‘Survivor 51’ Producer Forced To Intervene After Player Tries To Vote For Himself

A player tried to vote for himself during Tribal Council on Survivor 51, and production had to step in. Read on to find out what went on with the rather bizarre move.

Rob Antonson’s Odd Move

Rob Antonson tried to write his own name down and it arose as part of an elaborate strategy involving Eric Macksoud’s Shot in the Dark and Rob’s hidden immunity idol.

Reportedly, a producer had to speak from behind the scenes to tell him he wasn’t allowed to vote for himself.

Probst said it was the first time he could remember a player actively choosing to vote for himself and production having to tell him he couldn’t.

A Strange Strategy

The situation unfolded as Rob tried to execute a scheme to save Eric. He devised a bizarre plan combining the Shot in the Dark mechanism with his idol.

The idea was to wipe out the votes against Eric with Rob’s idol, leaving Rob’s vote against himself as the only one that counted.

Entertainment Weekly explained that Rob, “perhaps frustrated by failing to properly gauge another tribe member’s weight — decided he missed his family and wanted to leave. But he couldn’t just leave like a normal person and quit.”

When Rob Antonson stepped up to write his vote, he tried voting for himself. That’s when the unseen producer suddenly intervened to enforce the rules.

Rob discovered self-voting is strictly prohibited. With the intervention, his plan collapsed on the spot. He ended up voting for Eric anyway.

Eric survived the vote regardless, as the tribe sent Ana Sani packing in a 6-4 split.

Probst Weighs In

The outlet reported that Probst wrote about it on social media. It cited him as saying:

What was he thinking?…I rarely comment on player moves but I still don’t fully understand what plan Rob was trying to pull off by having Eric give him his Shot In The Dark and then hoping he could vote for himself?

Hollywood Outbreak noted in their recap that the Savu tribe’s vote was already complicated heading into Tribal Council, with Ana believing Eric remained the obvious target.

Viewers React

Fans on Reddit had a field day breaking down the absurdity of the moment.

One user wrote: “The best part about rob’s move is the fact that even if he was allowed to vote for himself. His plan still wouldn’t have worked.”

Here are a few more responses from the discussion:

• “No I wish they let him then he’d have sat down feeling all martyr like and then Eric has his votes nullified and Rob getting ready to leave as a hero just for Ana to leave anyway.”
• “I would have paid money to watch his face as he realizes not only is he not running the game, he has no idea what is going on.”
• “I still can’t wrap my head around what the hell his plan even was?!?! Did no one tell him Anna was also getting votes???😂😂 Even if he COULD write his own name and Eric did follow through with the SitD it would’ve been one vote vs 4-6 for Anna?!? Dude is a lunatic and I love it!!!”

What are your thoughts on Rob attempting to vote for himself? Did you understand his strategy at all? Join the discussion and come back for all your Survivor 51 news, spoilers, and updates.