Survivor 49 winner Savannah Louie has revealed surprising Final Tribal Council details that viewers didn't get to see on the finale.
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"Oh my gosh. It was really long, I'll say that," Savannah recalled to Entertainment Weekly.
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The 31-year-old former reporter from Walnut Creek, CA -- who won the game on Night 26 in a 5-2-1 vote at Tribal Council against Sophi "Soph" Balerdi and Sage Ahrens-Nichols, respectively -- admitted there was an aspect of the jury questioning that she didn't see coming.
"I was kind of surprised at how upset some of the jury members seemed to be with Sage," Savannah revealed.
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Savannah acknowledged how Survivor "is a game of betrayal" yet many of the jurors seemed bitter.
"Of course, people always have hurt feelings when they exit the game no matter when they leave the game," Savannah said.
"And I think some people were really frustrated with some of Sage's decisions, and she got the brunt of it for quite a while."
Savannah suggested that she wanted to disappear when Sage was taking heat from others.
"It was hard to watch and hard to listen to, to be honest," Savannah recalled of that Final Tribal Council, which featured three women for the first time in about 20 seasons.
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"But she handled it like a champ. And like I said, the jury members are always so valid in whatever they ask. This is ultimately their decision at the end of the day."
Savannah didn't seem to get along with Sage in the game either. The women were enemies -- with Sage targeting Savannah week after week post-merge -- until Savannah extended an olive branch by inviting Sage on a Reward to eat a nice meal.
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"We've had a lot of ups and downs and I felt like during the game... I never purposely tried to be mean to her," Savannah clarified.
"And I hate that she felt that way and I spent a lot of the game from the merge forward trying to make it up to her -- apologizing and trying to show her I am a genuine person."
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While Savannah moved through the game working closely alongside her two allies, Sophi and Rizo Velovic, Sage advanced by betraying alliances and some of her best friends in the game, including Steven Ramm.
Many members of the jury were apparently upset and frustrated with Sage for making self-serving decisions and flip-flopping when it only benefited herself.
Sage received a single vote to win the game from her pal Jawan Pitts, whom she never betrayed. In fact, Sage target Sophie Segreti in order to seek revenge following Jawan's exit.
Savannah's summary of the negativity against Sage helps to explain why Sage broke down into tears and was so apologetic for hurting people's feelings at the Survivor 49 aftershow.
Sage cried to Survivor host Jeff Probst and said, "It's not about the loss. It's such a privilege to be here. I think it's hard to separate emotion from game, but it kills me to think that I might've hurt people."
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"So that's a part of the game," she lamented, "and I love that you guys are comforting me, but it's one of those moments where I'm like, 'Oh crap, I don't even think I deserve this right now.'"
Sage's fellow castaways assured her, "It's a game!"
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Sage continued, "I understand that, but there are parts of this that are more than a game to me."
Sophie S. assured Sage, "We know that," and Steven added, "We love you!"