Survivor 50 winner Aubry Bracco has revealed whether she thought she had the game in the bag after jury questioning at the Final Tribal Council on Night 26.

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"I didn't," Aubry told Entertainment Weekly following the three-hour finale event that aired May 20 on CBS.

"I don't count my chickens before they hatch. I went through Kaoh Rong. Actually, I was very fearful of, like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm in the Final 3 again. What happens if I lose again?'"

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While Aubry had played Survivor 50 under the radar and often in the middle, she peaked when she needed to and win the Final Immunity Challenge, which guaranteed herself a spot in the Final 3.

Aubry chose to advance Joe Hunter to the Final 3 with her, while forcing Rizo Velovic and Jonathan Young to compete in the firemaking challenge.

"It was interesting because I never thought I was going to win a challenge. I won one in my Survivor career before that," Aubry recalled.

Aubry previously played Survivor: Kaoh Rong, when she finished as the runner-up; Survivor: Game Changers, when she placed fifth; and Survivor: Edge of Extinction, when she placed 16th.

On Survivor 50, Jonathan defeated Rizo in fire and made it to the end, and then Aubry defeated him in an 8-3 jury vote. (Joe received zero votes to win).

When looking back on her choice to take Joe with her to the Final 3, Aubry said, "I thought that the jury might be a little skeptical of Rizo... [but he] is incredible at Tribal Council. He's an amazing speaker. He's an amazing story."

She added, "I always looked at Rizo, [like], 'There's something you're not telling us about this guy. He has more going on.' And it turns out, when I watched that [season], he did. And he's a very adept player."

Aubry pointed out how both Jonathan and Joe were "great" as well.

"But I just did not want [Rizo] and that underdog energy next to me. The first time I played, I had someone who emerged at the right moment next to me and it didn't work out for me," Aubry said, referring to Survivor: Kaoh Rong winner Michele Fitzgerald.

"And I thought my game was most similar to Rizo. I was afraid if he was with me, some of the votes could overlap."

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Aubry admitted her "worst nightmare" was "a Jonathan and Rizo situation," and she explained, "I thought then Joe would vote for Jonathan, and Rizo could maybe get someone like [Dee Valladares], and I didn't want to take my chances."

Aubry revealed that Rick Devens, Christian Hubicki and Emily Flippen's votes surprised her the most.

"I did not know where they were going to go. They're hardcore gamers. They have such respect for the integrity of the game," Aubry said.

"I never bothered them over the course of almost a year to find out what they did, and it meant a lot to see that they had voted for me. And everybody else too. I'm not used to a jury that supports me like that."

Aubry gushed about how she felt "so honored" to also have Cirie Fields, Ozzy Lusth, and Tiffany Ervin "fighting" for her at the Final Tribal Council.

"People were fighting for me and like I said, I never had that before and it felt good, but the wild thing is Jonathan and I really were neck and neck in terms of people supporting us," Aubry told EW.

"Jonathan had [Chrissy Hofbeck] and [Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick] fighting for him in the ring. So it really was like, 'Who's getting folks for them on the jury? Who is a step ahead for this question?' So it was really neck and neck," she said.

Aubry said that she "left it all on the table" at the final jury questioning and so the game was out of her hands at that point.

"I knew the game I'd played. I knew that I had to play very under the radar at times. I knew that I had a very hard start to the game, but I left it on the table," she said.

"And that's all you can really do when you get to that point in the game, you have to come away knowing that you did the best you could do, and I thought I did that."

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And so once Aubry returned home from Fiji -- prior to the live vote reveal on May 20 -- she admitted she "had a good feeling" about how the game would end.

"I felt good and I felt confident that I articulated my game," Aubry told E! News in a separate interview.

"But after Survivor 32, I have learned that I'm not satisfied until that is on ink and the votes are read! So I was hopeful, but I did not think it was a done deal. I thought Jonathan played an incredible game, and Joe is an unbelievable human being."


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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