The stakes have always been high on Survivor with the winner of the game earning $1 million. For Survivor 48 castaway David Kinne, the stakes were even higher.
In addition to the money, David, 39, was playing to keep his girlfriend in his life. And when he was voted out, as revealed during the episode that aired Wednesday night, April 23, she left him — something he said would happen in a previous episode.
“A few weeks after she found out I didn’t win, she was out the door,” David told Entertainment Weekly in a story published Thursday, April 24. “So as many people probably laughed at that whole thing, it was unfortunately true.”
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David was open on the show about his financial situation, telling viewers he was living in a trailer outside his dad’s house. He said his girlfriend threatened to leave him if he did not bring home the $1 million.
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But not to worry — David is dating again and is happy.
“Things are going now,” he continued. “I’m dating the most incredible woman. She’s phenomenal. I’m truly feeling blessed right now. So yeah, I’m almost glad I didn’t win a million dollars on that.”
He added in a conversation with the New York Post that he has moved out of the trailer and is living in Ohio.
“I’m working as a jump pilot,” he said. “So I’m flying skydivers for the season. And so I am building hours towards the career, getting in the airlines, starting that family one day that I truly want.”
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Though David came up short on Survivor, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. He worked tirelessly to keep his alliance close, but once he got the sense that Kyle Fraser was working closely with Kamilla Karthigesu, who was not in the alliance, he began to lose his grip.
He sensed that he wasn’t completely safe during that day’s immunity challenge and lost another intense one-on-one battle of endurance with Joe Hunter.
“I guess you could say I lost focus for a quick moment,” he said. “But I had a sinking feeling that it wasn’t just the challenge that I had lost in that moment.”
By the time tribal council came around, his worst fears were confirmed when his own alliance voted him out.
“The first time I saw my name, I knew it was over,” he recalled. “Because why else would anybody be voting for me? The people on the outs wouldn’t be voting for me if they didn’t think that there was the majority, and the majority wouldn’t be there unless my allies had turned on me.”
Survivor airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
Us Weekly
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