Warning! Spoilers ahead for the recent episode of Survivor 42.
Unlike the Survivor 41 contestants, viewers have the advantage of knowing about all the new twists at work in the game, thanks to their introductions last season. But what they themselves knew that we fans didn’t – at least, not until the most recent episode – is that Maryanne Oketch had a pretty big crush on the first eliminated player. (They never even spoke on the island!) Her fellow Taku tribemate, Marya Sherron, apparently revealed the secret on Ponderosa to the ouster, saying it was a very “cute” moment indeed.
Honestly, I thought it couldn’t get more adorable than Maryanne Oketch gushing to Jeff Probst, all three tribes and (obviously) the whole world on TV that Zach Wurtenberger was “picture perfect.” As it turns out, the Survivor 42 belle of the ball didn’t have to wait long on Ponderosa (where vote offs go to wait out the duration of the game) to hear about his prospects, when Marya Sherron showed up after her own elimination. Marya Sherron told Entertainment Weekly that she immediately “spilled the beans,” which include the bit about Wurtenberger being Oketch’s ideal white boy. His original reaction? Priceless it would seem, with Sherron saying:
Oh, he loved it. He was like, ‘This is great for me. I'm living in the game, even though I'm out of the game through Maryanne.’ And she became his number one. Like, ‘I want her to go as far as possible, 'cause as long as she's in the game, I'm in the game.’ So it's cute. Zach is amazing.
Upon getting off Ponderosa, Zach Wurtenberger had a more public reaction to the romantic proclamation on social media. It was equally as cute as him secretly rooting for Maryanne Oketch to win Season 42, with the added twist of having a hilarious Photoshop job included in the post and a memorable Survivor moment referenced as well.
What isn’t so cute, though, is how dangerously close Maryanne Oketch was to being voted out instead of Marya Sherron last Wednesday. Oketch’s major enthusiasm for both life and the game itself seems to be rubbing some of her Taku tribemates the wrong way. Sherron confirmed as much to the outlet, adding that she herself was initially “angry” and “jealous” when Oketch had a huge emotional reaction to that early medical removal from their tribe. She said:
Like I'm watching this 23-year-old girl, she's half my age. And there was literally a moment where I looked at Jeff and I'm thinking to myself, ‘Is this allowed? Are we allowed to do that?’
Sure, it’s okay to cry on Survivor, as many players tend to find out the hard way. But is it a winning strategy to go around sharing all and feeling all the feels all the time? Now, that’s a different story altogether. As mentioned, Maryanne Oketch narrowly avoided having her torch snuffed out by Jeff Probst.
Yet my hope, similar to Zach Wurtenburger’s, is that she makes it far in this season. Her unabashed inclination to wear her heart on her sleeve is both cute and refreshing. It certainly isn’t boring, either. To keep up with Survivor 42 and her storyline, tune into new episodes airing on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on the 2022 TV schedule!
