2022 Graduate Debuts as Contestant on Survivor
When Teeny Chirichillo tunes in to the 47th season premiere of Survivor on CBS at 8 p.m. Wednesday, they will be fulling a dream.
After faithfully watching every episode of the show since the fifth grade, Chirichillo will no longer by watching just as a fan of the iconic reality television hosted by Jeff Probst. The 2022 Rutgers graduate will be watching the show as a contestant.
Chirichillo is starring as one of the show’s latest 18 “castaways” competing for the title of “Sole Survivor” and $1 million in prize money.
“Just getting on the show was beyond my wildest expectations,” said Chirichillo, who identifies as nonbinary and graduated from Rutgers University-New Brunswick’s School of Communication and Information with a bachelor’s degree in communication and creative writing.
“Stepping out of the boat onto that beach in (the Mamanuca Islands of) Fiji and meeting Jeff and my castmates felt like stepping out of a daydream I’ve had every single day of the last 24 years of my life,” they said.
Anyone who thinks Chirichillo is exaggerating has not met the gregarious 24-year-old who works as a freelance writer and lives in Manahawkin. Introduced to Survivor by their mom, Chirichillo said the show’s competitive nature – members vote each other off the island one by one – instantly resonated with them.
“The first time I saw the show I was just obsessed with the social politics and how strangers have to make alliances and deals,” they said. “I’ve always been extremely outgoing and social, and I thought, ‘What they are doing in Survivor is what I’m doing in fifth grade!’ I know how to scheme and get people to like me and tell me their crushes.”
Chirichillo said their gender identity journey gave them an edge when shooting the audition video and later as a competitor.
“Growing up closeted, I had to learn to socially maneuver and keep attention off myself, which is a skill important for Survivor,” they said. “My secret weapon is having masculine and feminine attributes, which help me to blend and get along with everyone.”
Their “gender process” has been a gradual one, with Chirichillo slowly coming out by their senior year at Rutgers. Though a proud member of the LGBTQ community, they said they are not attached to specific pronouns and made it clear they were comfortable when fellow castmates and Probst referred to them as “she,” “they” or “he.”
Chirichillo has always found a way to apply Survivor tactics to everyday life. Before running for class president in high school, they joined the theater program to cozy up with the thespian crowd and tried out for sports to get to know the jocks, joining as many social groups as possible to win votes.
“Even at Rutgers, I had friends in the Greek system, I was around people who presented themselves in the world differently than I did,” they said. “All that exposure to so many different people was the best preparation for getting on the show.”
Chirichillo considers transferring to Rutgers from the University of Rhode Island during their sophomore year in January 2020 as one of the best decisions of their life, and cannot help but talk up their scarlet pride to anyone who will listen.
“The very first week I spent at Rutgers, I felt a sense of community that I’ve never experienced,” they said. “The New Brunswick College Avenue campus is a village, a diverse group of undergrads who are so smart and so cool. There’s so much going on there. I could walk to any of my classes and friends’ houses. It was this little heart of the city. I just love Rutgers.”
As a communication major who took classes including “Communication and Social Change” and “Communication and Relationships,” Chirichillo found ways to tie nearly every lesson to Survivor.
“People talk about applying their major to their job and the work they do,” they said. “The information on the Power Points in these classes were literally tips I could bring to the island.”
So, was the experience all they’d dreamed of and more? And does a lifetime of Survivor preparation translate into success as an actual show competitor?
“As a superfan to the degree I am, of course my expectations were going to be high,” they said. “But how could it not reach my expectations?”
Chirichillo can’t offer spoilers, but can reveal that their plan going into the game was to activate their ability to connect with everyone to “make them want me around.”
The experience – win or lose – left them with a new level of self-confidence that Chirichillo feels will propel them toward a new dream: becoming a published author. More specifically, Chirichillo's goal is to write a collection of essays about their queer experience while growing up.
“Now that I’ve accomplished my dream of getting on Survivor, it’s cleared brain space to allow me to go after other goals,” they said.
