Survivor 41: Naseer Muttalif Says Heather Threw Him “Under the Bus”

Survivor 41 contestant Naseer Muttalif is opening up about his experience on the show and what factors may have resulted in his elimination, and one of them happens to be Heather. Like many other players this season, Naseer put his all into the competition, made some solid alliances, and even had some advantages on his side before being eliminated. Naseer reveals what he believes made it all go wrong, as well as how he feels in regards to some of his co-competitors.

Naseer is originally from Sri Lanka, where he grew up. He currently lives in Morgon Hill, California. Naseer is a 37-year-old father and sales manager. Before the competition began, Naseer revealed that his pet peeves included laziness in group challenges, and said that despite some of his similarities to past contestants, he believed he would be a “refreshing” and “unique” addition to the competition. Before getting voted out on day 17 of Survivor 41, Naseer was able to land himself an immunity idol. Unfortunately, that was not enough to save him from Ricard and Shan, who have worked together to eliminate several other competitors this season.

Naseer tells Entertainment Weekly that despite the outcome, he enjoyed his time on Survivor 41. Naseer says that he intended to play a “loyal” game, but that his strategy ultimately “backfired.” He reveals that from the very first day he believed he would be at a disadvantage, but tried to stay positive. He tried to make alliances with Danny and Deshawn as well as other members, but after seeing what some contestants were willing to do to win, Naseer says he had difficulty trusting his fellow competitors. He and Shan bonded over conversations regarding religion but Naseer believes that he made a huge mistake in trusting Shan as a result of her background as a “religious leader.” Naseer explains that he tried to talk Heather and Erika into voting Ricard out of the competition, but had no success. He thought about voting Heather out after she brought up his name at the Tribal, but decided to wait. While Xander was the one who voted for Naseer, he still believes Heather “threw [his] name under the bus.”

He says that he is happy with the way he performed in the competition and that he was able to maintain a positive outlook during his time on the show. “I appreciated every single moment,” says Naseer. As for one of the moments that factored into Naseer’s elimination, he feels the immunity idol and other factors made him a target as he became a threat to other competitors. However, he also feels that he could have been a little too trusting, adding “this is Survivor. Anything can happen at any time, right?” Naseer also reveals that it took him 6 months to recover from an injury he sustained on the show during an immunity challenge. He explains that he had to go to physical therapy for the injury, but can now “do pull-ups and push-ups totally fine.” 

Naseer was a strong competitor in Survivor 41 because of his ability to stay positive and his ability to withstand some of the harsher elements of the competition. Unfortunately, he made the same mistake many other Survivor competitors have made during this season and past seasons, which was being too trustworthy. His difficulty maintaining alliances from the beginning should have been a red flag to change up his strategy a bit. While his loyalty and positivity are admirable traits outside of the competition, honesty proved to be the worst policy in this instance.

Source: Entertainment Weekly