Survivor 45's First Boot Has A Message For The Haters: 'Sorry You Didn't Get Cast'
In all 45 seasons of Survivor, no one — not a single soul! — has ever said it was easy.
Hannah Rose, the 33-year-old therapist from Baltimore, Md., learned that the hard way when the lack of shelter, food and sleep mentally drained her in just three days' time. Her tribe Lulu lost three challenges in a row (read our full premiere recap here), leaving them with no supplies and heaps of rain and emotions. When Kaleb and Sabiyah pitched an Emily vote, Hannah spoke up at Tribal, saying that she just couldn't take it any more. After a wee bit of threatening, she finally convinced the tribe to let her go, thus, essentially quitting the game so her friends could stay.
"There's a lot of vitriol on the internet about how I've taken the spot of all these people," Rose tells TVLine, referencing the trolls who are sending her hateful messages on her business' Google page. "I don't know what to tell you. Sorry you didn't get cast."
So what was she expecting out on the island and what else led to her calling it quits? We asked all of this and more!
TVLINE | I ask this with zero shade intended, but how much of the show had you seen before signing up for it, and what exactly were you expecting when you got out there?
HANNAH ROSE | Great question. I've seen almost every season and I was expecting it to be difficult. I prepared in many ways. What I was not expecting was how I would react to not having one minute of sleep and zero food except for a couple bites of coconut. You think you can prepare and I have so much respect for Survivors that do it, that actually stay. I don't know how they do it honestly. I learned very quickly how unwell I felt very soon and I knew it was going to f–k me up and I wasn't willing to do that.
TVLINE | What was the hardest aspect of being in the game?
I think honestly, not sleeping. Two of my tribemates snored incredibly loudly and I'm a light sleeper, and we had no shelter and it rained for 24 hours. These are the things you didn't see, like what the whole night feels like. Numerous nights of zero sleep and on top of that, you have no food. And so for me, to be wet and sandy and dirty and hungry and tired and then having to function and compete in things... I don't know how one prepares for that.
TVLINE | I've seen a lot of debate online, so I'm gonna ask the source: You never used the Q-word, but do you consider your time spent out there as a "quit"?
I think so, for sure. I mean, it's semantics. I'm getting a lot of comments on my business' Google page, which is interesting because I'm not available for you all to comment to me on Instagram because I don't want that. To me, being a quitter is like, "OK, I quit drinking when I was 20." That's not a bad thing. I got sober and changed my life. I knew I was in a situation that I was not excelling in. I was a liability to my tribe. I couldn't stop crying. I was having such a hard time. I wouldn't write down anyone's name that I liked, which was everyone. So I was like, "Wow, I'm really awful at this and I wouldn't have expected that." So sure, I quit, but I did it in a way where I was still respecting the game. I didn't do it in the middle of the day. I didn't even decide that I was for sure going to do that until Tribal. It started drizzling and I was like, "I cannot do this." I just freaked out and was like, "No." If they had said "No, Hannah," or in Sabiyah's words, "You'll leave when we want you to..."
TVLINE: Ouch!
I know! I was like, "Oh my God!" The reason I threatened them was because I knew if I didn't make it very clear that I would leave anyway, they wouldn't vote me out. If they had voted out someone else, I think I would have made it another episode or two. I wouldn't have made it very far, but I just didn't want to take someone's spot that I knew wanted to be there so badly.
TVLINE | If the tribe hadn't agreed to vote you out, would you have walked?
I don't think so. I respect the game and I respect my tribe. And part of the reason that I was so forthright with, "Listen, you don't have to vote me out in order for me to leave," which I knew was just a threat, was so that they wouldn't lose two people. That would be so detrimental to Lulu. While a huge reason for me wanting to leave was that I was so hungry and tired and couldn't function, another one was I knew who was going home that night and I knew how much they wanted to be there. I wasn't willing to take that spot just to save face on TV. So, there's a lot of vitriol on the internet about how I've taken the spot of all these people, and it's like, I don't know what to tell you. Sorry you didn't get cast. I didn't know I would react that way and I'm so glad I made the decision that I made so that those people could keep playing.
TVLINE | Had you stayed in the game, who from Lulu could you have seen yourself working with?
Brandon is my buddy for life. I would die for him. I would go to war for him. Brandon is the best. Now on other tribes, even though I had judgments of her prior to the game, I think Kendra and I would have made a great team. Honestly, I love every single person on this cast, but the women are amazing. And this is my problem, right? I would want to work with everyone. I know that working with Brandon might not get me that far because I'm an emotional mess. He's having a lot of emotions [too], right? And I think Kaleb and I would have... Emily and I... that's why I'm not a Survivor. You know, I got that comment this morning. Like, "Don't call yourself a Survivor." And I'm like, "OK, I don't think I'm a Survivor, but I got on the show and it was the scariest thing I ever did."
TVLINE | I want to ask you about Emily in particular, who received a pretty strong premiere edit. What was your opinion of her?
I want to preface this and just say that I love Emily. I don't think it was a bad edit, per se. I think Emily knows that she came in... I mean, from the moment we're on the barge, you can just see my facial expressions whenever Emily is coming at someone. I was like, "Oh my God, I'm so uncomfortable!" [Laughs] Kudos to Emily for saying, "I'm gonna tell it like it is. Sorry for being honest," right? I would never have stood up to Sabiyah because Sabiyah, to me, was intimidating. She spoke with a degree of authority, and Emily was willing to say, "Actually, no, I don't think we should do it this way."
Emily said to me and Brandon that we had to split up that duo of Sabiyah and Kaleb. She asked, "Do you want to be carried or do you want to survive?" because Brandon and I were like, "Well, we need Sabiyah and Kaleb. They're the only ones who know how to build a shelter and we don't know what we're doing." Brandon and I were like, "We want to be carried!" [Laughs] So, I think Emily is phenomenal and strong and doesn't deserve any of the hate she's getting on the internet. But again, it's easy to write or say awful things about us from the comfort of your home.
TVLINE | Unfortunately, the internet is a terrible place.
Yes, it is. I didn't know the extent of it until this morning.
TVLINE | So, I usually ask people if they would ever play again, but I think we may have covered that already...
This is what I said to Jeff during Tribal: You couldn't pay me a million dollars to spend another minute in that game. I don't regret it, but it is the hardest thing. I have so much respect for every single person that has gone on that show. I might be the worst Survivor in the 23-year history, but I'm so glad I went. It was the best experience ever and I made best friends.