In an emotional goodbye, this divisive queer ‘Survivor’ player left with an important message
*Spoilers ahead for Survivor Season 46, up through the March 20 episode, “Don’t Touch The Oven.”*This week’s episode of Survivor 46 ended in dramatic fashion, snuffing out the flame of player without even taking it to a tribal vote.Yes, it was that obvious that is was time for Bhanu Gopal—a queer “30-plus-something” IT quality analyst from Acton, MA—to go home.
But not without leaving his mark on the island in just four episodes, shocking viewers with his complete lack of strategic gameplay while, yes, also winning over millions of hearts.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.We’ve never seen a Survivor player quite like Bhanu… and that’s probably because he wasn’t much of a “player” at all.
Always wearing his heart on his sleeve, Bhanu admitted from the beginning that backstabbing doesn’t come naturally to him, which was an early sign he was in trouble because backstabbing is kind of a central tenet of Survivor!He also proved to be pretty awful at keeping secrets—basically an unwitting chaos agent—which made him a necessary casualty for just about anyone if they wanted to win the game.And when he saw the writing on the wall, he resorted to begging.
To just about anyone and everyone. At one of his lowest points, he even begged to his God: “If this is what you wanted and you wanted to end my story so soon you shouldn’t have put me on Survivor in the first place!” It was one of the most raw-nerve emotional moments we’ve ever seen on the show and, frankly, difficult to watch.Divisive as his short time on the show may have been, Bhanu came into the competition with an important message to share, and it was right there on his shirt the whole time: “BE KIND.”But he also had a story to tell, and we’re so glad he was able to share it with the world.
