‘Survivor 40: Winners at War’: Here’s Why Nick Wilson Seemingly Cast a Rogue Vote
In the fourth episode of Survivor 40: Winners at War, one tribe blew one of the biggest leads in Survivor challenge history and had to go to Tribal Council. One competitor’s seemingly rogue vote for a random tribemate has many fans confused.
*SPOILER ALERT* This article contains information revealed in Survivor 40: Winners at War Episode 4 including who was voted to the Edge of Extinction.
Nick Wilson on ‘Survivor 40: Winners at War’
In 2020, David vs. Goliath champ Nick Wilson returned for the 40th season, Winners at War to compete against 19 other former winners for another Sole Survivor title and a whopping $2 million grand prize.
As the most recent champ to return, the Kentucky-native wasn’t on anyone’s radar entering the game. He quickly aligned with another recent winner, Wendell Holland, before Yul Kwon invited them into his “free agents” alliance, or alliance consisting of players who only played once and don’t have any in-game connections.
For the first three episodes, Nick flew so low under the radar that he rarely got any confessionals. However, he blew an immense lead during the immunity challenge on a puzzle he previously won in the fourth episode.
Therefore, Dakal had to go to their second Tribal Council, and Tyson Apostol immediately threw Nick’s name out there. The Blood vs. Water champ correctly identified the free agents’ alliance and wanted to eliminate one of them before they got him first.
So, Tyson preferred for the public defender to go home as he felt Nick didn’t do much around camp, blew the challenge for them, and doesn’t have any connections. Tyson campaigned to nearly everyone to vote off the Kentucky-native, including Nick’s ally, Yul.
Of course, the Cook Islands champ reported the news back to Nick, who was hurt that his “idol” wants him out of the game. Therefore, they expertly flipped the vote and sent Tyson to the Edge of Extinction.
Why Nick Wilson seemingly cast a rogue vote
While everyone in the tribe wrote down Tyson’s name, the Blood vs. Water winner voted for Nick, who surprisingly voted for Kim Spradlin-Wolfe.
When he held the parchment up to the camera, he explained that he had to vote for her in case Tyson played an idol. The votes that night were seven for Tyson and one for both Nick and Kim.
Therefore, if Tyson played an idol as Nick suspected, then Tyson’s vote would have sent the public defender to the Edge. Already knowing the Blood vs. Water winner planned on writing his name down, Nick voted for Kim to force a tie in case Tyson pulled out an idol.
Then, Nick would be able to plead for his life on the re-vote, potentially saving himself, as opposed to immediately exiting the game had he voted for Tyson as well.
At the end of the Tribal Council, his ally Sophie Clarke turned around and gave him a reassuring pat on the leg. Many fans wondered if Sophie, who Kim shared her idol with earlier, outed the idol out to Nick, and then told him to vote for the One World champ in case she played it for Tyson.
However, this seems unlikely because Nick said he was afraid Tyson had an idol in the voting booth, not that he thought she would give her idol to him. Therefore, Nick probably acted on his own when he decided to vote for Kim. Hopefully, she’s not too upset about it once they get back to camp.
Watch Survivor 40: Winners at War Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
