Survivor Fun Facts

• The oldest contestant was Rudy Boesch. He was 72 when he appeared on the first season, “Pulau Tiga”, aka Borneo, and 75 when he did it all again on “All Stars”. By comparison, the youngest contestant was Jeff Wilson. He was a contestant on the tenth installment, Pulau. Jeff was only 21 when he became a castaway.
• Phil Keoghan, who later went on to host “The Amazing Race” was also considered for the gig as “Survivor” host.
• Rupert Boneham has been on the most tribes during his two stints as a castaway. On “Pearl Islands” he was a member of Drake, Morgan – he was kidnapped as part of a ‘reward’ and Balboa. During the “All-Stars” season, Rupert was a member of all four tribes at one point. (The tribe names were Saboga, Chapera, Mogo Mogo and Chabogo Mogo in case you were wondering.) This brings his total to seven.
• Stephenie LaGrossa was the only individual remaining on the Ulong tribe when she finally merged with Koror. (That’s the first and only time so far that this has happened on “Survivor”!) Koror didn’t even change its name. She also holds the records for attending the most Tribal Councils in both her season (15) and as a career castaway (28).
• Terry Dietz (“Panama”), Colby Donaldson (“Australian Outback”) and Tom Westman (“Palau”) each won 5 individual immunity challenges. Dietz holds the record for most individual challenges won with 9. Kelly Wiglesworth, the runner up in “Borneo”, won the most consecutive individual challenges. She was victorious a total of five times.
• Brian Heidik, the winner of the “Thailand” season, used to be a softcore porn actor. His films have included “Chick Street Fighter” and “The Virgins of Sherwood Forest”. He’s also done guest spots on “Baywatch Nights” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.”
• Danni Boatwright, the winner of “Guatemala”, is a former beauty queen. She won the Miss Kansas Teen USA title in 1991 and was second runner-up for the national crown. In 1996, she was Miss Kansas and finished as the first runner-up to Ali Landry. Danni also appeared on “Star Search” when she was 17 in the spokesmodel competition.
• Michael Skupin, who fell into the fire – hands first - in the “Australian Outback” and had to be airlifted off the show, was the first contestant to leave as a result of an injury. The unlucky castaway suffered another “Survivor”-related injury after he got home. He was pepper-sprayed by PETA members in June 2001 because he had killed a pig while in the Outback. Yeee-ouch!
• Jenna Morasca, the winner in the “Amazon”, never had her torch snuffed out in two seasons. During her stint as an “All-Star”, the lovely lady left to be with her mother who was dying of cancer. She also holds the distinction of being the youngest winner on the series. She was 21 when she took top honors in the “Amazon.”

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