The 51st season of "Survivor" premieres Wednesday night on CBS. The reality show, which debuted in 2000, was famously first won by Newport native Richard Hatch.
This year’s season, shot in April but with results under wraps until the finale broadcast in December, features three Rhode Islanders who traveled to Fiji to vie for the $1 million prize:
- Aaliyah Puglia, 24, a chef who lives in Providence
- Eric Macksoud, 34, a mental health counselor originally from Lincoln
- Rob Antonson, 40, an airline gate agent from Cumberland
Ocean State Media morning host Luis Hernandez spoke with one of the local contestants, Providence-based chef Aaliyah Puglia, about her experience on the show.
Interview highlights
On what to expect from "Survivor" this season
Aaliyah Puglia: I feel like I am super excited about this season. The cast is absolutely phenomenal, and I'm just really grateful and excited to be a part of such a groundbreaking and hopefully really juicy, creative and chaotic season.
On how she first became interested in being on "Survivor"
Puglia: I got interested in 2020 when it was, kind of, the COVID season and it first came on Netflix. I watched "Survivor: Cagayan" (season 28) first, and I was just like, I've always been into competition reality, and I had never heard of "Survivor" before until that point. So then I just clicked it on, and I was like, "Oh, let me just, like, casually watch," and then I just went down the rabbit hole of the binge. I was watching "Survivor" straight for months. That's all I was doing was just watching, watching, watching. And then I just got tired of it, and I was like, "I'm just going to apply because I have to go." I was tired of watching. I wanted to play.
On applying to be on "Survivor"
Puglia: I mean, you just send in a two-minute clip like they suggest, and you just put yourself out there, and I think really casually. People, I think, overthink it. Just put on the camera and start talking, and hopefully what you say stands out to them.
I literally just set up my phone in my living room and I just talked about my life. I just talked about what I do and how I cook and how I think that those kind(s) of attributes of my daily life apply to how I would play "Survivor."
On the experience of being on "Survivor"
Puglia: The allure of "Survivor" is that it's everyday people going out there, you know? It's not anybody who's famous or rich or whatever. It's literally someone you can run into at the grocery store playing "Survivor." So I feel like that alone gives you confidence. I mean, why not just put yourself out there and see what you can do?
I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity to test myself on such a scale, to put myself in front of public people and just be in such an uncomfortable environment, and be brave enough to just step foot on the island and be brave enough to even apply and submit a video and go through the whole process. I'm just grateful to have had that confidence to do that.
