CBS’s long-running series Survivor, hosted by Jeff Probst, welcomes a new batch of cast members (18 to be exact) for Season 44. They will be battling to win the Sole Survivor title and $1 million.
Outwit, Outplay, Outlast
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First on the list is 25-year-old tech investor Claire Rafson. Rafson, who is a queer black Jewish woman, has always been called ‘the odd one out.’ To fit in and succeed, she has long mastered how to play the game.
Next up is Matt Blankinship, 27. The California native is a security software engineer and tells anyone who’d listen that he is made for the show. He failed once to get in, but the second time’s the charm. He believes his setbacks in life will fuel him to outlast every single player.
Then we have Carolyn Wiger, a 35-year-old drug counselor looking to share her story of hope and recovery. She has worked hard to become the strong and resilient person she is right now, and she’s ready for the game to try and break her.
Fourth is Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho, 36, a salon owner from Puerto Rico. Joining Survivor has been his dream since he was 13, and he’s here to prove that he has what it takes to be its last-standing player.
Lauren Harpe takes the next slot. She’s a 31-year-old elementary school teacher from Texas. As a single parent, she knows she’s ready to take on this experience of a lifetime.
Up next is NYC Firefighter Danny Masa. The 32-year-old doesn’t believe being a firefighter prepared him – or anything else for that matter – for what’s ahead in Survivor. It’s instinct kicking in, and he’s banking on that.
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The seventh competitor on the island is 43-year-old Puerto Rican Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt. She’s a first-generation Latinx in the US, and her adaptability has served her well in becoming a successful engineering manager in the country. And it has prepared her well to win the title.
NASA Engineering student Carson Garrett believes that age does not define success. The 20-year-old, versed in the evolution of game theory within Survivor, is excited to see how he’d fare in the strategic play.
Maddy Pomilla, 28, a charity projects manager, is ninth on the list. The classic middle child, a social, independent, and problem solver, is more than ready to take the plunge.
Forty-six-year-old insurance agent Bruce Perrault thinks that being a husband and father (after being abandoned as a child) has prepared him well enough for the challenge.
Taking the 11th spot is Sarah Wade, 27, a Chicago-based management consultant. After her best friend died, she was determined to pursue her dreams. And since she’s been a fan of the show since the beginning, she decided it’s the perfect timing.
The adventurous 43-year-old barbershop owner Matthew Grinstead-Mayle is taking his shot to be the Sole Survivor. He has always been outdoorsy, so living on an island is just another Tuesday for him.
Next up is Helen Li, a 29-year-old product manager. And she’s in to experience the ultimate game of deception.
The surgical podiatrist, Josh Wilder, 34, will use his physician experience to ace the social gameplay. More than winning, he joined Survivor to prove to himself and to every Black boy and girl that they can do anything they put their minds to.
Then we have 35-year-old yogi Jaime Lynn Ruiz. And her greatest weapon to outwit everyone in Survivor? Her decade-long experience in corporate America. Ultimately, they’re all about navigating different personalities and building winning teams.
Counting Down to the Last Three
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The sixteenth player in the game is a 25-year-old law student from Canada named Kane Fritzler. He’s a gamer through and through, and he’s confident that he has the skills to outplay every one of his competitors.
The second to the last is Frannie Marin, a 23-year-old research coordinator from Minnesota. Her survival tactic is founded upon her five years working in an intense, high-traffic nail salon where she had to balance all the needs of 20 Vietnamese women twice her age and their customers.
More impressive is that she didn’t even speak the language! If she survived chaotically screaming adults, then she can survive Survivor.
Rounding up the whole cast is 30-year-old security specialist Brandon Cottom. The man may not be a survivalist, but he has made it into the NFL, and he’s definitely used to overcoming obstacles, so he knows he’s ready for Survivor.
Meet the LGBTQ+ Players
This season of Survivor is taking on inclusivity with sincerity (and not just another clickbait for the show). Aside from Claire Rafson, Carolyn Wiger, Frannie Marin, Josh Wilder, Matthew Grinstead-Mayle, and Yamil Arocho are also out as queer.
Check out Survivor’s Season 44 teaser and get a glimpse of the cast members as they hit the beach and start their 26-day journey of physical challenges, moral dilemmas, strategies, alliances, and betrayals.
