Question:I know the last man standing gets a million, maybe 25k for the
runner-up. Do the others get anything? Without them there is no show.
Every player should get 5 or 10 thousand.
Answer:
In the past shows the runner-up has received $100,000, and I believe
the next two get $75,000 and $50,000. There was also something like
$10,000 paid to each contestant for post-Survivor the town hall show
(negotiated by Stacy the first time around since apparently the show
hadn't offered to pay anything but their expenses).
Participation amounts are paid to all contestants depending on how
long they're on, something like $1,000 per day. These amounts were
discussed fairly openly by S1 ousted contestants, but since then
apparently the subject is off limits.
My recollection is that Rich got $1 million, Kelly got $100,000, Rudy
got $85,000 and Sue got $75,000 on S1. I believe the first person
voted off, Sonja, got $3000. I don't think figures on S2 were ever
publicly discussed.
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This was a bit more generous for the lower-finishing contestants than S1. I recall that the amount only increased by $1,000 per place in
at least the 13th-16th positions, with Sonja starting the ladder at $2,500.
First, please don't quote 2000+ lines in order to add four of your
own. Just whatever is pertinent to your comments.
Travel expenses are picked up by CBS - many contestants have raved
about the great trips they've had. They are allowed to go home, but
for obvious reasons the show would prefer that they don't. However,
there may be a contractual agreement that the jurors won't leave since
they appear every three days.
Some S1 contestants returned home directly after being booted - BB and
Gretchen come to mind. The show wasn't expected to be a particular
success, and apparently no one checked on Gretchen's whereabouts
during that time period so she remained a top-rated favorite.
I guess that would be a judgment call on MB's part. I suspect that if a
family member was seriously ill or something comparable, he would release
them from the commitment. The same issue would apply if a player is still
in the game and a family member had an emergency. It would depend on the
situation. It's interesting that when Mike was hurt on S2, he supposedly
did not contact any of his family about it, which I found very odd. I found
it almost unbelievable that his family didn't find out about it (or so
claimed Michael) until they saw the show where he injured his hands. I
wonder if he maybe actually did tell his wife in advance but swore her to
secrecy?
Burnett offered to fly Mike's family to Australia to be at his
bedside, but Mike declined. If he had contacted his wife, I don't see
why it would still be a secret. He's described her reaction after
seeing the episode because he had told her a story about getting
[severe sunburn?] to explain the bandages remaining on his hands. He
has said in many, many interviews that he wanted his family to
understand his experience by watching the show.
