Survivor 49 is here! Every week, Parade.com's Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the castaway most recently voted off the island.Rizo Velovic came to the island to play for a lot. It wasn't just for him, his family, or the country of Albania. It was also for a legacy, even giving himself an unseen persona of "RizGod." From the very beginning, he wanted to not only play hard and win, but also cement himself as one of the best to ever do it. The result: One of the most entertaining games of the season, backed on soft sales skills, idol theatrics, and maybe a peek or two at someone else's puzzle. Rizo ultimately came up just short on 49, his game ending with — fittingly, given his Gen Z vernacular — "fire." But he succeeded in his much larger goal, as he was asked to immediately return only a couple of weeks later to be on Season 50.A natural-born hustler, Rizo's gameplay exemplified the philosophy of "work smarter, not harder." And perhaps nowhere was that more apparent than the very first day. Sent on a "fight for supplies" to represent his tribe, Rizo blanched when he saw the challenge in front of him, as well as his competitor in Alex Moore. But Rizo went from being "cooked" to cooking, taking advantage of Alex's completed puzzle and misguided digging skills to pull out a surprise win for his tribe. While he showed up late to the socializing, it wasn't long before he got into an easy majority on the Uli tribe.
?SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox ? And it was right before the swap that he secured perhaps the most important ally to his game: The hidden immunity idol. Finding the idol as a tribe, along with some loose Uli lips, it wasn't long before it became the worst-held secret in the game. And, after Rizo was left blindsided at the merge with the loss of his ally Nate Moore, it seemed like his days were numbered. But, rather than trying to hide, he shone even more of a spotlight on his public idol. His primary motive: To weaponize its offensive capabilities to discourage anyone from taking a shot at him. His secondary motive: Have some fun doing it, from giving a fake to Jeff Probst to nearly playing it on Sophi Balerdi when she was most in danger. He was creating, in a word, "cinema."But Rizo's Survivor script was not just about idols. The salesman was more than happy to find a beachside ear to hear any pitch he made. And, with the implicit protection of the idol, that gave him the freedom to spin a web of lies. He successfully turned Sage Ahrens-Nichols and Jawan Pitts against both MC Chukwujekwu and Alex Moore, serving as his second and final victory over the latter. These were essential victories that not only got "Tres Leches" to the Final Four, but Rizo a very good shot of sitting in the end. What the basketball fan was not counting on was a monster fourth quarter comeback by Sophi. She surprised everyone by winning the final Immunity Challenge, and decided to finally make the big move she had been waiting on for weeks. Sophi threw Rizo and Savannah Louie into firemaking, with the number one allies suddenly becoming each other's biggest competition. While Rizo had played an impressive game of keeping his fire lit for 25 days, this evening, he had extinguished it. But it wouldn't be long before it was reignited, as "The Man, the Myth, the Legend" was about to also become "The Returning Player."The day after the finale, Rizo talks with Parade about his chances of winning if he made it to Day 26, the reason behind his idol theatrics, and the biggest lesson he took from Survivor 49 days later into Season 50Related: Read our Survivor 49 pre-game interview with Rizo Velovic
To start, what was it like getting to watch how your game went down in literal flames last night, considering how close you were to the Final Three?It was great. I mean, it was a blow, because I did not tell my family how I ended up finishing. So up until the final hour, they thought I was going to win, and so did my friends and family. But I'm so proud of the game I played. I think if there was any way to go out, it was that way. A, I never got voted out of the game. B, my number one ally won. I started the game with Savannah, ended the game with Savannah, and I'm very happy to crown her the winner. But I'm very happy to get my flowers, because I feel like I played a very innovative game, a game that hasn't been played or replicated in very long time. So I'm very proud of the game that I played, and clearly it got me a spot on Season 50. So it all worked out!Let's stay on Savannah. Because even though the two of you worked together so tightly, we actually didn't see a lot of your personal relationship. Talk to me more about that.While I'm very happy with my edit, the one thing I'm like, "Oh man!" was we never saw me and Savannah's relationship. And I think that kind of stung a little bit, because we were really the driving force. We were a duo in this game. And I remember talking to you preseason, where I was like, "I want to be like, JT, I want my Stephen Fishbach." And while Savannah is not Stephen Fishbach I think she was very — well, I guess she wasn't as likable as JT to some people, which is still crazy to me. But she was the muscle of our duo, and I was like the strategic acumen.But we really had a good time out there. And she was like a big sister to me that I never had. So every single Tribal or every single night on the island, we'd always have fun. We'd laugh. We're great strategic partners. And if you told me after the Nate blindside, that we would be sitting there at the Final Four, whoever wins fire is going to win this game, I wouldn't have believed you. And that's why I take the loss. And even Soph, who is one of our closest allies, putting us both in there, I'm not bitter. Because we did everything that a trio could do. We made it to the Final Four, and I felt pride knowing that if I won fire, I would have won the game. If I didn't win fire, Savannah was going to win the game. Were you always locked in to vote for her to win when you made it to the jury?Absolutely. And yes, that's because of my relationship with her. But that's also because Savannah, especially always being the target, did she have all the strategic maneuverability the top had? No. But I think she was handcuffed for no apparent reason, because people just viewed her to be this "mean girl," which to this day that perception is very wild to me, because she was not mean at all to anybody. I think people took our confidence as showboaty in a sense. And sure, I did crazy stuff at Tribal and Savannah was very direct to people. But we were never like Russell Hantz levels of villains. We were rootable, funny characters that wanted to make an impact. And I guess it rubs people the wrong way, but I'm happy it ended up working out in the end.You mentioned that, if you won firemaking, you felt you would have won the game. Talk to me about that. Whose votes did you feel you had in that Final Three with you, Sophi, and Sage?Honestly, I think very similar to Savannah. I think the five votes that Savannah got — aside for myself; we would have been flip-flopped — it would have been exactly that. I think MC and Kristina were always going to vote for Soph. Because me and Kristina are great now, but in the game, at least, we didn't have the best relationship. And I think Kristina was always "anti-Savannah and Rizo," so she would have voted anybody aside from us, too. And I think MC, while I was actually very shocked to see she was rooting for me in fire, I think she would probably have leaned 65%, so maybe I could have swung her over. But I think Nate, Alex, Steven were all wanting to vote for the best player. I think Nate was always in my corner. I think Alex just needed clarity as to why he went home, because it was a big question mark to him. As it should have been, because he literally went home to my accord, literally making up lies and things that weren't even true. And it somehow worked. And then Steven, I think his perception at the time was like, "Oh, this goofy kid. There's no way he's actually running the game." And I think the reason for a lot of my antics at Tribal was I knew I was such a good behind the scenes player. And a lot of my inspiration for Survivor was from Feras from Australian Survivor and Tony from Cagayan. I wanted to differentiate my game, because a lot of those players, they were showmans at Tribal, and it really got them the respect. Because a lot of the things they did were behind the scenes, they had to show the jury what they were doing. And I wasn't winning immunity; Savannah was winning immunity! So the jury was seeing that. I needed them to know that I was behind the scenes, steering the votes. So that's the reasoning for a lot of my antics. So I think I would have gotten the respect.Now, if there's a universe where it's "Tres Leches" in the Final Three, I bust Soph's chops about it to this day. I think there's a shot that she probably wins, because Savannah and I split the votes. The jury is very anti-Rizo and Savannah. I think Savannah and I, while I would have loved to go to the end with her, it was best for our games that one of us went to clarity to the jury. Because what's so great about being a tight trio running the game is that we were so locked in. But the disadvantage is that nobody knows what we're doing. So I think the jury almost discredited all of our games because they thought we got there because they self-imploded. When the reality is, we caused the majority to self-implode. So me getting to Ponderosa, I was able to paint the picture and really explain how I maneuvered behind the scenes. But the reality is I kind of went into the jury talking about my game, but I just gave the credit all to Savannah. I was like, "Savannah did that," because I wanted her to win. Honestly, I wanted Soph and Savannah to get first or second. I didn't care who got it. But obviously Savannah and I were in the game since Day 1. So that was my goal going to Ponderosa. But I think I would have won had I beat Savannah. Of course, we have to get into the idol. Like you mentioned on the after show, you wanted to use it as an offensive tool after watching it be used defensively as of late. Did you have a consistent idea of what you wanted to do with it? Did you always have the idea to play that fake?Everything was calculated. Being such a student of the game, I know that idols were always defense mechanism. But I know — don't say his name three times before he appears — Russell Hantz was really the game changer when it came to idols. I grew up on Tocantins. My first seasons after Tocantins were Russell Hantz in and Samoa and Heroes vs. Villains. So I grew up on idols making statements. And then in the new era, people just go home with it in their pockets. Or they just say, "I don't want to go home here Jeff." And I love MC and Alex, but we saw it on my season. They just played it defensively because they didn't want to go home with it in their pocket. But I came here to win. I knew the value that the idol had.So there was multiple ways that I did it. What didn't make the edit, which is fine, there's so much nuance on the season. But Sophie says something at Tribal Council, where she's like, "We know where the idol is." That was that propaganda was spread by me. I went into the merge because I found out — granted, everybody told me that Shannon told everybody. So this is my public apology to Shannon. I'm sorry, Shannon. I thought you blew up my game, but in reality, it was Sage. I go to everybody. I'm like, "Why do you want to flush this idol? You know where it is. Just keep it on me. Listen, if I know you're voting against me, I'll play it and you go home." And I think I had the luxury that I played with a lot of risk-averse players, players that just wanted to make it another day instead of taking the risk. And I said it at I think Final 10. I was like, "I don't care if I get tenth or fourth, I'm here to win." And my thought process going into tribal, I was like, "Okay, I'm in the Final Nine. I don't play this idol, I'm in the Final Seven. I'm in the Final Six. If I don't play this idol, I'm in the Final Four." So I was thinking about many ways of being creative.The fake idol play, for instance, everybody's perception of me was, "How is Rizo holding on to this thing? He's gonna get cocky." So I found out that Kristina had the idol because Soph and Sophie went through her bag. So my big play was I'm gonna go up to Jeff and pretend that I don't know Kristina has this idol and say, "Guys, you think you got us. Well, guess what? I'm playing this on Savannah. And Steven, I'm sending your ass packing!" In hopes that Christina would be like, "We got them right where we want them!" Go up to Jeff. H"ere's my idol for Steven." And I would have been like, [Fakes shock.] "Oh my God, no!" But the reality, I knew it was happening. So when Kristina got up so fast to play the idol, I was like, "Well, I just made this fake idol." And was it theatrical? Of course. Everything was calculated, because nobody knew. All of my moves were behind scenes. Like I said, I take inspiration from Feras Tony, and they did such a great much agency they had in the game. So I was like, "I'm gonna play this on Savannah." The reason why I did that was, A. I knew where the votes were going, B. to show Jawan and Sage, "You thought you were going to flip on us?" Now you're going to see the repercussions of that." And C, show the jury at the time that I knew what was going on in this game. Because I don't have immunity necklaces to show the people what I'm doing in this game. All I have is my agency back at camp. And the jury doesn't see that, so it's my job to get them to see that. So that's where all the antics were. What about at Final Six, when you got up to play your idol, then decided to keep it? Plus your lie to everyone that the idol expired at six?I mean, I'm surprised that they bought the lie. This was being built up since Final Eight, and obviously, with the help of Soph. I know it didn't make [the edit], but Soph and I were like, "Listen, if we go around telling people that my idol expires at six, if one person says it, it's like, 'Alright, whatever.' But if two people on the island say it, it's almost like a Bible." If more than one person is saying a lie, it has to be the truth. So with the help of Soph and Savannah, like, "Rizo's idol expires at six," everyone's like, "Well, Rizo's idol expires at six!" And it just worked out, and I was able to figure out ways.Ad people are like, "Why don't you play the idol on Kristina [at Final Five]?" I didn't really f—king care, to be honest, because it didn't matter to me if Kristina or Sage [went]. To be honest, I would have beaten both of them. I didn't care who was there. The only reason why I didn't play the idol on Kristina was she was better than all of us at fire. And I love Kristina now, but I couldn't count on her to win Final Four immunity. Going into Final Four, I needed somebody to give a shot at beating Savannah. Whether it was me, whether it was Soph, whether it was Sage, I was banking on us beating Savannah. If I took a calculated risk. If I save Kristina here, I'm probably going to go against Kristina in fire. And if I lose to Kristina and fire, I'm going to probably beat myself up. If I wanted to be put in fire, I wanted it to be against Savannah. And I will say this, thank God this didn't happen, because if I would have lost doing this, I would have been upset. But if I won final immunity, I think I would have done the Chris Underwood and sacrificed my necklace to go against Savannah in fire. So it all ended up working out how I wanted it to be. I started with Savannah on Day 1, and I ended it with her.Of course, we have to talk about the fact that you will be back on our screens in February on Survivor 50. I know we'll have a much longer conversation then. But what was your initial reaction when you got on the Zoom and were offered the opportunity to come back?It was so phenomenal. Just to kind of give some backstory, Jeff explained it in an interview, but we woke up the next morning at Ponderosa, production pulled me to the side. I walk into a room, and I see Jeff on a Zoom. And I thought this was normal. I thought Jeff just checked up on the people in the finale. I was like, "Yo, Jeff, what's going on, man? Didn't I just f—king kill it on Season 49?" And then Jeff goes, "Rizo, Season 50 is around the corner." It was a movie, like it was literally cinema. And then he asked me if I want to be on 50. And I was like, "Oh my God." This is what I envisioned. I envisioned I was going to be one of the greatest to ever play. And I said to myself, "I'm going to play so well that they have to ask me back." Some people were like, "Oh, Rizo, is hamming it up to Jeff Probst to get on 50." I'm gonna be honest, that 50 talk on the island, I literally didn't care about that. I didn't care to play up to be on 50. I played to make a mark on Season 49. Because my mindset is, "If I play to win this season, they're gonna have to bring me back." I was just myself out there. I literally gave it my all, and I deserved the spot on 50. Honestly, it was kind of euphoria. Like, "Oh my god, I'm going to be playing with some of the greatest to ever play this game." I don't have imposter syndrome or anything, but it really was a boost to my ego.How it will fare against the greatest of all time is yet to be seen. We'll see how I do on Season 50. Did I practice puzzles? To be honest? No. I just wanted to go home and focus time with my family and recuperate so when I got back out there, I was ready.Asyou mentioned, you went out there to not only win, but cement a legacy. And you succeeded in the latter. You got Jeff Probst to say, "RizGod, the tribe has spoken"!Yeah, that's still shocking to me. Because now I'm thinking about it, I don't think that's ever been done in Survivor. I mean, obviously, Jeff would say like, "Chicken, the tribe has spoken." But I wasn't RizGod to anybody. Nobody knew I was out there. And I think you saw Steven's reaction, the jury's reaction. They're like laughing, like, "What is going on?" But the fact that I went out there to cement my legacy, and now I get to be on Season 50, the little Rizo that got to watch JT chip his tooth in that Tocantins challenge to where I am now, it's come full-circle. I'm very grateful for it.
Related: 'Survivor 49' Runner-Up Sophi Balerdi Reveals She Almost Put Herself in Firemaking Against Savannah (Exclusive)
Hence then, the article about survivor 49 star rizo velovic reveals the real strategy behind his idol antics exclusive was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( ‘Survivor 49’ Star Rizo Velovic Reveals the Real Strategy Behind His Idol ‘Antics’ (Exclusive) )
Also on site :
- The 2025 Billboard K-Pop Artist 100
- ‘It’s all because of Putin’: RT drops Christmas song spoof (AI VIDEO)
- Steal a Brainrot cancels this week's Taco Tuesday for special Christmas event