Alexis Levine was voted out of Survivor 51 in Wednesday’s episode, losing a 3-1 vote at Savu’s Tribal Council. With Savu down to four after Jenna Doore‘s exit, Alexis spent the episode trying to pull Angelica “Jelly” Loblack away from Devin Way, but Jelly ultimately stuck with Devin and Ori Jean-Charles, her original Helicopter Alliance partners. Alexis cast the lone vote against Devin. Linnea Capobianco went home later in the same episode, making Alexis and Linnea the fifth and sixth women voted out in a row this season.
Speaking with Men’s Journal the morning after her elimination, Alexis said her pitch to Jelly came down to who was really running the game in their pairing. “I wouldn’t want my game overshadowed by a messy man,” she said, “and I wanted to make it very clear to her that I thought that’s what she was headed towards with Dev.”
She also explains why she doesn’t blame Jelly for the vote, what she saw in Devin’s fixation on Jenna, why she thought the swap set Savu up to win challenges, and how fast she’d say yes to playing again.
Scroll down to read our full interview with Alexis.
Men’s Journal: How are you feeling, especially coming off such an episode rooted in honest conversations you were having on your tribe beach that made their way into the game, and Jelly’s hard decision last night?
Alexis Levine: Yeah, I actually was really happy with the edit last night and the episode, because I was proud of CBS for sharing those stories that were told. Because I think that is just such a big part of Survivor that people don’t realize, the random things you’re talking about before you go off to bed. Some nights it might be really stupid, and you’re just talking about food. But other nights you’re getting deep, and you’re building bonds with people, and that is like half the game. It’s just, who have you built bonds with? Who do you feel emotionally connected to? And it’s impossible to hide out there who you are. And in fact, it would be stupid to. So I’m proud of those conversations that we had, and I’m glad that we had them, and I’m glad that everyone could see them.
Men’s Journal: How confident were you that Jelly might vote with you?
Alexis Levine: I mean, Jelly and I spent probably hours talking about this, and particularly the fact that it had been all females voted out so far. And let it not be forgotten that she was very close to Aaliyah [Puglia], she was very close to Patt [Cannaday]. And actually, the day that we swapped onto the smaller Savu tribe, she had said to me, “I lost my number one in this game, and that’s Patt.” And that’s interesting, especially in hindsight, considering that she had this Helicopter Alliance, because Patt wasn’t part of that. But that was her best friend in the game, and I wanted to make it clear to her that I could be her Patt. And I do think, like, that hit her hard. She lost her best friend in this game, and Dev was not filling that hole for her, nor was Ori. And I got to know her. I mean, we bonded with each other, and she got to know me, and we are very similar in a lot of ways. We believe in being a strong woman and female empowerment. And, like, I wouldn’t want my game overshadowed by a messy man, and I wanted to make it very clear to her that I thought that’s what she was headed towards with Dev. And, you know, I don’t think I blame her. I don’t blame her for making the decision that she did. I actually do think that was the right decision for her and her game. But yeah, I’m glad that they showed that, because I do think she was really considering it. My life was totally in her hands, so I was giving it everything I could.
Men’s Journal: What specifically did you see in Devin’s game that made you think she shouldn’t be aligning with him any further?
Alexis Levine: You know, I just think they’re very different people, and when I look at the way that they behave and act, I think I’m more like her, a little bit more like she said. I hold my cards closer to my chest, whereas he is more subject to being very gregarious and, like, you know, having these sort of externalized outbursts, and really is run by emotions quite often. I mean, he had, like, this obsession with Jenna that took him really far. That went on for very long, right? And I don’t know if Jelly would have made those same decisions. And I was trying to tell her, you know, “I think that you should be steering the ship.” And it seems, at least externally, that he was steering the ship. And I thought that would piss her off.
Men’s Journal: I want to ask about the swap. A lot of fans are saying you were swap-screwed. How did you feel when you saw the tribes fall the way they did?
Alexis Levine: Okay, you know, it’s funny. Of course, I thought, “Oh my God, we have one less person.” But I also looked to my right and my left, and I thought, okay, we’ve got Dev, who’s like a SoulCycle, acro yoga person. We’ve got Jelly, who’s like a gym baddie. We’ve got Ori, myself, who’s athletic and very much, you know, also a gym baddie, and we have Jenna, who’s also capable. And I thought, we’re probably gonna, like, run shit in these challenges. I actually thought we had a decent shot, because I think we were the most athletic people on that beach. It did not turn out that way. But you know, when you’re out there, there is this level of delusion of, like, well, there’s no way we’re gonna lose another challenge. Like, how could we? We know how to do these things. These can’t be that hard. Walking on a beam, balancing a ball. Like, how are we gonna get beat? So we lose the first one, and it’s like, “Oh, whoopsie daisies.” But you genuinely think you’re gonna win the next one.
Men’s Journal: What were your plans going into the merge? Was there anyone you were hoping to work with?
Alexis Levine: I definitely… I had met Thien An [Nguyen] briefly on the beach, like on the first day, and I just liked her. I liked her vibe. I think we were similar in a few ways, and I was hoping to work with her in the future. And I would say the same about Mike [Pinsky] as well.
Men’s Journal: Would you be interested in playing Survivor again?
Alexis Levine: Oh, please! I would go there tomorrow. Are you kidding me? I didn’t go there to get a pedicure.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Related: Survivor 51’s Jenna Doore Reveals What Fans Didn’t See Between Her and Devin (Exclusive)
