Survivor changed the TV world forever when it debuted back in 2000, and it remains one of the best reality shows on the air. The competition series (which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription) has gone through a ton of changes over the years, including some controversial format changes. Case in point: the 13th season Cook Islands, which separated tribes based on race. And legendary players Parvati Shallow and Ozzy Lusth recently reflected on being on that cast back in the day.
Ozzy and Parvati have been on some of the best Survivor seasons, with the latter even winning Survivor's million-dollar prize for Micronesia. But they both made their debuts in Cook Islands, and in Variety's story about the show's history, they broke down the show's controversial focus on race. Shallow recalled her first reaction, saying:
When I got out there, I was like, ‘This can’t be legal.’
The cast of Cook Islands didn't know that Survivor was going to have this change of format, with the tribes separated into four tribes based on their ethnic background. It's a concept that seems truly insane through a 2026 lens, but that wasn't necessarily the case when the season aired back in 2006.
While Parvati was put on the Rarotonga tribe with white folks, Ozzy was on Aitutaki with Latin contestants. Although Cook Islands was originally segregated and pitted racial groups against each other, these lines became more blurred thanks to swaps and even the chance to mutiny and change tribes. Lusth recalled how things went down during that wild season, offering:
The race wars that didn’t end up being race wars. It was more just that Survivor was ahead of the game when it came to DEI casting. It just was a diverse cast.
Points were made. While in the New Era Survivor made specific goals to make casts more diverse, that wasn't the case in the early days. And as a result, oftentimes people of color were targeted, highlighting the implicit bias that some folks had. But Cook Islands' controversial format resulted in way more Black, Asian, and Latin contestants being cast than the show's previous seasons.
Despite Parvati's initial reaction to the Cook Islands twist, she went on to share why she actually ended up being a fan of the format change. In some ways she echoed Ozzy, saying:
Everyone was so unique and interesting, and it made this very colorful, explosive show. I think we need a little Cook Islands flair in life at large right now, because people are stuck in these weird, polarized mindsets.
She's not wrong. While the twist might feel icky, Cook Islands was an iconic season that ended up introducing a ton of iconic players to the franchise. In addition to Parvati and Ozzy, Season 13 also introduced us to returning players like Jonathan Penner, Candice Woodcock, and Yul Kwon. Plus, who could forget Billy Garcia saying he and Candice were in love... despite being on different tribes and not really interacting much. History was made, people!
Survivor airs new episodes Wednesdays on CBS as part of the 2026 TV schedule. If you want to go back and re-watch Cook Islands, it's streaming over on Paramount+... complete with its controversial twist.
