Survivor 45: Why Did Hannah Rose Quit?

After 45 seasons, "Survivor" can still surprise audiences. "Survivor 45" premiered on September 27 with everyone trying to win big, except for Hannah Rose, who wanted to leave after only three days. The therapist from Baltimore City, Maryland, was distressed from the get-go as a combination of hunger, sleep deprivation, and nicotine withdrawal made her disinterested in playing the game. When it came time to vote during Tribal Council, she offered her name for elimination. Her teammates may not have gotten the hint initially, but eventually, they acquiesced and voted for her to go home. 

Following her departure, Entertainment Weekly interviewed her to learn more about what was going on to where she just wanted to get out of there. It mostly came down to her not realizing the extent of the competitiveness. "What happened is, first and foremost, hunger," she said. "I couldn't possibly anticipate what it would feel like after days. The episode was incredible to watch, but what you didn't see was trying to open coconuts without a machete, and having zero food at all, and not having a shelter, and it was monsooning for almost 24 hours. I mean, my toenails almost fell off and I didn't sleep one minute."

When it came time for the first challenge, Rose thought she'd get a burst of adrenaline. But it never came. Not only that, but she saw in the eyes of her teammates how badly they wanted to be there and win the whole thing. Combined with everything else, her heart just wasn't in it, and the Tribal Council is much longer than what viewers see on TV. It took some convincing on all sides, but when she realized she could leave, she cried tears of joy.

Hannah Rose's "Survivor" exit isn't the first shocking departure to happen in the show's history. Bruce Perreault left early in "Survivor" Season 44 after suffering an injury, but people online have been far less kind to Rose wanting out. 

During the interview, she analyzed the response to her leaving, and many people are apparently upset at her for going when her heart seemingly wasn't in it. She explained, "Just waking up to the amount of vitriol on the internet — and I'm not even on Instagram — has been something. But it's interesting to me that so much hate is coming from, She took someone's spot that wanted to be there! And it's like, number one: I wanted to be there. Number two: I left partially to eat. And so that the five other people on my tribe whose life dream it was to be on Survivor could keep playing." 

Of course, as a therapist, Rose likely knows a trick or two about managing emotions and not letting anonymous comments get to her. She added that she's had to deactivate her Instagram account to avoid some of the bad press, but Redditors have apparently come up with their own hypotheses on why she wanted to go. 

Ultimately, those comments aren't getting her down, as she has a support network within her "Survivor" castmates and former contestants who have been in her shoes. And the scariest thing of all came down to that Tribal Council and letting her needs known to the other players. Hannah Rose's departure may have been a shock, but hopefully, people can learn from it and realize it's all right for them to bow out of something even if politeness dictates otherwise.