Methods to get on ‘Survivor’: Behind the scenes of casting season 45

As a result of as troublesome as defeating 17 different contestants out on the island could appear, it’s nothing in comparison with the 25,000 Survivor hopefuls an applicant should greatest simply to get there. That is what it takes to get on Survivor, and that is what the 18 gamers that comprise the solid of Survivor 45 (premiering Sept. 27 on CBS) needed to do earlier than they may dramatically bounce off a large barge into the crystal-clear waters of Fiji.

How does one make it by means of the gauntlet of utility movies, interviews, callbacks, extra interviews, and extra callbacks? And what precisely are producers in search of in a Survivor participant? “Initially, there must be drive,” says host and showrunner Jeff Probst. “That ought to appear apparent, but it surely’s not all the time the case. Generally individuals apply and regardless that they are saying and do all the appropriate issues, you’ll be able to inform that the drive simply is not there. And if we do not sense an actual should be on this present, then we all know it isn’t the appropriate time for you.”

The second factor Probst is in search of is straightforward self-awareness. “Are you aware who you’re?” asks the host. “If you have not hung out reflecting on who you’re or if you do not have a circle of buddies who will inform you who you’re, it’s essential to understand how you see your self. And it actually helps in case you have an thought of how the world sees you as a result of they are not all the time the identical.”

Probst notes that making an attempt to placed on an act — particularly an act the present has already seen earlier than — is unlikely to maneuver the needle. “The place some individuals can journey themselves up somewhat is making an attempt to be one thing that they are not. If you happen to attempt to anticipate what you suppose we’re in search of, or when you see someone on a season that was actually fashionable and also you attempt to emulate what they did, it isn’t going to work.”

The ultimate tip of the casting trifecta is discovering gamers who’re merely good at… speaking. “You have got to have the ability to inform a narrative,” says Probst. “As a result of we process the gamers with a large accountability. They’re the narrators for his or her season. All people thinks they’ll inform a narrative, however the reality is, it is a specialised ability to have the ability to sit down and say, ‘Okay, here is what’s occurring,’ and inform that in a means that’s entertaining or dramatic, but in addition clear and concise.”

Whereas all candidates who make it on to Survivor should possess all three traits — “I am going to have a reasonably good thought whether or not you are going to be on the present or not after 10 minutes,” says Probst — no two contestants are the identical, and neither are their journeys by means of the Survivor casting course of. Kendra McQuarrie did her casting interviews whereas making a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Emily Flippen ended up on the present after sending in an utility video as a result of “I used to be actually indignant that morning after watching Mike Gabler win, and I made a decision that that was not okay in my e book.” (She received a name again that very same day.) Julie Alley ignored her daughter’s pleas — “Mother, that is so embarrassing!” — to cease texting a casting producer after getting ahold of her quantity. And Bruce Perreault basically received to skip all the course of for season 45 since he went by means of it the earlier yr earlier than being injured simply minutes into Survivor 44.

What’s an precise voyage by means of the Survivor casting course of like? EW went behind the scenes to current the tales of 5 totally different gamers from the brand new season and the way they ended up on the present. It is a story of youthful exuberance, second probabilities, last-minute substitutions, cocky charisma, and good old school social media stalking. That is the casting story of Survivor 45, as informed by those that went by means of it.

The official casting course of for Survivor 45 — which might begin filming in April of 2023 — started in August 2022. That is when casting producers began poring over the 1000’s of movies already submitted because the finish of the earlier casting cycle. The top of casting, Jesse Tannenbaum, estimates there have been already 16,000 movies ready for them once they started work for seasons 45 and 46, which have been solid concurrently as a result of they filmed back-to-back.

Tannenbaum’s casting crew — which incorporates 4 different producers and two managers — then reached out to candidates they thought had potential, resulting in a number of interviews and infrequently reshot audition movies. “Generally we give them pointers like that it is okay to be weak and open and inform us about who you’re,” explains Tannenbaum. “So the producers will work with them to create an awesome audition video.”

The casting producers usually are not simply the gatekeepers to the Survivor kingdom at this level — figuring out which hopefuls they are going to current to Probst, government producer Matt Van Wagenen, and co-executive producer Hudson Smith III — they’re additionally cheerleaders doing all the pieces inside their energy to assist their favorites alongside. “We’re not simply passionate in regards to the present,” explains Tannenbaum, “however we’re passionate in regards to the individuals we meet with. These are the folks that spark a hearth and people are those that we wish to see on the present.”

Each fall, Tannenbaum sends the most effective audition movies — scaling 1000’s down to a couple dozen — to Probst and the present producers, who then pick the parents they wish to meet. After the producers make their alternatives, that group of roughly 30 hopefuls per season strikes on to the primary spherical of what are known as “casting finals.” At this stage, anybody nonetheless within the working meets with the present’s psychologists, completes a background examine, and sits down for extra interviews with the casting division, present producers, and executives.

The roughly 24 individuals who make it previous all of that are finally introduced out to Los Angeles in February for the in-person conferences that represent the final spherical of casting finals. “If a participant goes to panic, that is the stage the place it occurs,” says Probst. “The strain ratchets up when the room is stuffed with producers and CBS executives. This too is by design. If you happen to drop the ball at this stage, you in all probability will not get on the present this season.” As soon as these in-person L.A. interviews are full, the casts for the following two Survivor seasons are lastly set.

It is a lengthy, arduous expertise. However for Brandon Donlon, the casting journey began a lot, a lot sooner than all of that. Brandon nonetheless remembers watching Survivor for the primary time throughout the Gabon season in September 2008. “It felt like this spiritual expertise,” he explains. “It felt like I used to be watching some larger energy who was like, ‘That is going to vary your life. No matter this factor is, you need to do it.'” He instantly despatched in an utility. Only one drawback: Brandon was 11 years outdated.

“I despatched in movies earlier than I used to be 18 and eligible to use,” he laughs. “Which I perceive now, having met with casting individuals — very annoying.” As soon as Brandon turned 18, the movies continued. Each single yr. As did the radio silence again from the casting division. “I knew that I had the sauce,” says Brandon. “However Survivor didn’t care about my sauce. Zero % thinking about my sauce.”

Nevertheless, one other CBS actuality present was thinking about tasting the sauce, as Brandon went to an open casting name for Large Brother and in 2019 made all of it the way in which to the finals for season 21 of the summer season collection. “I watched the Fringe of Extinction merge episode the place Rick Devens comes again whereas I used to be in California at Large Brother finals,” recollects Brandon, now 26 years outdated and a content material producer at Temple College. “I used to be in a room with Ovi, and Cliff, and Jackson Michie.”

However being lower on the very finish from Large Brother turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as a result of by this time, Large Brother‘s casting director, Tannenbaum, had taken over Survivor duties from unique casting legend Lynne Spillman. And when Brandon lastly received his callback for Survivor (really for seasons 43 and 44), the superfan felt extra ready due to his Large Brother expertise. “Like all type of formal interview, in case you have any expertise, you’re a lot better by means of these processes,” says Brandon. “I went in with somewhat bit cooler of a head in that I knew what I used to be anticipating.”

Brandon’s preparation even shocked Probst, who hopped on a Zoom with the potential castaway for the primary time again on Sept. 27, 2021. “I used to be like, ‘Jeff, I do not know if I am ever going have the ability to discuss to you once more,'” remembers Brandon. “‘So I’ve 10 questions that I’ve all the time wished to ask you, when you do not thoughts me working by means of them.’ And he was like, ‘No one’s ever executed this. By all means, kick off your questions.'”

Apparently, the method — which additionally included Brandon crying in pleasure sooner or later in each single interview — labored. “An excellent fan who’s determined to show he can play this sport and win,” learn Probst’s notes from that first interview with the hopeful. “He is partaking, self-deprecating. He is very conscious of the affect social media has had on his life and shaping who he’s.” After a later assembly, Probst wrote, “With each interview, he is getting extra comfy and extra likable.”

Even so, when it got here to the ultimate checklist of Survivor 44 gamers, Brandon’s identify was not on it. Identical to with Large Brother, he made it by means of each step however the final one. He even remembers the date: March 16, 2022, “I received a name round when the 44 of us have been getting their calls saying that ‘You are on,'” remembers Brandon. “I received mine saying, ‘You are off.'”

Calls just like the one Brandon obtained for season 44 usually are not straightforward for the Survivor casting crew to make. “It is onerous as a result of we get invested of their tales,” says Tannenbaum. “We care. We do not deal with our solid like pawns in a sport of chess. We deal with them as individuals. This course of is so lengthy that these calls are actually onerous to make, but it surely’s actually essential that we name them and never simply ship an e mail. We’d by no means even think about doing that.”

Slightly than giving up after years of fruitless making use of, Brandon saved hoping, and that hope was rewarded when a yr later he received the information he was ready for: He was going to be on Survivor. However even that featured a number of twists and turns. Caitlin Moore from Survivor casting had reached out to inform Brandon that issues have been wanting actually good for season 45 and to anticipate a name quickly, solely there have been issues maintaining the road clear on the residence he shared along with his mother and father in Sicklerville, N.J. “My mother was on the telephone with Verizon,” recollects Brandon. “I grabbed the telephone and I simply hung up. She was like, ‘What the f— are you doing?'”

Two days later, Brandon lastly received a textual content telling him to leap onto a Zoom, solely he was visiting the Museum of Pure Historical past in New York on the time and could not get service within the “dinosaur diorama room.” A day later, he was again in his basement in New Jersey, lastly on a Zoom with Moore. As soon as she pressed the file button, he knew. “I am like, ‘Oh s— !’ I used to be already crying earlier than she even stated it. I misplaced it.” 

On the identical time, Brandon Donlon additionally received. He had lastly made it onto Survivor.

On the subject of Survivor casting, Dee Valladares is an anomaly. Like infamous Mike Gabler detractor Emily Flippen, she got here in very late within the Survivor 45 cycle, submitting her audition video in December 2022, simply two months earlier than the solid was locked. And the video she despatched virtually received her banned from the method.

The video itself was not the issue. It is what Dee did with it. Like all the opposite Survivor hopefuls, she submitted the clip by means of the official casting web site. However then, not not like the Grinch, Dee had an thought. An terrible thought. A beautiful, terrible thought. “I informed myself, ‘How can I get above the noise?'” says Dee. “As a result of there are millions of individuals which can be auditioning for Survivor. After which I am like, ‘You recognize what? I am simply going to submit my audition video on Instagram.'”

And she or he didn’t cease there. Dee then had “all my family members, buddies, household, individuals I do not know, individuals I met as soon as, ex-boyfriends…” touch upon the video, and tag casting director Tannenbaum within the course of. “I used to be stalking him,” Dee reveals. “He was on a visit to Hawaii. I used to be like, ‘Okay, that is the time zone distinction. I must tag him once I know he is in mattress scrolling on Instagram.'”

“I do not flip my telephone on silent simply in case there is a household emergency,” says Tannenbaum. “So I keep in mind making an attempt to go to mattress one evening listening to ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. She had requested everybody that follows her, and their buddies who observe them, and their buddies that observe them to tag Jesse Tannenbaum. And I used to be similar to, ‘Oh my God, I hate her.'”

“The video type of blew up,” laughs Dee. “The very subsequent day, I get a name from a casting particular person and she or he’s like, ‘Hey, I would like you to take down that video. You are driving my boss loopy.'” Dee’s response? “I am like, ‘Okay, that is good. Meaning he noticed it, proper?’ And she or he’s like, ‘Yeah, he positively noticed it.'”

Whereas each Dee — who took down the video — and Tannenbaum strongly advise towards such guerilla techniques (“That is not the way in which to go in regards to the casting course of,” says the sleep-deprived sufferer), it kicked off what Tannenbaum refers to as “a playful love-hate relationship” between the pair.

“I really feel like Jesse and I vibed as individuals,” says Dee. “However he was irritated for positive. I might inform him, ‘Dude, I can be irritated if I have been you. I am sorry, however I am not sorry.'”

As for Tannenbaum, he concedes that “I cherished working with Dee… finally.” A part of that love got here from the applicant’s unbridled vitality. It is an vitality that threw the 26-year-old entrepreneur from Miami into the casting combine regardless that she was months late making use of. “I knew it was late, however I additionally knew that if I can get that decision and have a Zoom interplay, then I am in.”

However she first needed to get previous Probst. “My very first interview with Jeff was an hour after I landed in Iceland,” says Dee, who had a layover on her month-long Nordic trip, however did not wish to danger doing her one-on-one in a crowded airport. “So I landed, needed to run and get the rental automotive, after which booked a resort room. I am like, ‘I would like a room proper now! Do you’ve got any rooms out there?'” After procuring an area, Dee and the host chatted for quarter-hour about household, enterprise, and canines… and never essentially in that order. (Probst’s attention-starved Bernedoodle Stevie — named after Stevie Nicks — saved interrupting the proceedings for kisses from the host.)

Like Tannenbaum, Probst was received over. His notes from that first interview learn as follows: “LOVE HER! So partaking and shiny. Immediately likable out of the gate. She’s humorous. She is tremendous likable. I like her, love her, love her. She actually LISTENS. She picks up on each cue. She’s very tight together with her household. She knew she can be an entrepreneur. I see her on the present. Nice winner. May win.”

“I used to be in 100% inside the first three minutes,” Probst provides now. “I used to be all the time in. I knew she was going to be on the present. It was only a matter of will she find yourself on season 45 or 46.”

Just a few months later, when Dee hopped onto a Zoom and realized she had made the lower for Survivor 45, she was already all dressed up for a giant dinner out with the women. But after receiving the information, she began her celebration with somebody even nearer. “My dad was downstairs, so I’m going downstairs and I begin crying and I am like, ‘Dad, like I will be on the present!’ We cracked a Corona outdoors, and we have been similar to, ‘Wow, that is occurring. And my life is about to vary.'”

Jesse Tannenbaum’s telephone was ringing, and it was Daniel Gradias on the road. Nothing uncommon about that. Like a regional gross sales pressure, the parents that work in Survivor casting all cowl totally different areas, and Daniel’s territory for seasons 45 and 46 included British Columbia. Communication is frequent between Tannenbaum and the remainder of the division, however there was an unusual fervor in Gradias’ voice when Tannenbaum picked up the decision. “Jesse, you’ll freak out while you see this man’s audition video.”

Tannenbaum’s response: “Okay, let’s do it.” Gradias forwarded the video and Tannenbaum pressed play. “Inside 30 seconds, I used to be like, this man’s a star.”

That man was Kaleb Gebrewold. Like many within the Survivor 45 solid, Kaleb began watching Survivor throughout the pandemic. As a result of he naturally gravitates towards the villains (“I like the type factors, the aptitude, the persona”), he started his binge by wanting up the best villain seasons ever. “I watched them simply all in a row — season 1, seasons 6, 7, and eight, then seasons 19 and 20. Then I went again and watched all the opposite nice seasons. After which I simply went again and watched all the pieces else.”

A Canuck himself from Vancouver, Kaleb was excited when Canadians received seasons 41 and 42. “And what do they do on season 43?” he asks. “They do not even put a Canadian on the solid! I used to be so morally upset.” It was time to take motion. The 29-year-old software program salesman was assured he might kill in an interview (“I knew as soon as I received the callback, I might be good”), however was much less assured about the right way to assemble his three-minute video (“I’ve by no means executed something in three minutes my complete life”).

So he turned to an expert. Casting coaches have develop into a useful resource for wannabe actuality TV contestants in search of suggestions of the commerce to assist their audition movies pop and lower by means of the muddle of 25,000 different clips. However they arrive at a value. The person Kaleb employed, Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X winner Adam Klein, jumped with each ft into the casting coach sport, charging $225 for a 45-minute audition video evaluation. He additionally has “Premium” and “Recent Begin” packages reaching as much as $445.

For his half, Tannenbaum takes a dim view of casting coaches and thinks they’ll do extra hurt than good. “Quote me on this in capitals and daring letters,” says Tannenbaum. “Do not rent anyone that will help you by means of the casting course of. Do not pay anyone to show you ways try to be, as a result of now you are being somebody that you just would possibly not be as a result of somebody informed you that is what we’re in search of.”

Tannenbaum additionally would not just like the considered individuals having to half with their hard-earned money within the hopes of getting on tv. “You should not should spend any cash to use for any of my reveals — or any present normally, to be trustworthy,” says the casting director, who insists Kaleb would have gotten on Survivor with none assist: “Kaleb by no means wanted that.”

The truth is, Tannenbaum was so excessive on Kaleb that he shortly recognized him as a “Fall on the Sword” candidate. Fall on the Sword is, basically, the hidden immunity idol of the casting course of. If an applicant has a foul interview or for no matter cause seems to be like they aren’t going to make the solid, somebody from both the casting or manufacturing aspect can Fall on the Sword. Explains Probst: “If the casting producer stated, ‘Look, I do know it did not go effectively. I am falling on the sword,’ that is them saying they should be on the present. And that particular person will be on the present. It is over. You fell on the sword. That particular person’s on the present. Let’s transfer on.”

In fact, it did not come to that with Kaleb. Probst remembers the cocky applicant displaying up for his Zoom interview along with his shirt unbuttoned all the way down to his stomach button. “He had this stunning look,” he recollects. “And he was strolling round his residence principally simply saying, ‘Jeff, I slay in life.’ And I discovered myself going, ‘I wish to come watch you try this!'”

The notes Probst took from the interview mirror the host’s enthusiasm. “He is wonderful!!! I like him. So charming. He leaps off the display. An unbelievable story of resilience. Followers will love him.” And whereas Probst positively took notice of Kaleb’s “swagger,” he is also fast to level out that whereas the confident applicant might have acted cool, it actually was not too cool for college.

“There are folks that wish to simply kiss your ass within the casting course of,” says the host. “I do not want that. Don’t be concerned about kissing my ass. I kiss my very own ass loads of occasions. However what I do like is someone who’s respectful of the method and that we’re spending an unlimited amount of cash to get to know you. And Kaleb, for all of his confidence, was very respectful. He confirmed up on time, he requested questions, he understood after we wanted another assembly that we weren’t making an attempt to mess with him. I used to be all in from the go.”

Kellie Nalbandian’s Survivor story begins like so many others. She despatched in her casting video. She did all her interviews. She made it by means of the casting finals. She received on a airplane to Fiji. She sat round for 5 days at Ponderosa (the place the contestants keep earlier than filming and after being voted out). She sized up the opposite contestants and took notes on whom she would possibly and may not wish to work with. However then, on the day the sport started, she flew residence.

That was in April 2021. And the season was Survivor 43. No, Kellie didn’t endure a game-ending damage within the opening moments. As an alternative, she flew out to Fiji as an alternate. The present now brings one female and male alternate to location each season, and when no different ladies have been subbed out within the days main as much as the sport, it might have been the top of Kellie’s Survivor journey. As an alternative, it was solely the start.

The factor that in the end saved Kellie off of season 43 was timing. A important care nurse in New York Metropolis, Kellie was impressed to use to the present from her expertise coping with the pains of the COVID-19 outbreak. “It was after a very scary expertise for me,” the 30-year-old recollects, “and popping out the opposite aspect made me notice that I ought to simply go for no matter I wished to do and that I am able to much more than I assumed.” After a push from her girlfriend (now fiancée), Kellie despatched in a video (seen under) speaking about how her job of working lengthy shifts within the worst situations had ready her for Survivor. The video was nice. The truth that she despatched it in on New Yr’s Day 2022 was not.

It nonetheless received Kellie a name again from casting producer Caitlin Moore, who then reported again to Tannenbaum. “I keep in mind particularly when Caitlin known as me about Kellie,” says the casting director. “She’s like, ‘This woman is a pressure of nature. She was coping with being a nurse throughout the top of the pandemic whereas in grad college at Yale. She’s humorous, charming, aggressive.’ She type of reminded Caitlin of an East Coast model of [Survivor legend] Parvati. And when she stated that to me, I used to be like, ‘Bought.'”

Whereas Moore knowledgeable Kellie that it was too late for seasons 43 and 44, “I saved doing extra interviews and so they have been asking for extra info,” says the nurse, who needed to pound Crimson Bull and occasional to look forward to interviews after pulling all-night shifts on the hospital. “I used to be like, ‘Okay, what’s occurring?’ As a result of I assumed there was no likelihood.”

However Kellie saved impressing everybody she spoke with. “F—ING HOME RUN!” Probst wrote down after his first interview with the hopeful. “She’s actually comfy. She’s an awesome talker. She’s hungry. She will play. She will likely be devious. She will win. Solely query: Squeeze into 43 or watch for 45?” On a regular basis, time was working out. “I keep in mind assembly her and saying to Jesse, ‘What is the resolution?'” recollects Probst. “Will we bump someone from 43 or will we simply maintain her for 45?”

When Kellie obtained her reply, she was simply settling in for a meal on the Cheesecake Manufacturing facility, “which is an effective place to obtain bittersweet information.” It wasn’t a sure. But it surely wasn’t a no, both. As an alternative, Kellie was requested to fly out to Fiji with the remainder of the season 43 solid as an alternate, that means she would solely play if one of many different feminine contestants had a medical situation or for another cause didn’t pan out within the pre-game day trip on location. “Clearly, in my head, I used to be like, ‘I am gonna kick somebody off the solid,'” laughs the nurse.

“We talked to her,” says Probst, “and we stated, ‘Look, we love you, however in equity, it is respecting the individuals which were within the course of.’ We’re not simply always making an attempt to improve individuals. If we inform you you are on the present, we’re making an attempt to maintain our phrase that you will be on the present.”

Whereas the probabilities of Kellie enjoying on season 43 have been slim, as soon as she traveled out to Fiji with the remainder of the solid, she needed to mentally put together like a aid pitcher who might get known as into motion at any second. “My two individuals I wished to work with essentially the most have been Cassidy and Owen,” she reveals of sizing up the 43 solid. “Owen was sitting close to me and me quite a bit. Very smiley. He is type of bro-ey, but in addition type of nerdy, and that is completely my vibe. And I simply appreciated Cassidy’s vibe. She offers off this very constructive flower woman aura. And I keep in mind sitting throughout from Jesse on a ship the final day and getting this vibe from him that was like, ‘He is severe. He is right here to play.'” (She additionally notes that “I used to be fairly shocked by the winner, I am not gonna lie.”)

Finally, the jig was up. The official solid picture was taken, and Kellie wasn’t in it (though the male alternate who traveled to location, Geo Bustamante, was after getting elevated to the primary solid). “Everybody’s like, ‘Okay, why is she not in it?'” Kellie recollects of the solid realizing she was an alternate. “I used to be clearly upset about it. Anybody who desires to play Survivor can be somewhat unhappy — and wouldn’t be an excellent Survivor participant when you did not wish to play.”

However Kellie was simply down, not out. Moore reached again out in August 2022 as soon as casting started for seasons 45 and 46, and the New York Metropolis nurse was fast-tracked by means of the method, not even having to fly out for February casting finals in Los Angeles since she had executed so the yr earlier than. Precisely a yr later, Kellie discovered herself again in Fiji, and this time she wasn’t an alternate.

Not solely was Kellie now on the present, however she had a leg up on her Survivor 45 castmates — at the very least ones not named Bruce Perreault. “Each alternate who’s ended up on the present — who got here out, went residence, after which got here again — has stated it was a large benefit,” says Probst. “As a result of for them it is like, ‘I can breathe somewhat extra a second time as a result of I now know the tempo. I understand how many days we’re going be out right here. I do know what it is wish to not discuss. I understand how to look at different individuals and take notes. I’ve refined my notice course of. I understand how to select up on little clues, issues which may point out what is going on to occur within the sport that no one else can see.’ So there’s plenty of upside.”

Kellie backs up what the host is saying. “It was good for me to have an thought of the pacing of the week and what issues entailed. I wasn’t shocked by ‘Oh, now we have to get up at three within the morning to get on a ship.’ I used to be ready to take a seat on this sizzling sweaty tent for eight hours whereas I waited to go discuss to Dalton for a press interview.”

Whereas Kellie was a seasoned veteran of the method by the point she confirmed as much as chat with this EW author for Survivor 45, Austin Li Coon thought he was on the market for his personal future coaching. Like Kellie, he had utilized — greater than as soon as, really — and like Kellie, had obtained an invite to fly out to location as an alternate.

“Tremendous likable, sensible, excitable,” learn Probst’s notes from his interview with the contestant. “Understands the sport is about one factor: relationships. Will play the primary time like he is enjoying the second time. He grew up insecure, so he nonetheless has that underdog residing inside him. And that is very interesting by way of what we wish to do with youthful viewers by way of inspiring them. Youngsters, ladies, males — everybody will love Austin.”

Austin was in a enterprise graduate research class on the College of Chicago on Feb. 27 when he received the decision informing him of his Survivor destiny. He ran right into a convention room to take the decision from casting producer Penni Lane Clifton, and as quickly as he heard her voice and tone, he might inform it wasn’t excellent news. However when Clifton put Tannenbaum on the road to ship the decision that Austin had been chosen as an alternate, the hopeful figured that “for unhealthy information, it is the most effective unhealthy information I might get.”

Austin returned to class however was “utterly zoned out all the time” as a result of he solely had a day to mull over the alternate supply — a proposal that concerned final uncertainty by way of future plans and never figuring out whether or not he was placing his total life on maintain for only a week or over a month. Finally, Austin determined that even when he accepted and by no means really made it onto the present, “I nonetheless get to fulfill the solid of Survivor, which is tremendous cool. I nonetheless get to hang around with Jeff Probst for somewhat bit. I nonetheless get to go to Fiji and do all these actually cool issues. I actually would solely remorse it if I didn’t settle for it. And as soon as I had that clear in my thoughts, there was no different possibility for me.”

However that selection introduced different problems. Specifically, his research. Since Austin had no thought how lengthy he can be gone, he wasn’t positive if he ought to take the entire semester off or proceed being enrolled and danger paying “insanely costly” further tuition ought to he find yourself getting elevated on the final minute to the primary solid.

Austin’s mom — a large Survivor fan since day one of many present — suggested her son to not play the center floor, telling him he ought to both drop out of college and be an alternate or not be an alternate in any respect. For Austin, “I felt prefer it was too dangerous. Since I used to be an alternate, I needed to be like, ‘Okay, I in all probability should not drop out of college for a small likelihood of really enjoying the sport’. So I stayed in lessons.”

The 26-year-old Austin traveled to Fiji assuming the worst so he wouldn’t be dissatisfied, however even nonetheless couldn’t assist sometimes getting his hopes up, like when one of many solid members confirmed up an hour late to the airport: “I used to be like, ‘There are 9 guys, there are 10 ladies right here. That is wonderful!’ After which lastly that tenth man got here and I used to be devastated once more.”

He noticed different gamers writing of their journals obsessively, however couldn’t carry himself to do the identical. “I am like, ‘I suppose I ought to take notes'” recollects Austin. “I took some half-ass notes, however I used to be not , ‘That is who I wish to work with.’ I did not wish to let myself take into consideration being within the sport an excessive amount of as a result of I knew that there was a 90 % likelihood I wasn’t going to be within the sport and I did not wish to be all unhappy about it once more.”

Austin was extra confused than unhappy when contestant supervisor Michael Diefenbach (who helps shepherd the solid members from place to position and retains them from speaking to 1 one other) knowledgeable him that they wanted to take some further pictures in case he made it into the sport. “They place me overlooking this stunning valley jungle factor,” the participant remembers. “He takes his telephone out after which a helicopter goes above us, and he is like, ‘Okay, I simply received to attend whereas the helicopter’s going by.” And, I used to be like, ‘Wait? Why? Simply take the image!'”

However Diefenbach was not really taking an image. “He begins recording. I am considering he takes photos and I am simply smiling. And he is like, ‘So, you are on!’ I am like, ‘WHAT?!’ And at that time, I did not even know the right way to react. I keep in mind virtually falling down and placing my arms to my face and saying ‘Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!’ I type of froze as a result of 90 % of me was like, ‘That is the most effective day of my life!’ The opposite 10 % is like, ‘Oh my God, in three days I will be ravenous!'”

The solid was now full. After eight months, a pool of 25,000 candidates in the end narrowed down to simply 18 contestants. However earlier than Austin might totally and eventually agree to hitch because the concluding solid member of Survivor 45, he had one uncommon request after a most uncommon casting journey: “Can I inform my mother that I would like her to drop me out of college proper now? As a result of I am nonetheless registered.”