Dee Validares admitted that she spoke to Rizzo Verovich before “Survivor 50,” but their conversation was not honest on Verovich’s side.
“This is something that no one knows. Lizzo and I had a FaceTime call and here’s the crazier part of this FaceTime call,” Validares exclusively told Page Six after being voted out on Wednesday’s episode.
“Rizzo lied to me and said Savannah (Louis) was fifth and he was fourth (in Season 49),” Validares revealed.
The “Survivor 45” winner said that after a phone call with Verovich, he learned that Louis had actually won Season 49, and his lie was exposed.
“Going into season 50, I didn’t like Rizzo and I didn’t trust him,” Validares said. “I didn’t trust Savannah, and going back to preseason interviews, I’ve always said that I wanted the (season) 49 away from me.”
“And that’s because they lied to me in real life and thought I wouldn’t get caught,” she added, jokingly calling Berovich a “little weasel.”
However, Ms. Validares said that when she became part of the same tribe as Belovitch in Season 50, Belovitch convinced her and she decided to betray her ally Charlie Davis to save Belovitch.
“Coming into the split, I couldn’t trust Rizzo,” Validares said. “So I think you can see that Rizzo was much better at solidifying alliances than Charlie was.”
Director Validares further praised Velovic’s “incredible” gameplay, praising him for being “more aware of himself than half the cast.”
“I’m going to talk a lot more at the live reunion, but Lizzo had nine days,” she said of seasons 49 and 50, which were filmed back-to-back.
“And if anything, it just shows my guy is playing. He came back, took a shower and was like, ‘Okay, let’s see what I can do.’ It was good for him.”
Validares and Velovic’s pre-game phone call was sparked by Survivor 49 runner-up Sophie Barerdi, who Davis exclusively told Page Six last month that the pair connected before filming Season 50 in Fiji last summer.
And Validares believes Davis had a motive for revealing the secret.
“I don’t think he was complaining about the FaceTime call with me or Rizzo, but what I really want him to ask himself is what was (Davis’) intention behind that statement,” Validares said.
“And I’m not saying this is true, this is my belief, I think the intent behind Dee and Lizzo calling was to undermine my game or undermine Lizzo’s game,” she added.
In conclusion, Validares fired another shot at Davis.
“So if we’re going to talk about my FaceTime, let’s talk about your FaceTime, too,” she said.
“Survivor 50” airs every Wednesday at 8pm ET on CBS.
