Fans of Survivor are accustomed to intensely dramatic moments, particularly during the show"s "tribal council" scenes.
But on last night"s episode, one castaway took things much too far and left both viewers and his fellow contestants in shock.
In an effort to save himself from elimination, cast member Jeff Varner made a last ditch appeal to the council that for some reason involved outing fellow contestant Zeke Smith.
“There is deception here. Deceptions on levels, Jeff, that these guys don’t even understand,” Varner said, addressing his teammates and the show"s host, Jeff Probst.
Varner then turned to Smith and asked, “Why haven’t you told anyone that you’re transgender?”
Not surprisingly, the disgusting move backfired spectacularly.
Varner"s own teammates condemned his actions, and he was voted off the island shortly thereafter.
Varner attempted to backtrack and justify his strategy, but thankfully, his excuses fell on deaf ears:
“I argue for the rights of transgender people every day in the state of North Carolina,” Varner said.
“I would never say or do anything to hurt anyone here. Jeff, I’m arguing for my life. I feel like I’ve got to throw everything at the wall.”
Asked about the moment that he was outed against his will on national TV, Smith told People magazine:
“I think he hoped others would believe that trans people are dangerous and fraudulent."
He added:
“[Varner"s] reasoning is infinitely worse than him outing me because it’s the same one used to discriminate against, attack and murder trans people. What’s great is that nobody bought it.”
Watch the jaw-dropping moment that Varner employed the worst strategy in Survivor history in the clip below:
