‘Survivor’ Sneak Peek: Jake & Kellie Panic About Getting Kaleb on Their Side (VIDEO)

Kelli Boyle November 7, 2023, 2:00 pm

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Kaleb Gebrewold made Survivor history in Season 45 Episode 6. For the first time ever, a Shot in the Dark reached its full potential, completely canceling out the 11 unanimous votes against him. Because he was safe, the players had to scramble and vote again, ultimately sending J. Maya home. Surprisingly, Kaleb isn’t the prime target for elimination in the TV Insider exclusive clip from Survivor Season 45 Episode 7 (above), airing on Wednesday, November 8 on CBS. Rather, it’s Bruce Perrault “in the hot seat.”

Jake O’Kane and Kellie Nalbandian make a plan to get Kaleb on their side in the clip above, admitting that Bruce, their fellow original member of Belo, could be a liability in this effort. Bruce found the newly merged tribe’s new idol last week and shared that information with basically everyone but Katurah Topps, his nemesis. The plot against Kaleb was concocted by Bruce, but Emily Flippen informed Kaleb of the impending doom before Tribal Council, prompting him to play his Shot in the Dark. Getting them to work together now may be difficult.

At the water well, Kellie tells Jake about an earlier conversation she had with another player. Whomever she was talking to (it seems like it may be Bruce), they were “just saying that people are noticing that Katurah and Kendra [McQuarrie] are too happy that Kaleb’s here.” Jake says they “can still use them as numbers” in the majority alliance they’re scheming to form. Bruce might be “in the hot seat,” as Kellie says, because of his new reputation at camp.

'Survivor' 45 Recap: Best & Worst Strategists Emerge as Merge Looms

Bruce took his stress out on his former Belo tribe in Episode 6 when realizing that he wasn’t being sought out for strategy talks by other players. He also didn’t take the opportunity to make an alliance with Emily when she apologized for her comments about him in the premiere. Before he wanted to eliminate Kaleb, he had his sights on Emily because of this conversation. In Episode 7, Jake and Kellie worry that Bruce’s attitude is a risk not only for himself, but also for their group alliance hopes.

“If he keeps acting like this, it’s going to be a problem,” Kellie says. Jake tells the cameras he wants this majority alliance to consist of the remaining five original Belos. “We need to come together, and that’s what I’m trying to push,” he says.

The pair agrees that having the former Belos, plus Kaleb and Emily (the last original Lulus), would be their ideal alliance. “And if we can get Bruce on board, I can get Kendra and Katurah,” Jake adds. That would leave the original Reba members — Austin Li Coon, Drew Basile, Sifu Alsup, Dee Valladares, and Julie Alley — out, splitting the tribe into two sides.

“I see the Reba-Belo war coming, so I’m gonna need numbers in this game going down the line,” Jake says in confessional. “And if I’m gonna have numbers, Kaleb’s gonna be one of them.”

It’s paramount to their plan that they get Bruce on board with uniting with Kaleb, who’s more than proven he’s hard to beat. As much as Bruce might not like it, they agree to tell Bruce he needs to “just suck it up” and “work with Kaleb today.”

Can Bruce swallow his pride and be a team player, not a leader? We’ll see when Episode 7, notably titled “The Thorn in My Thumb,” airs.

Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS