The ousted player also reveals what we didn’t see on TV.

Survivor 49 star Alex Moore explains why his vote-off was not rational

The ousted player also reveals what we didn't see on TV.

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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on November 20, 2025 12:00 p.m. ET

Alex Moore on 'Survivor 49'. Credit:

Robert Voets/CBS

Alex Moore considered himself the ultimate insider. From his work as a political communications director in Washington, Alex thought he could bring those skills from the corridors of power out to the island for *Survivor 49 *to bend other players to his influence. It didn’t work out that way.

Instead of playing the other contestants, Alex got played. Needing a target to take the heat off of himself, Rizo Velovic zeroed in on Alex for playing both sides, and then worked the rest of the tribe to take him out. That they did, as Alex became the third member of the jury, even though Rizo had an immunity idol that still had yet to be flushed.

It was a surprising ouster, but Alex himself did not seem overly shocked, admitting that he was playing the middle rather than firmly picking a side. We spoke to juror No. 3 to get the full scoop on his *Survivor* downfall.

Alex Moore on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**: I’m super confused because we saw everyone saying how messy you were playing and blatantly trying to play both sides, and you said it yourself after you were voted out, but we didn’t really see it in the edit that much, so what *were* you doing that led to your ouster?**

**ALEX MOORE: **Yeah, I completely hear what you're saying. I think that the big thing here was that I was friends with everyone. I think messy meant that I didn't stick to Hina or Uli. It meant that I was friends with everyone. I'd go on the beach and I'd talk with everyone. Everyone wanted to include me in their conversations.

And so would I give little hints to, for example, Rizo. I remember on the Nate vote, it was very much so where I was like, “Well, do trust Jawan and Sage?” And that was my way of kind of being like: They're not voting with you and I know that. And so basically Rizo took that and spun it. And every little thing that I'd say, like, “Sophie Segreti is great at competitions. We need to keep an eye on her.” he’d be like, “Alex wants to get you out.”

So basically, all of this was just me having friendships with everyone. My playing both sides was having friendships with everyone, and basically Rizo used this as an opportunity to spin, spin, spin and get in people's head where it's like: Why do they even trust him? I'm here, I'm friends with them, they can relate to me, they understand where I'm coming from. And they still fall for his tricks.

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**Yeah, that was next question in terms how much of this was you maybe making some errors in gameplay in terms of playing everyone, and how much of it was Rizo just being like, “I need to target. It's Alex, I'm going to work everyone.” What do you think the balance was there?**

Rizo and I were rivals since day one in the game. And we both saw each other as competitors who were willing to make a move. And I think Rizo was ultimately intimidated by that and basically saw this as an opportunity. He knew his back was against the wall and he wanted to make sure that it was me going home and not him.

And so it's hard because you think everyone's going to be thinking rationally and in line with you where it's like, “Of course, let's just flush this idol.” But that's not the way the game goes. And Rizo ultimately won this war. He won the battle on day one and he won the war here. But I wasn't starting rumors between people. It was just ultimately I was seen as this person who would actually impede on his relationship with Soph and Savannah and the trio, and so that's where my fault was.

Alex Moore on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**Are you shocked that they didn’t just put votes on Rizo anyway to flush the idol, and then if he plays it, you go home anyway? Like, what’s the downside?**

If there was a 3-3-3 tie and Rizo played the idol, they could still get me out. Why would they not do that? I knew Soph, Savannah, and Rizo were going to vote me out. I knew that. But Sage, Jawan, and Sophie Segreti were the ones where I'm like, we had an alliance back on the second tribe swap. It was six. We had basically everyone but Shannon, and Sage was basically like, “We'll include Jawan.” And that was the vote that came together for the Nate vote.

So we had the numbers. So to me, it did not make any sense where this is an opportunity. We're getting down to it where we're not going to be able to split votes. And so why are we passing up? They passed it up on the MC vote and now they passed it up with me and it was not rational to me.

Alex Moore of 'Survivor 49'.

**You got a tip-off that your name was being thrown out there by Rizo. You didn't play your Shot in the Dark. So what did you think the chances of it being you were when you got to Tribal? Obviously, you knew there's a chance, and obviously you didn't think it was a big chance, so walk us through it.**

The Shot in the Dark was a very interesting play there. I knew that it was going to be close potentially, and I didn't want to risk at that point being able to be like, “Hey, if I play my Shot in the Dark, it doesn't land, and then I go home because I wasn't able to vote.” I would've been furious.

So I took the calculated risk. And also, you don't want to look suspicious. I wasn't a thousand percent sure that I was going to be the one going. So if I play my Shot in the Dark, everyone's going to be looking at me sideways. So really, that whole Tribal Council, I'm just completely in my head and I'm like, “What is going to look the most calm with also still trying to stay in the game?” Because that was ultimately the goal. So I came to the calculation that it just didn't make sense in the long run to play the Shot in the Dark.

**Does anything change with the vote if Savannah does not win immunity again?**

I'd like to think the rational decision was that Savannah would go home. But with Rizo and Savannah, I saw them as the players. They were clearly the people who were strategizing. So why wouldn't you get them out? But for some reason, everyone just wanted to be liked by them and be a part of them. And so, I don't know, I'd like to think it would've been Savannah. I would've split the votes between Savannah and Rizo, but I don't know what others would've done.

Alex Moore on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**It's interesting you said that your issue was that you were getting along and being friendly with everyone. Who did you feel like who was your ride or die? And who were you looking forward to sitting with at the end?**

It’s kind of hard when everyone comes into this with a full tribe, and I'm basically alone. And I knew that Soph was a goner. As soon as I saw her at one of the challenges with Savannah and Rizo, they just looked too close together. I knew I'd lost her. And so ultimately, going into the merge, I was like, “Okay, I'll look at the relationships, I'll look at my relationship with Soph.” And it was clear that she was on that side. There was no changing that.

So I had built a relationship with Kristina, and this really became a point where it was a hard decision for me. Do I try to gain favor by sharing the news about Kristina’s idol? Or do I stay loyal to this one person who I know ultimately is going to trust me and wants to work with me?

And the same could be said about Steven as well. We built this relationship when we killed the first chicken. And he's someone that I liked in the game. I knew he had a relationship with Jawan and Sage. I didn't know how close it was, but I thought ultimately if I could have some relationship with Soph, some relationship with Kristina and Steven, I thought that could get me.

Alex Moore on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**What was Soph’s reaction after you voted Nate out?**

[*Laughs*]** **I don't know if Soph and my relationship was ever the same after that. I knew if I let her in on the Nate vote, that that she was going to tell Savannah and Rizo and they were going to work some type of magic to keep him in, and then I would be on the wrong side of the vote.

So she played it cool. And I remember at one point Savannah even told me, “You really need to work on that relationship with Soph.” And she was honest. I could have that type of conversation with Savannah. And ultimately, I wasn't surprised that she voted me out because we were rivals from the early days when we were fighting over Jake. And so I wanted to work with her, but I knew if it got to that point where I burned her, she was not going to forgive me.

Alex Moore on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**Take me through how you all reacted when Yellow Sophie returned back to camp after the MC vote, because she did not seem thrilled with it.**

No, she was not thrilled with it. But let me set the scene. We are asleep at this point. We're groggy and we can't see anything. It's pitch black. So we wake up and we can't even see. So we're like, “Who's here?” And then we're kinda like, “MC is gone?” It's our natural reaction. We were out of it. We didn't have time to think about, “Oh, let's stage it and act normal.”

We were shocked because how in the world was Rizo still in the game with his idol? And Sophie Segreti was this competitor. And also, she rubbed some people the wrong way with how much she talked and her choice of words at mat chats. So she was kind of like everyone's target. She didn't really have the relationships that others of us had in the game.

So we just assumed like, “Oh, people will get her if it's not Rizo.” And so MC being gone, that was the first time in the game where I was like, “Wow, I actually didn't know what was coming.” And it's the first time I didn't like have a say in things, because I feel like I was a part of every decision and because I had these relationships with everyone, I knew everything that was going on in the game up until that point.

Sophi Balerdi and Alex Moore on 'Survivor 49'.

**Have you murdered any animals since you returned back to the United States?**

[*Laughs*] I have not murdered any animals, and I can't say I ever will again. That was great out there in Fiji, but it gave me this new appreciation for the food I eat. And I looked like a badass while doing it now too. So I'm happy with that.

You're starving, and it's never something that I would ever imagine doing in my normal life. I know some people do this on the day to day and they have to hunt for their food. I have the privilege of not having to do that. I knew that no one else on my tribe was going to do it, and I am always in my regular life one to step up and take on a challenge. And so this was the challenge. I had no clue what the hell I was doing, so it wasn't pretty. And the second time was a lot easier than the first time. But I'm proud of myself for doing that.

Alex Moore of "Survivor 49'.

**I love how editorially it was presented as this big triumphant overcoming anniversary moment for you. And then Savannah's just like the murderer who's like, “Let's kill 'em all!”**

Savannah was ready to go. And it was funny because she was excited to do it. And honestly, that was the first time I had alone time with Savannah. And that was a really great bonding moment for us, because like with Steven, it really brings you together. And so me and her were talking and I used that as an opportunity to be like, “Hey, you're someone who I respect and like would want to work with moving forward.”

I was just trying to take every opportunity I could. So that's kind of my playing both sides where I didn't let a moment pass without trying to spit some game and try to get in good with someone.

Alex Moore on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**What’s something that happened out there that didn’t make it to TV that you wish we had seen?**

I think with the Nate vote, my side wasn't necessarily shown as much, but basically Nate had it out for me. Soph had told Nate about my idol from the Kele tribe, and for some reason Nate thought that made me mischievous. So I knew that Nate was throwing my name around and I wanted no parts of him being in the game still because he was kind of a leader of that alliance with Rizo and Savannah and Soph. And we didn't know what Rizo was going to do with his idol at that point.

That was like the first real Tribal Council where he was on the line. That's when we said, “Okay, Rizo won't play his idol for Nate. He probably might play it for Savannah. So let's just do the safe bet and get Nate out.” I had a much bigger part of that vote than was shown. But ultimately, Jawan and Sage were the ones really making the ultimate decision of what side to go with because that was their tribe. But Nate had it out for me, so I got the last laugh with that.

**If you could go back and change one thing about the way you played the game, what would it be?**

I'm very confident in the way I played. I think it was more so the people around me who kind of screwed me over. But if there's one thing that I could have gone back and done, should I have given more thought to potentially keeping Nate around and being on the bottom? Knowing Jawan and Sage were going to vote out Nate, that was ultimately a group that I think I could have worked with, and maybe I should have sacrificed voting with them and maybe the game would've turned out completely different with me on that vote.

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Source: “EW Survivor”