Maryanne Oketch Reveals Identity of New Boyfriend

Maryanne Oketch first made headlines in episode 2 of “Survivor 42,” after she declared her infatuation for Zach Wurtenberger, who unfortunately had been voted out the night prior.

After the 23-year-old revealed that she had never been in a relationship before, many fans hoped that the to-be winner would end up dating Zach, who she declared in the episode to be “picture perfect,” adding that he was “every type of white guy that I have a crush on.” However, that is not how it turned out.

After the season ended and Maryanne was declared the $1,000,000 winner, she revealed that she was in a relationship largely thanks to “Survivor,” but did not reveal the boy’s identity (though acknowledged that it was not Zach). Now, however, Maryanne has begun to post pictures of the two of them together.

Here’s what you need to know:

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Maryanne Shares Pictures of Her New Boyfriend

After the finale of “Survivor 42” aired last Wednesday and it was revealed Maryanne won in a landslide 7-1-0 vote, many fans were left speculating about her love life, and whether she and Zach, who seemed to engage a great deal with the idea online for months, would ever end up going out.

As it turned out, however, Maryanne ended up “very close friends” with Zach, but ended up in her first relationship with someone else, a relationship which began because a fan of the show reached out to her around the time episode 2 (in which she declared her crush) aired. She did not reveal his identity, but said that he was similar to Zach in being a “skinny white guy.”

“He was more personable, so we got to chatting and then, you know, we basically started talking and we never stopped,” Maryanne told EW last week. “He actually was here for the finale party. So he got to experience that with me.”

On Tuesday, however, Maryanne publicly revealed the identity of her boyfriend as Konner Howell (no relation to Chanelle Howell), a user interface/user experience video game designer at Oxide Games, a game studio. Though Oxide Games is based in Maryland, Howell, like Maryanne, is Canadian, and apparently resides in the Greater Toronto Area with her.

In an Instagram post Tuesday revealing Howell as her boyfriend, Maryanne quoted “Survivor: Cook Island’s” Billy Garcia: “But my prize isn’t even the million dollars.  My prize is… I fell in love in this game.”

Zach, appropriately, responded to the post with a comment reading, “Suddenly my dms are open.”

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Howell Has Been Rooting for Maryanne Since the Beginning

On the same day, Maryanne also posted a collage of the two of them on Twitter, declaring that the two “[met] on Twitter because he saw my cast photo on the show we both love.”

To this, Zach responded, “My lawyer Daniel Strunk will be contacting you shortly to discuss alimony.”

Unsurprisingly, Howell has voiced his excitement for “Survivor,” and season 42 in particular, for a while. On March 9, the day of the season premiere (and before he had reached out to Maryanne romantically), he tweeted, “Maryanne is already iconic ,” adding the hashtag, #marystanne. The week later, when it appeared as though Maryanne was on the chopping block along with Marya Sherron (who ended up going home that night), he tweeted, “The way I need Maryanne not to go home tonight;” a tweet which Maryanne liked.

Maryanne also liked a tweet of his supporting her the following month, when she and Drea Wheeler spoke out against racism and subconscious biases in “Survivor” in episode 9. “So much respect for Maryanne and Drea tonight,” Howell wrote.

“Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS. Season 43 will be premiering in September 2022.

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