Survivor is back for a brand new season, and the very first episode is queer AF!
Not only is gay Pod Save America host Jon Lovett one of the contestants, but one of the other cast members came out to him during the premiere.
The first episode of Survivor 47 starts with host and showrunner Jeff Probst standing on a beach in Fiji, talking about the rules of the game, and pretending he doesn’t know who Lovett is by calling him the “guy on the end.”
Later in the episode, Lovett ends up in the yellow tribe — where all of his teammates admit they’ve never heard his podcast —where another castaway comes out to him on national TV in the most casual way imaginable.
“I’m bi,” Andy Rueda told Jon.
“I’m gay,” Lovett responded.
We love to see people bravely living loud and proud. And what better time to come out to the world as bi than Bisexual Awareness Week!
But Lovett and Rueda aren’t the only LGBTQ+ contestants; Teeny Chirichillo is also queer. While they haven’t talked about it on the show yet, Chirichillo told the Patch that being nonbinary gives them a competitive advantage over the other castaways, who are all vying for the chance to win $1 million.
“Growing up closeted, I had to learn to socially maneuver and keep attention off myself, which is a skill important for Survivor,” they said. “My secret weapon is having masculine and feminine attributes, which help me to blend and get along with everyone.”
During the first episode, Chirichillo also described their own outfit as “aggressively scarecrow” — we’re rooting for anyone with that kind of wit and self-awareness!
Although the reality competition is still overwhelmingly straight, it’s encouraging that there are three members of the LGBTQ+ community repping this season. There have been other queer contestants in the past, including Yamil Arocho, who became the first out gay contestant of color to win back last year, and even more who have come out after their stint on Survivor, like Parvati Shallow and Brett LaBelle.
While Rueda’s coming out story is beautiful, he otherwise had a pretty rough first episode, with other Survivor contestants worrying that his outbursts make him a liability, Sportskeeda reports. Rueda also admitted that he would betray Lovett to stay in the game, which didn’t sit well with the other members of his team.
Hopefully, he’ll turn things around soon so we can get a bisexual winner of Survivor!
Andy Rueda
Age: 31
Hometown: Buffalo, New York
Current Residence: Brooklyn, New York
Occupation: AI research assistant
Jon Lovett
Age: 42
Hometown: Long Island, New York
Current Residence: Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Pod Save America host
Teeny Chirichillo
Age: 24
Hometown: Manahawkin, New Jersey
Current Residence: Manahawkin, New Jersey
Occupation: Freelance writer