‘Survivor’s’ Ciera Eastin Had a Terrifying Encounter During ‘Second Chances’

CBS Ciera Eastin on 'Survivor: Cambodia — Second Chance'

There are no shortage of animals in the various Survivor filming locations, but by and large, the animals leave the contestants alone and vice versa. Well… almost always. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, two-time castaway Andrew Savage recalled a nighttime animal encounter that made Ciera Eastin scream so loudly that host Jeff Probst might have heard her in his bunkhouse.

Ciera Cuddled Something She Thought Was Her Cat… It Was Not Her Cat

Savage said that during Survivor: Cambodia — Second Chance, fellow Bayon tribemate Ciera Eastin cuddled up to something in her sleep and was in for a rude awakening.

“Back at home, Ciera Eastin’s favorite pet is a cat and the cat sleeps in her bed at night. On day one or two in Cambodia, Ciera was cold and decided to sleep on the ground next to the fire to stay warm,” recalled Savage. “In the middle of the night, Ciera is groggy and half asleep and begins to pet her cat who is cuddling and sleeping under her arm. Suddenly, Ciera fully wakes up and realizes, much to her horror, that her lovable cat is actually a huge rat that had snuggled under her arm to stay warm. Ciera let out a scream that probably woke up Probst, who was sleeping many miles and islands away.”

He added, “Needless to say, Ciera didn’t sleep on the ground anymore!”

Based on Eastin’s Instagram, a photo she posted just a few months before filming “Second Chance” shows a beautiful Siamese cat named “Townes” to be the culprit behind the mistaken identity with the rat.

Eastin also revealed in her exit interview from that season that she and Savage did not get along in the Ponderosa, which is where the jury stays while the game continues to be played. She said that Savage was not overly fond of her at that time, but she just “killed him with kindness.”

“People handle the game extremely, um, differently. That was a lesson to me – just because I’m able to put everything into different compartments doesn’t mean that Andrew could do that,” Eastin told People. “So I just killed him with kindness. I’d be like, ‘Savage! Good morning! Want some coffee? How’d you sleep?’ I just kept being nice to him, and we were eventually able to bury the hatchet a little. We’re just very different people. He’s very bro.”

Savage Also Revealed That He Was ‘Deeply Haunted’ By Something From ‘Pearl Islands’

On Survivor: Pearl Islands, the show introduced a twist that nowadays seems downright quaint, but at the time, it was highly controversial for the show — the Outcasts tribe.

On that season, the first six castaways that were voted off formed the “Outcasts” tribe. At nearly three weeks into the game, they were allowed to play in a three-way immunity challenge and if they beat either or both of the other tribes, they got to send one or two people back into the game and the tribes that lost to the Outcasts had to go to Tribal Council.

Well, the Outcasts beat both tribes and all of a sudden, two ousted contestants, Burton Roberts and Lillian Morris, were back in the game. It is something that Savage said haunted him for a long time after he played.

“After my first season, ‘Pearl Islands,’ there was a long and difficult adjustment period. I was deeply haunted by the Outcast twist and the circumstances under which I left the game and how my adventure of a lifetime ended,” said Savage, adding that it took until “Second Chance” for him to have “finally killed the ‘Pearl Islands’ demons after over a decade.”

Savage also said that “hell yeah” he would play again if the show came calling, but he already feels “incredibly fortunate” to have gotten to play twice.

He also said that he and Jeremy Collins, who won the “Second Chance” season, have gotten incredibly close outside of the show and that their families hang out a lot. Savage is also still in touch with what he calls “The Morgan Five” — his Morgan tribemates Osten Taylor, Ryan Opray, Tijuana Bradley, and Darrah Johnson.

Survivor will most likely not return until fall 2021 with season 41, which should begin filming in April.

READ NEXT: ‘Survivor’ Winner Still Gets Hate Mail From Viewers