Survivor 49 finalist Sage Ahrens-Nichols has publicly accused runner-up Sophi Balderi and her original Kele tribemate, Jake Latimer, of breaking the rules by secretly strategizing before the start of the game.

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Two of the 18 Survivor castaways for Season 49 were kicked out of the cast and sent home from Fiji before they could even begin playing the game, allowing alternates, Jason Treul and Michelle "MC" Chukwujekwu, to compete for the $1 million.

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But Sage -- who ultimately made it to the Final 3 -- previously claimed there were a total of "six culprits," including the two players booted before filming commenced, who were involved in pregaming.

Sage initially chose not to unveil the identities of any of those "culprits," but after her remarks sparked a strong reaction from Survivor fans, she apparently changed her mind and decided to expose two of them.

Sage named fan-favorite Sophi and her Day 1 tribemate Jake -- who was medically evacuated from the game on Day 6 after a snake bite -- in a "Last Thoughts" YouTube video she uploaded on Monday, January 5.

Sage alleged that Sophi and Jake secretly met up with each other and other castaways at night to have forbidden conversations.

"Did they cheat? Yes. Am I saying they're sh-tty people? No. They've done a lot of sh-tty things outside of this game, I will say that, but I think everybody has the ability and choice to be a better person," Sage said.

She added, "The two of you talked a lot and had a lot of interactions. I have pages and pages in my pregame journal talking about you... because of how much y'all were engaging verbally and non-verbally."

Sage alleged that Sophi got up early, stood outside of her tent, and talked to other people as they woke up.

"She left her tent to go talk to people and then she came back to talk to me... She was like, 'Who do you think the alternate is?'" Sage recalled.

Sage said this interaction put her in a really vulnerable position but she decided to respond as to not make an immediate Survivor enemy.

"She said, 'You haven't smiled at me yet,'" Sage alleged, adding that Sophi's pre-game expectations stressed her out.

"She just kept talking... She kept asking me questions and I didn't know what to do... I saw you instigating a lot of talking."

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Sophi allegedly asked Sage her tribe color and then revealed that Rizo Velovic was going to be on Sage's tribe.

Sage claimed that Sophi and Rizo noticeably "gravitated towards each other" pregame "in the media tents" to the point where she wondered if the pair was going to have a showmance.

"After the game ended and I'm processing everything, I'm thinking back to pregame and I'm like, 'Wait a second.' When we were in tent city at night, there were bungalows you could go to the bathroom in. Obviously we're not supposed to be in the bungalows together," Sage said.

"I got up to go to the bathroom... and when I came out of the bathroom, Jake... stopped to talk and Soph was there too."

Sage said she went back to her tent and listened for when Sophi and Jake would return to their own tents, which were nearby.

"Before I fell back asleep, neither one of them had made it back to their tents," Sage claimed.

"So I have no idea how long they were up talking to each other... [but] Soph met up with another player at night and I'm not releasing this player's name, because I do feel like Soph instigated this... Another person has confirmed that they met up in a bungalow with you at night."

Sage said there is "no excuse" for Sophi's behavior and she should take accountability for her wrongdoing

"Maybe this is your wakeup call. My hope is that this is an opportunity for growth," Sage said.

Sage complained about how Sophi and Jake had built "an unfair advantage with their relationship" and she feels "no responsibility" to protect them when their actions "caused harm to other people."

Sage, however, kept insisting that she has respect for Sophi, who "has a lot of anxiety" and "people pleasing" tendencies.

Sage lamented about how she desperately attempted to connect and bond with Sophi -- who is supposedly part of a "cool" kids' group post show -- only to feel rejected by her and "iced out" by the majority of the cast.

Sage also addressed Jake directly and claimed there were "a handful of people" who have expressed "discomfort" by the things he had done during the game.

"Jake, if you message me with threats or you send people to message me with threats, I don't want to release this other stuff on you," Sage said in her lengthy video.

"If you take that approach... it will put me in a position where I'll have to release more information, and I don't want to do that. I want to give you this opportunity to take accountability for the pregaming, and maybe -- maybe -- that helps you to pause and reflect on your actions as a whole, so that you course correct some things."

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Sage repeated how Jake, like Sophi, has the ability and capacity to be a better human.

"I'm not saying that you're a sh–t human; I am saying that you've done a lot of sh–ty things. I'm holding out hope, but I don't think there's a reality where you're hearing any of this and you respond reasonably," Sage said.

Sage suggested that Jake "taking accountability" may actually be "a really great opportunity" for him to boost his popularity with fans.

"Jake, I witnessed you say a lot during pregame, especially on the boat rides for media day," Sage alleged, adding how Jake luckily avoided being "taken out" with the other two schemers before Survivor 49 officially began.

"In fact, you and the guy that were taken out talked a lot together, like, y'all were buddy-buddy... I saw you instigate talking with a lot of people."

Sage claimed Jake "talking with people" put those people "in a really bad spot" because nobody would want to shut him down and not respond.

"I don't know what production would've done [had they known this] because we only had two alternates, so I think we would've been screwed... Production is not going to cancel the show," Sage noted.

While Sage has received backlash for speaking up weeks after Survivor 49 wrapped on CBS, the Survivor finalist insisted that she "did let production know during pregame" about these secret conversations -- and so did Kristina Mills.

"Kristina did speak up once she found out that the male that ended up getting taken out was throwing out her name. I don't know how she figured that out... Eventually, [producers] did take action. Again, two people were removed from the original cast," Sage reiterated.

She added, "They have suffered the consequences. Leave them alone. Production did the best they could with the information they had. Leave them alone, too."

But Sage admitted she "did not witness" any pregame strategizing "firsthand" with one of the four "culprits" who still got to play the game.

Instead, she has simply chosen to believe "stuff" she's heard "through the grapevine" about that castaway.

"But it does not feel ethical for me to speak on their name when I don't have that firsthand empirical data," Sage reasoned.

"I've also decided the third person, I'm not going to name because... this person, from what I've gathered, has demonstrated growth and a willingness to learn and grow. I also think, in their mind, they're not a top-level offender."

Sage asked fans not to send Sophi and Jake hate, although one of them had been "super sneaky" prior to the game.

"I didn't even know the extent of what they did until after the game was done... People just weren't willing to play fair," Sage claimed.

Sage predicted Sophi and Jake fans would come for her, but she said she felt a need to speak up for the people "who have been silenced" throughout this whole ordeal.

"I don't expect or need any of the other cast members to speak up just because I am. If they want to, cool, I will have their backs. If they don't want to, I won't hold that against them," Sage concluded.

Sophi seemingly responded to Sage's allegations in a Tuesday, January 6 Instagram post.

In the post, Sophi uploaded a carousel of photos from a recent vacation to the Bahamas.

In Spanish, she captioned the post, "Just enjoying myself [heart and fire emojis]."

In the comment section, Sophi received support from several of her fellow Survivor 49 castaways as well as players from the past.

"Can't wait to see you tonight!!!! Wanna come over and pre game?" Survivor 45 winner Dee Valladares quipped, to which Sophi responded, "Let's go!!!"

One fan wrote to Sophi: "I hope you had your notifications silenced for the last 24hrs [crying-laughing emoji]."

Sophi replied, "Never."

On Survivor's Season 49 finale that aired in December on CBS, Sage placed third behind Sophi, who placed second, and Savannah Louie, who was crowned the "Sole Survivor."

Savannah and Rizo, who finished in fourth place, will return for Survivor 50 this spring.

Survivor host Jeff Probst confirmed in August that two people were removed from Survivor 49 and so two alternates were told they'd get to play at the last minute.

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Entertainment Weekly reported at the time it was likely the two players kicked off the show were strategizing before the marooning.

Survivor players are forbidden to communicate with each other so that alliances don't form before the game begins.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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