Cirie Fields Explains How 'Survivor’s Most Iconic Move Really Happened (Exclusive)

Mike BloomTue, February 10, 2026 at 1:00 AM UTC

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(Monty Brinton/CBS)

"This is a very tough decision for me for a lot of reasons. As a competitor, I've always said, 'Keep your fate in your own hands.' But there's so many things weighing on my mind. I've made a lot of mistakes in the past couple of days. And I know that actions do speak louder than words."I want to give individual immunity to Natalie."When Erik Reichenbach spoke those words, an instantly-iconic Survivor moment was born. It was Day 36 in Micronesia, the sixteenth season of the CBS reality series. And the "Fans vs. Favorites" theme had all but broken down. Instead the most prevalent coalition was the "Black Widow Brigade." Comprised of Cirie Fields (who is appearing for her record-sixth season on the upcoming Survivor 50), Amanda Kimmel, Parvati Shallow and Natalie Bolton (as well as the recently-booted Alexis Jones), the group had expertly taken men out of the game in a series of eviscerating blindsides, leaving them walking out of Tribal Council stunned, and with an idol in their pocket.

🔥Don’t miss our weekly Survivor newsletter! Sign up to get Mike Bloom’s exclusive interviews with the players and the latest news about the show right to your inbox.🔥But that afternoon, the four women were stewing. Erik, the sole remaining man, had enlarged the target on his back, getting caught telling multiple people the exact same thing. But he had won immunity earlier, meaning he was the only person locked-in safe. That is...unless they somehow convinced him to give up a sure spot in the Final Four."I think it was like what you would do in a heist," Cirie tells Parade in an exclusive interview. "It was so important and pivotal at this point in the game that everyone had to know their part, and had to play their part 1,000%. Because if there's one iota of a decimal of anything off, Erickwould not follow through with the plan, and we would have to vote out Natalie. It was like when you go into a corporate office and you planning on a merger. Like they're going to take over this company, and you have to have all of these steps in place to take over this company. That's kind of what it felt like."And indeed, with everyone playing their role to a tee, the Black Widow Brigade netted a deal of a lifetime. Erik gave up immunity and was summarily taken out. And in that evening, one of the most iconic and referenced moves in Survivor history was born.In honor of CBS re-airing this episode as part of their "Road to 50" encore episodes series, Cirie talks with Parade about her perspective on everything that went down, from the moment it nearly failed to her reaction in the moment to how she looks back upon its legacy today.Related: Meet the Full Cast of Survivor 50

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This episode starts with the aftermath of Amanda playing her idol. And, while you did tell her you would consider forcing a tie to save her, you still voted for her. So what was your reaction when she came back into camp, having blindsided Alexis?I think Amanda told me right before we went that she had the idol, once I said I would be considering drawing rocks for her. So then I felt safe still. As far as I remember, I don't even think it was like an issue! [Laughs.] Honestly, I don't think it was like that big of a deal. They knew how close Amanda and Parvati and I were. We were the Favorites; they were the Fans, and Natalie was kind of integrating herself. So I don't remember it being that big of a deal.Erik ends up winning the Reward Challenge, controversially choosing Amanda to go with him and sending Parvati to Exile Island. But people may not remember, in the Survivortrivia challenge, you were actually right behind him. If you had won, who would you have picked for reward and Exile?Oh, I probably would have sent Amanda to Exile, and more than likely, I would have taken Parv.Why Parvati over Amanda?Because Parv and I locked in from the go. When Jeff said, "Go" and crossed the water and...it was water. [Laughs.] I was okay to a point, and then it drops off. So then you have to kind of swim. And as you know, I'm not the best swimmer. So Parvati immediately grabbed my hand and said, "I got you". And we were locked in from that moment on.I didn't know this! Because this is a relationship that would obviously span multiple years and seasons together, most recently in Australia V The World.That's exactly how it started. And we were going across; she was right next to me. And as soon as it got to the point where you had to swim, you couldn't walk anymore, I guess she could see me kind of panicking a little bit. And she was like, "Grab my hand. I got you." And that was it.Well, while you don't get brought on reward, you do get a rewarding opportunity to stir the pot a bit back at camp. Natalie is clearly upset that Erik didn't take her on the reward, and you stoke those fiery feelings. Talk to me more about what the rest of the day was like.I don't love to stir the pot. Actually, I like to be drama-free! [Laughs.] However, I will take advantage of a situation that presents itself. Because Natalie was pretty perturbed. She thought, of course, her and Erik being the Fans and riding together this whole time, she thought for sure she would go. So once she started talking about, like, "Damn, I can't believe he didn't take me!" I just took the opportunity to help her out and say, "Yeah, he didn't take you. Go figure out why." And he was telling us at that point that he wanted Amanda out. So I wanted to bring up, "Does he really want Amanda out? Why would you feed the competition right before a challenge if you want them to lose? I would have thought he would take you. I thought y'all was cooler than that, right?" [Laughs.]What was your relationship like with Natalie? Obviously, we see a lot about her and Parvati, but you two hadn't met until the merge before you started working together.I thought we had a good relationship. In terms of hierarchy. It would have been Parv, Amanda, Natalie in the Black Widow Brigade, from my standpoint. But I thought Natalie was okay. I thought she was obviously going to be voted out because she came to the group a little late, and it was supposed to be Parvati, Amanda and myself in the Final Three. But until that point, I thought she was cool.Erik comes back from the reward and immediately tries to do damage control. And, in the process, Natalie overhears him telling you that he wanted the two of you and Parvati to take out Amanda and Natalie. What was your reaction to all of the messiness after you compared notes?I wasn't really surprised, because Erik's young, right? And Erik was gung-ho to play Survivor, and he was playing it at 100 miles an hour. So when I found out, he was telling everybody the same thing, was it surprising? No, not really. Was it beneficial? Absolutely. [Laughs.]I've always been curious about that "Fans vs. Favorites" dynamic. Did you find, given your popularity from Exile Island, that anyone was starstruck by you out there on the island?I think there were some star-struck relationships, not between Erik and me, but like Erik and Ozzy. I think I said it on the show, when he looked at Ozzy, stardust would bloom, and you'd hear that sound. [Makes angelic noise.] So with some of them, yes, you could see that kind of star-struck relationship. But at that point in the game, we were deep in the game. By then, it kind of wears off. And that's like when people ask me, "Aren't you aware of the cameras?" That goes away so fast? Oce you're trying to figure out how to stay dry, where to sleep, what you've going to eat, and then your stress level and your spidey senses and all that is going, you don't care about the camera. And I think they don't care. The stardom of it all went away for the Fans, too, the longer they stayed.Alright, let's start getting into the machinations behind this iconic move. First, what was your reaction when you saw Erik win immunity? Were you already formulating a plan to try to get that necklace off of him?Well, once he won, you can almost see it in our body language. We were like, [Sighs.] So at that point, I kind of had Nat as a backup, right? So if Erik were to win, I know they're not going to vote me, I'm not going to vote them. However, then, there's still the problem of Erik. And Erik seemed to be winning all the challenges. And usually around the final, the closer you get to the end, there are more endurance challenges. So thinking in that vein, it's like, "Damn, if it's an endurance challenge, he's going to win that too. How do we get rid of him?"So we're just sitting around kind of sulking a little bit. Natalie's kind of coming to terms with leaving. And it just was like a light bulb. Because I knew Erik, one, felt bad for telling us all the same thing. Two, he felt bad for not taking Natalie. I think Natalie kind of gave him the business for not taking her on the reward. So I don't know, out of nowhere, just like, "You think he would give Natalie the necklace?" And I'm thinking in terms of redemption. He could think maybe he would have a shot at votes later. Because up until that point, once he crossed everybody, in his young mind, he's thinking, "Nobody will ever vote for me." So that's where the idea came from. And it was just like a humbug! I didn't even really believe it. You can hear how I said it. I didn't say it strong, like, "You think he would give Natalie the necklace?"That's what makes it so fun, though, because then Parvati and Amanda start chiming in, and it becomes a concept into an actual plan. What was it like trying to designate the parts everyone would play?I think it was like what you would do in a heist. I've never participated in a heist. [Laughs.] But it was so important and pivotal at this point in the game that everyone had to know their part, and had to play their part 1,000%. Because if there's one iota of a decimal of anything off, Erickwould not follow through with the plan, and we would have to vote out Natalie. It was like when you go into a corporate office and you planning on a merger. Like they're going to take over this company, and you have to have all of these steps in place to take over this company. That's kind of what it felt like. "Alright, you do this, you do that, you do that, and I'll do this. And if everybody does their part, this should work seamlessly."

Related: Jeff Probst Explains How His Surprise ‘Survivor 50’ Rock Song Came Together (Exclusive)Was there ever a point when you felt things were falling apart? That Erik wasn't buying the pitch and wouldn't go through with it?So when I initially said it to Erik, like, "Well, I'm willing to work with you, and I'm willing to vote out Amanda. But because you have lied to all of us, I don't know when you're lying or when you're telling the truth. However, if you do this thing, then I will know that we're locked in. You're riding with me, and I'll vote the way we need to vote. Give Natalie the necklace." And he immediately said, "Oh no, absolutely no. I'm not doing that." And so at that point, I was like, "Well, I guess we got a little too high on the horse, he's not going to do it." But then I think there was a little time that we separated. I was like, "It's just an idea. I don't know how to move from here, Erik. Because I don't trust you, and rightfully so, because you've lied to all of us. You told us all this exact same thing, so they're not going to trust you. I don't trust you. I don't know where to go from here." We kind of separated. And then Erik, I guess he went to ponder. And I'm sure in his mind, he's thinking, "If I do this, I'll have an alliance back." Because right now he's by himself. It's just Erik and the Black Widow Brigade. I can't speak for him, but what I think he thought is, "Damn, if I go through with this, I'll have Cirie locked in. I'll get rid of Parvati." Because he comes back and says, "Alright, maybe I'll think about it. But if we were to do this, I wouldn't want to vote Amanda. I would want to vote Parvati." And I took the opportunity, "Okay. You know I'm sacrificing something by giving up Parv, who's my number one. You're sacrificing something, giving up the necklace. And we're forming this new relationship of trust. If that's how it has to go, that's how it'll go." That's when I got excited, when he came back with an alternative offer. I'm like, "Oh, shucks, he is really considering this!" After the no, I was like, "It was worth a try". But then when he came back with an offer, I'm like, "Oh, he countered!"You spoke about putting forward this idea of redemption, not only in the game, but to the jury. Was that based in any sort of truth? Did you get the sense he wouldn't have won if he made it to the end? I didn't know. I didn't think the jury considered Erik in any way, shape, or form at all. But I knew he did, because he's playing 100 miles a minute. He's already at the jury; he's already in his final speech. He's already beat us in his mind through all the challenges, because he's been beating us so far. So Erik, thinking six moves ahead, was now thinking, "What am I going to look like in front of the jury?" So I just capitalized on that and said, "Oh no, everybody hates you. When then these girls are going to go tell that you lied to everybody and. Oh my god, Amanda don't even talk to you no more. I mean, this could be a redemption. The jury could see this as a big move, and you redeem yourself and get you a couple votes. Because the thing is you probably ain't gonna get no votes."Well let's get into how he made quite the impression in front of the jury. Given everything that went down that afternoon, going into Tribal Council, what did you think the chances were that he would actually give up the necklace?Even walking into Tribal, I wasn't 100% sold that he would go through with it. I was hopeful, but I was still that little feeling you get in your stomach, like, "Damn, he could change his mind." Any wrong look, andd then we have the live jury over there, so anything at all could tip him off. Jeff could say something like, "Give away your immunity?" That might tip him off. I was just afraid that any little thing would tip him off and he would change his mind. I really didn't think he would go through with it.You told Parvati and Amanda before Tribal Council that their role was to play bad cop and talk about how much Erik betrayed them. What was your role?I think Jeff might have asked me, "Is there redemption in this game?" And that is exactly what I was trying to sell. So my part in it was to ensure everybody listening, Erik, that redemption is possible. No matter what you do in these games, there's a time that you can stand 10 toes down and redeem yourself and redeem your word, where people can trust you again. And that was pretty much the only part I played at Tribal Council, because I was too afraid. I was so locked in only on Jeff. I didn't look in the periphery. I didn't look to the left, right. I just wanted to focus on Jeff. Because I felt like if Erik saw me blink, he would change his mind.And you can see that when he's talking. You're staring straightforward, not to tip anything off. So what was going through your head when he actually did it?When he started the speech, initially I thought, "Oh, wow, he's going to explain why he can't do it." But then when he mentioned redemption, I said, "Oh my god, I think he's going to do it." And, even though I didn't want to see, I could see the jury kind of looking confused. And I'm saying, "Just hurry up Jeff! Just hurry up and do it." Because if he sees them, if he notices that they're like, "What?!" he's going to change his mind. But for some reason, he was focused on Jeff, as I was. And, watching it back now I see him looking and talking to Jeff, and I see Eliza and James like, "Are you kidding?!" Ozzy's laughing. And I'm like, "Oh my God." We were that close to losing. If he had just looked over at the jury and took in the scene, he might have said, "Oh, what am I doing? Absolutely not. What was I thinking?" But lucky for us, that didn't occur.Erik was the first to vote. And when he got up, we see Parvati kiss Natalie's cheek. I know technically speaking you're "on ice" when voting. But what was the energy like between the four of you once it actually happened?It was a full on Mardi Gras as soon as he took that necklace off and put it on Natalie. You didn't hear the horns and the second line dancers. It was a full-on Mardi Gras. But we still have to be tactful. And it wasn't over yet. It's not over until Jeff says it's over. So although he did exactly what we wanted him to do, I didn't want to just get up and start tap dancing or doing the Dougie or something. [Laughs.] But I was doing it inside! [Laughs.]I want to talk about your voting confessional. Because, honestly, it's such a microcosm of everything you've been able to do across five seasons of this game. "My mother always told me, 'You may not be able to beat them with these all the time [Gestures to arms], but you can always beat them with this [Gestures to brain]. What inspired you to say that in that moment?Just because Erkc was physical. He was a strapping, strong young man, specimen, perfect. He ran. He was smart, too. So it was like, "How can we beat this guy?" And again, thinking the final challenges are more endurance-based, and looking at Erik and looking at me like, come on! Who's going to win it? So my mother always told us, "Use what you have. You have talents. You have God-given talents. You may not be as strong physically as the man next door, but you're strong up here. Utilize your brain. It will never let you down." And that's what that moment meant to me. I felt like there's no way we would physically beat him, but we were able to mentally outthink him. Yes, there were elements of experience and age, all of which come into play. And I think it was, just like Jeff said, a life lesson for him. It's not all about who's the strongest; it's not always about who's the fastest. It's about who's the most strategic. And I think that speaks volumes about Survivor. Everybody says to me, "Oh, how did you prepare? Did you work out? Did you run six miles?" Clearly, they can look at me and know I didn't do that. [Laughs.] But I always tell them, there is an element of physicality to playing the game of Survivor. But in my personal experience, in my mind, I feel like it's 70% social and strategic and maybe 30% physical. That's what worked for us.Let's talk about the legacy of this moment. It's often cited as one of the best and iconic moves inSurvivor history. Did you get any sense while it was happening that something truly special was going on?I'm a fan of the show. So I was in shock that he went through with it. But I really wasn't looking at it as historical, as big of a moment as it turned out to be. Because I was just grateful that it worked. I was happy that we were able to stay together, and then he followed through with it. And I was in shock, like, "Damn, has anybody ever given up immunity before?" But I didn't really grasp how big of a move it would be.And what's been interesting is watching people discover Survivor during the pandemic, and watching that move in a modern-day lens. And I feel like arguably the Black Widow Brigade is more popular than ever before. What do you think has made people celebrate that moment so much?I think that's almost like the David and Goliath story. You have this giant, Erik. And when I say giant, I mean physically giant. You have this physical beast, and then you have these four little women. There's a mix between Little Women and David and Goliath, if you put those books together. And we were able to come together with a plan, women working together to outsmart, outwit, and outlast the giant. And I think that's what your average person looks at, "Damn if they could do whatever the giant is in their story..." If it's somebody at work, if it's a project at school, if it's a diet, whatever it is, I think it made them feel like, "If they could slay that giant, I could slay my giant well."What's also interesting is how this set up the legacy of the "dangerous women's alliance." You and I spoke before 50 about how you feel you erroneously get tagged with only working with women based on Micronesia. And I do feel like, in the years since, we consistently see players talk about the fear of a women's alliance specifically. What's been your reaction to that?I think rightfully so. If I've seen it occur, I would be afraid of it too! But it's very hard to pull off. I haven't seen a cohesive group of women just stay the course and vote out one guy after another after another and make it to the Final Four together. Maybe it has happened; I just can't remember right now. But I think it just showed how powerful women could be if they work together and stuck together against whomever, against the giant.Let's look ahead to what's to come in your most recent Survivor outing. What's one similarity and one difference between the Cirie we saw in this Micronesia episode and the Cirie on 50?One similarity is I'm shy and I want to be off the radar. Y'all don't even see me. I want to be invisible, don't I ain't even here. That's always my strategy, because if you can't see me, you can't vote for me, right? If you don't see me, you can't vote for me. Difference, I think, a little more self awareness. Because when I play Panama, when I played Micronesia, I didn't realize, the strengths that I had. I always felt oh so afraid. And then watching it back, I'm like, Damn I pretty much had 'em!" And I never really acknowledged that at the time. So I went into 50 with a different level of confidence than I went into Panama or Micronesia with. I believed in myself a little more than I did in those seasons.

Related: Cirie Fields on Her History-Making 'Survivor 50' Return: 'I Won’t Feel Worthy Until I Get This Win' (Exclusive)

This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the TV section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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