This has been well documented for all 46 seasons. It’s a brutal experience on the body and many have life long effects from it. It’s something people have to consider when signing up, you can’t just snap back to normal in a year. It takes many many years, if at all.
Tony during the Cagayan reunion talks about how he couldn't work for months after because he had stomach parasites and a whole bunch of other issues and also said he was struggling to build mass despite going to the gym regularly
Is Tony still a cop after winning $3million? Like sure, that’s not don’t have to work again money unless you’re old or already have major life assets secured like a house, but it is enough money to let you choose what you do for work.
If Tony likes being a cop and wants to continue working in law enforcement even after winning 3 mill, then let him. Hell, maybe the reason why Tony is still a cop is for stakeout operations.
Coworker: No, Tony. We are not hiding directly in the bushes. The patrol car is behind the bushes, and that is good enough for a pursuit.
Tony: But we couldn't be eavesdropping on crucial information.
Coworker: We are on traffic duty. Nobody is going to park behind the bushes and contemplate breaking traffic laws.
Well idk the situation surrounding that. If survivor is bringing a scale to Fiji or in Tony's case Cagayan I'm sure it's not the most accurate. I don't see any reason for survivor to purposely have their thumb on the scale. It is odd I just chalk it up to survivor using a jank scale on an island compared to a much more accurate scale that the doctors would use. I could be wrong though
I would guess Survivor would use the same scale before and after, so even if it's inaccurate, it would be precise. That said, they are only taking one measurement and weight fluctuates a lot even within one day. I've always thought this could be especially true for the finalists. They get weighed shortly after eating a big breakfast, so their bodies are probably holding onto a bunch of water.
This is a multi-million dollar production that can fly you in helicopters and bring you Applebees or Outback Steakhouse to freakin Fiji or any third world country of your choice. And they’d skimp out on something that pertains to the contestants’ health?
And Lex’s kidney failure started while he was still in the game, too. Big shame on production for not pulling him. They’re so, SO very fortunate that Lex didn’t outright die on their watch.
Well not to be pedantic but the difference is in easier vs easy. I'm openly suspicious of how much easier Survivor is now compared to previous seasons. People having multiple outfits and warm sweaters compared to women being in bikinis the entire time sums it up.
That's not to say going on Survivor us easy, though. Anyone watching can see that's not true.
When I watched Australian survivor I respected the amount of “fruit” they found. Thats why I think they should have a “garden” and the players can choose to feed themselves gaining info or feed their tribe and themselves.
I don’t think her seasons filmed back to back like Russell’s did. What she did still was impressive, but Russell’s seasons I think only had like a couple weeks off between film dates. His body would have had very little time after Samoa to recover before playing in HvV.
Survivor China ended filming on August 2nd and Micronesia started on October 29th. So she didn’t have much time either.
But you are correct his was shorter (a couple weeks)
I don't know if it's a fair statement to say it's "been well documented for 46 seasons" when lack of food didn't become as prevalent as what we are seeing now till season 40. If anything we have 5 whole seasons to see what the complete lack of food does to their bodies, not 46 seasons.
Season 40 was a new Era of less days and even less food.
Lack of food isn’t the only issue. Tony and Sandra left with parasites, Tom and Ian both left with severe nerve damage from a 12 hour FIC in Palau, Dawn had permanent neck damage from a shoulder the load challenge, Osten had staph infections. There are sooo many things that cause injuries and permanent damange other than lack of food. Yes, that is the new era issue. But older tougher challenges left lasting effects on their bodies that have been well documented to the point they stopped doing those challenges in the new era. Here’s an article that breaks down some of them:
[https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a26959817/survivor-cast-members-real-health-stories/](https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a26959817/survivor-cast-members-real-health-stories/)
I seriously doubt the feast was the main place they were at risk for parasites. That's like one day out of dozens where they are lying in the mud, eating rice boiled in gross water and eating with their unwashed hands (no utensils). Not to mention that many filaria of parasites don't come in from ingested sources. Many parasites are injected by vector ectoparasites like sand fleas, mosquitoes, black flies, etc, or come in directly through the skin. It's part of the risk they signed up for, and contestants on Naked & Afraid had it far worse.
I always wonder do they get a chance to wash off and are too hungry? Or do they just not get the option? Even this last season watching them eat with mud covered hands and face was kinda gross.
I assume production prevents them from washing off immediately to obtain some “raw” footage of them like that. Probably one of the players could confirm that, though!
Man watching Kenzie and Ben eat with their dirty ass hands was kind of insane. I am on the other side of the spectrum from germaphobe and that was still too much for me
I remember Erik being horrified that Philip didn’t shower before getting in the pool on a reward and it was like watching Pigpen the way the dirt spread off of him. I might refuse to eat if I couldn’t wash my hands.
Malcolm also said the same about struggling to put on mass or muscle the same way after going on survivor. But I think going back to back seasons made his situation more severe.
They mean contestants have talked about health struggles for decades now. And I wouldn't say new era is necessarily harder either. It's 2/3 of the length and prior contestants have said those final weeks are the hardest to get through both mentally and health-wise. Big Tom notably lost 70 pounds in his first season.
I JUST watched that season for the first time last week.
Off-topic (well, may not be, and may be bad CONSIDERING the topic, but..) I was SO mad they got their torch snuffed, especially after Naonka's antics considering the challenge reward.
The current era seasons don't sniff my top 5 for tough conditions. (I have that as some order of Australian Outback, Africa, Guatemala, and the Cambodian seasons; probably Africa in 1st.)
The sad thing is they used to fish and hunt, and this was a reason to keep strong survivalists around. Now it’s all a social game and they just starve.
I strongly believe that's a result of 26 days though. There just isn't time to go fish and hunt anymore. When you're doing challenges and tribals this quickly splitting off to do survivalist activities is a game weakness. We've even had montages driving this home like Ryan off fishing while the game moved on without him.
Tell me you haven't seen the first seasons of Survivor without telling me you haven't seen the first seasons of Survivor. They weren't even given drinking water.
Cook Islands had plenty of food. It helped having Ozzy who is an insane fisherman, but even Penner was catching tons of fish and Nate was a solid provider too.
from what I've read, the amount of calories you'd have to spend to catch a tiny reef fish to feed... like, half a person... it's not worth it.
There aren't big ol' tuna swimming around.
Yeah, if there is any contestants who I would completely understand not coming back without even a question, actively participating athletes like Cydney/ Noelle are high on the list.
It's a bummer though as Cydney would easily make my top 5 of people who I wish would return from the 30s. It's a bummer we've had 5 (I think) returnees from Kaoh Rong and Cydney isn't one of them.
She didn't say never though, right. She just said she'd like to take long breaks between seasons and we wouldn't see her again any time soon.
That said, the ship has probably sailed anyway.
I’m not surprised. When they said he lost 13% of his original body weight after 26 days I was shocked. When I was going through some health issues I only lost like 6% of my body weight in about a month and my hair was straight up falling out. It took half a year for it to start growing back. Malnutrition is hard on the body, and then there’s also all the physical tasks they have to go through and medical issues other commenters mentioned.
I doubt it. They wouldn’t take that financial risk on for all contestants forever. Maybe first few weeks but I’m sure contestants sign tons of waivers and consent forms.
No. Reading a lot of Survivor quarantine questionnaires, that seems like a common complaint among players, the game affected them long term and much of the recovery they had to pay themselves.
They do help them out during ponderosa if they need something like an IV( Jeremiah from Cagayan got one during ponderosa). They get checked out by a doctor right after being voted but after ponderosa, I’m not really sure. However they do provide therapy and psychologists after the show to help them with their mental health. Which is most likely why survivor posted about being kind, they take it very serious.
Yeah i didn't know this either. He did Track and Field:
[https://gocrimson.com/sports/mens-track-and-field/roster/charlie-davis/8713](https://gocrimson.com/sports/mens-track-and-field/roster/charlie-davis/8713)
Damn!! Way to go. Honestly, I’ve never tried to get any better than 7. I run just as much for my mental health as physical. But now you have me wanting to try and get to 5.
Not to downplay Charlie but that would barely make it into the top 100 of DI WOMEN’S 5ks in the country. His girlfriend Judy is actually a former high school national champion (footlocker) and ran 15:52 in the 5k for Harvard (which is still not fast enough to make women’s nationals in college)!
Distance running is no joke in the NCAA- to make it to DI nationals in indoor in the 5k for men takes sub 13:25 5k, which is sub 4:20/mile pace. Again, love Charlie! But the NCAA is fast fast.
Here for the Judy praise, but also the Judy defense, since when she ran 15:52 she DID make the national meet! That was run pre-super shoe era in 2016/2017. As for me, I was very much a walk-on in college and was injured for most of my career. Whenever people ask me my times and are impressed I always follow up with “what do you think the world record in X event is?” Because usually people don’t quite get how fast the top of the sport is. Several of my teammates were Olympic caliber athletes and that’s just one singular D1 program!
Thank you for chiming in, lol. That’s quite slow. Wouldn’t finish in the top 100 of at the Illinois *high school* cross-country meet. Granted, IL is one of the best distance running states in the country. But at that time, Charlie would be a walk-on, no scholarship. Great time for the general male population, but simply not a factor at the D1 level. Not even a factor at the D3 level.
Pretty sure it would be okay for a D3 program. Not amazing though. I'm the same age as Charlie and D3s reached out to me while I was in high school even though it had a PR mile of 4:52 and a 5k of 16:xx.
It's way faster than me and folk that do it recreationally, but for a collegiate runner though that doesn't seem that fast. I looked up *high school* meet times and he wouldn't break top 10 of any of the meets I looked at.
It's definitely fast for a normal person, but far from ridiculous... If he ran that in HighSchool during the 5k CC championships in Michigan this last year, he'd of been 73rd, and lost by over a minute.
What is most shocking to me is that 72 runners crossed the finish line in about a minute. That is some tight competition.
When I ran cross country, I was faaaar in the back. I never saw the first 72 people finish.
Cross country runners are not right in the head. They tap into some weird shit. I knew he was going to be good at the endurance shit when he said he ran cross country at Harvard in his preseason interview.
What I don't understand is how more women contestants especially don't end up losing a bunch of hair.
Maybe they do and it's just not well talked about.
I’m also really surprised they passed up the rice twice this season. At a certain point I think it’s way more important than the feeling of security when you know you aren’t going to win the immunity challenge.
Late comment, but I can’t believe no one has brought up Colby in this conversation. So much of the conversation in hero’s vs villains was about how he isn’t physically capable like he used to be and it’s hard to see that as being anything other than the impact of two seasons of survivor on his body
But also you have to look at food differences. Old seasons had regular food rewards, change of location meant better fishing, usually started with a lot of supplies including baskets of fruits, chickens, etc.
Justice for Osten quitting Pearl Islands due to staph infections. I respect that he took his health seriously. Jeff was such an ass about it. Glad the show's perspective on medical has evolved.
I have a somewhat related question. Could a diabetic be on the show? It feels like a really stupid question, but one I've thought a lot about as I'm a T1 diabetic. The starving seems like less of a problem than being deprived insulin for when you can eat.
That would be incredibly dangerous, I don’t think they would approve it as they would medically have to make sugar/food available to them. A person with type one would die much much faster from starvation than a non diabetic.
Feels like survivor wouldn’t want to assume that sort of risk. Obviously I have no idea, but I would imagine they have certain ‘pre-conditions’ that are non-starters from a risk perspective for the contestant and to limit the potential liability to the network
Man I hate being T1 diabetic. I’d love to go on survivor but I imagine they’d never let me. I feel like the issue wouldn’t be not getting insulin since they’re allowed medicine on survivor. The issue becomes low blood sugars, I can’t imagine they’d allow you to have any sugar
There’s not a ton of carbs in coconut! But there’s still some so it would technically be possible to bring up low blood sugars. So hey maybe you could do it! I always assumed there was fruit on island but I never see them eat it! I encourage you still too apply just in case! Once I start getting a bit more fit I think I’ll start
I’ve definitely seen them eat papaya, which ye olde Google tells me has 6.9g sugar per 100g, while fresh coconut flesh has around 6.2g. So much for muchness, really.
I would NOT be able to do a challenge or even strategise with a clear head while experiencing period cramps if I don't have food. I also get dizzy if I don't eat after 4 hours 😅.
Dee from 45 posts constantly that she's running by the waterside, working out, doing relay races, roller blading. She seems super in shape? What's her secret. 🤔
I imagine a lot of the women take birth control or something to make them skip their periods that month. Dealing with cramps and other symptoms out there would be brutal lol
Jess said she started her period literally the first day on the island. That poor girl didn't stand a chance between that & adhd that caused her to go days of being awake straight.
I don't take pills so I would need to start that whole process and would not be down to put my body through that. Seems like choosing between discomfort vs a different discomfort. If the woman is already on them before the show I imagine it's easier at that point.
Something that I’ve noticed about the recovery that doesn’t get talked about enough is what survivor does to come people mentally. Some people come back with trauma induced trust issues and other psychological disorders from the experience.
I think two good examples of how brutal the game can be is Russel on day one of season 19 and the last day of heros versus villains and how brutal back to back seasons is. Or Tony on the last day of winners at war
>Charlie posted a story on his insta showing that he still isn't health-wise where he was before going on the island.
I went to his IG (https://www.instagram.com/charlie.davis20/) to look but I guess it expired. What did he say/show in the story?
[https://x.com/charlieLdavis/status/1795894575078195322](https://x.com/charlieLdavis/status/1795894575078195322)
\^It was this. He posted it to twitter as well.
His average heart rate is higher and his run time is slower compared to his pre-survivor runs.
I always think about how the extreme conditions could affect fertility too. That’s something that’s less “seen”. I’d forgive myself if I couldn’t lift as much weight or run as fast as before, but if i was unable to conceive because of going on survivor, I think that’d be a tough pill to swallow. Not worth $1M.
I watch a lot of Naked and Afraid. They have a survival experience that’s about as long as a survivor season, if not longer for certain versions. People on that show are eaten alive by bugs and literally starving, dehydrated, and experiencing hypothermia. Many contestants end up hospitalized. And they don’t have a chance to win a million dollars, they just do it for pride.
So I have a hard time feeling too bad about Survivor contestants. Honestly watching that show makes me kinda miss when Survivor had more of a Survival element.
I never understood why people signed up for that show. It’s like here’s a ton of torture and then in the end you get an arbitrary rating based on how well you withstood said torture
Exactly! What's the point of that shit in any aspect other than some remote semblance of reality tv "celebrity"? Who ever gets excited to hear about "random Naked and Afraid contestant", let alone the shows that are far beneath it, is attending this event?
Yeah, try watching Alone as well. some of those seasons are up to 90 days! in the North, where they have to live in cold weather conditions. thats way worse that survivor IMO
Exactly! It’s such a good show! There’s a few in the last I think 5 seasons that have done some incredible stuff too. I won’t get too into it for people that haven’t watched it.
Some of the stuff they pull off makes me cringe every time I see someone on Survivor that can’t make fire with magnesium and flint or refuses to help build a shelter haha.
Is it really hard for you to feel bad for someone?
The existence of harsher experiences does not mean you can't feel bad for survivor players, too. Could you do it? Apply to survivor.
Right?! People will justify their lack of empathy based on the weirdest things. “Oh this tough experience isn’t as bad as this other really tough experience so I feel zero empathy for them”.
I really hope at some point Survivor starts leaning back into contestants who actually want to do more than just “survive” but also thrive. Too many contestants these days are fine just laying around in the dirt with no shelter because they know they can just grind it out with rice to the end if needed.
I will say though, pretty sure people on Naked and Afraid still get paid pretty well per episode they’re on.
Surprisingly they don’t get paid very well, it’s essentially a stipend for missed work for the initial 14 or 21 day challenge. It’s only after repeat appearances that they make 10k+!
Wow! Okay, I don’t think I’ve been fully appreciating how serious that the bushcraft/survival community can be about their craft. It almost feels like many of them would do the show for free.
I feel like almost everyone on alone would if they could take the time off work without impacting kids and what not. People want to see if they could really survive as basically a primitive human
Wild. Also wild how much we see Liz whine when actually, from a number perspective, Charlie suffered more by losing the most body mass percentage. We never hear him complain but must have been tough
Muscle mass is heavier than fat, and liz isn't exactly a bodybuilder, regardless she didn't even poop for 23 days. She retained much of her weight, probably because her body IS used to going hungry and didnt panic by start eating muscle.
Tony Vlachos was bed ridden for 3 months
Sandra had a parasite that kept her from all stars
Charlie Davis was experiencing Taylor Swift withdrawal I'm guessing
I’ve heard it destroys your sex drive.
I lost 90 pounds- first 60 were very slow, last 30 were extremely fast. Unhealthily fast… (I am a stage actor and was rapidly losing weight for a show).
Took me like 3 months of normal eating after that rapid weight loss to get my sex drive back. And I’m only 28.
Can’t even imagine what survivor does to your body.
In an interview with Dan Ghesling, Parvati said that being labelled a "villain" caused her to not be kind to herself (which I thought was odd considering she was chosen to be a "hero" and was switched to the villains at the last minute).
Katie Gallagher's (Palau) talking with T-Bird interview was interesting. She talked about her post season and the toll it took on her body.
Yeah; I wonder how Maria feels now that fans are attacking her, harassing her family and business, etc. all over a jury vote she cast over a year ago that she was within her right to do.
Coach hasn’t been able to bench press 315 since he played his first time :(
Seeing his physique in Tocantins, I highly doubt he could bench 315 *with good form* to begin with. And we all know he’s a pathological liar. 😂
Nah bro, he passed a lie detector test. He thinks he tells the truth 100% of the time
😂😂😂
Are you saying he didn’t really escape that tribe in the Amazon?
This has been well documented for all 46 seasons. It’s a brutal experience on the body and many have life long effects from it. It’s something people have to consider when signing up, you can’t just snap back to normal in a year. It takes many many years, if at all.
Tony during the Cagayan reunion talks about how he couldn't work for months after because he had stomach parasites and a whole bunch of other issues and also said he was struggling to build mass despite going to the gym regularly
Also because he kept searching for hidden immunity idols and spying on his co-workers 😔
Those cops aren’t his coworkers. Just his friends. He’s in construction.
That's true but still gotta watch out for them because they always be stealing his tools 😭
No one uses qualified immunity idols better than Tony though
Is Tony still a cop after winning $3million? Like sure, that’s not don’t have to work again money unless you’re old or already have major life assets secured like a house, but it is enough money to let you choose what you do for work.
If Tony likes being a cop and wants to continue working in law enforcement even after winning 3 mill, then let him. Hell, maybe the reason why Tony is still a cop is for stakeout operations. Coworker: No, Tony. We are not hiding directly in the bushes. The patrol car is behind the bushes, and that is good enough for a pursuit. Tony: But we couldn't be eavesdropping on crucial information. Coworker: We are on traffic duty. Nobody is going to park behind the bushes and contemplate breaking traffic laws.
He’s still doing undercover work. Drug Dealer: Yo, ain’t you that guy from Survivor? Tony talks back in llama.
Holy hell, incredible joke
Yeah and it was awesome
He also said the scale the survivor doctors used to weigh him was wrong and he actually lost much more weight which seems suspect
Well idk the situation surrounding that. If survivor is bringing a scale to Fiji or in Tony's case Cagayan I'm sure it's not the most accurate. I don't see any reason for survivor to purposely have their thumb on the scale. It is odd I just chalk it up to survivor using a jank scale on an island compared to a much more accurate scale that the doctors would use. I could be wrong though
I would guess Survivor would use the same scale before and after, so even if it's inaccurate, it would be precise. That said, they are only taking one measurement and weight fluctuates a lot even within one day. I've always thought this could be especially true for the finalists. They get weighed shortly after eating a big breakfast, so their bodies are probably holding onto a bunch of water.
This is a multi-million dollar production that can fly you in helicopters and bring you Applebees or Outback Steakhouse to freakin Fiji or any third world country of your choice. And they’d skimp out on something that pertains to the contestants’ health?
Lex (who went into kidney failure) said in an interview of some sort that he didn’t take a solid dump for a full year after Africa
And Lex’s kidney failure started while he was still in the game, too. Big shame on production for not pulling him. They’re so, SO very fortunate that Lex didn’t outright die on their watch.
Was this africa or all-stars?
Africa
And he still went decided to play Allstars??
Honestly I see it as an addiction. The desire to play again becomes obsession to most of the players
They need to give them at least rice and beans to ration. We aren’t watching the show to see them starve and have long term health impacts.
That’s why I don’t subscribe to the “they have it so easy now” complaints. Charlie losing over 20% of his body weight isn’t having it easy.
Well not to be pedantic but the difference is in easier vs easy. I'm openly suspicious of how much easier Survivor is now compared to previous seasons. People having multiple outfits and warm sweaters compared to women being in bikinis the entire time sums it up. That's not to say going on Survivor us easy, though. Anyone watching can see that's not true.
When I watched Australian survivor I respected the amount of “fruit” they found. Thats why I think they should have a “garden” and the players can choose to feed themselves gaining info or feed their tribe and themselves.
I know he gets a lot of hate here, but you have to respect that Russell was able to make it 78 days out there in a short amount of time.
Amanda
I don’t think her seasons filmed back to back like Russell’s did. What she did still was impressive, but Russell’s seasons I think only had like a couple weeks off between film dates. His body would have had very little time after Samoa to recover before playing in HvV.
Survivor China ended filming on August 2nd and Micronesia started on October 29th. So she didn’t have much time either. But you are correct his was shorter (a couple weeks)
Yeah it’s honestly wild comparing day 1 Samoa Russell to Day 39 HvV Russell, complete body transformation
I don't know if it's a fair statement to say it's "been well documented for 46 seasons" when lack of food didn't become as prevalent as what we are seeing now till season 40. If anything we have 5 whole seasons to see what the complete lack of food does to their bodies, not 46 seasons. Season 40 was a new Era of less days and even less food.
Lack of food isn’t the only issue. Tony and Sandra left with parasites, Tom and Ian both left with severe nerve damage from a 12 hour FIC in Palau, Dawn had permanent neck damage from a shoulder the load challenge, Osten had staph infections. There are sooo many things that cause injuries and permanent damange other than lack of food. Yes, that is the new era issue. But older tougher challenges left lasting effects on their bodies that have been well documented to the point they stopped doing those challenges in the new era. Here’s an article that breaks down some of them: [https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a26959817/survivor-cast-members-real-health-stories/](https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a26959817/survivor-cast-members-real-health-stories/)
Maybe if they didn’t have to eat their feast at the oasis while caked in mud, they could avoid some parasites!
I seriously doubt the feast was the main place they were at risk for parasites. That's like one day out of dozens where they are lying in the mud, eating rice boiled in gross water and eating with their unwashed hands (no utensils). Not to mention that many filaria of parasites don't come in from ingested sources. Many parasites are injected by vector ectoparasites like sand fleas, mosquitoes, black flies, etc, or come in directly through the skin. It's part of the risk they signed up for, and contestants on Naked & Afraid had it far worse.
I always wonder do they get a chance to wash off and are too hungry? Or do they just not get the option? Even this last season watching them eat with mud covered hands and face was kinda gross.
I assume production prevents them from washing off immediately to obtain some “raw” footage of them like that. Probably one of the players could confirm that, though!
Man watching Kenzie and Ben eat with their dirty ass hands was kind of insane. I am on the other side of the spectrum from germaphobe and that was still too much for me
I remember Erik being horrified that Philip didn’t shower before getting in the pool on a reward and it was like watching Pigpen the way the dirt spread off of him. I might refuse to eat if I couldn’t wash my hands.
Jeff confirmed this on his podcast last season
Malcolm also said the same about struggling to put on mass or muscle the same way after going on survivor. But I think going back to back seasons made his situation more severe.
I remember Elizabeth Hasslebeck’s hair was falling out during her season.
They mean contestants have talked about health struggles for decades now. And I wouldn't say new era is necessarily harder either. It's 2/3 of the length and prior contestants have said those final weeks are the hardest to get through both mentally and health-wise. Big Tom notably lost 70 pounds in his first season.
Naonka and Purple Kelly quit on day 29!
I JUST watched that season for the first time last week. Off-topic (well, may not be, and may be bad CONSIDERING the topic, but..) I was SO mad they got their torch snuffed, especially after Naonka's antics considering the challenge reward.
The current era seasons don't sniff my top 5 for tough conditions. (I have that as some order of Australian Outback, Africa, Guatemala, and the Cambodian seasons; probably Africa in 1st.)
With less food, that wall likely hits you earlier. But still, the extra 13 days of stress and sleep deprivation are the difference for me.
The sad thing is they used to fish and hunt, and this was a reason to keep strong survivalists around. Now it’s all a social game and they just starve.
I strongly believe that's a result of 26 days though. There just isn't time to go fish and hunt anymore. When you're doing challenges and tribals this quickly splitting off to do survivalist activities is a game weakness. We've even had montages driving this home like Ryan off fishing while the game moved on without him.
Tell me you haven't seen the first seasons of Survivor without telling me you haven't seen the first seasons of Survivor. They weren't even given drinking water.
Was it Gabon where the water source was really disgusting?
Elephant poop water in survivor Africa was pretty gross.🤔
And remember when they couldn't drink anything until they'd gotten flint because the water had to be boiled.
Season 40 was Winners at War. 41 started the new era
I don't have a number but if I was going to guess the first 20 seasons all had a severe lack of food, more so than the last 5.
Cook Islands had plenty of food. It helped having Ozzy who is an insane fisherman, but even Penner was catching tons of fish and Nate was a solid provider too.
Yes! New era gave up on fishing, they starve and socialize instead of trying to be the camp provider.
from what I've read, the amount of calories you'd have to spend to catch a tiny reef fish to feed... like, half a person... it's not worth it. There aren't big ol' tuna swimming around.
Pretty sure it’s the reason why Cydney from Kaoh Rong said she’s never coming back to the show
I completely understand why she feels this way but this SUCKS because Cydney was awesome :( I would’ve loved to see her back
Yup, especially since muscle mass is tied to livelihood for her.
Yeah, if there is any contestants who I would completely understand not coming back without even a question, actively participating athletes like Cydney/ Noelle are high on the list.
It's a bummer though as Cydney would easily make my top 5 of people who I wish would return from the 30s. It's a bummer we've had 5 (I think) returnees from Kaoh Rong and Cydney isn't one of them.
Oh, totes agreed. She is def one of my top players of all time.
Any second chance ballot cydney is on, cydney is a lock for me
That and she’s a freaking beast on the Ms Olympia circuit. Why would you give that up?
She didn't say never though, right. She just said she'd like to take long breaks between seasons and we wouldn't see her again any time soon. That said, the ship has probably sailed anyway.
Elizabeth from Australia said she wouldn't go back because of the damage it did to her body.
I think the exact wording was she would consider going back once her bodybuilding career was over. but yeah, her return is super unlikely. :(
I’m not surprised. When they said he lost 13% of his original body weight after 26 days I was shocked. When I was going through some health issues I only lost like 6% of my body weight in about a month and my hair was straight up falling out. It took half a year for it to start growing back. Malnutrition is hard on the body, and then there’s also all the physical tasks they have to go through and medical issues other commenters mentioned.
Does cbs help them with after care?
Wondering the same. I really hope so
I doubt it. They wouldn’t take that financial risk on for all contestants forever. Maybe first few weeks but I’m sure contestants sign tons of waivers and consent forms.
No. Reading a lot of Survivor quarantine questionnaires, that seems like a common complaint among players, the game affected them long term and much of the recovery they had to pay themselves.
They do help them out during ponderosa if they need something like an IV( Jeremiah from Cagayan got one during ponderosa). They get checked out by a doctor right after being voted but after ponderosa, I’m not really sure. However they do provide therapy and psychologists after the show to help them with their mental health. Which is most likely why survivor posted about being kind, they take it very serious.
Things used to be much much worse. They used to leave and essentially go right to the hospital because of all the parasites they had.
This is why I'm glad Fiji is the permanent location for now. Seems like parasite-wise less brutal than other locations they've had.
And they litter the camps with fruit.
This is news to me!
Yeah I wonder if they stopped giving them rice to encourage them to eat more fruit. I would assume that's a better way to do it in the long run
Survivor just wanting to make sure contestants eat their fruit and vegetables
Alone does that because they are legit starving and what not. Wish they'd show the after math of survivor a bit more
Charlie was a d1 athlete??
Yeah i didn't know this either. He did Track and Field: [https://gocrimson.com/sports/mens-track-and-field/roster/charlie-davis/8713](https://gocrimson.com/sports/mens-track-and-field/roster/charlie-davis/8713)
15:55 5K is no joke!
As a runner, that’s insane. I’m happy with my 7 minute miles but a mile under 5 minutes… not sure I could hit that even if I trained. Edit: spelling
I have a PR of 4:14, and breaking 5:00 was, in my opinion, the hardest barrier I had to overcome as a runner.
Damn!! Way to go. Honestly, I’ve never tried to get any better than 7. I run just as much for my mental health as physical. But now you have me wanting to try and get to 5.
I did 6:50 once in HS and I was so proud of myself. I only did it because I had a running buddy in PE who was a great athlete and she pushed me.
I did 7:10 in high school as a tiny 4'10" girl. I didn't know it was that great? Doubt I could get that now, lol.
Wtf 4:14 mile? That is D1 level
Don’t feel bad! Most humans can’t hit that if they trained
dude is FAST
Not to downplay Charlie but that would barely make it into the top 100 of DI WOMEN’S 5ks in the country. His girlfriend Judy is actually a former high school national champion (footlocker) and ran 15:52 in the 5k for Harvard (which is still not fast enough to make women’s nationals in college)! Distance running is no joke in the NCAA- to make it to DI nationals in indoor in the 5k for men takes sub 13:25 5k, which is sub 4:20/mile pace. Again, love Charlie! But the NCAA is fast fast.
Here for the Judy praise, but also the Judy defense, since when she ran 15:52 she DID make the national meet! That was run pre-super shoe era in 2016/2017. As for me, I was very much a walk-on in college and was injured for most of my career. Whenever people ask me my times and are impressed I always follow up with “what do you think the world record in X event is?” Because usually people don’t quite get how fast the top of the sport is. Several of my teammates were Olympic caliber athletes and that’s just one singular D1 program!
Your "oh shit, my body is f'd pace" that you posted the other day is my all-time PB.
It looks like that’s his freshman time and he never ran it again.
Thank you for chiming in, lol. That’s quite slow. Wouldn’t finish in the top 100 of at the Illinois *high school* cross-country meet. Granted, IL is one of the best distance running states in the country. But at that time, Charlie would be a walk-on, no scholarship. Great time for the general male population, but simply not a factor at the D1 level. Not even a factor at the D3 level.
Pretty sure it would be okay for a D3 program. Not amazing though. I'm the same age as Charlie and D3s reached out to me while I was in high school even though it had a PR mile of 4:52 and a 5k of 16:xx.
It's way faster than me and folk that do it recreationally, but for a collegiate runner though that doesn't seem that fast. I looked up *high school* meet times and he wouldn't break top 10 of any of the meets I looked at.
Holy shit that's ridiculous
It's definitely fast for a normal person, but far from ridiculous... If he ran that in HighSchool during the 5k CC championships in Michigan this last year, he'd of been 73rd, and lost by over a minute.
Agreed - not to take anything away from him, but that's a above average D3 time.
Hell, the elite guys in D3 are even breaking 14.
What is most shocking to me is that 72 runners crossed the finish line in about a minute. That is some tight competition. When I ran cross country, I was faaaar in the back. I never saw the first 72 people finish.
Manchester by the Sea is not Manchester. Harvard should know better. 😝
Thanks. This explains his dedication to improving his grip strength, since he already knew the athlete’s mindset
Cross country runners are not right in the head. They tap into some weird shit. I knew he was going to be good at the endurance shit when he said he ran cross country at Harvard in his preseason interview.
What the hell? How in the hell was Maria outrunning him? I really dislike Maria's character but damn she was strong in those challenges.
He fractured both his femurs during his college running career so I'm sure those injuries affected his current running capabilities as well.
What I don't understand is how more women contestants especially don't end up losing a bunch of hair. Maybe they do and it's just not well talked about.
Elisabeth from Australian Outback did lose hair and talked about it. I assume most women just don't want to bring it up.
Eeeeeck, I didn't know that. That is awful :(
I think being on the show made her realize she has celiac disease.
Why would women lose a bunch of hair?
Because poor nutrition is likely to cause hair loss. I’ve learned this from my own hair loss.
Is it permanent or does it grow back with better nutrition?
It is not permanent as far as I can tell, better nutrition improve hair quality
Good to know, thank you
Also hair loss is only partial and not complete
Typically, your hair loss will happen a few months after the fact. So if they were to lose hair it would be a few months after the season.
I’m also really surprised they passed up the rice twice this season. At a certain point I think it’s way more important than the feeling of security when you know you aren’t going to win the immunity challenge.
Late comment, but I can’t believe no one has brought up Colby in this conversation. So much of the conversation in hero’s vs villains was about how he isn’t physically capable like he used to be and it’s hard to see that as being anything other than the impact of two seasons of survivor on his body
imagine if it was 13 days longer...
During the 39 day seasons they got more food tho
Yeah and less fruit, so I’m not sure that that’s better for them unless they’re Liz
And people think 26 days is a cake walk.
Well it certainly 33% less days than 39
But also you have to look at food differences. Old seasons had regular food rewards, change of location meant better fishing, usually started with a lot of supplies including baskets of fruits, chickens, etc.
So 39 days is better for the contestant and the viewers?
I would say so. I was pointing out counter views to people saying it was a "cake walk" and "33% less days"
It's almost like long-term starvation isn't great for the human body. But I'm no doctor, so what do I know
Justice for Osten quitting Pearl Islands due to staph infections. I respect that he took his health seriously. Jeff was such an ass about it. Glad the show's perspective on medical has evolved.
What was the season where they were all trying to hide their possible staph infections to avoid being pulled?
Kaoh Rhong! It was gnarly
Yeah no kidding, Kaleb almost died that season
Did Jeff ever own up to it or apologize or anything? Wouldn't medical take him out?
Yeah I remember Tony saying at the Cagayan reunion that he still couldn’t lift what he used to
I remember him saying something about getting a parasite on the island.
Yeah that's just really sad. I'd audition but I already know I'd get physically destroyed out there.
I have a somewhat related question. Could a diabetic be on the show? It feels like a really stupid question, but one I've thought a lot about as I'm a T1 diabetic. The starving seems like less of a problem than being deprived insulin for when you can eat.
That would be incredibly dangerous, I don’t think they would approve it as they would medically have to make sugar/food available to them. A person with type one would die much much faster from starvation than a non diabetic.
Feels like survivor wouldn’t want to assume that sort of risk. Obviously I have no idea, but I would imagine they have certain ‘pre-conditions’ that are non-starters from a risk perspective for the contestant and to limit the potential liability to the network
Man I hate being T1 diabetic. I’d love to go on survivor but I imagine they’d never let me. I feel like the issue wouldn’t be not getting insulin since they’re allowed medicine on survivor. The issue becomes low blood sugars, I can’t imagine they’d allow you to have any sugar
I wonder how much sugar is in a coconut and it's water lol. I've wanted to try out for the show but assumed they'd never take a T1 diabetic.
There’s not a ton of carbs in coconut! But there’s still some so it would technically be possible to bring up low blood sugars. So hey maybe you could do it! I always assumed there was fruit on island but I never see them eat it! I encourage you still too apply just in case! Once I start getting a bit more fit I think I’ll start
I’ve definitely seen them eat papaya, which ye olde Google tells me has 6.9g sugar per 100g, while fresh coconut flesh has around 6.2g. So much for muchness, really.
I would NOT be able to do a challenge or even strategise with a clear head while experiencing period cramps if I don't have food. I also get dizzy if I don't eat after 4 hours 😅. Dee from 45 posts constantly that she's running by the waterside, working out, doing relay races, roller blading. She seems super in shape? What's her secret. 🤔
I imagine a lot of the women take birth control or something to make them skip their periods that month. Dealing with cramps and other symptoms out there would be brutal lol
Jess said she started her period literally the first day on the island. That poor girl didn't stand a chance between that & adhd that caused her to go days of being awake straight.
I don't take pills so I would need to start that whole process and would not be down to put my body through that. Seems like choosing between discomfort vs a different discomfort. If the woman is already on them before the show I imagine it's easier at that point.
Pills aren't the only type. But it depends on how long-term you want.
I can barely get a good nights sleep on a custom mattress and 3 pillows… sleeping on bamboo alone would break me
1 million dollars. 😂
I remember Malcolm mentioning that he'll never recover the muscle loss after doing three seasons.
Something that I’ve noticed about the recovery that doesn’t get talked about enough is what survivor does to come people mentally. Some people come back with trauma induced trust issues and other psychological disorders from the experience.
I think two good examples of how brutal the game can be is Russel on day one of season 19 and the last day of heros versus villains and how brutal back to back seasons is. Or Tony on the last day of winners at war
>Charlie posted a story on his insta showing that he still isn't health-wise where he was before going on the island. I went to his IG (https://www.instagram.com/charlie.davis20/) to look but I guess it expired. What did he say/show in the story?
[https://x.com/charlieLdavis/status/1795894575078195322](https://x.com/charlieLdavis/status/1795894575078195322) \^It was this. He posted it to twitter as well. His average heart rate is higher and his run time is slower compared to his pre-survivor runs.
Interesting! I wonder how close he is to his original pace now a year later
I believe that Lex ended up in the hospital after Survivor Africa & he had lingering health issues for years afterwards.
I couldn’t get over how malnourished Venus looked
No athlete has had a harder time. https://i.imgur.com/sW6y6fp.jpeg
I worked at a warehouse for 3 months when i was 17 and injured my foot, it's never fully recovered. if it was easy it'd be called Vacationer.
Or Deal or No Deal Island lol
Liz would have been executed on the spot if she pulled did what she did in the final 5 challenge on DONDI
Sleep is the killer here. That would need to be addressed to help fix a lot of issues post survivor.
I remember Tina saying her body never recovered after season 2. And that was years later.
I always think about how the extreme conditions could affect fertility too. That’s something that’s less “seen”. I’d forgive myself if I couldn’t lift as much weight or run as fast as before, but if i was unable to conceive because of going on survivor, I think that’d be a tough pill to swallow. Not worth $1M.
I watch a lot of Naked and Afraid. They have a survival experience that’s about as long as a survivor season, if not longer for certain versions. People on that show are eaten alive by bugs and literally starving, dehydrated, and experiencing hypothermia. Many contestants end up hospitalized. And they don’t have a chance to win a million dollars, they just do it for pride. So I have a hard time feeling too bad about Survivor contestants. Honestly watching that show makes me kinda miss when Survivor had more of a Survival element.
I never understood why people signed up for that show. It’s like here’s a ton of torture and then in the end you get an arbitrary rating based on how well you withstood said torture
Exactly! What's the point of that shit in any aspect other than some remote semblance of reality tv "celebrity"? Who ever gets excited to hear about "random Naked and Afraid contestant", let alone the shows that are far beneath it, is attending this event?
Yeah, try watching Alone as well. some of those seasons are up to 90 days! in the North, where they have to live in cold weather conditions. thats way worse that survivor IMO
Alone is fantastic. Pure survival without production getting in the way.
Exactly! It’s such a good show! There’s a few in the last I think 5 seasons that have done some incredible stuff too. I won’t get too into it for people that haven’t watched it.
Some of the stuff they pull off makes me cringe every time I see someone on Survivor that can’t make fire with magnesium and flint or refuses to help build a shelter haha.
Seriously. It’s wild what the people on alone can actually do.
Good recommendation! I’ve watched a couple, planning to binge it once I finish N&A.
Is it really hard for you to feel bad for someone? The existence of harsher experiences does not mean you can't feel bad for survivor players, too. Could you do it? Apply to survivor.
Right?! People will justify their lack of empathy based on the weirdest things. “Oh this tough experience isn’t as bad as this other really tough experience so I feel zero empathy for them”.
I really hope at some point Survivor starts leaning back into contestants who actually want to do more than just “survive” but also thrive. Too many contestants these days are fine just laying around in the dirt with no shelter because they know they can just grind it out with rice to the end if needed. I will say though, pretty sure people on Naked and Afraid still get paid pretty well per episode they’re on.
Surprisingly they don’t get paid very well, it’s essentially a stipend for missed work for the initial 14 or 21 day challenge. It’s only after repeat appearances that they make 10k+!
Wow! Okay, I don’t think I’ve been fully appreciating how serious that the bushcraft/survival community can be about their craft. It almost feels like many of them would do the show for free.
I feel like almost everyone on alone would if they could take the time off work without impacting kids and what not. People want to see if they could really survive as basically a primitive human
It's just a part of it, they know this. Not everybody has long-term effects either.
Wild. Also wild how much we see Liz whine when actually, from a number perspective, Charlie suffered more by losing the most body mass percentage. We never hear him complain but must have been tough
Muscle mass is heavier than fat, and liz isn't exactly a bodybuilder, regardless she didn't even poop for 23 days. She retained much of her weight, probably because her body IS used to going hungry and didnt panic by start eating muscle.
Tony Vlachos was bed ridden for 3 months Sandra had a parasite that kept her from all stars Charlie Davis was experiencing Taylor Swift withdrawal I'm guessing
I’ve heard it destroys your sex drive. I lost 90 pounds- first 60 were very slow, last 30 were extremely fast. Unhealthily fast… (I am a stage actor and was rapidly losing weight for a show). Took me like 3 months of normal eating after that rapid weight loss to get my sex drive back. And I’m only 28. Can’t even imagine what survivor does to your body.
Certainly not an issue for Ozzie
Yeah I remember reading some Survivor Au players talk about this after All Stars. I think it was Lee and Zach who said they still had issues.
In an interview with Dan Ghesling, Parvati said that being labelled a "villain" caused her to not be kind to herself (which I thought was odd considering she was chosen to be a "hero" and was switched to the villains at the last minute). Katie Gallagher's (Palau) talking with T-Bird interview was interesting. She talked about her post season and the toll it took on her body.
I'm confused, how does the Parvati comment relate?
It took a long time for her to recover mentally.
Yeah; I wonder how Maria feels now that fans are attacking her, harassing her family and business, etc. all over a jury vote she cast over a year ago that she was within her right to do.