepped into final four, and I had the necklace on, and I give Ricard a big smile. Ricard's been the closest person out there. I've been telling him all the things I've been doing, letting him in on all the strategy that's going on in my head. And Ricard knows me inside and out. He knows the game I've been playing. We've talked to each other about it. And he's the person that I love. He's the biggest threat, so it makes sense to take him out. And in doing so, I could also put him [on to work the jury].
And when I saw him, I gave him a big smile because I'm like, "Oh, man, I miss you." And he just gives me the coldest glare. And I knew it was going to be an uphill battle from there on out. Because having one person as well-spoken as Ricard very against you, it's going to be a tough thing. When I saw his face, I was like, "Oh, okay. So he's going to be campaigning against me." And then with everybody else, it's like, it just takes one person to be like, "Oh yeah, no, he's completely ingenuine, doesn't deserve it." And then it's easy to justify everyone else's game by latching onto that narrative. Like, "Oh no, like he is just a bad person," or whatever it is. I wasn't at Ponderosa, so I don't know what the talk was.
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The whole interview is actually really good. I feel like Xander got tongue tied at the final tribal, and to Erika's credit she sold herself really well. But it also appears that there was more going on behind the scenes, I initially though Shan would be the one campaigning against him but thinking back to comments made, it was actually Ricard, who was just legit bitter.
https://ew.com/tv/survivor-41-xander...ale-interview/
Edit: Oh wow go watch Ricard's Ponderosa lol. He puts himself in the top 4 players of all time.