I changed my wedding day to come out here.
Is today Memorial Day?
I was supposed to get married May 27 in the United States.
Robert Voets/CBS
And I got this call, “You’re onSurvivor!”
We’d done sent out invitations, we’d done done everything.
And we took it all back.
Gavin Whitson on ‘Survivor: Edge of Extinction’.Timothy Kuratek/CBS
We changed venues, sent out new invitations, got new everything.
And I got married two days before flying out here, just so I could come play this game.
That’s how muchSurvivormeans to me.
Robert Voets/CBS
And luckily I have a wife I can say wife now who lovesSurvivoralso.
So any other thing that would have come up, it wouldn’t have happened.
But yeah, that was a huge obstacle.
Timothy Kuratek/CBS
It was the most stressful month of my life.
I should have been training for this, but instead I was planning a wedding.
I was moving into a new house.
Robert Voets/CBS
I was doing all this stuff that life happens.
And she knows my love for the game.
That’s what I told Jeff and those guys in casting.
Timothy Kuratek/CBS
And all of our families know that.
And that’s the reason I’m out here is because they made sacrifices also.
So if the wedding didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be out here.
Robert Voets/CBS
Julia Carter
I have a really deep, personal connection with the game ofSurvivor.
When I was young, seven years old, I lost my Dad to heart disease.
AndSurvivorwas there for me.
Ron Clark on ‘Survivor: Edge of Extinction’.Timothy Kuratek/CBS
It ironically aired the spring after his passing.
And it helped me get through that experience.
So I’m not afraid.
Victoria Baamonde on ‘Survivor: Edge of Extinction’.Timothy Kuratek/CBS
If anything I’m just afraid that I don’t reach or accomplish what I’m here to do.
So the bugs and stuff don’t worry me.
Dan The Wardog DaSilva
I think the biggest adversity would probably be my second tour.
Timothy Kuratek/CBS
Aurora McCreary
I grew up in the foster care system.
Then going past that and being more than just a kid from the foster care system.
I wanted to be known for my intelligence.
Timothy Kuratek/CBS
I wanted to be known for something more than just someone who was adopted.
I’ll be the first one to graduate college.
So, it was all new territory for me.
Rick Devens on ‘Survivor: Edge of Extinction’.Timothy Kuratek/CBS
Reem Daly
I just can’t think of anything.
It was really rough.
They made a movie about it calledThe Ron Clark Story, and so I kind of lived through that.
Timothy Kuratek/CBS
I don’t know, I’ve had a really typical suburban life.
I went to high school, did really well, got a full scholarship to college.
Graduated valedictorian of my college, have an apartment now.
Robert Voets/CBS
I don’t know.
I mean, silly things like relationship problems.
But my parents have a happy marriage.
Wendy Diaz of ‘Survivor: Edge of Extinction’.Robert Voets/CBS
I’ve got a brother who lives close.
My grandma’s 93 and lives down the block from me.
Everything’s pretty good.
Eric Hafemann
There have been things, certainly, that have been challenging.
But you know what?
I’ve already won.
I already feel like I’ve won the jackpot in life.
I’ve got this amazing family, these incredible boys, all this support at home.
I think I’m poised.
I think I’m ready for the challenges.
None of the physical stuff scares me.
So I feel like it’s a good lesson in life.
Rick Devens
I’ve lived such an easy life.
Everything’s been pretty easy.
Those guys I got out of are great now, but I haven’t had that many obstacles.
This will be the stand -out in terms of difficulty, there’s no doubt about it.
Well, parenting’s tough.
Lauren OConnell
I was a division one collegiate athlete.
I was like, this is the fairy tale, everyone wants to be a college athlete.
And so I expected my college career to really mirror my high school career, storybook.
But there’s another one that I like.
It’s “A bad plan’s better than no plan.”
So, good, bad, I’d rather have a bad one than none at all.
I think that the key word out here is,Adaptation.
So if I can figure out my role in that, it’s gonna be game over.
Wendy Diaz
I honestly don’t see my life having obstacles in the normal sense.
I don’t know.
Is that a weird thing to say?
I guess you would say I’m always positive, but my mantra is things always work out.
So I don’t stress about money.
I have money troubles like everybody else.
I have troubles like everybody else.
It’s just I always see it like it’s going to be okay.
My boyfriend’s the opposite of me and he’s like, “What are we going to do?
This and that, this and that,” and I’m like, “Calm down.
Take it easy.”
