Survivor eliminee Charity Nelms apparently believes the other Season 48 players were "scared" to vote out Eva Erickson after she shared her autism diagnosis.

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Charity attempted to get rid of Eva during Survivor's April 2 episode, but her efforts essentially backfired and Charity was the one who got voted out just before the merge.

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Charity viewed Eva as a physical threat with strong allies -- including Joe Hunter -- but she failed to rally the votes to support her plan.

"To be honest, it kind of felt like everybody understood that and would want to [vote Eva out,]" Charity, 34, told Entertainment Weekly in an interview.

"But because of Eva getting to share her story, I think a lot of people were just scared to do that -- to look bad when that was a very real moment that transcended the game."

Eva, a 24-year-old with autism, became flustered and overwhelmed during an Immunity Challenge on Day 11, and Joe -- who had formed a close bond with Eva during the first few days of the game -- watched Eva's episode from a distance with pain in his eyes. (The pair had been separated during the Tribal Swap).

Although tribes are supposed to remain separated after challenges, Survivor host Jeff Probst allowed Joe to cross enemy lines and comfort Eva by hugging her, holding her hands, and asking her to breathe with him.

Eva, who was sobbing uncontrollably, managed to regain her composure, and she voiced how Joe's support meant the world to her, especially because he risked exposing their relationship pre-merge.

Eva announced when the challenge was over how doctors had believed she would never be an independent woman who could hold down a job, but after her parents sought treatments for her and chose to mainstream school her, she found a way not just to live, but to thrive, with her autism and conquer obstacles along the way.

Charity told EW that Eva's memorable and emotional "human moment" definitely impacted the game once the three tribes began playing on the same beach.

"We are also playing the game now," said the flight attendant from Monroe, MI, who currently resides in St. Petersburg, FL.

"And to treat her differently because of that, I personally don't think is fair."

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Charity insisted that she was targeting Eva due to her intelligence and strategic gameplay but it was difficult to get anyone else onboard.

"She is incredible, brave, smart, and that's why I want her out of the game," Charity recalled.

"She also has an idol in her bag that wasn't really hers."

Charity was referring to how Star Toomey had asked Eva to help her decode and unlock an idol. Once Eva successfully completed the task, the idol belonged to Eva.

"So the reception to that was like, 'We think you're right. And yeah, we kind of want to do that too, but we're scared,'" Charity shared.

Saiounia "Sai" Hughley was also willing to team up with Charity and vote out Eva, but instead, Sai took some heat at Tribal Council on Night 13 of the game.

Sai received five votes, but Charity was eliminated from Survivor 48 with seven votes. (Sai ultimately cast one vote for Cedrek McFadden).

When Charity was working to rally support to take out Eva, she explained in a Survivor confessional, "This is Survivor. I feel justified to be this sneaky because this is a game and it's not who I am."

But Star accused Charity of "scheming" and "working everyone." Star had also become good friends with Eva.

Once Eva caught wind of Charity's plan, Eva told the cameras, "She is extremely fake and I know she's out for me. Charity is my target. Let's get her out of this game. I don't even want her on the jury; let's send her home!"

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Charity later realized that Eva was probably an "aggressive" vote and some castaways would prefer to eliminate Sai, which would make Sai an easier vote.

The episode's closing credits later showed that Eva, Charity, David Kinne, Mitch Guerra, and Shauhin Davari voted for Sai. Everyone else, except for Sai, voted for Charity.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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