‘Survivor 51’ Cast Reveals What They’re Trying to Hide (Exclusive)
Breaking news: Survivor players are planning to lie.
Okay, that’s not exactly breaking news. Deception has been part of the game ever since Richard Hatch convinced Rudy Boesch to form the show’s first alliance 26 years ago. Contestants deceive each other over alliances, advantages, idols and votes so often that “tell a convincing lie” could be item No. 1 on every Survivor player’s to-do list.
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But before the first challenge is run or the first name is written down, many of the 21 castaways on Survivor 51‘s game-changing “Open Era” season (premiering Sept. 23 on CBS) are already planning a different kind of deception: hiding who they really are.
When The Hollywood Reporter visited set and asked each member of the cast, “What’s something about you or your game that you’re trying to keep under wraps heading into the season?” a clear pattern emerged. Whether they’re concealing a law degree, downplaying a successful career, disguising their personality or masking parts of their personal lives, nearly everyone is trying to accomplish the same thing: control how they’re perceived before the game even begins.
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The First Lie Is About Themselves
For some members of the Survivor 51 cast, the game begins with a simple rule: Don’t tell people what you really do for a living.
Patt doesn’t hesitate when asked what she’ll keep under wraps. “I’m an attorney, I got to lie. You have to lie about being an attorney. It’s just the number-one rule.”
She’s far from the only lawyer thinking that way. A criminal defense attorney who argues cases before juries, Alexis also plans to hide her profession. “My whole job is convincing people of things, so I definitely don’t want anyone on this beach to know that.”
Taking a similar approach is Kristin. “I don’t think that too many people need to know that I’m a lawyer.”
Don’t Let Them Know You’re Smart
Not every player is hiding a profession. Some are simply trying to avoid looking like the smartest person on the beach.
Hoping nobody discovers she has a Ph.D., Jelly jokes, “I don’t want anyone to know I’m as smart as I am or that I have a PhD or that, by the end of this, they’ll call me Dr. Survivor.”
For Cristian, the strategy is much more straightforward. “I’m definitely going to try and keep my intelligence under wraps.”
Multiple degrees are exactly what Ori hopes nobody notices. “I have three college degrees. I have a master’s degree in public administration from one of the best public administration universities in the country. I’m really, really smart and I want to keep that under wraps, because you can’t be strong, smart and social. They’re going to get me out of there right away, so I’m going to try to keep that under wraps until I need it.”
Control the Narrative
By this point, a bigger theme begins to emerge. The Survivor 51 cast isn’t just trying to hide parts of themselves. They’re trying to control how everyone else sees them.
Calling perception “the law” in Survivor, Devin doesn’t want anyone to know he’s an actor because he believes the label comes with baggage. “I think it will put a massive target on my back and people will come in with all these preconceived ideas and notions about what it means to be an actor. I don’t believe any of them are true, but perception is the law out here, and I’m not trying to be perceived in ways that I don’t want people to perceive me.”
Rather than tell people he’s a therapist, Eric plans to say he’s a case manager because, as he explains, “Some people just assume therapists are always analyzing, always going to twist your words around, always going to manipulate your mind.” While he admits he’ll be doing some manipulating in the game, he’d “rather people not just assume the stereotype right away.”
Working for the New York Yankees is something Mike also plans to downplay. “I’m trying to keep some of my more strategic elements of my life under wraps heading into this season. A huge part of my job working for the Yankees is strategy, but I’m going to try to play that down a little bit and save it for the long run.”
A different concern belongs to Linnea. Rather than hide a profession, she plans to keep quiet about where she used to work. “I used to work in Washington D.C. People can assume a lot about that.”
Play the Part
If hiding a résumé is one strategy, hiding your personality is another.
Perhaps the most revealing answer came from Kilby. He plans to keep quiet about just how difficult his childhood was, explaining that he grew up below the poverty line and sometimes survived on little more than rice. If his tribemates know how badly he needs the money, he worries they’ll assume he’s desperate. That’s only half the secret, though.
“I’m going to try to look like a sweet puppy dog guy, fun gesture clown, good vibes only until it’s too late,” he says. “I’m going to just always be smiling, laughing, so that they don’t realize that I can turn into a Terminator really fricking easy.”
Behind a friendly smile, Ana plans to hide her mischievous side. “I’m going to do all of my evil deeds behind the scenes, but on the outside, I’m going to be super friendly and a princess.”
Wanting to be underestimated is also part of Jenna‘s strategy. “I want to come off as the bubbly artist girly that I am, but I don’t want people to know how much intention and savvy I have underneath that. I want that to be a little bit of a surprise until it’s too late.”
Few players seem as committed to being underestimated as Lewis. He wants everyone to think he’s incompetent. “Whenever I do something stupid, whenever I mess up, it is all going to be highly strategic, highly planned-out. My game is dependent on people thinking I’m an idiot, so the bigger of an idiot I am, the better my game.”
Unlike many of her fellow castaways, Sharonda isn’t interested in hiding who she is, only how she’ll play. “They might see a card or two, but I don’t think I’m going to show my entire hand and lay it out like that.”
Keep Them Guessing
Not every deception revolves around strategy. A handful of players are simply trying to keep pieces of their personal lives from becoming ammunition.
Instead of advertising that she’s a trained chef, Aaliyah plans to downplay her culinary background. “I’d rather just say, ‘I’m a line cook, I’m a prep cook,’ something more low level. I went to culinary school, so when I start whipping out the coconuts and doing all the things, I don’t think it’ll be that sus.”
Downplaying success is also part of Brady‘s plan. “Maybe I pro wrestle, but maybe I’m an indie wrestler on the weekends and I work at an F-45. I think that keeping basically my personal success unknown is going to keep me a little bit more easy to work with.”
Rather than reveal how many different ventures he has back home, Carter wants everyone to see him as “just a mover.” “My plan of attack is to come out here and I’m just a mover. I work for a moving company. How harmless could that be?”
Owning the farm she works on is something Maggie intends to keep to herself. “Probably that I own the farm that I work on.”
One of the more unusual strategies belongs to Rob. Instead of hiding his career, it’s the wedding ring he chose not to wear, a decision he says he thought “long and hard” about before the game began.
“Some women won’t, I feel like, approach you because you have a wedding ring on. I don’t know if it’s a respect thing or they don’t want to cross any boundaries, so I want people to come up to me freely, especially women. I want them to come up and have a conversation with me,” he says. “Everyone thinks I’m this single guy until they come up to me and talk to me. Then I can tell everyone that, ‘Hey, I’m married with three kids, that’s why I’m here.’”
Then again, not everyone plans to lie.
Unlike the rest of the cast, Thien An isn’t interested in keeping much of anything secret. “I think I live a very open life. I’m a very open book. I don’t think I’ll be keeping anything under wraps in the season.”
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Survivor 51 premieres Sept. 23 with a two-hour episode from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on CBS.
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