After one of the most confusing Tribal Councils in recent Survivor memory, season 49 castaway Alex Moore is left shaking his head. The political communications director, 27, was blindsided after Jawan Pitts and Sage Ahrens-Nichols decided to flip back and work with their original Uli tribe–including Rizo Velovic, who was sitting on a known hidden immunity idol for the second Tribal Council in a row.
No one even attempted to flush Rizo’s idol (again!) and Alex ended up taking the fall when his remaining alliance members, Kristina Mills and Steven Ramm, oddly decided to put their votes on Sophie Balderi instead of someone with an idol in his pocket. In his exit interview with Men’s Journal, Alex breaks down his blindside and why he believes some players were simply “playing scared” instead of playing to win.
Scroll down to read the full exit interview with Alex.
Men’s Journal: How are you feeling now that you’ve watched everything back?
Alex Moore: I actually feel really good. I felt confident in my gameplay out there. At the end of the day, Rizo and I were rivals, and he got the last laugh. I would’ve done the same thing. What’s crazy is people were just scared to make a move. The fact that Sophie Segretti and Jawan didn’t even try to split the votes didn’t make sense.
Men’s Journal: Two tribals in a row, he has a known idol and isn’t targeted. Why do you think no one flushed it?!
Alex: I think people just wanted to be liked by Savannah [Louie] and Rizo. They wanted in with that group. But this is a game, not a popularity contest. We had a seven-person alliance after we voted out Nate [Moore], and once MC [Chukwujekwu] didn’t come back, I realized some people weren’t thinking strategically anymore.
Men’s Journal: What was it like watching Rizo admit he was embellishing things about you to get you targeted? I thought that scene was funny, but I’m curious your thoughts.
Alex: We’d literally talked about not trusting him — and then people bought into everything he said. Jawan didn’t trust him, but still believed him. That’s the wild part. People thought he was rational. He wasn’t. He was playing for survival, like anyone would.
Men’s Journal: Is there anything you wish had been shown more?
Alex: Yeah — my “messiness” was really just me being friends with everyone. All day I was telling people, “Rizo has an idol, he didn’t play it last time, he’s not playing it again — why aren’t we splitting this?” I wish that part had made the edit.
Men’s Journal: Do you think people avoided flushing the idol because they were scared it would go back into circulation?
Alex: Some people framed it as the “devil you know versus the devil you don’t,” but I didn’t buy that. I think they were scared of Savannah’s backlash and what her and Sophie would do if they made the move.
Men’s Journal: Did you ever seriously consider working with the Uli side instead?
Alex: At first, yes. I liked them personally. But once I saw how locked in they were — especially after Sophi’s tribe swaps — I knew I’d always be at the bottom. So I focused on relationships with Kristina and Steven instead.
Men’s Journal: Going into Tribal, did you know you were in danger?
Alex: I knew I was getting some votes, but I thought it would be a split vote to flush the idol. I considered playing my Shot in the Dark, but I didn’t think it would help if it was a split. I trusted people to make the right move. Clearly, they didn’t.
Men’s Journal: You’ve said people were “playing scared.” What do you mean?
Alex: They were more focused on not upsetting people than actually playing to win. They wanted to be liked. Rizo wasn’t playing scared. I respected that — and that’s why he got me.
Men’s Journal: I thought you had a great exit, admitting you got caught playing both sides.
Alex: I’m a competitor. Me and Rizo went head-to-head a lot. He got me in the end. So yeah, when I joked about playing both sides, I meant it. I respected the move.
Men’s Journal: Was there anything you think you could have done at Tribal to save yourself?
Alex: I could have asked Kristina to play her idol on me. That was the one thing that could’ve flipped everything. But I’m not someone who asks people to give up their power. She found it fair and square. I wasn’t going to put her in that position.
Men’s Journal: Would you ever play again?
Alex: In a heartbeat. Even when you’re sitting at Ponderosa enjoying a glass of red wine, you still want to be in the game. I’d do it again for sure.
This story was originally reported by Men’s Journal on Nov 20, 2025, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
