How Did "Survivor's" Biggest Enemies Become Friends?

Dan Lalonde
Aug 14
2 min read

Do you remember the good old days of 'Survivor' when host Jeff Probst would eviscerate quitters and the series' focus was on cutthroat gameplay, villains, and entertainment?

While much online criticism of 'Survivor' is directed to that the show has become too woke, I don't think that is an issue, as to me, it's that the show has become more about becoming the moral center of the universe with motivational stories of castmates. This is one of the reasons I think 'Australian Survivor' has surpassed the USA version.

One of the biggest feuds in the history of the show was back in 2012 on season One World, where stand-up comedian Bill Posley butted heads with Colton Cumbie, who told him to get a real job. Now, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Posley opened up about how they became good friends in real life.

"So when the Colton stuff happened, I genuinely at that time chalked it up to the fact that he was 20 years old. I thought him more as an idiot kid than I did this lifelong racist, hating person with irredeemable qualities. I just didn't think he was that type of a human being.

So cut to seven years later, and in those seven years, I had also heard he had gone through some very tragic things, right? He lost the love of his life [boyfriend Caleb Bankston, who appeared with Colton on Survivor: Blood vs. Water and died in a 2014 railway accident]. I know he had left home. And so at that moment, you start to realize that people are just human beings, and they're bumping into each other."

"So I'm in New York and I'm doing my first one man show and I get a phone call from a number I don't even recognize. I get off the train at 125th Street and it's raining just a little bit. And I answer, and I hear that southern voice. He goes, “Hey Bill, this is Colton.”

And he proceeds to tell me what his life has been with losing Caleb and leaving home. And he was the age I was when I was on Survivor. And he said, “Now that I'm that age and I have lived a little bit more life, I realize now that you were somebody who was pursuing their dream. And it's something I always wished I would've done, and I am inspired by you and proud of you.”

Are you still watching 'Survivor'? Have you watched the Australian and South African versions? Comment below with your thoughts.