Exploding over not getting picked for Survivor 46’s Applebee’s reward was not on Liz Wilcox’s bingo card.
“I know I signed up for Survivor. I know where I am. I knew it was going to be hard. Did I know I was going to have an explosion meltdown? No,” Liz, 35, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, May 23, following the season 46 finale. “But I have had so many former players DM me and message me and find me and say, ‘Liz, I had a meltdown like that too. They just never showed it.’ And so I feel good about it.”
One of the most memorable moments from Survivor 46 was the drama that unfolded after Q Burdette won the Applebee’s-themed reward challenge and did not take Liz with him. Throughout the season, Liz was candid about her being allergic to all kinds of food including coconut, papaya, chicken, pasta and more. However, while it was “incredibly difficult” to play the game with her allergies, she didn’t struggle that much while at camp.
“As far as the food goes, and I think all my fellow castaways will say the same, you didn’t really think about food that much until they put it in your face,” she told Us.
One food item that Liz loves to eat the most is Applebee’s bourbon burger, which she enjoys every Wednesday night with her daughter. That exact burger was the featured item on the menu for that challenge, which only added more salt to Liz’s wound over not getting picked.
“I think just the deprivation of me not eating for three or four days at the time of the Applebee’s and having such an emotional connection, as silly as it is to the bourbon burger, I just lost it,” she explained. “But I think what I love about the moment when I say, ‘Oh, it’s my favorite too,’ you can see I found it. I lost it, but I found it pretty quickly.”
After Q didn’t pick her for the reward, Liz had a meltdown and shouted at him over how “pissed” she was about his decision.
“I see you eat every day,” she shouted in the episode. “Q, you almost threw off my whole game. You overshadowed everything I have strived to do, and I said, ‘It’s cool. I didn’t say nothing!”
Q pointed out that Liz had tried to vote him off at the previous tribal council and that played a role in him picking Maria Shrime Gonzalez, Kenzie Petty and Tiffany Nicole Ervin. After reflecting on the incident, Liz told Us that she apologized and “thanked everybody” for being gracious toward her for her “wild moment.” After exiting the game, one of the biggest lessons Liz took away was to make sure she always gives herself grace.
“I deserve grace. I’ve been so afraid my whole life to speak up when I’m uncomfortable. I know it doesn’t seem like that on the show, but that’s something that I learned,” she told Us. “But I was so afraid because I thought people [wouldn’t] like me. I’m already kind of weird. If I voice my real opinions to people when I’m upset, they won’t forgive me. But as we saw on the show, I exploded and people moved on. People gave me grace.”
Liz acknowledged that the moment led her to solidify a lot of her current friendships with the cast including Kenzie, Ben Katzman and Venus Vafa.
While Liz didn’t take home the title of Sole Survivor, she went home with a new group of friends. Upon returning back to the States, she told Us she experienced more stomach issues. But once she was able to handle American food again, she made a beeline to Applebee’s to get her long overdue hamburger.
Survivor is available to stream on Paramount+.
