Sophi "Soph" Balerdi has called out her Survivor edit for missing crucial moments that would've made her look more competitive and worthy of winning Season 49.
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"There was a lot of things that were not shown. I hate to be the person that's like, 'They didn't show it in the edit,' because I'm grateful for my edit, but there was a lot that they didn't show that I did post-merge," Sophi told Entertainment Weekly after Survivor's December 17 finale.
"You guys saw my pre-emerge journey. You think I was just sitting on my hands doing nothing for the rest of the merge? Hell no!"
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Survivor documented Sophi's struggles during the first half of the game given she was on a losing tribe and was constantly hungry and exhausted, but viewers saw less of her strategic moves in the second half, especially when she aligned with power players Savannah Louie and Rizo Velovic.
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Sophi ultimately finished Survivor 49 in second place on Night 26. Savannah received five votes to win, Sophi earned herself two votes, and Sage Sage Ahrens-Nichols received a single jury vote.
"Did you catch that when [Steven Ramm] was talking about me in the finale? He called me 'a silent assassin,'" Sophi explained, referring to how her failed "Knowledge is Power" play didn't represent her game moves overall.
"I wasn't totally wrong... There's a reason me, Sav, and Rizo got so far, and it wasn't just because of them. They will tell you that themselves too."
Sophi reiterated, "I was a little bit of a silent assassin."
Sophi said if Steven had been instructed to play his "Block a Vote" advantage at Tribal Council rather than before it, she would've been absolutely correct for trying to steal it from him.
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"That would've been my flashy move, and I would've felt so comfortable sitting with Sav and Rizo at the end, because I knew that the jury liked me over them," Sophi said.
"And I'll say that confidently. If I sat next to Sav and Rizo, I still think I had a good chance. Who knows what would've happened?"
Instead of Sophi going to the end with Savannah and Rizo, however, Sophi won the Final Immunity Challenge and forced Savannah and Rizo to compete in the fire-making challenge.
When Savannah defeated Rizo in fire, the two women went to the Final 3 along with Sage.
Once it became time for jury questioning, Sophi said she thought she had a leg up on Savannah when Kristina Mills boldly asked Savannah to name a loved one of each jury member.
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Kristina was trying to prove that Savannah didn't really care about the people she was playing the game with, and Savannah unfortunately failed at the task.
"In the moment, I was doing a super happy dance, because this was also a moment for me to shine. And there was a lot edited out of that, but I used that as an opportunity," Sophi revealed.
"Because when Sav failed at answering that question to be like, 'Nico, Wyatt, Kelsey...' and go through each person and name their families -- that was my strength in the game, my social game, my relationships."
Sophi therefore boasted about how she was able to answer Kristina's question, which made Savannah look bad.
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"I was able to name a family member for each person sitting there. I don't know why they didn't show it because it was kind of badass and Kristina loved it," Sophi recalled.
"[Kristina] was like, 'Honestly, that was one of the things that earned you my vote because it proved your social game.' But I didn't think it was totally fair because it takes a lot more than knowing people's family members to win Survivor and get to where Sav got herself."
But Sophi admitted it was "fun" for her and felt like "old school Survivor" when jurors used to ask "crazy" and "petty" questions.
"And it benefited me, kind of, so I loved it," she noted.
According to Sophi, she also explained her "Knowledge of Power" play at the Final Tribal Council, which was another scene that ended up on the cutting-room floor.
"I think a big part of the reason I swayed MC was my explanation of the 'Knowledge is Power' play. And that didn't make it to air," Sophi said.
"And I'm surprised because I knew that that was a really good answer, and the jurors were surprised and they were happy that I explained it. And I think it provided a little context."
Sophi reasoned, "I think the audience, if they heard it too, it would've provided a lot more context to why I made the decision. Because I think in the episode it looked like I had some margaritas and tacos and was like, 'I don't care about winning this game anymore.'"
But Sophi insisted that wasn't the case at all.
"I wish they would've shown that, but I think it would've given me a lot more ammo for why I should have won if it was shown," Sophi explained.
Because of how well Sophi navigated jury questioning, she claimed that Savannah actually thought she had won the game.
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"This wasn't on air, but right before [host Jeff Probst] read the votes, Sav turned to me and she goes, 'You just won the game,'" Sophi revealed.
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Had Sophi chosen to compete in fire against Savannah, she thinks her chances of winning Survivor would've been better.
But Sophie claimed that had she gone to the end with Rizo and Sage, she probably would've won.