There have been many breakout Survivor cast members during the show’s forty-four season run, but there haven’t been many that have generated stronger reactions than Carolyn Wiger. The thirty-something mom from Minnesota did everything on the island in her own way with a unique and vibrant energy that propelled her to the final three. That energy also led to a lot of feedback from fans (and host Jeff Probst). Initially, some of that feedback was extremely negative, to the point where she told people to chill out on sending her mean DMs, but by the end of the season, a lot of the response was much more positive.
Following her exit, Carolyn was asked how she felt about all those social media takes and all the people who have reached out to her. Not surprisingly, she used a lot of words to talk about where her head was at, and ultimately, while she recognizes some of the negativity is there and she’s “not everybody’s cup of tea”, she’s way more focused on the positives, specifically all the people who have told her they felt seen after watching her. You can read a portion of her quote from the interview with Entertainment Weekly…
It feels good to hear from people who are like, ‘I feel so heard by you. I can relate to you.’ I’m not gonna lie, I even told Jeff, above all else, I just wanna be myself. I want to prove that I can play this game and be myself. I want to show people because watching, I could not relate to a lot of people. So, it was so meaningful for me to be able to do that… I never look at this as a game. I don’t. I alway say ‘this isn’t football.’ No offense. It’s not to me. So, it’s more than that. It’s so human. There are so many emotions involved. It will never be just a game to me. So, being able to be myself and reach people, it’s so overwhelming. I’m so grateful. So much gratitude. I love the messages I get, and I feel so guilty because I can’t write everyone back. I just want to talk to everybody and huge everybody because I’m not different from them. I’m a fan who applied. Being able to reach people, that is what I wanted. I wanted to reach people. And I know I’m not everybody’s cup of tea. I’m not reading crap online and all that. I’ll get stuff snuck in my head sometimes but to have the response I’ve gotten when I went in no expectations (except people saying) ‘shut her up.’ And it’s been great.
That quote is just the embodiment of everything that makes Carolyn Carolyn. She never put on a facade or was anything less than authentic to herself and her basic personality; yet, she still played the game well and played it hard. She showed you can be an emotional player who reacts strongly while simultaneously strategizing and scheming. She had some issues with certain cast members, but she seemed to bond with the majority, especially the so-called Tika 3 who have been dropping adorable videos and posts on social media of themselves hanging out and having the best time. It seems like they'll be friends for decades to come, even if they didn't vote for her.
I have no idea if Carolyn will ever come back and play Survivor again. I suspect she will, but whether she does or not, it seems clear she’s taken so much from the first experience and also given us a great example to learn from. She's been subjected to some of the most vile and negative things the internet can offer. Yet, she's chosen to focus on all those people who found a connection with her, and in the end, that makes all of it worth it.
