‘Survivor 40: Winners at War’: Sarah Lacina Explains Why Sandra Diaz-Twine Sat out Back-To-Back Challenges
Ever since her debut on Survivor: Pearl Islands in 2003, Sandra Diaz-Twine has only participated in a handful of reward and immunity challenges as her tribe usually selects her to sit out when they have too many members.
Her regular sit-outs, especially one they perceived to be back-to-back, have angered some viewers, and they bullied her to a point where she left a Survivor-focused Facebook group.
Dakal tribemate and Game Changers winner Sarah Lacina defended Sandra on Twitter and explained why she could sit out in two challenges in a row.
Sandra Diaz-Twine received hate for sitting out of challenges
Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains champ Sandra Diaz-Twine is notorious for not participating in challenges. Some fans expressed their dislike in Sandra, complaining that she gets a “free pass” by not contributing to her tribe.
Additionally, they feel that she’s arrogant about it. Others argue that her team selects her to sit out of challenges, so she just uses it to her advantage and prevents herself from becoming a physical threat.
On top of that, her “anybody but me” method eliminates others from seeing her as a strategic threat, causing her to fly under the radar to the Final Tribal Council, where she’s won twice.
Sandra recently returned to Survivor, seeking her third win in Winners at War. During the fourth episode, the two-time champ took a seat on the “Sandra Sit-Out Bench” and didn’t compete in the challenge, infuriating some viewers.
They didn’t understand how she could sit out in back-to-back challenges and expressed their frustration online. In a Facebook group, many fans made offensive remarks towards the two-time champ that the moderators quickly removed.
Some called her “lazy,” “trash,” and claimed Sandra shouldn’t come on the show if she didn’t want to compete in the challenges. The Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains Sole Survivor, also a member of the group, defended herself and explained her team asks her to sit out, and she obliges because she’s not athletic.
After the post, The Queen removed herself from the Facebook group, yet the hate continued.
Sarah Lacina explained why Sandra Diaz-Twine sat out back-to-back challenges
Per Survivor rules, if a tribe has more members than the others, then they must choose castaways to sit out to have equal numbered tribes. However, a tribe cannot sit the same member out twice in a row.
Many fans were annoyed with Sandra sitting out of the challenge in Episode 4 because she also didn’t participate in the previous event. Game Changers winner Sarah Lacina noticed viewers complaining about Sandra’s sit out habits on Twitter and defended her Dakal tribemate.
She clarified, “The rule is you can’t sit out the reward challenge than the immunity challenge.” In Episode 4, they competed in an immunity and reward challenge combined.
Therefore, Sandra could sit out if she wanted. She also tagged The Queen in her tweet and concluded with “#BestCheerleader.” Sandra quote tweeted it and thanked Sarah in her caption.
Watch Survivor 40: Winners at War Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
