Every time a new Sole Survivor is crowned, the fanbase immediately starts arguing about where they fit amongst all the previous winners. It’s an endless cycle that’s fun for all of us who love the show but no doubt irritating to the actual players, especially those who are consistently rated near the bottom. No one knows that better than Kenzie Petty.
The Survivor 46 winner is almost universally agreed to have one of the best social games in the history of the show, but because many modern castaways and viewers only value big, loud, splashy moves, she’s consistently rated at or near the bottom of New Era winners. For the most part, Petty has stayed out of the conversation, but after a whole new round of posts and lists ranking her at or near the bottom following Savannah’s recent win, she finally clapped back with the perfect Instagram post. Check out this magic…
This post is a perfect encapsulation of why Kenzie won Survivor 46. Sure, you can point to Maria betraying Charlie and a bunch of other practical factors that helped her get to the end, but ultimately, she won the game because people really like her and wanted to see her win. She has a way of communicating that makes you want to root for her, and that’s displayed perfectly in this post. Most of the time players clapping back on social media feels a little beneath them or off-tone, but she just has this innate sense of knowing how to express herself.
Yes, this post is a clap back against the hatters, but it’s done in an almost self-deprecating way that’s really endearing. She’s not saying people are wrong for their opinions. She’s not saying she’s better than other players or trying to argue the merits of why her game should be more respected. She’s just going to keep on dancing.
Not surprisingly, her fellow Survivor players absolutely ate this up. A quick scroll through the comments reveals laughing emojis, messages of support and likes from so many other castaways including Sugar, Sophi B, her island BFF Tiffany, Danielle DiLorenzo, Dee, Katurah, Sabiyah, Thomas and Survivor Queen Sandra Diaz-Twine, among many others. Fans were, of course, very supportive in the comments, as well, with thousands of hearts and messages of support.
I have no idea if we’ll ever see Kenzie play Survivor again. I have no idea if she even wants to play, but the fact that another appearance from her isn’t talked about more regularly is really frustrating. There is this widespread belief that the best way to play the game is by padding your resume and betraying your biggest allies. That’s certainly a high risk, high reward strategy, but ultimately, the goal is to win the game, not to impress social media users.
If you put Kenzie on a hundred random seasons, she would make a deep run in an overwhelming majority of them because people don’t want to vote her out. If she was on the stacked cast of Survivor 50, I’d vote her as one of the most likely to get to the end. That’s great gameplay, and in a New Era filled with players obsessed with making their mark, I find it to be a refreshing counterpoint. It’s why she’s one of the most underrated winners ever.
So, yeah, keep on dancing Kenzie. I can’t get enough of it. You’ll always be a winner, and you’ll always deserve it.
