Difficult personality types pushing the buttons of those around them are part and parcel to the game of Survivor. From Russel Hantz to Shirin Oskooi to Mike Holloway, these players usually end up creating some of the most memorable moments in the show’s history, but it comes at the cost of not being very popular. In Season 42, for example, some fans (and castmates) might not be super pumped about Maryanne Oketch in particular. Nevertheless, she seemingly found a true fan in one former Disney Channel star.
The 24-year-old seminary student is a somewhat divisive figure in Survivor 42. On the one hand, her exuberance on the show has been mocked by some on social media. Yet, on the other hand, there is a subset actually rooting for Maryanne Oketch to prevail over the naysayers, including Edge of Extinction fan-favorite Rick Devens. And amazingly, she has also found support from actor Michael Seater, who is most known for his lead role on Disney Channel’s early 2000s series Life with Derek. Check out their in-person meet-up from Oketch’s Instagram here:
The surprise appearance of Michael Seater on Maryanne Oketch’s feed is kind of giving me life, and clearly giving her life as well. Disney Channel fans from that specific generation of viewership will remember Life with Derek – which ran from 2005 to 2010 – very well. Most famously, the tween-friendly channel had no problem absolutely committing to a central step-brother/step-sister sexual tension storyline in the show, with Seater being the step-bro Derek. Oketch called meeting the man, the myth, the legend himself all her “childhood dreams” coming true, and he in turn hilariously commented on the post, “Never not stanning you.”
It's just a funny, weird occurrence made funnier by the fact that Maryanne Oketch is perhaps best known herself at this point for outing her crush on Survivor 42’s Zach Wurtenberger. She compared him to “every type of white guy” she's ever liked. (Which, subsequently, prompted the since-ousted Wurtenberger to react with his own kind of proclamation on Instagram.) I’m curious to know whether Oketch in fact considers Michael Seater as the OG white boy of her dreams?
Whatever the case may be, it’s clear right now in Survivor 42 that Maryanne Oketch’s tribemates are as equally at their wits end with her as some fans are. In the most recent episode, Jonathan Young went fishing for hours – just to get away from her constant chatter around camp. Their team’s success at the immunity challenge in fact narrowly saved her from elimination, because Young was throwing her name on the chopping block big time.
It's not a good sign for the future of her game. Next week is the merge, and as we know from Season 41, the hourglass twist potentially rearing its ugly head again at the same juncture could prove disastrous for Maryanne Oketch. She’s an easy first mark – nobody would probably mind ousting the “annoying little sister” who can’t stop gabbing. But if the power actually lands in her own hands, well, that’s a horse of a different color, as last season’s winner Erika Casupanan knows all too well.
Too bad Maryanne Oketch didn’t have her #1 Disney stan in Fiji. It would’ve probably made things easier. Stay tuned for how the polarizing player continues to fare, with new episodes of Survivor 42 airing on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS, as part of the 2022 TV schedule!
