Sonja Christopher, the first person to ever be voted out of reality competition series, Survivor in 2000, has died. She was 87 years old.
“Sonya [sic] was one of the kindest people to ever play Survivor,” host Jeff Probst said in statement on the show’s Instagram account.
“Every interaction I had with her over the years was lovely. She would always greet you with a smile on her face and joy in her heart. I’m honored that our paths got to cross.”
Christopher, a former music therapist, competed on the reality competition’s first season, Survivor: Borneo, at 63 years old in 2000.
She made survivor history, when she became the very first person to get their torch snuffed by Probst.
News of Christopher’s death first broke on Friday, with multiple Survivor players sharing tributes to her on social media. “She paved the way for every person to ever play Survivor,” Rob Cesternino, who finished in third place in season 6’s Survivor: The Amazon, wrote on X.
“We will always smile when we think of Sonja Christopher. RIP to a legend.”
A cause of death has not yet been shared.
Christopher competed on Survivor just three years after battling invasive breast cancer. “I was newly recovering from breast cancer treatment. And I had been in a 11-year relationship and my partner got consolation elsewhere during that time of the cancer,” Christopher previously told EW .
“So I had moved to a senior retirement community, and I was by myself, no ties, my son was grown and taking care of himself. I was reading the morning paper, and it said something in an article about CBS looking for 16 Americans to cast away on a deserted island and see who could survive for 39 days.”
After she struggled in the first challenge, the Tagi tribe voted her out on day three. “I had mixed feelings, that’s for sure,” Christopher talked about her exit 20 years later.
“I was pretty beaten up… To this day, I still have bruises that don’t go away… Someone once asked me if I thought my being voted off early was due to ageism. And I said, ‘Oh, no.’ And you know why is because I had no concept of ageism. I was always good at sports and very active physically. I just didn’t realize I was, to some of these people, an old lady.”
