Correction: An earlier version of this stated that Hunter McKnight was an alumnus of Mississippi State University. McKnight attended Mississippi College, not MSU.
CBS’s reality television show “Survivor” has gained millions of viewers over its impressive 46-season run. Hunter McKnight, a 28-year-old science teacher from French Camp, Mississippi, recently competed on season 46 of “Survivor,” making it to the merge and becoming the third jury member.
McKnight first became interested in Survivor during college when his roommate introduced him to the wonders of reality television.
“Growing up, it was reality TV, so my parents were like, no, no, no, we’re not going to do reality TV and so we never watched it,” McKnight said. “It wasn’t until college that my college roommate was a big fan of it he was like oh no you’ve got to watch this show.”
“I watched it, and I was like this is nothing like my parents thought it was and it was just a ton of fun. I was taking gross anatomy during the time so I spent a ton of time studying and working on cadavers, and the other half of the time we would come back and we would watch ‘Survivor.’ Basically, my whole final semester of college was watching Survivor and working on cadavers,” McKnight said.
McKnight explained that he was very interested in the challenges while watching the show, so much so that he began building the challenges for his students.
“I loved ‘Survivor’ so much, but I never really thought being on it was going to be an option, so I was going to do the next best thing– I was going to make ‘Survivor’ and have the kids participate in it,” he said.
Naturally, McKnight’s students loved his rendition of “Survivor.” So much in fact, that one of them sent in an application for him, which is what kickstarted McKnight’s eventual appearance on Survivor 46.
At the beginning of his season, McKnight arrives in Fiji and is immediately struck by the island’s beauty.
“Everything is beautiful,” he said with a sense of awe. “You get there, and you’re just so excited to be there but then you step out and you see what it looks like…for a second it takes you out of it.”
“When we land on the island, Nami tribe takes off, 100 miles an hour out of nowhere,” McKnight said. “Tevin was the one I connected with very quickly; we shared a similar work ethic, we wanted to build things and work on the shelter so that naturally grew into an alliance and friendship pretty quickly.”
While McKnight fostered friendships within his tribe, his impressive performances in the challenges put a huge target on his back. He became an increasing threat after the merge, and when he lost the immunity challenge with nine people left in the game, he was voted out at Tribal Council with an idol in his pocket.
McKnight comments on this moment, explaining that some things that seem so clear in the comfort of one’s own home can become mind-boggling when dealing with sleep deprivation and hunger.
“I remember at one point, my brain would not work at 100%. The show shows a clip of me writing stuff in the sand because it’s hard to keep track of names of people and things like that as you’re trying to remember who’s with who,” McKnight said. “I didn’t do a good job of hiding it, but you can see the confusion and paranoia in my brain throughout that whole last episode because I’m trying to remember and trying to think through everything. The signs that you see when you’re well-fed and rested, you aren’t picking up on those when you’re out there.”
Other than not playing his idol, which would have saved him from elimination, McKnight talked about his regret at his decision to downplay some of his strengths.
“I really wanted to downplay other parts of me. I couldn’t let there be any other reason for them to vote me out other than being good at challenges. And so I did suppress some of that because I didn’t want them to think I was strategic or outgoing and use that as a reason to vote me out,” McKnight said. “But going back, I think I would just throw it out the window and be fully myself…I played like I was dumb for so long that I actually was dumb when I didn’t play my idol.”
Regardless of how the season turned out, McKnight thoroughly enjoyed being on the show and encouraged anyone considering applying.
“Do you like the beach, do you like playing games, and do you like money? Those are the big three. It is an awesome opportunity to be out there with nothing to do but to literally survive and watch sunrises while playing a game and meeting some cool people. It’s an awesome experience,” McKnight said.
So, with nothing to do but watch sunrises with cool people and play the game of Survivor, McKnight did exactly that, making some amazing friends and enjoying the opportunity of a lifetime.
