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Survivor’s Charlie Shades Maria With Taylor Swift Lyric After She Doesn’t Vote for Him to Win
After Charlie Davis gushed about his love of Taylor Swift all season long on Survivor, it was only fitting that he drew some inspiration from the pop star to throw shade at Maria Shrime Gonzalez during the finale. Although Maria and Charlie were close allies for all of season 46, she didn’t vote for him to win the show, and he seems to be feeling some type of way about it.
“thank you aMARIAmee,” Charlie, 26, wrote on X after the finale aired, referencing the song “thanK you aIMee” from Taylor’s album The Tortured Poets Department.
The singer penned the track about a school bully named Aimee, but noted in the lyrics, “I don’t think you’ve changed much, and so I’ve changed your name and any real defining clues.” With the letters “KIM” noticeably being capitalized in the song title, fans deduced that the track was actually about Taylor’s feud with Kim Kardashian.
Charlie came in second place on Survivor, with Kenzie Petty winning the season and $1 million. The hair salon owner received five final tribal council votes, including Maria’s, while Charlie got three. Had Maria, 48, voted for Charlie, the season would have ended in a tie, with the deciding vote going to the last finalist, Ben Katzman, who came in third place. While it’s unclear who Ben, 32, would have voted for, it’s possible that Maria’s vote for Kenzie, 29, is what cost Charlie winning the game.
The unlikely duo began working together on day one of season 46 and maintained a strong alliance throughout the game. It wasn’t until the final 6 that they realized they had to turn on each other to strengthen their individual games. Maria won immunity at the final 6 challenge, and teamed up with Quintavius “Q” Burdette to try and blindside Charlie at tribal. However, Charlie worked with Kenzie, Ben and Liz Wilcox to vote out Q, 29, instead.
Since Maria didn’t know that Charlie was also targeting her at the time, she had to do some damage control and groveling, but their relationship held strong. According to Charlie, Maria even assured him she would vote for him at the end if she ended up on the jury. She held her head high when she got voted out at the final 5 because of her threat level, but ended up breaking her promise to vote for Charlie in the end, which shocked fans.
“I think I’ve said this before, I’m a competitor,” Maria explained at the after show, which took place immediately after final tribal council. “The fire in [Kenzie]’s eyes when she made fire last night, that, to me, clinched it for me. She owned her game and her story just really moved me. This woman deserves to have this money for her to start her life to start her family and I’m so proud of [her].” Maria was referring to Kenzie clinching her spot as a finalist by beating Liz, 36, in the final 4 fire making challenge.
While Charlie admitted he was “surprised” by Maria’s vote, he also said that, “Kenzie deserves this,” and, “the jury picks the right winner.” However, the law student’s social media post hints that he may be harboring some resentment now that he’s had more time to process what went down.
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