Is Survivor The Gayest Reality Show After Drag Race? 137 Queer Contestants As Aussie “King George” Comes Out
On Friday, February 03 George Mladenov from Australian Survivor Brains V Brawn and Survivor Heroes V Villains came out as gay. Mladenov was a guest on the Kyle And Jackie O Show where he was asked directly about his sexuality and whether he had been outed on the show. He told listeners that he is gay and that he believed it was already “common knowledge”, reports Star Observer.
DRAG RACE ASIDE, IS SURVIVOR THE GAYEST REALITY TV SHOW?
George is the Bankstown Labor Party President and has been on two seasons of Australian Survivor, making it to runner-up in Brains V Brawn. He is currently appearing in the Heroes V Villains season.
On the Kyle And Jackie O Show, Jackie asked, “George, did you get outed on the show the other day when Shonee said, ‘Oh, I can’t lose my only gay’? Why did she say that? Are you gay?” His response was an even and tempered, “Of course”. He went on to say he thought that was public knowledge.
Mladenov acknowledging his queerness is not breaking any glass ceilings in terms of gay Survivor contestants, but it definitely adds to a growing list of LGBTQIA+ players who have graced the program’s 23-year runtime.
The first ever winner of Survivor USA was Richard Hatch, an openly gay man. Survivor is a worldwide franchise with shows running in more than 25 countries. Something about a show involving remote islands, highly physical challenges and roughing it out in nature seems to have an appeal for the LGBTQIA+ community as 137 queer people have competed thus far, reports Survivor Wiki.
Season 41 of Survivor in the US had three LGBTQIA+ contestants competing; Genie Chen, Evvie Jagoda, and Ricard Foye, reports Meaww. Something about reality competition shows tend to attract queer people; whether it be highly physical shows like Survivor or popularity-based social experiments like Big Brother (513 LGBTQIA+ contestants to date). Maybe we just love the spotlight.
In any case, we wish King George Of Bankstown good luck in Heroes V Villains!
