And even though she was technically safe from elimination, Maryanne went with Drea to hand Jeff their Idols as an act of solidarity. Maryanne explained that the important thing was for them both to BothUse their idols as a shield against critics who claim they “only stayed because it was a race thing.”
She added, “Jeff, with 1,000 percent certainty, I can tell you that if both of us don’t play our idols tonight, there will be someone watching and saying, ‘They used race. In this country, there is nothing off-limits Survivor.'”
Although this might have ended the discussion, other contestants expressed dismay at the fact that race had been brought up. Jonathan, the one with immunity, said to Maryanne and Drea: “I don’t believe this is right. Because you’re treating this as if we’re racists.”
He went on to call Drea “aggressive,” to which she replied that this wasn’t a personal attack on any of the contestants. Her response was, “This is me, it’s my problem.”