Survivor 51's [Spoiler] On Whether He Would've Flipped The Coin Had He Stayed: 'I Had A Whole Plan...'

Spoilers from Wednesday's "Survivor" below!

In Wednesday's episode of "Survivor," a Season 50 twist came back to wreak havoc on the Open Era — or at least the cast of "51."

After the castaways were instructed to pair up to compete, Kristin and Kilby found themselves tethered together (but not by an idol!), only to lose the first stage of the three-part immunity challenge. As the strategy scramble began, eyes fell on Devin and Jelly, Christian and Carter, and Kristin and Kilby — though not many in the group knew about Jelly's immunity idol. And play it, she did, saving both herself and her partner Devin from elimination. Unfortunately for Kristin and Kilby, Christian's Shot in the Dark earned safety for him and Carter, leaving one lonely vote to seal their fate and send them to the jury. (Read our full recap here, then check out our exit interview with Kristin.) 

Below, Danny Kilby talks to TVLine about navigating the duos twist, his (nonexistent?) relationship with Eric, whether he would've flipped the coin, and so much more! 

TVLINE | When you were first paired up with Kristin, how did that come about and what did you think about it? Were you worried at all that her threat level was rising?
DANNY KILBY | Yeah, people were threatened by her, but who cares, honestly? She said something along the lines like, "No one's gonna want to be my partner cause my foot hurts," and like, "I'm not gonna do well in the challenge." And I was like, "Girl, I don't want you to feel left out, I'll be your partner." It was a kind thing, but also I was like, girl definitely got something from Exile, so hey, that could be able to save us. And then I'm like, I don't think you could get seven votes on me and Kristin. I think you could get seven votes if things really got dicey with me and Eric or something. I thought there's different configurations where that could happen, but for me and Kristin, we had different friends, so I was like, that's gonna help us there. But the real answer is it was so fast. This was not a 30-minute, figure it out. This is like two minutes maybe, of like, pick a partner. So a lot of people picked who they were beside, if you look, it was very fast.

TVLINE | What did you think your chances were heading into that Tribal Council? 
Pretty good. I mean, going into Tribal, it was actually pretty interesting because things started going crazy right before Tribal, and I got spooked. I really was. I could see some of these people voting me and even Thien An comes up to me and she's like, "I don't know, it's not looking good. People might be voting you, or Christian/Carter." That was a very serious thing happening. Pretty shortly before Tribal, I start whipping votes. I'm like, we need to get the votes in Devin/Jelly. So, I was hustling harder than I ever have at that vote. And I had a plan to throw a vote on Mike and Maggie, but because of this last-minute scramble nonsense, I was like, I could really end up with egg on my face if it's a 6-5-1 vote and I leave, you know? I thought that was actually on the table. Once Christian gave that extra vote to Eric, I was like, "Oh, I can no longer count on Christian to be voting with me," and I got pretty spooked, and he's saying he's gonna play a Shot in the Dark. I'm like, oh my God, that might be the end of my game right here. I was worried. Even in Tribal, you hear me say Salt of the Earth. I mentioned the alliance name. I'm trying to remind people that this is where I stand, like six people, we need to stand strong. I was really, at that Tribal, worried about me getting the votes. So I was hustling and I think that changed it. I think that got votes on Devin/Jelly, but then, hey. Sometimes you still get struck by lightning, bro.

TVLINE | Jelly plays her idol. What were your thoughts immediately after that?
I was like, "Oh well, Carter and Christian are going home." But then the shot... but also it was so annoying because, dude, I stayed up all night, many nights on Dina. I'm sad I didn't even make a secret scene, but I'd literally not sleep at all, crawling the entire jungle in the middle of the night for idols. There was no Dina idol. I looked, I ripped that island to shreds, to the point where I went, "Maybe there are no idols." That's what I'm thinking, I'm like, "Oh, maybe it's an Open Era thing. There's no idols this season." So when she pulls it out, I'm like, "Dang, like why wasn't there an idol on Dina?" I crawled all over the merge beach too. I was supposed to be an idol guy, and there's like two, and Jelly found it. Jelly and I were idol hunting together when she found it, and I just went a different way. It's one of those "what if" horrible back things, you know?

TVLINE | We saw you form a fast bond with Eric, but then it seemed like your games parted ways. Is that an accurate read? What was your in-game relationship with him like?
It's super simple. I mean, I liked the guy. I thought that it was very clear that his tribe did not like him. His original Savu would roll their eyes when he talked. Things like that. They would tell him to stop doing the things that he did. I'm like, I have annoying friends, whatever. I can tolerate it. So I was trying to flip him. Eventually it becomes clear to me that he thinks he's on the top of Savu and he's not, and that is a hopeless ally. He's too delusional to help me. So I actually really tried to intentionally make distance, so I invested more in Christian and Sharonda, honestly, than him, because he is in his own world. He is not somebody that you need in "Survivor." You need people who see the lay of the land and are like, hey, you're on the top, you're on the bottom or whatever, like, let's go. Eric is telling me he's gonna save me. I'm like, your tribe doesn't respect you. They're not gonna save me. You wanting to save me is gonna make them want to vote me out more. That's how I saw it. Honestly at a certain point, I got kind of the ick. I was like, get away from me. Do not talk to me. That's a big reason [why] I was trying to vote for Eric at the merge. I needed this idea that I'm close with Eric dead. He was poisoned.

TVLINE | We've seen in the last few episodes that Mike has been persona non grata in this game. Why was he seemingly off the table for the vote once he partnered up with Maggie?
Honestly, people got hungry on Devin/Jelly, you know? I saw it as I could get two enemies in this game, easy. Done. That's all it was. If they had won immunity, it would have just been Mike and Maggie. I think that's the reality there. Honestly, Mike was not seen as a threat. Mike was just not in a good spot. So in this move, I think a lot of people were like, "Devin and Jelly are threats, and they're on the bottom." That's somebody that you want to strike at. I think that's really what it was. It was like Big Game Hunter.

TVLINE | What was your plan moving forward had you survived this vote?
They showed it a lot in the episode. Salt of the Earth to the end, baby. I found the people that are really rock solid. They wanna play the game. They wanna scheme. They wanna plan. I felt amazing with Thien An, amazing with Carter, amazing with Lewis. I really feel like we were gonna grab that game by the horns. And then I had good bonds with Jelly, with Sharonda. I had good bonds on the other side too, so I was open to figuring out who's actually gonna try to snipe me. That's really what I was worried about was getting Cody'd like in "43." Honestly, that was my main thing. What small things do I need to do to be different from Cody, who gets betrayed at six, right? That's really gonna be my danger zone. So I'm trying to get into a little bit more fights, so people think they could be in the jury, things like that.

TVLINE | We have to talk about the almost-rock draw situation on the Linnea vote. When you entered that Tribal Council, did you know 100% that you were going to stand 10 toes down and not budge? Was that the plan all along?
The plan is what happened, right? I'm like, "They're gonna fold." The only one that I thought wouldn't fold is Linnea. She's a bad*ss. She's a cool girl. She's a hard player. So I was like, she could easily call my bluff. And when she gets the vote, she can't, right? So I kind of knew the other guys were gonna fold, but if they didn't, and honestly, I was also looking to Linnea to be like, "Girl, are you gonna lock in a final two with me right now? Are we gonna run this game together, because if so, I'll put my hand in the bag of rocks. That's fine." I was completely willing to do that if she would lock in, but I felt like she didn't fully commit, and I'm like, you know what? I also trust Christian, so I can just replace you in my head with Christian. 

That was really for me, I was like, there's a bar you need to get above like 50% more for Christian, because if I'm putting my game on the line, I need that level of trust 100%. And she was just like, "I'm not so mad at you. I'll still consider working with you." I'm like, no, are we a final team? We're not. I was really trying to be very harsh, but to me, I'm a big believer in be yourself no matter what, and I see myself as a good friend. I'm an only child. I had one best friend my whole life, and I would do anything for my friends. I would not be being true to me if I don't stand up for Lewis here. It does not matter. I am not breaking. It really was as simple as that. I would have been happy to go home in that moment. I'd rather get rocked out in 14th or whatever, then play a cowardly game.

TVLINE | We learned in the previews for next week that the coin flip is happening. Had you still been in the game, would you have wanted to step up and flip it?
Absolutely not. No, I had a whole plan. I was going to deadlock it, no matter what. Because in "50," somebody's flipping it, right? So if you say no, it gets rocked, like, somebody random has to do it. And I was like, I'm gonna do that, because some random person now has a 50% chance of going home. That's really freaking cool. I thought the terrorist option was the most fun.

TVLINE | You and Kristin started the game together and ended it together, but did you ever get a thumb war rematch?
Yeah, and she smokes me every time! She is gifted. She's a beast. They had mentioned that she's a Division 1 athlete, right? What she didn't mention is that it was in thumb wrestling. It's kind of unfair!