saw his torch snuffed during a split Tribal Council.

Aaron began the game looking for, as he told me, the “Jordan to his Jordan.” He thought he found a good teammate in Ronnie Bardah, only for him to get benched in the first vote of the season. Instead of a Jordan, he ended up finding a Byrd. Aaron’s relationship with Missy allowed him to move up from the bottom into a powerful position, as they made the move to clip their ally Chelsea Walker right before the swap. On a new beach and staring at a possible deadlock, Aaron started making preventative measures, eager to flip to prevent a deadlock. Even when Elaine Stott earned an advantage for their group, he continued to play both sides. Though a bootedJason Linden warned the others about his duplicity, a series of tribal and individual immunity wins prevented anyone from heeding the attorney’s testimony. Aaron had gained steady momentum until a surprise twist separated him from his closest allies and without safety. Though nervous about his position, he was confident that outsider Janet Carbin would get picked off. But his alliance saw him more threatening as a physical player and chose to stop his ball before he could keep it rolling to the Final Three.

Now out of the game, Aaron talks with Parade over email about what happened during his final afternoon in the game, his various thoughts on the former Lairos, and his comments discrediting Janet during last week’s episode.

Your final Tribal Council seemed to be focusing a