Charlie Davis was hurt that his biggest ally, Maria Shrime Gonzalez, didn’t vote for him to be the winner of Survivor 46.
“It was a real sting,” Charlie, 26, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, May 23, following the Survivor season finale. “We see it in the after shows, sort of like Jeff [Probst] asked people to raise their hands about who voted for who, and then he asked Maria about her reasoning. But I found out before then.”
Charlie explained after Kenzie Petty was crowned the Sole Survivor, the cast ran over to the salon owner to congratulate her. While Kenzie, 29, celebrated, three of the jury members, Hunter McKnight, Soda Thompson and Liz Wilcox, confessed they voted for him. Charlie ultimately lost to Kenzie in a 5-3 vote.
“And then I’m like, well, that’s my three votes,” he explained. “There’s no Maria. And she was completely avoiding my gaze. She didn’t come up, give me a hug, didn’t say anything to me, and that just sucked. I was just totally in shock and just really out of it.”
Charlie shared that before filming the Survivor 46 after show, the group had “a little bit of a gap” before filming the next segment. In that brief break, he was able to “get back to some level of composure,” but the loss still hurt and it was evident in the episode.
“You can definitely still see the remnants of shock on my face and you’re sort of [hearing it] in my tone and it was tough for sure,” he confessed.
If Maria, 48, had voted for Charlie there would have been a tie. In the result of a tie, the third-place finisher decides who wins. If that scenario were to occur, Ben Katzman shared with Us he would have voted for Charlie.
While Charlie was upset that he didn’t get Maria’s vote, he respected her decision and stood by his sentiments that Kenzie is a “super deserving winner.”
“It was really brutal not getting Maria’s vote. The last thing she said to me before leaving the game was like, ‘Get to the final three. You’ve got my vote.’ So it was just a really, really tough pill to swallow,” he told Us. “I thought I did a really good job explaining my game and showing her a lot of respect and love all the way through the game, including at Final Tribal Council.”
After leaving the island, Charlie has kept in touch with Maria but their friendship has gotten “complicated” after the final vote.
“I think we’ve reached a point where there’s too much that’s transpired. And I think it’s almost a question of trust that’s there,” he admitted. “Obviously, it was devastating to have a vote against me, but I stand by what I said in the after-show and understanding the result and respecting her free choice. She’s a grown woman. I respect any choice she’s made. She’s not beholden to me whatsoever. But it’s been a pretty, I would say, rocky year where I’ve put a lot of effort into trying to be a good friend.”
Survivor is available to stream on Paramount+.
