The rivalry is over.
“Survivor 49” contestant Shannon Fairweather, who was voted off on last night’s episode, exclusively told The Post that she’s on good terms with Sage Ahrens-Nichols after the game — but admitted it was still “painful” for her to watch Ahrens-Nichols talk bad about her on the show.
“Me and Sage have talked a lot. And she let me know everything that she said and she thought and she did. So nothing came as a surprise to me,” Fairweather, 28, explained. “That being said, that doesn’t mean it’s not hard. I think it’d be hard to have anyone talk badly about you, but specifically because I do love Sage so much, it’s painful to watch it.”
“But I think within that process, there’s just so much opportunity, not only for my own individual growth, but also for for me and Sage’s friendship,” the wellness specialist continued. “I think because we’ve been in such a unique, difficult situation together with proper communication, which me and Sage are both very passionate about, it can lead to like a deeper friendship, oddly enough. But it is hard to watch.”
Fairweather also admitted that she struggled with Ahrens-Nichols, 30, not hugging her after she was voted out.
“It was just a lot to process in the moment because I trusted Sage,” Fairweather said. “You know, I love Sage out of the game and I loved Sage in the game. It was a lot to process in a short period of time.”
While Fairweather thought she was in a good spot in the game, she now realizes that the second tribe swap sealed her fate because it separated her from all of her allies.
“I had a little potential with Alex. I had a little potential with Kristina. I obviously had Savannah, Rizo and Nate, I was working with them,” Fairweather explained. “Even like yellow Sophie and me were vibing a little bit. But to end up with Steven who kind of saw the dog in me a little bit right out the gate. And then Sage, who had her own personal vendetta against me, it was hard to rebound from that.”
But Fairweather reiterated that her and Ahrens-Nichols have mended fences — and even read a text she had just gotten from the clinical social worker.
“She texted me saying, ‘You stayed true to yourself regardless of what any of us thought, and I think that’s very beautiful,’” Fairweather told The Post.
“Sage is great. And I appreciate just how important it was to her for us to talk,” she added. “You know, it’s clear to me she cares about me and our relationship. And we have talked extensively. And she’s actually one of the people I feel closest to from the cast, which I think people will find funny.”
“Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 pm ET on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
