Getty Malcolm Freberg in 2013.
As the newest season of “Survivor” is nearing its midpoint, and as host Jeff Probst shared with Variety that the show will likely not have returning players back for a while, fans are wondering: Is it true? And if returning players are ever asked back again, who will come along for the ride?
Malcolm Freberg, a three-time contestant who is regarded as one of the show’s most well-rounded and most popular players, wrote an editorial for Insider weighing in on the answers to his most-asked questions, including whether “Survivor” is real and if he will ever return to the show.
Freberg’s Definitive Answer to Whether the Show Is Real
YouTubeMalcolm Freberg in an interview after “Survivor: Game Changers” (2016).
Freberg, who has played on three different seasons for a combined total of 79 days, would know well whether the poor living conditions fans see on camera are genuine or not.
The former contestant, who described this in his Insider editorial as “definitely” the most popular question he gets, answered definitively: “The short answer is: Yes, ‘Survivor’ is real.”
He explained, “We are legitimately dropped on a remote island with minimal supplies and fend for ourselves. I’ve got the scars — both physical and emotional — to prove it.”
Freberg’s statement echoes other contestants’ comments on the reality of the show, with one contestant, Kellyn Bechtold, telling Men’s Health she had “multiple parasites, hookworms and tapeworms” after her experience on the show, and another, Andrea Boehlke, saying she spent an entire week in the hospital with a severe kidney infection after coming home.
He did say, however, that sometimes the editing can make things look easier than they are. When it came to finding immunity idols, for instance, “It took a while to find idols — much longer than ‘Survivor’ can realistically show in an hourlong episode.”
He explained, “It sometimes looks like contestants wake up on day 10, decide they’re in trouble at the next tribal, and then spontaneously decide to look for an idol and find it moments later. That’s not how it works.” He said it can take “hours and days” to arduously search for immunity idols, a search which, naturally, is edited for TV.
Freberg Answers Whether He Will Return for Another Season of ‘Survivor’
GettyMalcolm Freberg and Lisa Whelchel at the “Survivor: Philippines” finale in 2012.
Freberg, who is still fairly active on Twitter and Instagram, first played “Survivor” nine years ago, in season 25: “Philippines.” He was so popular among fans in his first season that he almost won the “Fan Favorite” award – a $100,000 award whose winner is chosen via public vote during the airing of the season – losing to famed actress Lisa Whelchel by less than 1%, the closest margin in the history of the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He came back the very next season — “Survivor: Caramoan” — where, although he placed ninth, he won that season’s Fan Favorite award by a similar margin, according to NJ.com .
Fans are still enthusiastic about Freberg today, with his 2021 EW “Quarantine Questionnaire” being very well-received on Reddit. One user commented, “Malcolm is a fantastic social player. He could feasibly win a season without going on an immunity run.”
Another popular comment read, “I feel like for a reality TV producer, the grand slam contestant is someone who is a) extremely attractive, b) funny and effortlessly engaging/entertaining, c) likable and charming that the audience will want to root for, and d) intelligent and willing to play hard. CBS struck absolute gold with Malcolm. … There have to be other examples over the years, but man, talk about people that hit and exceed every single mark.”
Another user described him as a “legend” who is “humble and self aware.”
Given his lasting popularity, Freberg wrote on Insider that he is still approached by fans in the streets, with the second-most popular question (after whether the show is real) being whether he will return.
He said that, though contestants’ answers vary, most will “trend toward yes,” including his own. “When you think about it,” he explained, “CBS basically rings you up and offers you a chance to win $1 million by playing a fun game in one of the most beautiful places on earth.”
He said that, despite how his life has changed and how he has grown in the years since his last appearance, “It’s difficult to simply say yes when the call comes, but it’s always hard to say no.”
Whether or not Freberg will be invited back for a fourth time is an open question, but at least for now, “Survivor” is sticking with new faces. As Probst put it in an interview with Variety, “For right now, where ‘Survivor’ needs to go is with fresh faces, fresh voices, players who are of the moment, players who can let us watch them and learn.”