Early in the game, King Khanh and Juicy Dave found two halves of a Super Idol that, when reunited, would have been a massive power in the game. With Dave having to play his half almost immediately, Khanh was able to hold onto his Idol, dodging attempts to flush it at almost every Tribal Council.
With an Idol-shaped target on his back, as soon as the tribes hit merge the boys’ club alliance set their sights immediately on ‘the King’.
As the votes were pulled from the urn, seeing the way the votes had been split, he almost immediately knew he his time in the game had come to an end. One of his closest allies, Sam, had sided with husband Mark in a move to get Khanh out of the game, but the frustration was clear that Khanh still had the Idol in his pocket as his torch was being snuffed.
“The plan was always to get to merge with the Idol and start working with Chrissy, Jesse, Jordie, Mark and Sam” he told 10 play. “We were going to get Shay and then, moving forward we’d use it to get rid of one of the boys, so that’s why I didn’t use it. I was like, yep, the plan is to get rid of either Jordan or Josh.”
But the boys’ club had other ideas, and Mark was able to swing Sam away from her strong alliance with Khanh.
“I was wholeheartedly in with Sam,” Khanh admitted. “I was like, Sam even if you got the best moves and will beat me I don’t care. I will be going to the end with you.”
Just a few days earlier, Khanh had promised Sam an Immunity Necklace for a challenge he won as a sign of how strong their relationship had become.
“I knew my neck wasn’t on the line but she was really scared,” he explained. “I wanted to reassure her that, you know what? You’re not going home. This is why you’re not going home and, just in case, you can have this.”
And while it was a big gesture, it wasn’t enough to get Mark off his back for the first vote as a merged tribe. Watching the episode back, seeing Sam and Mark go to battle over his fate, Khanh laughed.
“I didn’t know it was so heavily Mark,” he said of his own blindside. “That was… kind of annoying, because I was so close to Sam!
“Sam and I were texting about it during [the episode] and I was like, oh my god you’ve got my back. She was like, I had your back for so long!”
Despite the move against him, Khanh said he completely understood why Sam ended up siding with the boys’ club.
“[Sam and Mark] are playing as a single unit. They’re playing together and I think people watching at home need to remember that. At the end of the day they’re married… they have to do what’s best for them and their game in the long run.”
As for the nickname Mark gave him, King Khanh laughed and admitted he had no idea of his royal status in the game.
“There was one stage in Blue 2.0 when I was sitting in the water with Sam and I was like, I really hate how no one’s given me a nickname, I just want a nickname! Everyone gets a nickname on the show and I never got anything. [I] did not know it was happening, I literally had no idea.”
Though he’s no stranger to reality TV, the MasterChef star and now Survivor Challenge Beast admitted he was nervous that fans of Survivor would think he was just trying to get on another series.
“I didn’t think they knew I’m a fan, I was super nervous! But I really wanted to be there and I really wanted to play, and they got that super early so it’s been amazing.”
Since being voted off there have already been calls for Khanh and sister Amy to return to the game which he definitely isn’t ruling out.
“Anyone who says they wouldn’t go back is lying,” he joked. “I would totally go back! I don’t think I’m ready to, so I think it’s going to be something a little bit more down the line later on.”
Australian Survivor: Blood V Water continues Sunday - Monday at 7.30 on Network 10 and 10 play on demand
