Survivor: Nicaragua

Why Shannon Elkins went out 7-3 at Survivor Nicaragua's second Tribal Council

Shannon Elkins asked Sash Lenahan at Tribal Council whether he was gay, then said New York was full of gay people, in the Survivor: Nicaragua episode aired 22 September 2010. He was voted out 7-3, the second boot. Within two days he said he had stereotyped Lenahan but was not homophobic.

Confirmed The exchange aired and was transcribed by Reality Blurred the next morning. Elkins gave four on-record interviews inside a week and those supply his own account. No network finding, sanction or proceeding of any kind followed.

Shannon Elkins Shannon Elkins Matthew Lenahan Matthew Lenahan Chase Rice Chase Rice Alina Wilson Alina Wilson

What the record shows

  • Confirmed In the episode "Fatigue Makes Cowards of Us All," aired 22 September 2010, Shannon Elkins asked Sash Lenahan at Tribal Council "Are you gay?" and, after Lenahan mentioned New York, said New York was full of gay people. Reality Blurred transcribed the exchange the next morning.
  • Confirmed Jeff Probst's opening question set it off. Reality Blurred quoted Probst saying no opening question in 21 seasons had opened that much "whoop-ass" on a tribe, and CBS News reported him saying never in the show's ten years on air had an opening question unleashed such emotion.
  • Confirmed Elkins was voted out 7-3 on Day 6, the second castaway eliminated that season. Reality Blurred's recap recorded Jud Birza and Alina Wilson as the only La Flor members who did not vote for him.
  • Confirmed Ben "Benry" Henry and Kelly Bruno, who had been working with Elkins, voted him out. Reality TV World put that to him directly on 23 September 2010 and he did not dispute it.
  • Admitted Elkins told Reality TV World "I am guilty of stereotyping," and told Inside Pulse "I stereotyped gay people, for sure."
  • Disputed Elkins said the broadcast misrepresented how the question arose. He told Reality TV World and Gordon Holmes that Lenahan had repeatedly called him a liar and that he replied Lenahan had lied when he said he was not gay. No source establishes what, if anything, was cut.
  • Disputed Elkins said "I'm not a homophobe." Reality Blurred's Andy Dehnart wrote that the remarks were homophobic, pointing to Elkins's answer to Gordon Holmes that he had been concerned Lenahan was gay and was protecting himself physically.
  • Disputed Reality Blurred reported that E! News writer Drusilla Moorhouse said Elkins had casually used an anti-gay slur in a pre-game conversation in Nicaragua. Asked about it by Gordon Holmes, Elkins said he had never used that word.
  • Unverified Rob Has a Website published an Elkins interview on 28 September 2010 headlined "Survivor Shannon Nips Controversy in the Bud." The page survives in the Internet Archive, but the audio has not been recovered, so nothing said inside it is quoted here.
  • Unverified No CBS statement, sanction or finding about the Tribal Council has been located, and no legal or disciplinary proceeding followed. Silence from the network is not evidence of a decision either way.

What aired on 22 September 2010

The episode was "Fatigue Makes Cowards of Us All," the second of Survivor: Nicaragua, and the young La Flor tribe was at Tribal Council for the first time. Jeff Probst opened with a soft question to Shannon Elkins about how hard the experience had been. Elkins used it to start naming alliances, and the council came apart from there.

Reality Blurred's Andy Dehnart transcribed the relevant stretch the next morning. Sash Lenahan told Elkins he was digging his own grave. Elkins answered "Are you gay?" Lenahan deflected, said he had had more beautiful girlfriends than Elkins had, and invited him to try his luck in New York. Elkins said New York was full of gay people, and when Probst repeated it back to him, added that New York had more of them than Louisiana did.

Probst's own reaction is on the record twice. Dehnart quoted him at Tribal saying that in 21 seasons no opening question had opened that much "whoop-ass" on a tribe. CBS News's Mary-Jayne McKay, writing the following morning, reported him saying that never in the show's ten years on air had an opening question unleashed such emotion.

The vote was 7-3, and his own side moved

Elkins went out 7-3 on Day 6, the second castaway eliminated that season. Dehnart's recap named the two people who did not vote for him: Jud Birza, who Dehnart thought had not realised he could change his vote once Tribal started, and Alina Wilson. Everyone else wrote his name down.

That included people he had been playing with. Reality TV World asked him on 23 September why Benry Henry and Kelly Bruno had gone along and voted for him, and he did not dispute that they had. He said Bruno had read the room, worked out she was safe, and gone with the other side.

His own account of the night is that the vote was already lost before Tribal began. He told Reality TV World he walked in knowing it was five against five and that Chase Rice had switched during the silent period between the challenge and Tribal Council, which is why he decided to call everyone out. Reality TV World's own framing was different: Elkins had pushed Rice to target Brenda Lowe, Rice told Lowe instead, and she had time to build the count against him. Both versions are on the record and nothing settles which read is right.

What Elkins said in the days after

He gave four interviews inside a week and his position moved depending on who asked. Speaking to Jill Mader at Inside Pulse on 23 September he first said he had never questioned a man about his sexual preferences, which Mader pointed out the broadcast contradicted, then said "I stereotyped gay people, for sure." He told Reality TV World the same day "I am guilty of stereotyping" and "I'm not a homophobe," and gave a different account of how the subject came up: that Lenahan had kept calling him a liar and that he answered by saying Lenahan had lied when he said he was not gay.

Gordon Holmes pressed him on the same day. Asked whether he had suspected Lenahan of mob ties, Elkins said no, that he had been concerned Lenahan was gay and was protecting himself physically. Holmes printed the last word as an expletive deleted. Dehnart, who said he had confirmed what the word was, read that answer as a literal fear of gay people and called the remarks homophobic on that basis. Elkins denied the label both to Holmes and to Reality TV World.

One more claim is contested. Dehnart reported that E! News writer Drusilla Moorhouse had written that Elkins casually used an anti-gay slur during a conversation in Nicaragua before the game. Holmes put it to him without naming the outlet. Elkins said he had never used that word. Moorhouse's account and Elkins's denial sit at equal weight here, because nothing has been produced that resolves them.

What this page will not tell you

It will not tell you whether Sash Lenahan is gay. He was asked that on television by someone who wanted to use the answer as a weapon, and repeating the question or trying to settle it does the same work a second time. Lenahan's reply at Tribal is reported above and that is where it stops. Elkins continued to press the claim in interviews afterwards and this page does not carry those lines.

It will not tell you what Elkins said on Rob Has a Podcast either. RHAP posted the interview on 28 September 2010 under the headline "Survivor Shannon Nips Controversy in the Bud," and the page is preserved in the Internet Archive, so the fact that it ran is solid. The audio has not been recovered, so nothing inside it is quoted.

And nothing here is a finding. CBS never issued a statement about the Tribal Council, no sanction has been located, and no legal or disciplinary proceeding of any kind followed. What happened to Elkins is what happened inside the game: he was voted out that night, 7-3.

People in this story

Questions people ask

What did Shannon Elkins say to Sash at Tribal Council?
He asked Lenahan "Are you gay?" and, after Lenahan mentioned New York, said New York was full of gay people, adding that it had more than Louisiana. It aired on 22 September 2010 and Reality Blurred transcribed it the next morning.
Why was Shannon voted out of Survivor: Nicaragua?
He went out 7-3 on Day 6. Reality Blurred recorded only Jud Birza and Alina Wilson as not voting for him, and Benry Henry and Kelly Bruno, who had been playing with him, wrote his name down.
Did Shannon Elkins apologise?
Not for the question. He told Reality TV World "I am guilty of stereotyping" and told Inside Pulse "I stereotyped gay people, for sure," while denying he was homophobic and saying the edit misrepresented how the subject came up.
What did Jeff Probst say about that Tribal Council?
That an opening question had never done that before. Reality Blurred quoted him saying no opening question in 21 seasons had opened that much whoop-ass on a tribe, and CBS News reported the same reaction the next morning.
Is Sash Lenahan gay?
This page does not answer that. He was asked on television by a player using the answer as a weapon, and resolving it here would repeat the harm. His reply at Tribal Council is reported as it aired and nothing is added to it.
Did CBS punish Shannon Elkins?
No statement, sanction or finding from CBS has been located, and no legal or disciplinary proceeding followed. The only consequence anyone can document is the vote itself.

Sources

Checked on 2026-07-26. If something here is wrong or out of date, we want to know: get in touch.