“Survivor” is not just a competition reality show; the therapeutic aspect has really been doubled down on in recent seasons.
There are bigger things at stake than just money. People gain and lose friendships. If they don’t have the ability to take time off from work, they might have to quit their job to participate. Many, like “Survivor 48” player David Kinne, hope the winnings from the show would lead to providing for their loved ones.
On and on and on.
Learning From The Past
Just like other CBS reality shows “Big Brother” and “The Amazing Race,” “Survivor” contestants are willfully opening up about their lives – the good and the bad. One such conversation occurred during the season 48 episode “Welcome to the Party.”
Kyle Fraser took aside fellow competitor Joe Hunter in order to discuss his past. Fraser wanted to quell some recent conflict going around the newly merged tribe. He felt Hunter was the spearhead he needed in order to get the ball rolling on switching votes.
During their conversation, they touched on Fraser’s childhood where he dealt with all manner of police harassment.
“I wanted to share with him a couple of experiences I’ve had in my life that might make it difficult for me to be in sort of confrontational situations or very tense situations,” Fraser says during a confessional.
Fraser starts the conversation concerning the previous episode’s madness surrounding the leadup and fallout of voting out former contestant Chrissy Sarnowsky. The vote originally pointed to Fraser’s allied partner Kamilla Karthigesu. He spent a majority of the episode frantically running around trying to get others to change their votes.
Fraser continues his talk with Hunter by saying he felt triggered by the whole situation.
“I can feel that people kind of see a little bit of a difference in me,” Fraser says. “And when I say yesterday was rough, I’m actually being serious. That was a tough day.”
Fraser says in a confessional that he was a self-described “wild child” – drinking and partying at a young age. He was arrested for nonviolent minor misdemeanors like underage possession of alcohol and disorderly conduct. Hunter voiced that he also had “wild child” in him.
“It’s never weighed on me,” Fraser admits. “I have certain things I hang on to because of that.”
He did mention he had to spend time in jail due to his mistakes.
Making a Better Future
Fraser took to Instagram after the episode’s premiere to clarify a few things he spoke about on the show.
For one, he’s an attorney and he’s newly married. Second, he’s happy to share his story and why he chose to work in the legal field.
“It goes to show how the criminal legal system can affect the lives of so many more people than you can even possibly imagine,” he tells viewers. He continues by saying he does take responsibility, however, a large part of what happened was due to racial bias.
“When I was younger, I was arrested multiple times for non-violent misdemeanor offenses and a lot of these offenses were predicated on racial profiling by law enforcement,” Fraser starts. “I’ve had police officers point guns in my face – point blank at points. I have been arrested and charged with the same exact crimes as friends of mine who didn’t look like me. But I got significantly harsher consequences in those instances.”
Fraser learned that jail time can come so easily for a young man of color. He uses the experiences of his past in order to help people in the same situations.
“It’s those exact experiences that pushed me to work my [expletive] off and become an attorney so that I could turn my life around,” Fraser concedes. “But also help other people down the line as well. While I don’t purport to be any sort of poster boy for incarceration or the criminal legal system, I do know intimately how these issues can affect yourself, your family, your loved ones and what it can do once you make contact just once with the system.”
Fraser is happy the audience enjoyed his story. He wants to keep talking about it. And he also hopes everyone’s enjoying the season of “Survivor.”
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‘Survivor’ Competitor Details “Wild Child” Past, Reveals Where He Is Today