‘Survivor’ host, Jeff Probst has leaked just enough tantalizing twists and turns to have fans salivating over season 41’s return. With just a week to go, we decided it was the best time to do some reminiscing and remember why this 21 year old reality television competition has kept viewers glued to their seats for two decades.
In no particular order, these five shocking moments had fans gasping, fretting or wondering if they were seeing or hearing things correctly…and have kept us intrigued over the past 40 seasons. In no particular order we have:
Michael Falls into the Fire
Of all the terrifying things that lurk in the Australian outback, no one suspected that the tribe’s fire would provide the first truly scary moment in Survivor history. Michael Skupin, a competitor in season 2- Survivor: Australian Outback was tending to the fire at camp when he inhaled some smoke, causing him to pass out—directly into the flames.
The scream Michael let out after coming to and running for the lake has haunted fans for twenty years. As fellow tribesman, Nick Brown said, “He’s burnt pretty bad, guys.”
In fact, the burns to Skupin’s hands were so bad that the medics decided he needed to be medically evacuated from the game.
Before you start feeling too sorry for Skupin, he has since moved on to providing shocking moments outside of the game. In 2016 her was sentenced to a year in prison for possessing child pornography on his laptop. The images were found when he was being investigated for racketeering. He was found to be an instigator of a Ponzi scheme.
Shocker indeed.
Sue’s Epic Speech
Again we head back to the beginning- Season one- Survivor: Borneo. The first season of Survivor blew people’s minds- there had been nothing like it on television ever before. But one of the most jaw dropping “did she really say that?” moments came at the final tribal council. You may remember Sue was a ‘little’ bitter after a tie at the previous tribal council between Sue Hatch and Richard Hatch saw her close friend, Kelly Wiglesworth change her vote, eliminating Sue from the game. As the jury prepared to vote on who would take home the $1 million prize (an amount unheard of on television back in 2000), fourth place getter, Sue Hawk lashed out at both Kelly and Richard, launching into a tirade for the ages.
51.69 million viewers watched Sue label Richard an arrogant, pompous snake whose “inability to admit [his] failures without going into a whiny speech makes [him] a bit of a loser in life. She then informed Kelly that she is a very two-faced rat and that she mas to be “manipulative to get where [she’s] at anywhere in life. That’s why [she] fails all the time”
Sue went on to say that snakes eat rats and so she is giving Richard her vote. However, it was the finale of her rant that has gone down in shocking history. Addressing Kelly, Sue said, “If I were to ever pass you along in life again and you were laying there dying of thirst, I would not give you a drink of water. I would let the vultures take you and do whatever they want with you, with no ill regrets.”
Someone was definitely riding the bitter bus
Elizabeth and Missy Allege Sexual Harassment to Get Ahead in the Game.
Season 39’s Survivor: Island of the Idols was filmed not long after the height of the #MeToo movement, which may have given cast member Kellee Kim the courage to lodge a complaint against fellow castaway, Dan Spilo who made her feel uncomfortable with his excessive touching. It was addressed by Kellee, by host Jeff Probst and in a meeting by production that CBS refused to air. Still Dan continued to touch, making some of the women uncomfortable. It was shocking enough that he was allowed to stay.
However, the real jaw dropping moment came when Elizabeth Beisel and Missy Byrd decided to exaggerate (at best) or fabricate (at worst) their feelings about Dan’s inappropriate touching in the name of strategic game play.
Not only did their faux allegations of concern undermine Kellee’s real feelings, Janet Carbin, seen as the ‘tribe mother’ was collateral damage as the lying girls manipulated Janet’s morality, using their ruse to get Janet to vote against Dan.
Though Dan didn’t go that episode, shortly after, Jeff Probst announced the Los Angeles talent manager had been pulled from the competition for unacceptable behavior following an off-camera incident. It was soon learned that he’d touched a female production staff member’s thigh, making her uncomfortable…weeks after his behavior had been addressed multiple times.
Jonny Fairplay’s Not-So-Dead Grandma
This one turned out to be signature Jonny Fairplay who definitely didn’t live up to his adopted last name (his last name is really Dalton). During the friends and family visit in season 7- Survivor: Pearl Islands Jonny arranged to have a friend ‘break the news’ that his grandmother had died.
The lie earned him sympathy from his fellow players who allowed a seemingly distraught Jonny to win the challenge, giving him the opportunity to spend time with Dan and obtain more information about his grandmother’s alleged death. Though the remaining contestants would not discover the truth until after the season had completed filming, a confessional shortly after Jonny’s win revealed that his grandma was not dead but probably “sitting home watching Jerry Springer right now.”
Jeff Probst called the scheme the “greatest lie ever told on Survivor,” and was “a move so low and so evil it definitely guaranteed Jon a spot in the Survivor villain hall of fame.”
Varner Outs Zeke as Transgender.
Jeff Varner was well known to Survivor fans after appearing on season 2’s Survivor: Australian outback and season 31 Survivor: Cambodia. It wasn’t until after he appeared on season 34- Survivor: Game Changers, that he pulled off one of the most shocking moments ever seen on reality television.
At a pre-merge tribal council, Varner decided the fact that Zeke Smith hadn’t divulged something very personal about himself meant that he couldn’t be trusted.
Varner asked Zeke “Why haven’t you told anyone you’re transgender?” effectively outing him to the world. Zeke was visibly shaken at the unexpected outing, unable to speak for many, many minutes. The tribe instantly turned on Varner for his insidious move.
Varner realized he made a deplorable faux pas and tearfully expressed remorse for what he had done. It was too little, too late. In an informal vote, Jeff Probst asked the rest of the tribe if they are set on voting out Varner. The tribe agreed unanimously, eliminating Varner from the game.
Despite apologizing on air Varner was widely condemned after the episode aired and was even fired from his job as a real estate agent as a result of the controversy. During his exit interview, he stated that no one on Survivor should do what he did.
Too bad the rest of the sane world would have figured that out before hurting another human (and until that time, ally) irreparably.
So, Survivor fans, did your favorite jaw dropping moment make it onto the list? If not, let us now which moment in time left you shaking your head in disbelief as we await Survivor 41’s premiere on September 22 on CBS!
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