Survivor eliminee Matt Blankinship has revealed whether he was surprised or disappointed that Frannie Marin didn't throw the Immunity Challenge to keep him safe from the vote -- and what he would've done had he been in her shoes.

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Matt, a 27-year-old security software engineer who currently resides in San Francisco, CA, admitted the thought "definitely" crossed his mind that Frannie could've saved them both had she sacrificed victory for her team during a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly.

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Frannie inadvertently sealed Matt's fate in the game. At the Immunity Challenge on Day 14, the merged tribe was divided into two teams of five, with Matt and Frannie on opposing teams.

In a new twist, the winner on each team would receive immunity while the person to outlast everyone would win immunity for his or her entire team.

Once Frannie secured safety for herself, she could've thrown the endurance challenge to Brandon Cottom on the other side. Had Brandon been the last person standing and also received safety, Matt and the rest of Brandon's teammates would've received immunity as well.

However, Frannie gave the challenge everything she had and won it all, which left Matt vulnerable and without allies on the losing team. He was then voted out at Tribal Council hours later.

"The thought definitely crossed my mind: What's the best way to play this strategically? And I think it crossed her mind as well," Matt recalled to EW of the Immunity Challenge.

"But, at the same time, this is Survivor. Anything can happen, and you want to put your best foot forward. I'm genuinely so proud of her for winning the immunity and setting the tone in this way. I don't fault her at all for wanting to compete and wanting to win."

Matt said everyone on that island in Fiji were "competitors," adding, "We want that moment of [Survivor host Jeff Probst] putting the freaking necklace on you. We all dream about that all the time."

But thinking about Frannie's decision from a strategy perspective, he shared, "Yes, we want to keep the pair and if one of us wins immunity, you should probably step off and keep the other one safe."

"But, at the same time," he reasoned, "I can't hold it against Frannie for wanting to compete."

"Come on, she beat Brandon!" Matt proudly added. "The freaking NFL player! A little girl from Minnesota outlasting this big guy who played on the Seahawks. Like, how cool is that? What a story."

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Since Frannie was competing to win it all against Brandon, Matt confessed there was a part of him hoping the 23-year-old research coordinator who currently resides in Cambridge, MA, would get tired, drop her ball and lose fair and square.

"I mean, okay, I was hoping that I would be safe in that moment. It was a complicated feeling for me as well, because actually -- and I don't think they showed this in the episode -- but when Brandon dropped the ball, I had a moment of joy, actually," Matt said.

"I was so excited for Frannie. I was putting myself in her shoes, being like, 'I've won the challenge!' And I jumped up and I was like, 'Woo!'"

But then Matt had a sudden "turnaround" feeling of, "Oh sh-t. Now I'm screwed."

Matt explained that his "emotional response" preceded his "logical response."

Matt recalled to EW, "It reminded me of [voted-out castaway Josh Wilder] when Jeff came over and announced that [Matthew Grinstead-Mayle] was leaving the game [due to injury]. He was like, 'I'm safe! Oh, but that's really sad.' You can't help but feel that competing thing, but the opposite for me."

Matt noted how he was "so stoked" for Frannie but then felt dread about the fate of his own game shortly afterwards.

"[I was like], 'Oh sh-t! It's me.' I obviously wanted to continue and it would've been much better for me, but again, I don't hold it against her. I'm very proud for her," Matt insisted.

When asked if he would've played to win -- just like Frannie did -- had he been in the same position during that Immunity Challenge, Matt said, "Oh gosh, it's one of those situations where you don't know until you're there. Honestly, I think I would've thought about it and probably knocked [the ball] off."

Matt said if he had been declared safe, he "probably would've dropped the ball" to save Frannie "because it just made sense."

"But it is hard," he conceded. "We're all competitive. They didn't show this as well, but that challenge, it was like 50 minutes, almost an hour. You have a lot of time to think about it. I think I probably would've ended up there."

Matt was ultimately voted out of the merged "Va Va Tribe" in a 3-2 vote against Yamil "Yam Yam" Arocho on Night 14 of the game.

Matt said both he and Frannie "were both in tears" watching last week's Survivor episode back.

"She was weeping. I was weeping. It was a really intense experience reliving that," Matt shared.

"I think you can see it at Tribal. I'm a smiley dude, I'm smiling all the time, but I knew I was going home and that was the darkest place for me the whole time. I felt like I was processing my elimination sitting at Tribal before it had happened."

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Matt said feeling so hopeless and defeated was "a rough place" to be in, adding, "I think you can see it in my face as well. We were weeping."

Matt and Frannie clicked right away on their Soka tribe at the start of the game because of their quirky personalities, and they struggled to keep their feelings for each other a secret from their tribemates. The pair, for example, would hold hands in the middle of the night while the others were sleeping.

"She is really cute. She's got a really funny laugh. The snorts, it makes my heart gush. I would 100 percent ask Frannie out, and I think she likes me too! And we trust each other completely," Matt said in a confessional on the CBS reality series.

Frannie didn't want to spend time away from Matt, but she also thought it would be a good idea for them to distance themselves from one another in order to not come across like a potential power couple in the game.

"It's so hard because Matt and I can't stop talking. I think we just gravitate towards each other. We're just two big, dorky magnets that can't be pulled apart," Frannie lamented to the cameras.

Frannie then admitted in a subsequent episode that she had a crush on Matt.

"When this game is over, Matt and I are going to go out for Ethiopian food together, and whatever happens, happens!" she said. "Matt is somebody I would date in real life, and if it comes to that after this game is over, I would be pleased as punch."

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Matt confirmed he and Frannie are still together and "going strong." They also went out on that date to eat Ethiopian food together.




About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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