their friendships post-show, but they can also be known for less amazing things as well. Those who have competed on the reality series have mostly remained tight-knit and many still watch the show religiously.
While a lot of cast are beloved for their time in the game and their personalities outside of it, a few have made comments or participated in an activity that has made fans think twice about them. Of course, it's not Survivor players' jobs to be role models or influential of society. However, some use their platform to promote ideas that aren't fully thought through, may be offensive to others, and are just downright out of touch.
Anna Khait (Season 32)
Anna Khait was a pre-merge boot on Survivor: Kaoh Rong, but was known for her close friendships with her fellow Beauty tribe-mates, winner Michele Fitzgerald and Julia Sokolowski.
Though she didn't have a super memorable arc on the season, Anna emerged as a hot topic of conversation among other Survivor players' on Twitter as her far-right-leaning political views were made public. According to Reddit, Anna has shared many opinions that have rubbed people the wrong way, including some about of the LGBTQ+ community, and has been accused of working as a honeytrap on behalf of former President Trump.
Phillip Sheppard (Season 22, 26)
Phillip Sheppard was an entertaining player to watch on Redemption Island and Caramoan. However, some of the things he said and did in his respective seasons had fans of Survivor scratching their heads.
Phillip didn't always appear to be someone very grounded in reality, like when he somewhat haphazardly accused of the Zapatera tribe of being racist on Redemption Island after an argument. Phillip also claimed to be a former FBI agent, though no one has been able to provide any merit to this claim.
Shan Smith (Season 41)
Shan Smith was regarded as one of the most intelligent players on Survivor 41, having her theme song she performed in confessionals to a villainous melody. However, some of her behavior post-show has made fans raise an eyebrow or two and wonder what she is thinking when posting things to social media.
Recently, Shan garnered criticism fromleave her job as a pastor to create content online full-time. It wasn't just Shan's declaration that concerned people, but rather the fact that she was asking fans to for her Patreon to receive the content so she could make a living off of it.
Ciera Eastin (Season 27, 31, 34)
Ciera Eastin was universally well-liked on Survivor: Blood Vs Water where she iconically voted off her mother to further herself in the game.
In real life, Ciera faced criticism from fans when she posted her for former President Donald Trump on her Instagram and her Twitter . She shared photos of herself in a "Make America Great Again" hat and engaged in discourse with followers that disagreed with her. She appeared to be out of touch with reality when she became surprised that some fans were less ive of her in her subsequent Survivor appearances, and losing followers after endorsing the former Apprentice star.
Noura Salman (Season 39)
Noura Salman was a divisive character on Island Of The Idols, receiving no votes from the jury despite making it to the final three. She was known for her loud and boisterous personality, as well as for clashing with others on the island.
Survivor viewers were quick to notice that Noura seemed just as out of touch with reality in real life as she did on the island when she shared anti-vaccine propaganda on her social media s following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States. According to an article from Heavy, Noura likened the vaccine to a tracking device put forth by the government.
Joe Anglim (Season 30, 31, 38)
Joe Anglim was at the top of Survivor fans' crush lists when he first appeared on Worlds Apart, due to his charming personality and beautiful curly hair. He continued to prove his likability in subsequent seasons, making it to the merge each time with people only having positive things to say about him.
After his latest appearance on Edge Of Extinction, Joe's social media became a topic of conversation among Reddit s as he shared many lengthy posts about a leadership training called the "Modern Day Knight" program that allegedly worked to reform men. Many fans expressed their concern in his comment sections, only to be blocked by the former reality star.
Sarah Lacina (Season 28, 34, 40)
Sarah Lacina made up one-half of the Cops R Us alliance on Survivor: Cagayan and Winners At War, partnering with fellow police officer Tony Vlachos to make a tight bond and alliance.
Sarah's political views were known to be right-leaning due to her mentioning a rural, conservative upbringing. However, her beliefs were fully brought to light recently when Survivor player Ozzy Lusth shared an anecdote about Sarah revealing her Trump hat after voting at the Final Tribal Council had occurred during Game Changers (per Reddit).
Jeff Varner (Season 2, 31, 34)
Jeff Varner first appeared on the second season of Survivor. He was best known for being the victim of the first double tie vote, in which he was sent home over Colby Donaldson for having a vote against him before the merge.
Jeff returned nearly 15 years later when he was voted in on Second Chance. He would return for Game Changers, where his reputation and Survivor legacy would go downhill after publicly outing fellow contestant Zeke Smith during tribal council. Jeff compared the fact that Zeke wasn't out to the tribe as a transgender man to being disloyal in the game. It was strongly out of touch with the reality of the situation, which was that that information was Zeke's to tell.
Russell Hantz (Season 19, 20, 22)
Russell Hantz was quite the sore loser in back-to-back seasons of Survivor. He made it to the final three in Samoa and Heroes Vs Villains but didn't receive enough jury votes to be crowned the Sole Survivor.
After losing to Natalie White in season 19, Russell bargained with her at the live finale, offering to pay her for the title. Not only did she decline, but Survivor host Jeff Probst reminded him that that wasn't how the game worked. Russell went on to compete on season 22 but was eliminated early in a fall from grace, yet still maintained that he was the greatest player to appear on the show. This was something that was time and time again proven false.
Spencer (Reiman) Bledsoe (Season 28, 31)
Spencer Bledsoe was a lovable member of the "Brains" tribe on season 28 of Survivor and came back to compete on Second Chance after being voted in by fans. After losing to Jeremy Collins in season 31, Spencer went off the social media grid for a minute, reappearing now and again to do a Reddit AMA for fans.
However, in December 2021 he was the center of controversy when he did ahis former rival Kass McQuillen tweeted a meme making fun of him and pointing out that vaccines are required to compete on Survivor (per Twitter).