If nothing else, Jean-Robert Bellande is getting a lot of camera time on CBS's popular reality show.
Once again Bellande was on the chopping block because of his outspoken personality and yet again he survived because his tribemates felt it was more important to eliminate another player. If Bellande has nine lives he's already used up at least seven of them.
Although for once Bellande started this week's episode relatively quietly, things picked up once his tribe won the reward challenge. As a reward the Fei Long tribe won the opportunity to go to a tea house and enjoy showers and baths.
During the reward, Bellande's constant nemesis, Courtney Yates, piped up once again about how much she disliked the card player.
"He took the [tub] on the far end and I took the [tub] on the other far end," she said in a video diary. "Every single part of me wants to see Jean-Robert go. I just don't like him, he's a horrible person."
Bellande Blissfully Ignorant
After the reward challenge James Clement, whom Fei Long kidnapped for the reward, shares with Todd Herzog information about the hidden immunity idol. In return Herzog promises to save Clement later in the game. In an amusing turn of events Herzog finds the idol, along with Amanda Kimmel, but Michael "Frosti" Zernow is also right there and they have to let him in on the secret as well.
Zernow promises to be quiet and the trio award the idol to Clement, telling him to throw the next immunity challenge on purpose and use the idol so someone on the original Zhan Hu tribe will get voted off.
None of this affects Bellande who is blissfully ignorant of all the effort to save Clement.
In the immunity challenge things go catastrophically wrong for Zhan Hu. It's an eating contest and when Clement faces off against Denise Martin she can't even finish the challenge. Clement reluctantly beats her and Bellande, who was sitting out the challenge, is dismayed to see his tribe eventually lose to Zhan Hu.
When Fei Long gets back to camp, talk turns to Tribal Council and Sherea Lloyd is the first name that comes up. But the general dislike for Bellande rears its ugly head once again.
Talk of voting out Bellande is of course spearheaded by Yates.
"When I think about it, I actually like Sherea," she says in another video diary. "If it came down to it, of who I thought would vote me out quicker I definitely think that she would keep me around longer than Jean-Robert."
Two Votes Go To Bellande
Yates approaches Sherea and tells her that she will be voting for Bellande. Bellande, meanwhile, is finally starting to feel uneasy.
"So far, I've felt really comfortable about my position in the game," he said. "Then all of a sudden something doesn't seem 100% to me. The plan was either Sherea or Frosti, most likely Sherea, but I've gotta tell you, I'm feeling uneasy right now."
At tribal council both Sherea and Yates take turns blasting Bellande, telling him that he is unlikable and a "crappy person."
Bellande responds by acknowledging that some people don't like him. At one point he even goes so far as to call himself a "bad boy," which gets Yates chuckling.
At one point Yates goes one step too far and implicates her entire tribe in being cliquey and keeping her out of the loop. Herzog and Kimmel both looked offended. Ironically, with her accusation Yates may have inadvertently secured Bellande's survival in the game.
In the end Sherea is voted out with five votes going her way and just two going to Bellande. Sherea is the sixth person voted off Survivor: China.
Next week should be a very interesting one with the tribes apparently merging. Bellande's vote will suddenly become very important if the tribes stick to their original allegiances and each one needs some extra help to swing the vote.
