‘Survivor’ star Charlie Davis says he ‘will never get over’ his shocking season 46 loss

It doesn’t come much closer to winning Survivor without actually winning Survivor than what happened to Charlie Davis on Survivor 46. Charlie made it all the way to the end, where he lost a 5-3 jury vote to Kenzie Petty.

But what made the loss so shocking is that Charlie’s No. 1 ally throughout the game, Maria Shrime Gonzalez, gave the deciding vote to Kenzie instead of him, explaining to Entertainment Weekly later, “When I watched Kenzie make fire, there was a look in her eyes — a fierceness in her eyes of a powerful woman who overcame something. And that spoke to me so deeply in my core.“ (Had Maria voted for Charlie instead, it would have fallen to third place finisher Ben Katzman to break the 4-4 tie, a tie he would have broken in Charlie’s favor.)

It’s a loss that Charlie says still haunts him, and the relationship with Maria has yet to be repaired. But could that brutal pain end up leading to a greater gain of Survivor 50 glory? After all, as Charlie told EW in Fiji just days before his return outing began, “To know how to win, it helps to know how to lose, and I know how to lose painfully.”

We sat down with the 28-year-old lawyer to delve into the aftermath of his crushing loss, and why it kicked him into gear in his latest quest for the title. We also showed remarkable restraint in only asking him one Taylor Swift question along the way.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Tell me why you’re going to win Survivor 50, Charlie.

CHARLIE DAVIS: I’m going to win. I think I’ve got a good shot at this. To know how to win, it helps to know how to lose, and I know how to lose painfully. But I did learn a lot the first time around. I learned a lot of good things about what I did well and a couple of tweaks that I think could take me home.

Tell people what you’ve been up to since the last time you played Survivor.

Yeah, quite a few life updates after our season finale aired in spring of 2024. Two days later, I graduated law school, then a painful summer of bar studying and then passed the bar. And now I’m a lawyer in Boston.

You’ve got that whole career going on, so why come back and do this again?

Oh man. It’s like, you just can’t say no, and let alone to season 50 for God’s sake! This is insane being out here with 24 people. And not just 24 people, but 24 really incredible former castaways — some proper legends of the game, and some people who would like to be, I’m sure. It’s just absolutely insane and unbelievable to be a part of this. And I was going to say yes in a heartbeat to any season, so what’s less than a heartbeat for season 50? In a flash!

What’s the Taylor Swift song title that best exemplifies your return for Survivor 50?

Well, it’s got to be a Reputation track and I’m going to go with “I Did Something Bad.”

Well, that’s a perfect segue to the next question. Is there anything you regret on a personal level from the last time you played?

Yeah, it’s tough. I’ll start with the fact that just playing Survivor, going to Tribal Council, trying to put something together, not knowing for sure if it’s going to come together, and then when it actually comes together — it’s awesome. It is awesome!  That is a huge emotion, and I think this is hard to capture because it’s fleeting, but when Jeff is reading the votes and they are as you planned them, but you’re looking over to the person who’s seeing their name written down, vote after vote — that sucks. It sucks.

So I remember a couple times in season 46. The Jem vote— that was brutal seeing her name, even though, again, as planned. Hunter is one that stands out to me because that was a tie vote the first time. So he had to sit there through a revote knowing that he was going to go home. And again, me just watching that happen, that’s brutal. It’s tough.

How much does the 46 loss and the Maria vote still sting?

It definitely stings. I’ve come to terms with it in a lot of ways. So it definitely still stings, the loss stings. I’ll probably in some ways never get over it, although winning Survivor 50 sure would help. Just because of how close it felt and how emotional that final Tribal was and the After-Show was, and then everything after the season and all of that, it still stinks, for sure. But I think in a way it’s cleared my head a lot. Coming out onto season 50 or just returning to Survivor, I think it sort of kicked me into gear a little bit is how I feel about that loss.

It kicked you into gear in what way?

I think it just woke me up. I’m not going to say I’m going to overhaul how I play Survivor, but I think I can be a little more fast and loose. I can be a little more rough around the edges in a lot of ways, just like interacting with folks playing the game and just feel good about it and take some risks, maybe put some cards out on the table here and there rather than holding everything close to the chest until final Tribal Council, if I’m lucky enough to get there.

I feel like I just have license. Something about getting so close to the win and being so freaking bummed about how I lost and the way I lost and just losing in general. I don’t like to lose at all, but getting there, feeling those emotions and I’m just like: Okay, I can just go out here and play however I want and we’ll see how it goes.

Have you and Maria spoken since then?

No, not really. I mean here and there maybe, small interactions in a group chat, but no. I hope she’s doing great. I’m sure she is doing great too.

Do you want to have that conversation with her or is it not necessary?

It’s not something right now that I’m like, “Oh, let’s sit down and hash it out.” It’s just not really on my mind. There’s just a lot going on in my life, just a lot of life changes with work and all that, and lots going on in the Survivor-verse. So no, I haven’t felt the need to sit down and have that talk. And if I never do, then I’m doing just fine.

How do you think the other contestants see you as a player? What are they telling me about you today?

Why don’t you turn that laptop around and let me see some of these notes you’ve got?

You’re good, Charlie. But you’re not that good.

I think, and I hope I’m right about this, that I’m seen as a smart player, but not in an intimidating way. More like in an I’d like to be in an alliance with him way. But that’s a very thin line that exists because you can get tipped over into the threatening territory real quick. And I think it’s definitely possible. There are some people here who are threatened by me. I think in general I’m expecting some of the old schoolers, especially those who haven’t played since say, season 20, to have what I consider to be an irrational fear of new-era players.

I think some players might see that I did the podcast with Jeff and think that that somehow means I’m some sort of Survivor savant when that is not the case at all. Well, maybe it is. Who knows, but I don’t want anyone to think that for sure.

What’s your biggest weakness as a player?

My biggest weakness is the first time I was out, I basically was able to play the same game all the way through and just collect only allies and never a single enemy. And that’s rare to be able to go through the game like that. It was hard to do. But even if I were to try the same tricks again this time, I don’t think with this crop of players it would work.

So my weakness would be going into uncharted territory where true battle lines are drawn and people are actually pissed at me, but I think I can handle that too. But yeah, if I had a weakness, it would be not having that experience yet. I think you need to have that. It’s a totally different way of playing

As a fan, is there anyone you’re just excited to see here? Like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m on a season with this person?”

Well, first of all, Mike White is here, which is insane. I feel like I really haven’t talked about that enough. I cannot believe that Mike White is out here playing Survivor again. That’s just bonkers. But there are so many. The Dragonslayer, I cannot believe that I’m going to play Survivor with him. I am very excited for that. Who knows how that’s going to go.

And Angelina, just because I just think she’s so fun and I think she’s going to stand a great chance in this game because she’s obviously incredibly smart. I think she may be thought of as someone who won’t be taken seriously if they watch David vs. Goliath, but I think that would be a mistake. She’s also just so fun and makes great TV and I’m just so glad she’s a part of 50.

Whom do you want to work with out there?

I mean, I’ll work with anybody. Who knows how the dominoes are going to fall. But just looking around with the group that I’ve seen, while we haven’t been able to talk to each other at all and thinking about how people played and how I think people might play, I’m gravitating more towards the women who are here than the men.

I think there’s a lot of very macho, very honor and integrity style men here, and that’s not universal whatsoever. And then I look over at the women and I’m thinking: Oh, I’d love to work with Genevieve or Chrissy or any of those people, just someone who’s smart and is going to be really fun to play the game with. I throw Angelina in there too.

There’s of course a lot of guys that I’d be pumped to work with too, including the macho honor and integrity men. That could be fun as well, especially if it’s the Dragonslayer brand of it all and I’m in a sort of fantasy epic with him and I get a nickname and all that, so who knows how it goes. But yeah, I still do want to play a game with a really strong partner in crime and hopefully it just ends a little bit better at this time.

What about folks you are wary of?

I feel like I’m always wary of Q. I’m just always wary of him.

You know how much chaos he likes to cause. How do you handle an element like that?

Well, here’s the thing is, on season 46, I used Q’s chaos to great effect. He was the smokescreen to blindside basically every player post-merge. So it can be beneficial. But the thing about Q is you just never know what he’s going to do when he’s going to do it, why he’s going to do it.

He’s very hard to read, and this is what I tell people when people are like, “Oh, Q’s a bad player.” First of all, here’s the thing: He’s charming as hell, he’s funny, he’s smart, and he thinks like 300 steps ahead, which is bad, but also good. There’s just no nailing him down whatsoever.

So part of me is thinking he might be so worried that people are going to vote him out that maybe he wants to come work with someone more familiar like me. And part of me is thinking he might want to get me out of this game more than anybody else. He might be from day 1 at the jump trying to get me out of the game. I have no idea with him. I don’t know.

Well, there are three of you from season 46 here. Does that help you or hurt you in this game? Thinking of your relationship with people and also how other people are going to view that?

As far as trios go, we are probably the least bit a monolith. I blindsided Tiffany, I blindsided Q, Q tried to blindside me. Neither of them voted for me to win the game. There was a lot of bad blood. Not that we hate each other or anything. I consider both of them friends. But in terms of what is observable on the screen, especially between Q and Tiffany, I don’t know if people are going to assume that we’re going to be thick as thieves and the season 46 triplets.

Speaking of which, how much pre-gaming did you do, Charlie?

I’m not really into the pre-gaming.

Don’t tell me that.

Listen, I’m not into the pre-gaming. I think it hurts you more than it helps you. I think you can get stuck in a bind that you don’t want to be stuck in. First of all, it makes me nervous as hell because somebody’s texting or calling, and they could take screenshots. They could fricking record a phone call. You don’t know what people are going to do with whatever you say. So I did not do pre-gaming. I was not targeting anyone coming out here. I don’t think I have a solidified alliance. Of course, I have prior relationships and people that I know better than others, but who knows if those are going to mean diddly squat when it’s going to come game time.

How do you handle the unknown element of the two season 49 players?

It’s intriguing for sure. On the one hand, I can’t believe I’m playing Survivor with someone who calls himself the RizGod. And then Savannah’s here as well. Of course, it’s very mysterious. There’s a long history of back-to-back season players on Survivor and it goes many different ways. Probably the most infamous being Russell. So that’s on my mind for sure.

But you have to think there’s something that they did on their season that made them stand out so much that the producers said they have to be here for our biggest season ever. So I’m expecting that either they can play, or they are monumental characters, or both. And it’s definitely possible that one of them won their season.

Have producers told you anything about them yet?

I know nothing about them besides their names. That’s it.

Does being on Survivor 50 put you back in the running to host the On Fire podcast for season 51?

I could make a podcasting returning season! I don’t know. You have to ask Jeff Probst on that one. It would be awesome though. I loved doing the podcast. That was really cool. I’m more curious about who’s going to do the podcast for season 50. That’s the big ticket in my eyes. And I’m sure I’m out of the running for that, being a part of it. 50 has got to get someone big to talk — someone who’s been on a returning season. It’s got to be a returning player, right? That’s how I see it. So I don’t know, maybe we’ll get someone really big. Maybe we’ll get Boston Rob on the podcast. That would be fun.

Could there be an On Fire alliance of all the cohosts?

That’s another thing that I’m hoping is not making me a target, because I’ve never even met Devens! People are like, “Oh, they hosted the podcast.” Yeah, but I don’t know them from a hole in the wall, so I really hope not, but that happens on Survivor all the time.

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• Colby Donaldson reacts to playing Survivor for the first time without Jerri
• Angelina Keeley refused to do Survivor 50 unless they gave her a jacket
• Survivor 50‘s Coach goes deep on evolving from an ‘arrogant ass’ into the… Tide Walker?
• Survivor 50 star Jenna Lewis-Dougherty is ‘here to f— you over in every way, shape, or form’
• Cirie Fields says winning The Traitors does not take sting out of Survivor loses
• Mike White on how he is handling Survivor 50 castmastes angling for White Lotus cameos
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• Rick Devens explains why he is a lunatic that wants to play with other lunatics
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• Christian Hubicki wanted to tell Survivor 50 pre-gamers to ‘f— off’
• Genevieve Mushaluk on why watching Survivor 50 will be more terrifying than playing it
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• Q Burdette reveals ridiculous things he did to prep for Survivor 50
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