Survivor 42’s Jonathan Young responds to criticism of how he treated other contestants

He was known colloquially (and perhaps sometimes enviously) as “Goliath” in survived 42 from its competitors. And he almost took the nickname off the bench when he reached Final 5, an impressive feat considering that historically most physical players don’t last long after the merger. However, Jonathan Young has also been criticized for how he met some of the other people on the show in regards to race and gender. After his elimination in the fire challenge, Young then got his point of view on these criticisms.

The first big problem for him was in the midst of the incredible post-merger Tribal Double Night. Rocksroy Bailey was the first to leave, which didn’t go well with Drea Wheeler and Maryanne Oketch when they saw him on the jury alongside another black player in Chanelle Howard. Wheeler and Oketch thought they could soon follow Bailey (which was actually the plan at the time), as they were the only black players left in the game. They decided to denounce what they saw as a systemic racial problem Survived story (of black players who didn’t go far). Notably, the “Goliath” had a tense argument with the two, as he interpreted them as calling him “racist,” much to Wheeler’s frustration, who eventually broke down in tears.

Eventually, the situation prompted Drea Wheeler and Maryanne Oketch to play their idols of hidden immunity to take a stand on the matter. Tori Meehan was then sent to the jury, with the matter largely not discussed in subsequent episodes. In a post-elimination interview with paradeHowever, Jonathan Young shared that there was no lingering bad blood between him and his co-stars over what happened, as some fans may assume. He said:

However, there was initially persistent bad blood among viewers after watching the great race debate unfold. In fact, some fans have sided with Jonathan Young and flooded the show’s official Facebook page with allegations that Drea Wheeler and Maryanne Oketch were playing the “race card”. survived 41 noted Shan Smith (who helped train a famous Older brother-esque, all-black alliance at the time) decided to label all fans as “junkies”.

Later, in the post-union segment of season 42, contestants such as Maryanne Oketch and even former alliance member Jonathan Young Lindsay Dolashewich hinted that (according to them) the beast of competition hasn’t even treated women in general with. a lot of respect. . , to the show. Which the two have maintained in their post-match interviews ever since. However, the 29-year-old doesn’t necessarily agree with this estimate of her behavior, telling the outlet:

Jonathan Young eventually became the only jury member to vote for Mike Turner on the last night of May 25th. Another finalist, Romeo Escobar, got zero votes, while Maryanne Oketch got the remaining seven votes and the title of Sun Lived (plus a blessing in her love life, it seems). Reflecting on what was said before and after his own tenure, Young added that he may have regrets after all:

survived 43 – the next season of surprises, betrayals and possibly other controversies – is slated for release in the fall, though CBS has yet to officially confirm the dates as of this writing. Fans can ride the upcoming drama on its sister show, Older brother (with an allegedly major change), which kicks off season 24 on July 6 as part of the ongoing 2022 television program.