Network 10
Sandra Diaz-Twine in episode 7 of “Australian Survivor: Blood V Water.”
“Australian Survivor: Blood V Water” has had fans across the world excited for months, in part due to the inclusion of Sandra Diaz-Twine, the show’s first two-time winner, and her 24-year-old daughter Nina.
Some pre-show teasers and trailers had fans speculating that Sandra’s hardcore gameplay would result in either Sandra or Nina voting the other out, and on Sunday, this was confirmed to be the case when Sandra became the fifth person voted out of the game, in part due to the vote cast against her by her daughter.
Here’s what you need to know:
Nina Twine Voted off Her Mother
Network 10Nina Twine votes off her mother Sandra Diaz-Twine in episode 7 of “Australian Survivor: Blood V Water.”
Back in January, some teasers of “Australian Survivor: Blood V Water” previewed a potential in-game rivalry between the mother-daughter pair. An extended trailer for the season released in early January had Sandra ominously stating, “I’m not worried about her. Queen stays Queen … I would never hand my crown to anyone.” In another teaser, Sandra said she would “beat [Nina’s] ass to remind her who’s Queen.”
For Nina’s part, she has also hinted she would not hesitate in writing her mother’s name down if she had to. “I’m coming for her crown,” she said in the early January trailer. “She already won, not once but twice. I’m gonna try and dethrone my mother.”
All these hints had fans running wild with speculation that that mother-daughter pair might turn on each other, and in episode 7, those theories were confirmed true. As it turns out, it was Nina who ended up voting out her mother, proving she is indeed “coming for her crown.”
Sandra’s elimination once again occurred on Day 16, just like the other two seasons in which she was voted out, leading some to call Day 16 Sandra’s “Survivor curse.” Sandra herself noted this fact when she was voted out of “Winners at War.” After her torch was snuffed, she turned to her tribe and said, “Day 16 got me again.”
Sandra Was Voted Out Unanimously
Although Sandra had already survived three Tribal Councils this season, episode 7 saw Sandra get the boot when she found herself on the wrong side of the numbers on her “Blood” tribe; also because she wasn’t her tribe’s best challenge performer. Despite Nina’s best efforts to help her stay, the rest of the tribe remained united against her and Nina was forced to stick with the numbers and vote her mother out. In Nina’s voting confessional, she said:
You always tell me to stick with the majority, and unfortunately it looks like the majority is coming after you. I wish we could’ve played together longer.
In her parting words, Sandra said she was “taken by surprise” by her elimination. “All of a sudden my daughter is looking at me funny, and saying things, and I’m like, ‘Oh, damn. Her alliance is gonna get me,’” Sandra said.
This so-called “betrayal” mirrors the elimination of Laura Morett in season 27 of the American show, “Blood vs. Water,” in which her daughter Ciera Eastin reluctantly joined in voting her out, mostly because Laura’s fate was already sealed anyway. This incident, however, was much more emotional for the mother-daughter pair than that of Sandra’s elimination.
That season also saw former winner Tina Wesson beat her 25-year-old daughter Katie Collins in a Redemption Island duel, sending her out of the game. Tina would rejoin the game by winning the following Redemption Island duel the next episode. Interestingly, that was also a mother-daughter pair where the mother was a previous winner.
Although Sandra may no longer be a contestant on “Blood V Water,” American fans of the show still have her daughter Nina to root for. “Feel strangely emotional at Sandra’s elimination,” one fan online said. “She’s such a strong, class act, epic player and I feel really lucky that she joined our game. Wish we could have seen her play for longer. Princess Nina for the crown!
“Australian Survivor” airs Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights on Network 10 for Australian viewers. American “Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS. Season 42 premieres March 9.
