"Can't afford to take that risk" - Survivor 47 star Andy shares how Rachel's "threat" led him to change his vote

Survivor 47's newest jury member Andy Rueda felt that Rachel LaMont's threat against him led him to change his mind on betraying her.

In his December 12 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Andy revealed that Rachel was focused on eliminating Sam. However, she cautioned him against lying to her and betraying her once again. She made it clear that if he voted against her instead of aligning with her, she and Sue would ensure he wouldn't receive their votes on the jury.

Andy felt that Rachel's tactic was "risky" and pointed out that this kind of move had backfired in the past. However, he believed that he was the perfect mark for that strategy as he couldn't afford to take that risk. He added that if his former Gata teammate hadn't warned him, he would have lied to her and gone against her.

"I was the perfect mark for that strategy because I just evaluated it and I'm like, 'I can't afford that. I can't afford to take that risk.' And so if she had not said that, maybe I would've gone for lying to her, because that was kind of second nature to me at that point. But that threat really worked on me. It really did," he shared.

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"I got it and I wasn't upset" - Survivor season 47 star Andy reflects on his jury conversation with Rachel

In Survivor season 47 episode 13, Andy attempted to convince his fellow castaway that he was a strong player. However, his pitch came on too strongly, causing Rachel to shift her target from Sam to Andy. This shift in focus ultimately led to the Survivor 47 contestant's elimination in the episode.

In the Entertainment Weekly, interview, Andy was asked what he felt about Rachel telling him that the jury viewed you as a “nothing burger” and that his superpower was moving around the world “a little careless.”

Andy revealed that he and Rachel had developed a sibling-like bond, fostering a personal closeness that allowed him to better understand the meaning behind her words.

"I didn't take them in any type of way where I was offended or anything like that. But you are at the end game and she's telling you that the jury views you as a nothing burger, and she did not disagree in any way, shape, or form," he continued.

The Survivor season 47 contestant further added that this made him realize that if he voted out Rachel, who was "such an influential player", and then she entered the jury, it would confirm all of the jury's suspicions about his game.

Much of Andy's gameplay was "under the shadows". He explained that his "Operation: Italy" strategy, which he was proud of, was a strong move—though it wasn't viewed that way by his former Gata teammates.

"She [Rachel] didn't have all the information, so she viewed that move as a weak-willed, impulsive flip that handed Genevieve the game because the idol was real from her perspective. And so we were close enough that she could say these things, and I got it and I wasn't upset," the Survivor 47 star continued.

Andy further added that all of these things combined, set the table for the decisions he ended up making that day where he didn't feel in danger in any way. He believed that even in the aftermath of "Operation: Italy", it didn't even really raise his threat level as the people that were left out didn't understand the details of his move.

"So I decided after that conversation that I was going to take another big bet and just be like, 'Okay, if we are sending Rachel home, I need her to think a little bit differently about me as she goes into the jury,'” he concluded.

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Survivor season 47 episodes air every Wednesday on CBS.