‘Survivor 51’ Star Danny Kilby on His Heartbreaking Elimination, Rivalry With Devin and Why His Exit Brought Castaways to Tears

Logo text

Danny Kilby’s goofy, playful personality may have made him one of Survivor 51’s most entertaining castaways, but beneath that fun-loving exterior was a savvy strategist. After helping orchestrate several major moves, including forcing Linnea Capobianco out by threatening to draw rocks, Kilby saw his million-dollar dream come crashing down thanks to a successful Shot in the Dark, a hidden immunity idol and one consequential vote.

In the exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter below, Kilby opens up about watching his dreams get crushed in slow motion, why he and Devin were like “oil and water,” and talks the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that helped him secure two Extra Votes. He also gets personal about growing up in poverty and why winning Survivor would have meant so much more than claiming the title of Sole Survivor.

***

Right before the vote started, there was a tidal wave of bad news for you and Kristin. Jelly played her idol, and Christian played his Shot in the Dark successfully. What was going through your mind as all of that unfolded?

That’s when I knew I was going home. Once Christian Shot in the Dark hit, my hand goes up. I’m pretty much sobbing at this point. I know I’m dead. I know it’s cooked, it’s over.That’s when my heart broke. And then I had to sit there. Every Devin and Jelly vote was just like a stab in the heart. You know what I mean? I knew I was going home then, and it was like now we have to sit there for 20 minutes. And then Kristin gets up first and I’m just distraught. I am completely not handling this well at all. I have to watch my dreams get crushed in slow motion. It’s just like every single second is like, “Guess we’re not millionaires, mom.” That’s what I’m thinking the whole time.

You went home because of a single vote: Devin’s. Does that make the loss easier to accept because you had the numbers and knew where everyone stood, or does it hurt even more knowing one person ultimately decided your fate?

You know what? I think the one vote hurts more for me because I have to go to bed every night and go, “I was going to win.” And it’s tough. I had a really good shot. I think I was playing really well. I had people really loving me. People are sobbing when I’m leaving. I had a really, really good social game out there, except with Devin. And from minute one, he did that spirit tunnel on the marooning and I was like, “What the…” I could not stand him from that moment on pretty much. I had this fiery rage whenever he was around me and I was like, “This is a guy that’s going to be a thorn in my side forever, we cannot get on the same page at all in this game.” And it just drove me nuts.

I just found him very actorly, playing a character, putting on a show, and I hate that. I’m very like, “Be raw, be real, you have a chance.” I love Survivor. I love people who are raw and real and stuff like that. I just never got that from him. I think Devin really wants to be a leader, and I’m kind of a surprising leader. I’m an unorthodox leader. People want to listen to me, but I’m a goofy, silly guy, so people don’t expect it. So someone like Devin and I, it’s like oil and water. Outside of the game, he’s awesome, he’s great. But in the game, I was like, “Get this guy away from me.”

Thien An was in tears when you left, and she’s previously said you were her number one. Did you feel the same way about her? Was she your number one?

Yeah, a hundred percent. I probably had four number ones, but I’d say Thien An was the one that I trusted the most. We were just in lockstep from day one. I just love that girl so much. She’s so funny and I needed that out there. I needed somebody that we could actually bond and laugh and be like, “Wasn’t that thing that that person did annoying?” I think that means so much out there and love that girl to death. She’s the best. We’re still great friends to this day. She’s a real one for sure.

Let’s go back to when you learned about the duo twist. Walk me through how you ended up paired with Kristin.

We didn’t have a whole lot of time to pick, and honestly, I thought Kristen had something from Exile and I’m like, “Okay, that could save us.” And I thought it would be very hard to get seven votes on us. So I’m a pretty simple person and she was near me, and she also said something like, “I don’t think anyone’s going to want to be my partner because of my broken foot.” I was like, “That breaks my heart.” I’m like, “Yeah, I’ll be your partner, girl.” Don’t be a nice guy. I’m Survivor.”

You and Kristin were the first pair out of the immunity challenge, but that didn’t mean you were out of options. Besides the two of you, we heard Dev and Jelly’s names come up, along with Carter and Christian. You ultimately voted for Dev and Jelly, but were there other legitimate targets? Or was the Salt Alliance really that solid?

Yeah, the Salt Alliance was pretty solid, and I think that honestly, we screwed it up because everybody picked somebody from the other side. There’s a SALT member in every single pair except Dev and Jelly. So what are we going to do? Eventually we go, “I guess we’re just going to pile on Dev and Jelly.” Because we were really running the game at that point. I do think that all day I was planning on voting for Mike and Maggie. Wires got crossed with me and Christian, didn’t work out. He gave the vote to Eric for some reason. I go home. Sucks.

Looking back at your Survivor experience, you made some pretty big moves. You forced Linnea out by threatening to draw rocks, helped vote out Brady, who considered you an ally, and Mike even called you and the other head of the Toka tribe snakes. Which move are you most proud of, or is there something you accomplished that viewers never got to see?

I would say the number one thing is that Linnea vote. I’m getting information from both sides, I feel like I was in a Zen state. I was rocking. I knew every piece of information. I think the thing I’m proudest that wasn’t shown was honestly the fact that I had to hustle to get those Extra Votes. The show kind of yada-yadas it and Maggie’s just like, “Here’s two extra votes. Vote Linnea.” She was initially intending on giving those votes to Sharonda or giving the one she had to give away to Sharonda as a peace offering. She told Lewis that. Lewis told me that. I go, “Absolutely not. I am going to hustle.” I run to Maggie. I’m like, “Girl, they are a united front. They’re going to kill us. They’re going to put the vote on us. Please, an extra vote will actually save us. Please give it to me.”

I actually already knew about her other one. I’m like, “Maybe even consider giving us the other one because this could be pretty epic.” This isn’t me trying to take credit for Maggie’s move because we were a team. We came up with a plan together. I’m like, “Girl, I need the extra votes. It’s not that simple. Sharonda is lying to you. She’s not going to keep me not looking good, girl.” So that’s what I’m proud of. Then I have the extra vote, and then I really have all the power at that tribal because I know Lewis is putting two on Linnea. I know they’re putting four on him, and I really am at that tribal going, trying to almost get a reason to not do it (draw rocks).

They’re laughing it off. I’m like, “Okay, well, one of you is going home. Screw you.” There was a moment where I look at Eric. I’m like, “Are we good? Are you voting for me?” And Eric’s making eye contact with Jeff, and he’s trying to get Jeff’s attention to make a joke, and he won’t look me in the eyes. I’m like, “Oh, he’s voting for me. Screw this guy. He’s not a friend.” Afterwards, he was like, “Oh, I just wanted to have a moment with my buddy, Jeff.” I was like, “Feckless. We’re playing a game. We’re not playing fan expo with Jeff Probst.”

In my preseason THR questionnaire, I asked what you wanted to keep under wraps heading into the game. You gave a really powerful answer about growing up and your family’s financial struggles. Did you ever share that part of your life with your castmates, and if so, how did they respond?

Yeah, actually, me and Sharonda had a really touching moment where we talked about how for folks who grow up really below the poverty line, it’s really tough to do anything. So for me, Survivor was like, “I need to be excellent or I’ll be poor forever.” That’s been my whole life. Because if I’m not, the cycle of poverty continues, you know what I mean? Survivor really was that chance to break out of it. And so I remember sobbing with Sharonda one day about it out there at the Dina Tribe, after Linnea left. That was how I was trying to get back in good with Sharonda. I talked to Christian about it too. This is where I started bringing it up to make people feel closer to me.

I think that’s a big reason we see people sobbing when I leave. People really felt a strong connection to me and they’re like, “Damn, Kilby. It had to be him.” I feel like people really were heartbroken at that moment. Thien An knew, we were so close. I think she’s like, “He needed the money. It sucks.”

***

Survivor airs new episodes Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CBS, streaming on Paramount+.