‘Survivor 41’: Ricard Foyé Responds to ‘Threatening Messages’ From Fans Following Shan Smith Blindside
Survivor 41 castaway Ricard Foyé blindsided his closest ally and frontrunner to win, Shantel Smith, during episode 10, seemingly propelling himself to the top. Despite the possible game-winning move, he has received hate from fans who wanted their favorite to remain in the competition. He posted one of the messages online, noting the viewer is “adding to truly disgusting behavior.”
Ricard Foyé blindsided Shan Smith during ‘Survivor 41’ Episode 10
31-year-old Washington-based flight attendant Ricard Foyé and 34-year-old pastor from Toronto, Shantel Smith, aligned early in the season as they competed together on the Ua tribe.
Presented as the brains and Shan as the “closer,” the two worked closely to blindside everyone on their tribe, outlasting them all and successfully making the merge. Shan already developed a close bond with Yase’s Liana Wallace and aligned with Luvu’s Deshawn Radden and Danny McCray, allowing her to turn on Ricard.
Even so, the two continued to work with each other until her new alliance conspired to blindside him. When she warned him, he used the information to turn Deshawn and Danny on her.
Concerned Shan might use an idol to target her, Erika Casupanan advised the group to split their votes between Liana and Shan, resulting in a tie in which the latter goes home during the re-vote. Her plan worked, and the fan-favorite became the fourth member of the jury.
He responded to ‘threatening messages’ from fans on Twitter
Shan quickly became a frontrunner of the competition as viewers loved to root for her. Therefore, they were upset to watch their favorite get voted out of the show and expressed it on social media.
However, some followers went too far and began sending the contestants hate. Ricard posted a direct message from a viewer and fan of Shan’s in which the person repeatedly called him names, wished him dead, and threatened to harm his family.
The former Ua tribemate tweeted alongside the image, “We have to have tough skin to be on this show.” However, he pointed out he didn’t think fans who send him “threatening” messages and others who cuss him out are “cute” or “funny.”
He ended with, “I understand when you lose your person, but you are adding to truly disgusting behavior.”
Ricard also previously received hate for encouraging ‘come on in, guys’ change
During the premiere episode, host Jeff Probst asked the castaways if they wanted to keep his signature “come on in, guys” phrase as he would change it if anyone felt it didn’t represent them.
Initially, everyone agreed to keep it. At the next challenge, Ricard spoke up, noting he spent time thinking about it and disagrees with the use of “guys,” encouraging the host to change it.
Following the episode, some longtime viewers didn’t agree with removing the staple phrase and began sending Ricard hate for his opinion. He posted one of the messages to his Instagram story in which a viewer wished death on his family “in the most gruesome way possible.”
The former Ua member has also exchanged words with two-time finalist Russell Hantz, who made it clear he disagreed with removing the signature phrase. Survivor 41 airs Wednesdays on CBS.
