‘Survivor 47’ preview: Sam Phalen is a lifelong Ozzy stan who’s ‘not afraid to show a little waterworks’ [WATCH]
“Survivor 47” fans, it’s time to meet Sam Phalen, a 24-year-old sports reporter from Nashville, Tennessee. “Everybody wants to find an idol, but idols are like curses now, so individual immunity works just fine for me,” he declares in CBS’s preview video. “That one I don’t have to overthink.” Watch Sam’s intro above at the 15:21 mark.
The lifelong “Survivor” stan recalls, “My first memory is me and my brother sitting cross-legged as [Jeff Probst] is reading the votes in ‘Survivor: Cook Islands.’ We’re just chanting, ‘Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!’ [for Oscar Lusth], as Jeff reveals the last vote: [Yul Kwon]. Tears. We are like distraught. You would have thought our dog died.”
Sam continues on, “Sports and ‘Survivor’ were two of my things growing up and I hit the age where you kind of realize, ‘Okay, not going to be a professional athlete for a living. How else can I get involved?’ Sports reporting gave me an outlet. I think in sports reporting, you have to know how to stroke an ego, how to ask the right question to get information out of people. I’ve kind of fine-tuned those skills.”
As for his game strategy, the Tennessee resident details, “I’ve always been a little bit more than just the sports guy. I did musical theater. I did drama. I wrote poetry. As soon as you’ve made a connection with me, the vulnerability comes flowing out. So I’m not afraid to show a little waterworks sometimes.”
Sam Phalen is one of the six contestants competing on the yellow Gata tribe this year, along with Anika Dhar, Andy Rueda, Jon Lovett, Rachel LaMont and Sierra Wright. See the cast photos in our gallery below.
The 47th season of “Survivor” will premiere on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 with a two-hour episode, followed by 90-minute episodes thereafter. Four-time Emmy winner Jeff Probst returns to host and produce the long-running reality TV show, which films in Mamanuca Islands, Fiji. Make your predictions at Gold Derby right now to let us know who YOU think will win and who will be voted out each week.
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