Jonathan Young is still processing his brutal “Survivor 50” defeat: 'It hurt me so bad'

Dalton RossThu, May 21, 2026 at 5:41 PM UTC

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Jonathan Young on 'Survivor 50'
Credit: Robert Voets/CBSEW Key Points -

Jonathan Young breaks down what went wrong on Survivor 50 in an emotional interview.

The runner-up is still searching for answers on what he could have done differently in the game.

Jonathan and Ozzy discussed Ozzy's jury vote at the season premiere party in New York City

Jonathan Young said he was going to change his game up for Survivor. After going to Survivor school with professor (and good friend) Boston Rob Mariano, Jonathan tried to play a more strategic game for his second go round on Survivor 50, and it worked, carrying the big fella all the way to the final three.

But in the end, he was unable to seal the deal, falling to winner Aubry Bracco in an 8-3 vote (with third place finisher Joe Hunter receiving zero votes). How does Joanathan feel about making it all the way to end but coming up a bit short with the jury? Which votes surprised him the most? And who would he have voted for had he lost at fire to Rizo Velovic? We asked the Survivor 50 runner-up all that and more in what turned out to be an extremely emotional and soul-searching video. We recommend you watch this one, and you can do that, or read the entire interview below.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How are you doing the morning after, Jonathan? I know a lot of emotions are swirling.

JONATHAN YOUNG: It has been crazy, Mr. Dalton, but I did my very best. I changed my game. I got nothing to complain about.

How were you feeling about your chances when you walked into that final Tribal Council?

You know, I didn't know if I was going to win or not because there were three people that didn't tell me their vote. It was Christian, Emily and Devens. They did not tell us who they voted for. I had hope but very little going into the final Tribal and they voted in a way that was very, very hard to see.

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You’re sitting there at final Tribal, and some people are battling for you, other people you can sense are maybe going the other way. Did that make you feel more or less confident about how you were gonna do with that vote?

I honestly think that the more that people battle for you, if they go too far, it pushes others away. So I think that that ended up hurting me a little bit. But at the same token, the same thing happened with, Aubry. People were battling for her really hard. Cirie, Tiffany — they were going really hard for, for Aubry. So I think it didn't necessarily helped me a lot. But they didn't mean anything bad by it. They were trying to help me. They're my friends. Like saying I'm the Total Package is really cool to hear. But, you know, I think most everyone had their mind made up. They told me they didn't, but they did.

Any jury votes surprise you?

No, nothing surprised me. I knew. I mean, I called it going in. I knew that if I kept Aubry and Tiffany around, that it would be hard for me. I knew that the shot for me to win was clear. I had to get Joe and Ozzy. If you go back and watch the season, I wasn't mistaken on a lot. I knew what was going on. And I knew that if I took Tiffany or Aubry to the end, I would lose the game. I called it. Like at the beginning of the finale, I said, "If they make it, they win." And it's not necessarily that I played a worse game, but I know the jury. So I knew how it was gonna go. I could've told you who was gonna vote for me and who wasn't the whole time.

Jonathan Young on 'Survivor 50'
Credit: Robert Voets/CBS

A live finale is always awkward, because it's a celebration, right? It's a celebration of the season, it's a celebration of the winner. And you have got to sit there and be on the other end of that somewhat. Tell me what that was like for you last night in that big room.

Oh, Mr. Dalton, it hurt me so bad. 'Cause I know I did everything I could do 'cause I had thought about Survivor for four years and I don't think I could've played ... I don't know what I could've done different. I keep trying ... I keep going back to: What do I learn from this? God, what do you want me to learn? And I don't know yet.

I don't know what I'm learning because I believe deep in my heart that I played the better game. I know I did. But because Aubry's played five times, that weighed on a lot of the jury votes. And is that fair? That's up to the fans and up to Survivor to decide. But if that's a jury, then I'm confused, you know? It's just there's a lot of questions that you have going at the end of the game.

Jonathan Young on 'Survivor 50'
Credit: Robert Voets/CBS

What about the pride you can take in terms of being so happy with the game that you did play? There a lot of people, they sit there with the regrets of, "I should have zigged when I zagged. I made this mistake, if I only hadn't done this." You look like you're coming from a different place where you're not having those regrets, but you're sitting with something else.

I don't know, because the first time I played, I saw a lot of flaws and I changed those flaws. You said so yourself. I played a different game. I made different relationships. I did the things. I don't know what to take from this just yet. I'm sure it'll hit me and maybe that's a spiritual thing God's gonna have to show me because I knew the first time what I was supposed to take from it, but this time I don't know what to do with my game just yet besides jury management.

But then again, I think the jury sometimes just has their mind made up. For example, Ozzy not voting for me, I would've thought that he would give the credit because he's a challenge beast. I outsmarted Ozzy in a lot of ways and I didn't really get credit where credit was due and I don't know where to go from here yet, but I will because I wanna grow. I just don't know yet.

Have you had a chance to talk to Ozzy or some of the other jurors about that?

Yeah, I talked to Ozzy about it at the premiere and he's like, "Well, yeah, I should've voted for you,” or whatever, or “Maybe that was the move I should've made." It's just he even kinda admitted that he was bitter, I guess, which is very odd, but I don't know what to do. Like if someone's bitter, does that mean your game wasn't played correctly where you made them bitter? I don't know. That's where I'm trying to figure out. Like was there any possible move that I could've made that would've made some of these people vote for me? And I don't know. I really don't. I don't know. Is that a me thing? Is it because I don't know yet, Mr. Dalton. That's what I'm trying to work through.

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Boston Rob gave you a lot of advice before the game. H ewas your Survivor mentor. What did he have to say about what he saw from you this season as you were searching for these answers?

Mr. Rob said, “You played a good game, you should be proud, keep your head held high.” And I am proud of my game. I really am. Getting three votes on season 50 is, is amazing. I just, now I gotta go back and critique my game and figure out where I need to change my game.

Jonathan Young and Ozzy Lusth on 'Survivor 50'
Credit: CBS

You told me before the season started you were gonna play a different game. I hear that all the time from returning players. So for me, it's kinda like “I'll buy it when I see it.” You know what I mean? But I did see it from you this season and it sounds like you played the game that you set out to play, right?

I did play the game I set out to play. And this is where I would ask you, Mr. Dalton, because from the outside looking is a lot more clear sometimes. What could I have done that would've won me the game?

I wasn't at Ponderosa and there a lot of conversations that happen at Ponderosa between jurors. I can't give you the full insight that you're looking for there. But what I can tell you is that a lot of times it's not “I don't like the way this player played.” It's, “I like the way both these players played and I gotta put my vote somewhere.” Do you understand what I'm saying? It might not be something you did wrong. You and Aubry both did things right and people ultimately have to come down on one side of those two things.

That makes sense.

I'm not in the room. And as viewers, we only see what makes the final edit. We're seeing, what do you think, Jonathan, five percent? 10 percent of what happens out there?

Maybe three percent.

Jonathan Young on 'Survivor 50'
Credit: Robert Voets/CBS

If one of you can pull out that final immunity and say it’s Rizo sitting with you and Joe in the final three instead of Aubry, what do you think happens?

Even Ozzy said, “If you would've got there with Joe and Rizo, you would've won. That would've been easy.” Even Devens, I think, said something similar and I mean, that's enough right there to make it a tie. But really, I think that when that ball dropped that Joe was playing with, I knew it in my heart that the game was over for me. The whole time, I knew that if Aubry or Tiffany made it, that they wouldn't vote for me. I knew the two that I had to sit next to and that was the case. Producers always want you to fight for the game, but there was always something in me saying that it's over.

But I gave it everything I had. That's what Mr. Jeff said at the beginning, he said, "We want everything." I used to tell Mr. Jeff, “I'd cut off my left hand to be on Survivor because it means so much to me.” And I don't joke around about that because I did think about it for four years. Every day of my life, I thought about Survivor and how I could change it and have people like Boston Rob that could point me in the right direction and change my game and tell me what I did wrong, because I'm not one to think that I know better than others.

That's why I like talking to you. I wanna know where the foul up was. That's $2 million. That's life-changing money. I was gonna build a ranch for women and children down in Honduras. That was what I was gonna do with the money. But this season, they didn't even ask you what you were gonna do with the money. It's so different. If you're supposed to be able to play the game equipped to each person that you kicked out, that's impossible. Because that’s 11 different games if there's 11 people on the jury. It’s impossible to play 11 different games. So I'll have to get back to you on what I need to work on.

Jonathan Young on 'Survivor 50'
Credit: Robert Voets/CBS

Who would you have voted for to win Survivor 50 if you had lost at fire to Rizo and were a member of the jury?

Oh my gosh, that's a close one. I think Joe didn't get as much credit as he should have got, honestly. I hate to see people getting kicked when they're already down, and I feel like Joe's made it to the top twice now and I think that that credit should be given to Joe. So that's hard for me. I couldn't vote Rizo, because I don't know who he'd beat at fire, to be honest with you. So it'd have to be between Aubry and Joe.

What happened on that final five immunity challenge where you had to walk over and vomit off the platform?

I don't know, besides the fact that maybe I was dehydrated and I threw up and then I think I might have thrown up once or twice actually, and came back to the puzzle to finish it. I didn't have time. I shouldn't even have gone over to the railing. I should have just thrown up there, so I saved time looking back, because it was to the last puzzle piece. You saw it. She was putting her last puzzle piece in. That was a wild, wild day and I've always hated my puzzle making capabilities, but I got them there. Last one that counts. Amen.

Jonathan Young of 'Survivor 50'
Credit: Robert Voets/CBS

Look, man, you should hold your head high. 99 percent of Survivor players would love to have done what you've done in your two outings. And I know you're working through the stuff right now.That's natural. That's normal for someone in your position, but I want you to be proud of the way you played.

Thank you.

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