‘Survivor’ Runner-Up Announces He Is Becoming a Father

Instagram Woo Hwang announces he and his wife are expecting their first child on Instagram.

Two-time “Survivor” contestant Yung “Woo” Hwang made a surprise public announcement late on Tuesday: he and his wife Kristina are expecting their first child together, a baby boy. Here’s what you need to know:

Woo Made His Announcement on Instagram

On Tuesday, Woo made a post (above), as well as a series of stories, on Instagram revealing that he and his wife, Kristina Hamilton, are expecting their first child. In the post, Woo and Kristina are seen at a beach on the coast of California, Woo’s home state, mounting a lifeguard tower while showing off the silhouette of the two of them and Kristina’s baby bump against the sunset. They then shot out a blue confetti cannon, all against the backdrop of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” cover. In the caption, Woo simply wrote, “MOM + DAD.”

The “Survivor” community reacted positively to the announcement, with Woo’s “Cambodia” castmates Abi-Maria Gomes and Kelley Wentworth replying “Omg 😱 congratulations 💙,” and “This is so sweet 💕 Congrats to you both! 🥳” respectively. When a fan asked if Abi-Maria, who was known on “Survivor” for her sporadic and vindictive nature, if this meant she had forgiven Woo for voting for her (twice) on “Cambodia,” she responded, “water under the bridge 🌉.”

Xander Hastings, who competed on the most recent season, “Survivor 41,” also commented his congratulations, writing, “so happy for y’all thats amazing!!”

Woo first got engaged to his partner in August 2015, shortly after he came back from filming his second season of “Survivor” in Cambodia. They then got married about two years later, as evidenced by an Instagram post celebrating their two-year wedding anniversary in July 2017.

Woo Is a Fan-Favorite in the ‘Survivor’ Community

Woo, now 38, was 29 when he first appeared on “Survivor: Cagayan” in 2014. He was a significant character in the fan-favorite season, dominating the series of post-merge blindsides alongside his ally, Tony Vlachos. After the surprise announcement that they would be going to a final 2 rather than a final 3, Woo, after winning the final immunity challenge, made the fatal error by taking his friend and partner Tony over “Chaos Kass” McQuillen, who was widely disliked by the jury.

Woo lost to Tony in a landslide 8-1 vote, but was a fan favorite nonetheless, and was asked back one year later for the “Second Chance” season, in which he would have to be voted into the cast by fans. Unsurprisingly, he was, though he was voted out shortly before the merge that time. 

Since “Survivor,” Woo has actually opened up a gym in Huntington Beach, California, which specializes in martial arts training. As he said in a 2015 Parade interview, shortly after his second “Survivor” appearance, he opened his gym “with a couple of business partners, and that’s been going really well. I work as a personal trainer, as a strength-conditioning coach, as a martial arts instructor. I’ve been doing a lot of surfing. I’ve been enjoying life and living the dream.” Per Black Belt magazine, the institution is called HB Academy, and functions as an athletic training facility as well as a martial arts studio.

He also guest starred in an episode of Shonda Rhimes’ legendary ABC medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” in 2019, according to his IMDb page.

“Survivor” airs Wednesdays 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS.