Hall of Shame Moment: Leann Knocks Herself out of ‘Survivor: Vanuatu’

Sometimes on Survivor, it seems that everything is going your way. Your alliance is hanging together. You are in command. You have nothing to worry about. Hell, you can even blow the immunity challenge and not have second thoughts about it!

That’s when you should start to worry.

Leann was in a prime spot on Survivor: Vanuatu as she headed towards at least the Final Four. She was in a solid alliance with Ami and Julie. In addition, she had Twila, Scout, and Eliza on the periphery. Chris, the lone remaining man, was an outsider who knew he was going next.

So what happened?

Leann got cocky. Just a few days prior, Scout and Twila had tried to get the women to vote out Eliza for being too annoying. Leann didn’t like the idea and, along with Ami, convinced Julie not to go along with it. When Twila and Scout faced the possibility of a tie vote, they backed down and Chad was sent packing.

Suddenly, when all was going well for her, Leann decided she’d had enough of Eliza. Rather than sticking with the all-female idea, she brought up the possibility of getting rid of Eliza first. The others all went along with it, though Ami did so grudgingly.

It was a bad idea for several reasons. First, as Ami herself pointed out, this would give new life to Chris, who could have gotten himself into a good position with a string of immunity wins. They should never have given new life to a player who expected to go home – unless there was something in it for them.

There wasn’t anything in it for them, but there was for those players on the periphery! Scout and Twila saw the opportunity and took it. Chris convinced Eliza that she was doomed as well. Since four is greater than three, Leann was sent packing.

Leann was shocked – shocked! During Tribal Council, she had said she didn’t think immunity was a life-or-death situation for her. She was wrong.

Her behavior takes us back to the way the Rotu-4 acted in an earlier season (they got a Hall of Shame Moment too). The Rotu-4 were so certain that they were in command of the game that they allowed the others to see where they actually stood in the pecking order. When those “others” banded together, the Rotu-4 were no more.

Similarly, Leann allowed the others to know where they stood. She told Scout flat-out that she did not consider Scout to be part of her planned Final Four. She told Twila that she didn’t trust her. Her pal Julie told Chris everything that was going on. And Chris told Eliza that she was due to be booted. So Leann, with a little help, let a majority in the tribe know that they were not in her (or her alliance’s) plans to go to the end. That gave the outsiders the freedom to maneuver and do away with Leann, just as happened to the Rotu-4. They took that opportunity, and Leann was blindsided right out the door.

Adding to the shame is that all Leann needed to do was to keep her mouth shut. If she had stayed the course, it is unlikely that Scout, Twila, and Chris could have found the fourth person they needed. Chris would have been voted out. Scout could have gone immediately after. Then either Twila or Eliza could have been put out in fifth place. It was simply a numbers game at that point, but Leann neglected to do the math.

Of course, Leann isn’t the only one to get a mention in this Hall of Shame Moment – though she is the central figure. Julie gets a dishonorable mention for divulging all of the women’s information to Chris. Maybe she was doing it in the hopes of getting his vote if she would make it to the Final Two. But because of it, now Chris is more likely to be in that position and she will be sitting on the jury! Another dishonorable mention goes to Ami, who has been pulling the strings from behind the scenes for weeks now, but suddenly decides to let Leann have her way on this one. Ami knew it was a bad idea, but she let it happen anyway. Unless Ami can win more immunities, it looks like she might be going next!

The core of the female alliance had the game in the palm of their hands. Leann was favored to do well by many viewers, because she had close allies in each of Julie and Ami, yet she didn’t seem to have made the enemies that either of the other two had. Apparently, she bought into the same story, thinking she could coast to the finals.

It didn’t work out that way, though. Leann opened the door to a coup, let the rebels inside, handed them the weapon, and aimed it at herself! She got cocky and ignored any semblance of good game play. There is only one way to recognize such a move, and now Leann has a Reality TV Hall of Shame Moment.

Be sure to check out these other Survivor: Vanuatu Episode 11 articles on our sister site, RealityNewsOnline:

David Bloomberg is the Editor of the Reality TV Hall of Shame, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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