Survivor 47’s Kyle Ostwald Responded To Rome Cooney’s Accusation

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For new fans of Survivor who are figuring out which seasons to watch first, it will seem like all the reality show’s drama happens on the show. After all, viewers of Jeff Probst’s show will see great seasons, incredibly impressive winners, players who were truly great, and even medical evacuations. Even though Survivor 47 also inspired some fans to question if Kyle Ostwald cheated during a challenge, he proved that a lot of drama happens after filming a season ends.

When Rome Cooney wasn’t busy calling Yul Kwon a bad winner, he made some accusations about Kyle during interviews. After Kyle was voted out of the game, he called Rome out for those accusations.

Survivor’s Kyle Ostwald Called Rome Cooney Out For His Accusations Against Him

During each season of Survivor, the players take part in what are called exit interviews after fans see them leave or win the game. After Rome Cooney was voted out early during Survivor 47, he took part in a series of those exit interviews.

During Rome’s exit interviews, he made accusations about how Kyle Ostwald’s conducted himself in the game. For several weeks, Rome’s comments went mostly unanswered, since Kyle couldn’t conduct interviews of his own until he was voted out.

After Kyle was voted out of the game, he finally had the chance to respond to Rome’s comments about him. Once he was able to speak to the press, Kyle took that opportunity to respond to Rome’s allegations with some of his own.

In December 2024, Kyle was interviewed by Global TV about his Survivor tenure. During that interview, Kyle called Rome out for the accusations that he made.

What Is Known About Survivor’s Kyle Ostwald?
Kyle Ostwald’s Hometown	Cheyboygan, Michigan
Where Kyle Ostwald Was Living Before Survivor	Cheyboygan, Michigan
How Old Kyle Ostwald Was When He Began Playing Survivor	31 Years Old
Kyle Ostwald’s Profession When He Played	Construction Worker
Kyle Ostwald’s Starting Tribe	Tuku
Votes Cast Against Kyle Ostwald	6
Kyle Ostwald’s Survivor 47 Placement	8th Place

Kyle began by accusing Rome of warping the truth about how he carried himself in the game.

What he did was he took somebody that was genuine, somebody that was very honest and made these accusations.

Kyle then went on to talk about what he thought was the motivation for Rome’s accusations.

After Kyle clearly implied Rome’s accusations were lies, he brought up the timing of when they came to light. Kyle pointed out to the outlet that Rome only made the accusations long after the game was over.

Based on what was shown on TV, Kyle Ostwald was very popular with the majority of his tribemates, aside from Sue Smey and Rome Cooney. Kyle even got a hug from Jeff Probst after he was voted out in an off-script moment. In response to that moment, a Screen Rant article argued that Jeff needed to go off-script more often.

Furthermore, Kyle suggested that Rome only made the accusation to deflect from criticism he was facing.

“He brought these things to light. You know that? It was after in the interviews when Rome was asked: Why didn’t you work with Kyle? He brought it to light after he was out of the game. AFTER.”

While still addressing the controversy, Kyle suggested that Rome came up with the accusations long after Survivor 47 was finished filming.

During the same Global TV interview, Kyle Ostwald admitted that the way he treats friends can sometimes offend people. “I’m a Midwesterner, right? If your friend calls you in the morning, you answer the phone, ‘Good morning, you a piece of s***!’ That lets you know that you’re still my bestie. My choice of language can be off-putting to many people though there is a lot of gentle[ness] and kindness behind it.”

In fact, Kyle accused Rome of manufacturing his allegations after Survivor 47 began airing.

“What he did was he watched me through the game up until the point where he’s voted out. You see him get voted out. He has interviews that come about after he’s already watched the show. Now, he’s using the character he’s observed from TV.”

During his exit interviews, Rome accused Kyle of saying something so offensive it couldn’t be aired on TV. However, Rome didn’t give any details at all about the statement he claimed Kyle made.

Of course, it makes sense that Kyle Ostwald would be upset that Rome Cooney made accusations against him. However, Kyle told Global TV that Rome’s accusation was even more hurtful because of their relationship in the game. “What kicks me up about it more than anything is the fact that Rome and I had a decent relationship.”

While speaking to Global TV, Kyle argued that Rome’s refusal to fully detail his accusation was childish.

He gives you a mad lib, a second grade mad lib, to fill in the blanks and let your imagination do the damage… School yard stuff.

Via: Robert Voets/CBS

On top of accusing his former tribemate of being immature, Kyle seemed to claim that Rome was being diabolical. As he explained to Global TV, Kyle stated that he believed Rome thought the mystery would be more damaging.

“He knows whatever he has to say is not going to be as damaging as what your own mind can fill that blank in with. I see what he was doing. I seen what he’s trying to get out of it. It got a rise. It had people asking questions.”

What Were Rome Cooney’s Accusations Against Kyle Ostwald?

Before Kyle Ostwald had his aforementioned interview, Rome Cooney was interviewed by Global TV in October 2024. During that conversation, Rome was asked if him going after Kyle in the game was a strategic mistake. In response to that question is when Rome made his accusations against Kyle.

While speaking to Global TV, Rome defended his decision to target Kyle in the game in a surprising way. During the interview, Rome claimed that he went after Kyle in the game for moral reasons.

“I targeted Kyle for moral reasons. It wasn’t shown but Kyle had mentioned something on the beach that I was not a fan of and that was the reason why I targeted him otherwise I would have worked with him.”

Survivor's Rome Cooney looking satisfied — Via: Robert Voets/CBS

After stating that Kyle said something that offended him that wasn’t shown, Rome revealed almost no details about this alleged comment. The only thing that Rome would reveal is who the alleged comment was directed at. Rome also stated that he wasn’t going to be the one to publicly reveal Kyle’s alleged comment.

“Kyle said something about Sue and Caroline that I was not a fan of. It didn’t make the edit so I’m not going to talk about it, but that made me want to go for Kyle instead. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to work with this guy. I want you out of the game. I don’t even want you to last another day on this island.’ People know because I obviously relayed what he said to Sue and Caroline, so the people on the island know what he said, but I’m just not going to be the one to repeat it right now.”

During Survivor 47, it was revealed that Kyle would sometimes call Caroline Vidmar and Sue Smey Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Kyle has explained he would call them that because he felt they were playing the game the same way as each other. During Kyle’s aforementioned Global TV interview, he responded to the idea that calling Sue and Caroline Tweedledum and Tweedledee could have inspired Rome’s accusation. “It couldn’t be more pathetic than just that, you know.”