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<\/p>\nOne Rhode Islander made an early exit on “Survivor.”<\/p>\n
As of Wednesday, Sept. 23, the reality competition show is back, entering a new “Open Era” filled with “permanent uncertainty.” This premiere raised the stakes higher than ever, as host Jeff Probst announced a new prize-money twist that could raise the grand prize from $1 million to $2 million.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, one contestant with Rhode Island ties will not have a chance to see the giant prize pot \u2013 after a chaotic Tribal Council, Providence chef Aaliyah Puglia became the first eliminated hopeful of Season 51.<\/p>\n
Here’s what led to the Rhode Island resident’s elimination.<\/p>\n
Who is Aaliyah Puglia?<\/p>\n
24-year-old Aaliyah Puglia may originally be from New Jersey, but she now resides right here in Providence, where she works as a chef. According to her LinkedIn profile, Puglia studied culinary nutrition at Johnson & Wales University and has worked with places like Caf\u00e9 Ava and Apothica Caf\u00e9 as a food consultant.<\/p>\n
Described in her bio as a bold, independent woman, Puglia said she hoped to use her chef skills of handling egos, building trust with co-workers and adapting in a fast-paced environment on the show.<\/p>\n
“I’m not here to find myself. I’m here to win the title and come back with something my family can be proud of,” said Puglia of her end goal.<\/p>\n
Despite not securing the title, Puglia told Entertainment Weekly that she is not ashamed of her early elimination.<\/p>\n
“My attitude is ‘I got voted out first, and so what?'” Puglia said in an interview with the publication. “Instead of falling into being super sad about it and being super low about it, I took a different approach. And that’s how I move in my life, and it showed up again in Survivor, and it really was just, honestly, a freeing experience.”<\/p>\n
Why was Aaliyah Puglia voted off ‘Survivor’?<\/p>\n
Devin Way, Clark University grad Eric Macksoud (wearing red and black striped shirt), Linnea Capobianco, Aaliyah Puglia,\u00a0Ori Jean-Charles and Mike Pinsky compete in \u201cSurvivor 51.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Toka tribe was sent to their first Tribal Council after losing immunity in the Season 51 premiere. Heading into Council, tribe members were split between eliminating Puglia and Jenna Doore.<\/p>\n
The charge against Puglia was largely led by Brady Booker, who turned votes against her after Doore shared that Puglia called him intense during the challenge. Though Puglia played her Shot in the Dark, it was not enough to save her between Booker’s vocal charge and questions over her challenge performance.<\/p>\n
How to watch ‘Survivor’ Season 51Who else from RI was on ‘Survivor’? From Hatch to Hasselbeck and everyone in between<\/p>\n
1 of 5<\/p>\n
Elisabeth Hasselbeck
While Elisabeth Hasselbeck made a name for herself as a television personality and host on “The View” and “Fox & Friends,” she got her start as a contestant on the second season of “Survivor,” where she came in fourth place.<\/p>\n
Hasselbeck grew up in Cranston and graduated from St. Mary Academy-Bay View, an all-girls Catholic school in East Providence before going to Boston College.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy experience at Bay View was one of the most important opportunities that I ever had,\u201d she told The Providence Journal in 2013.<\/p>\n
(The Bulletin)<\/p>\n
Season 51 airs every Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CBS, starting with a special two-hour premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Episodes can also be watched live on Paramount+ with a premium plan, and all episodes are available to stream on Paramount+ with any subscription plan the day after airing.<\/p>\n
Watch ‘Survivor’ on Paramount+<\/p>\n
Jonny Williams of The Providence Journal and Lori Comstock of the USA TODAY Network contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence chef eliminated during ‘Survivor’ Season 51 premiere<\/p>\n
Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One Rhode Islander made an early exit on “Survivor.” As of Wednesday, Sept. 23, the reality competition show is back, entering a new “Open Era” filled with “permanent uncertainty.” This premiere raised the stakes higher than ever, as host Jeff Probst announced a new prize-money twist that could raise the grand prize from $1 million<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8764,5,8765,8763],"class_list":["post-8147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chefs","tag-aaliyah-puglia","tag-chef","tag-survivor","tag-tribal-council"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117328163886890293","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}