East Tennessee man changed wedding plans to compete on ‘Survivor’ show
KNOXVILLE — Much of East Tennessee native Gavin Whitson’s life has revolved around the opportunity to compete on “Survivor.”
The 23-year-old native of Erwin, Tennessee, has watched the show since its first season and began sending in audition tapes at 18, the minimum age for “Survivor” castaways.
“I would make different email addresses just so I could send in more tapes,” Whitson said.
He started working out after high school to get in shape for the show.
In 2018, he moved up his wedding date, so he could compete on the show’s latest season, “Survivor: Edge of Extinction.”
“It was a month before the wedding and then I find out the date that I’m leaving is two days before my wedding,” Whitson said. “So now we’re in this huge predicament of ‘Am I going to go play “Survivor?” Am I not getting to get married, or are we going to move the wedding around?’”
After finding a new venue and caterer, Whitson married Carly, his girlfriend of five
years, on May 20, 2018, before he left for the show’s filming.
“It went great … I think everything happened for a reason,” he said. “I’m a firm believer of that because we ended up getting married on the day we started dating five years before. I think everything happens for a reason … You couldn’t have asked for a better wedding day.”
Whitson is one of 18 castaways who will compete for the grand prize of $1 million on “Survivor: Edge of Extinction.”
It premieres at 8 p.m. on CBS on Wednesday.
Whitson, who works as a YMCA program director, plans to use his Southern roots and accent as a part of his strategy on “Survivor.”
“I think based on people who’ve played in the past, typically the people with the Southern accent, they’re seen as honest, loyal, trustworthy, and I was going to play those characteristics up to these people, because I wanted to feed into their expectations,” he said.
“That way they thought they had me pegged, if that makes sense.”
Whitson said his time growing up in East Tennessee also helped him on the show because it taught him respect and how to communicate.
“I just think that’s one of my main things,” he said. “Just being an actual decent human being whether they show you respect or not. If you give it off to them, then that’s something you’re going to get in return.”
Each season boasts a different theme with multiple twists and turns, and “Survivor” 2019 is no different.
The first twist for castaways occurs on the “Edge of Extinction” premiere, where Whitson and the other new castaways find out four “Survivor” veterans will join them.
Those players include Joe Anglim (“Worlds Apart,” “Second Chance”), Aubry Bracco (“Kaoh Rong,” “Game Changers”), Kelley Wentworth (“Second Chance,” “San Juan del Sur”) and David Wright (“Millennials vs. Gen-X”).
Whitson is on the Kama tribe with Bracco, Anglim and six other newcomers.
“I think the first thing that happened was just the pit in my stomach dropped to my toes, because that’s something that I wasn’t expecting,” said Whitson, recalling when he first found out about former “Survivor” castaways.
“And those are four of the best players to ever play this game, so I have a ton of respect for them, but now it’s not necessarily the people I want to play against. … It was different, you know. It was a plot twist.”
Whitson will have to outlast the 17 other players to win the $1 million.
“A lot of people who get cast are fans, but this has been my dream since I was 8 years old,” Whitson said.