Survivor featured the Kele Tribe voting out Nicole Mazullo to preserve tribal strength during the Season 49 premiere episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.

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Nicole, a 26-year-old financial crime consultant from Long Island, NY, who currently resides in Philadelphia, PA, was voted out of her Kele Tribe through a 5-1 vote on Night 3 at Tribal Council instead of Kimberly "Annie" Davis, a 49-year-old musician from Portland, OR, who currently resides in Austin, TX.

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"They got me! They got me. That was a true blindside. So, numbers don't lie but people do, is absolutely true," Nicole said in her final words.

"I felt like I was on the right side of the numbers and in the majority, but they were good liars! They kicked it into high gear and I just completely missed it. My family is going to die at this. They are going to laugh hysterically. I am about to be the butt of every joke. That's all I have."

The Survivor broadcast began with 18 castaways meeting Survivor host Jeff Probst on an island in Fiji. The castaways were filled with anticipation and confidence, and they were immediately divided into three tribes of six players.

The "Hina Tribe," wearing yellow, was comprised of Jason Treul, a 32-year-old law clerk from Anaheim, CA, who currently resides in Santa Ana, CA; Michelle "MC" Chukwujekwu, a 29-year-old fitness trainer from Sachse, TX, who currently resides in San Diego, CA; Kristina Mills, a 36-year-old MBA career coach from Houston, TX, who currently resides in Edmond, OK; Matt Williams, a 52-year-old airport ramp agent from Farmington, UT, who currently resides in St. George, UT; Sophie Segreti, a 31-year-old strategy associate from Darnestown, MD, who currently resides in New York City, NY; and Steven Ramm, a 35-year-old rocket scientist from Littleton, CO, who currently resides in Denver, CO.

The "Kele Tribe," wearing blue, featured Annie; Nicole; Alex Moore, a 27-year-old political communications director from Evanston, IL, who currently resides in Washington, D.C.; Jake Latimer, a 36-year-old correctional officer from Regina, Saskatchewan, who currently resides in St. Albert, Alberta; Jeremiah Ing, a 39-year-old global events manager from Windsor, Ontario, who currently resides in Toronto, Ontario; and Sophi Balerdi, a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Miami, FL.

The "Uli Tribe," wearing red, was made up of Jawan Pitts, a 28-year-old video editor from Salem, NJ, who currently resides in Los Angeles, CA; Nate Moore, a 47-year-old film producer from Clovis, CA, who currently resides in Hermosa Beach, CA; Rizo Velovic, a 25-year-old in tech sales from Yonkers, NY; Sage Ahrens-Nichols, a 30-year-old clinical social worker from Roxboro, NC, who currently resides in Olympia, WA; Savannah Louie, a 31-year-old former reporter from Walnut Creek, CA, who currently resides in Atlanta, GA; and Shannon Fairweather, a 28-year-old wellness specialist from Wakefield, MA, who currently resides in Boston, MA.

All the castaways then competed in a marooning challenge, which required one pair from each tribe to race into the jungle to retrieve and bring back two heavy crates. The next pair would then swim out to a boat with more crates onboard.

After pulling the boat to shore, the remaining tribemates would use those crates to build a cube puzzle. One person would then climb on top of the puzzle to retrieve a mallet, which would be used to ring a bell high in the air.

The first tribe to ring its bell would earn supplies in the form of a pot, machete, and flint. The losing tribes would have to try to earn those supplies a different way.

The Hina Tribe won the first challenge, although it was a close call and everyone was working on their puzzle simultaneously.

Jeff then gave the two losing tribes another chance to earn their supplies. Jeff instructed each tribe to pick one person, who would then face off in a competition for supplies.

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No one was excited to participate in another challenge, especially when so much was on the line. Rizo, however, ended up volunteering for Uli, saying he'd be screwed if he must complete a puzzle. And Alex reluctantly volunteered for Kele.

Rizo and Alex departed on a boat while each tribe headed to their respective camps and began to build their shelter.

Steven opened up to his tribemates about his hearing loss, and then Kristina, who doesn't really like the outdoors, immediately had to face her phobia of birds.

Meanwhile, Sophi tried to become friends with everyone on her Kele tribe. She also bonded with Jake, whom she planned to keep around as her "meat shield."

Jake told Sophi that he also really liked Alex, and so they very quickly established a Final 3 pact.

Over at Uli, Savannah dubbed her tribe the "feel-good" tribe with good vibes and a desire to have fun. She planned to hide her reporting background from her tribe so that they wouldn't be threatened by her speaking skills.

Shannon boasted about she uplifts women and runs events for them in Boston. She therefore wasted no time becoming friends with the women in her tribe, but she also recognized there would be a time when she must attack her allies.

The tribe also learned that Sage spoke her mind and may not be the best at keeping secrets.

Footage then showed Rizo and Alex trying to prove their individual worth with a challenge.

Each player was required to race onto a peninsula to find 10 coconuts marked with his emblem. The guys had to bring the coconuts back to the start one at a time and then rip them open. The pieces hidden inside would solve a puzzle, revealing the location of a ship's wheel.

After retrieving the wheel buried in the sand, each player had to use it to crank a flag pole, ultimately raising a flag.

Rizo, who admitted he's terrible at puzzles, admitted that Alex "smoked" him when collecting coconuts. Alex acknowledged he had a pretty strong lead.

In fact, Alex finished his puzzle as Rizo was just starting his. Rizo also didn't realize until later that he was missing a piece.

While Alex was desperately searching for his wheel on the beach and exhausted himself, Rizo copied his entire puzzle -- piece by piece -- and was able to catch up.

In the end, Rizo had a shocking comeback and found his wheel first, winning the tribe supplies. Rizo cried about how he never gave up and was so proud of himself for stepping up to the plate.

"This is the best moment of my life," Rizo told the Survivor cameras.

Alex, for his part, called the loss "painful," knowing he'd have to return to his tribe empty-handed. He said it really hurt his pride and he hoped his tribe wouldn't vote him out first because of it.

Once Alex returned to camp, Jake shared with Sophi and Alex how his wife was going to give birth to their son while he was gone.

Playing Survivor clearly meant so much to Jake, who had also revealed to Jeff earlier in the game how his father -- a fellow Survivor Super Fan -- was going blind and so Season 49 was going to be the last season he could ever watch.

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Meanwhile, Matt on the Hina tribe complained about how he was playing with a younger generation of castaways, many of whom had never even slept outside before. As his tribemates talked about video games, Matt felt a little left out.

Matt, however, tried to become "invaluable" to the tribe by starting a big fire for them on Day 1.

On Day 2 at Kele's camp, Nicole, who said she has a Type A personality, was upset because she had lost one of her shoes. It turns out Jake had hidden Nicole's shoe to be funny, and he planned to continue with the "chaos" and "entertainment."

Annie also went off looking for a hidden Immunity Idol instead of socializing with her tribemates. While Annie's actions appeared to put a target on her back, Alex -- who wanted to form unexpected alliances -- ran after her and formed a connection with her.

Over at Uli, Shannon, Savannah and Jawan teamed up, and the trio discussed how they needed to grab one more person in order to have the majority. Jawan joked about how he was going to have "casting auditions" because this group of four was going to dictate his game.

Meanwhile, Steven worked his magic by telling each tribemate he'd have their back. However, he confessed that he felt a little paranoid because he never really fit in and had been bullied when he was in high school.

Prior to the first Immunity Challenge of the season, Alex and Jake formed a bromance, which made Sophi a little jealous. Jeremiah saw the two buff men bonding and thought it would be strategic to get in with them because no one would ever see it coming.

Jeremiah therefore established an alliance of four with Sophi, Jake and Alex. And Sophi and Jeremiah promised to be each other's "No. 1" going forward.

Over at the Uli Tribe, Nate realized he was older than his tribemates, and so he set out to make connections. Nate spoke to Savannah about working with Shannon and Rizo as a core group of four.

Savannah felt even better about Nate as her ally when she saw Jawan getting extremely frustrated and upset about his inability to start a fire. Jawan said he had practiced for months for this moment, and so he just felt like he was letting people down.

On Day 3, the three tribes met Jeff for the Immunity Challenge.

Jeff instructed one pair from each tribe to navigate a rope tunnel and crawl through a muddy pit before racing into the jungle to retrieve a heavy and long Survivor serpent. They had to bring the serpent back, and then the next pair would go.

After gathering all three serpents, three players would work together to navigate a ball and maneuver it along a winding snake trap.

The first two tribes to finish would win immunity. The first-place tribe would also receive a massive Survivor tool kit. The second-place tribe would receive a smaller, but still helpful kit.

The losing tribe would lose its flint and be forced to vote out one of their own that night.

The tribe who finished in first place was Hina, and second place went to Uli.

Sophi blamed Annie or Nicole for the challenge loss.

"I'm trying to pick my poison here -- which one is worse? Because I don't want to lose again," Sophi told the Survivor cameras.

Jake and Alex talked about how they'd probably have a better chance of winning challenges with Annie.

"If we get rid of Nicole, we're going to get rid of someone who does try hard, but she just couldn't figure out the puzzle and she's kind of slowing us down when it comes to her physical abilities for running... cardio, and stuff like that," Jake said in a confessional.

Jake and Alex tried to make Nicole feel comfortable so she wouldn't play her "Shot in the Dark" at Tribal Council.

Sophi said she loved Nicole and they'd be friends outside of Survivor, but most of the tribe wanted Nicole gone.

Annie then pitched to Sophi how she wanted to take one of the guys, such as Jake or Alex, out next. Sophi brought this news back to her alliance, and so Alex thought taking out Annie made sense in order to protect himself.

At Tribal Council on Night 3, the tribe talked about how they loved each other, but Jeremiah shared how their biggest focus was to stay strong.

"And so we're going to vote out the weakest player," Jeremiah announced, before confirming the vote had come down to two people.

While Jeremiah spoke, Nicole asked Alex, "Am I okay? Am I good?"

Alex shook his head yes, trying to put Nicole at ease.

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After each castaway voted, no one played an idol or their "Shot in the Dark."

Jeff proceeded to read the votes in the following order: Nicole, Annie, Nicole, Nicole, and Nicole.

Nicole appeared shocked and disappointed, and she muttered, "Wow," under her breath before having her torch snuffed.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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