Many Behind-the-Scenes 'Survivor' Stories "Outlasted" the Rumor Mill to Be Proven True

24 years and Forty six seasons later, one of the craziest ‘Survivor’ rumors are if truth be told true, from discovering cocaine to smuggling pieces.

May 16 2024, Published 1:Fifty four p.m. ET

Every season of Survivor has other rumored behind-the-scenes tales from feuds to contraband. Now that we’re in Season 46 of the 24-year fact series, there are many tales that have hit the rumor mill. Some are obviously untrue, however others have actually been proven true because of player interviews and solid reporting.

Throughout the years, stories of avid gamers sneaking in red meat jerky (thru their anal cavities) to off-camera feuds, there have been greater than enough Survivor rumors to stay us entertained between seasons. But which rumors are in fact true? We spherical up all the rumors that have been proven to be true.

‘Survivor: Cagayan’ — “Weasel Woo”

According to “Chaos” Kass and other resources, Yung “Woo” Hwang, Woo took various items from cameramen and manufacturing with out getting caught. Kass alleged that he stole medicated mouthwash; Survivor spoiler supply Redmond alleged he stole various provides; the season’s winner, Tony, mentioned in a Reddit AMA that he just took some clean ingesting water shape the camera guys. Regardless, it seems like Woo was accountable for some type of in-game robbery!

‘Survivor: Micronesia’ — Amanda lied to look like a “excellent guy.”

Survivor: Micronesia had one of the maximum rumored behind-the-scenes drama, from alleged game-rigging to how several players if truth be told give up the sport. But one rumor that was once proven true, as confirmed by means of Ozzy and Parvati, was once that Amanda Kimmel in reality knew Ozzy would be blindsided. Knowing how she’d be perceived by way of the audience if she knew and decided to not tell him, she additionally pretended to not know about the blindside in front of cameras so she wouldn’t be portrayed as a villain.

‘Survivor: Borneo’ — The bar talk over with praise was once initially only a beer.

As showed at the respectable On Fire podcast, Jeff shared that one of the vital iconic rewards of Survivor was in truth meant to simply be one glass of beer. However, gamers weren’t fascinated by that when some spectacular rewards, in order that they modified the reward at the remaining moment to be a discuss with to a “native bar,” which was once actually created by way of the art department, to watch the primary few minutes of the premiere Survivor season.

‘Survivor: Africa’ — Contestants have been paid out for problem error.

In Survivor’s third season, a Final Four immunity challenge used to be about how smartly the contestants knew each and every other. One question asked about which women didn't have any body piercings. Big Tom and Lex guessed Lindsey, while Kim Johnson guessed Kelly and subsequently received the problem. It used to be later came upon that Tom and Lex have been also correct, but the loss led to their vote-outs, so they have been rewarded with the second-place prize cash of $100,000.

"It was an honest mistake, simply attributable to human error during the production of the series," CBS spokesman Chris Ender stated to 19 News. "The producers feel horrible about it and they dealt with the situation as soon as they became aware of it." An additional rumor urged they were all introduced spots on Survivor: All Stars because of this, however that reasoning hasn’t been proven, as they were all fashionable contestants regardless.

‘Survivor: China’ — Production drew Courtney Yates’s blood to ensure she may just live on.

One of the gifts of COVID-19 used to be that EW conducted extra Survivor interviews to assist us fill the void of an international with out new Survivor seasons. Courtney Yates published that she was once the only contestant often blood tested (in secret) as a result of production was once involved she was once too thin to survive. Allegedly, they thought she would be an early boot, but when she lasted longer than expected, they needed to take scientific precautions to ensure she would continue to exist.

“I'm pretty positive they did it because they concept that I used to be anorexic (I'm not) and loss of life,” she told EW. “They had been like, ‘Hey, we need to communicate to you.’ I used to be like, ‘Okay?’ And so in the course of the filthy jungle clear of everybody, they swabbed my elbow and took vials of blood. And then I used to be like, ‘What is that this for? Are you doing this to everyone?’ And they're like, ‘Well, it is just a few folks. And when you tell any person, they are going to assume you are weak. So do not say anything else.’"

‘Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains’ — Boston Rob and Tyson used fuel form the boat to start a fire.

Tyson Apostol is one of the many Survivor podcasters (and winners) we love and follow, thanks to his podcast on The Ringer titled The Pod Has Spoken. He has corroborated plenty of behind-the-scenes rumors, one of which included himself and Boston Rob. He confirmed that they used fuel from the boat to start a fire on Day 1 and that they were able to do this a few times before they got caught.

‘Survivor: All Stars’ — The tribe swap was engineered to eliminate Amber.

While it hasn’t been confirmed that production specifically wanted to eliminate Amber, it has been confirmed that the tribe swap was definitely rigged. Jerri Manthey revealed years later that the buffs they drew were stacked neatly in an urn and that they were told to line up in a specific order. Rumors have continued to speculate that production wanted to isolate Amber to keep bigger names in the game instead but luckily for them, their plan didn’t work, and Rob and Amber became the most iconic Survivor couple to date.

‘Survivor: Australian Outback’ — “Beef Jerky-Gate”

In a recent episode of The Pod Has Spoken, now-reality producer Katie Gallagher (and Survivor: Palau contestant) brought up the infamous beef jerky scandal. Kel, the culprit in question who allegedly snuck beef jerky into the camp, either through his anal cavity or by sewing it into his clothes, which he learned through his military training, has never confirmed this. But Jerri, all the players, and even Jeff Probst have all come out saying they believe Kel was eating beef jerky during the game.

‘Survivor: Panama — Exile Island’ — The Cassaya tribe found cocaine on the beach.

Probably the most explosive and shocking rumor, and the one with the most sources, the cocaine rumor is easily a favorite Survivor story. The season’s winner, Aras, described what happened in his quarantine questionnaire as did fellow player, Shane Powers. In the Reddit thread full of Survivor rumors, a producer on the season also confirmed it to be true.

"Aras and I had been 'showering' on the beach, and a kilo of cocaine washed up at my ft," Shane stated to EW. "I ran into the woods with it and was going to bury it and think about what may well be accomplished with it." The producers straight away confiscated it, then again, and the Redditor printed, “NONE OF THE CONTESTANTS, PRODUCERS, CREW, OR OTHERWISE used the cocaine. In truth, very few folks saw it. It used to be only a wacky thing that took place.”

Are there any longer corroborated true stories from Survivor’s expansive rumor mill? We need to hear them!

New episodes of Survivor air each Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.

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