"Took out my frustration on the coconuts" - Survivor 48 contestant Mary Zheng reflects on fellow contestants ignoring Joe’s threat level

Survivor season 48 episode 11, Coconut Etiquette, premiered on CBS on May 7, 2025. During the episode, Mary Zheng boldly attempts to rally her fellow contestants against Joe Hunter and Eva Erickson’s dominant alliance. However, her open targeting of Joe backfired, sparking paranoia and distrust among the tribe.

At Tribal Council, Mary couldn’t secure enough support for her plan and was ultimately voted out in a 4-2-1 decision, becoming the fifth jury member.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, published on May 8, Mary reflected on her elimination and the tribe’s decision to overlook Joe’s threat level. She believed she didn’t receive the support she had hoped for because her fellow contestants viewed her as the bigger threat—someone likely to win the game if she made it to the end.

The Survivor season 48 contestant added that she got frustrated when the other contestants didn't back her plan of taking out Joe. She shared that she vented all of her frustration on the coconuts present on the set, as she couldn't understand why they weren't taking her side when it was best for all of them.

"I took out my frustration on the coconuts. I was like, "I literally don't know what else I can do here. I am assuming that the people here are smart, and they are, and it's literally what is best for you and what is best for me," she said.

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Survivor season 48 contestant Mary Zheng eventually accepted her fate of getting eliminated

Mary Zheng's path to her elimination in Survivor season 48 episode 11 began when she openly targeted fellow contestant Joe Hunter, calling out his threat level and urging others to vote him out for the sake of their games. However, most players chose to focus on Mary's unpredictable actions in the episode and voted her out instead.

In her interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mary explained why her plan to take out Joe didn't land with other contestants. She noted that from the edit, it seemed that her fellow contestant chose not to side with her because they didn't think they would get to work with her after the tribal council.

Mary shared that after her elimination, some players even came up to her to apologize for not taking her side. She claimed to be told that they chose not to support her because they felt that if she made it to the final tribal council, she would have gotten all the support she needed to win the show.

"I know that from the edit it doesn't look like I'm a threat at all, but rightfully or wrongfully, my castmates did. And I think it was just because I had such a different story, and I came from Vula, and I had survived," she added.

The Survivor season 48 contestant continued:

"So I think it was a lot of things, but ultimately people didn't want to work with me because they didn't want to sit next to me, and they also didn't trust that I was going to allow them to even sit next to me".

Mary was very frustrated with how her Survivor season 48 castmates weren't backing her plan to take out Joe, when it was in their best interest. She even had a conversation about it with Kyle, where she asked him if he was proud of the game he was playing at that point.

Mary noted that she could tell that the contestants were itching to make a move, and was thrilled to support the movement. However, when she didn't receive support in return, she got frustrated and eventually accepted her fate of getting eliminated.

"So yeah, it was incredibly frustrating, but after a certain point, after I got out my rage, I just kind of accepted that it was finally my time… after it almost being my time countless times," she concluded about the topic.

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Survivor season 48 episodes air every Wednesday on CBS.