“I can’t believe we played the games almost six months ago,” said Latasha Fox. “It’s been very hard waiting patiently and not being able to say anything about it.”
This week the world saw her represent for the St. Louis area when she debuted on Season 28 of the CBS show “Survivor” yesterday.
“It’s still surreal because I’ve been a super fan since day one,” Fox said. “Even during the game, I would lie in the shelter and say ‘OMG! I cannot believe that I am literally playing ‘Survivor’ right now.”
The St. Louis resident and Alton, IL native has been a faithful viewer since the show debuted in 2000.
She applied for the show three times before she was ultimately selected in 2014.
“In my application video, I said I had ‘beauty, brains and brawn,’” Fox, 36, said. “I didn’t know that was going to be the theme of the show. Maybe that made me stand out – because it was a little prophetic.”
This season, the show switched things up a bit. Teams were divided into Beauty, Brawn and Brains tribes. A corporate exec, she suited up as part of the St. Louis Rams Cheerleading Squad for a few seasons. She also cheered and ran track during her days at Illinois State University. So while her work and life experience make her a fit for all three, she’s part of the Brains tribe.
Most sign on in a quest for the huge cash prize, bragging rights and instant reality television celebrity status as the last Survivor standing. For Fox, the perks and prizes are an afterthought.
“To watch the strategies and see things unfold and plans get foiled, that’s why I’ve loved it,” Fox said. “And seeing how these different personalities would react to various situations and see what happens to the games.”
Her 13 years of viewing experience has taught her that Charles Darwin’s natural selection theories apply to reality television species as well.
“One of the keys to ‘Survivor’ is making sure you can adapt to whatever the situation is at the moment,” Fox said. “And knowing that tomorrow, it’s going to be a different situation.”
Audiences will have to tune in to see how Fox fares on Survivor 28.
“Hopefully I can dispel the myth that black people can’t swim,” Fox said.
She promises that – in true “Survivor” fashion – there will be lots of twists and turns that will get those who view the show hooked as she and the rest of the tribes attempt to thrive while working with the bare minimum.
“When you see people making shelter and building fire, it’s real,” Fox said. “We don’t get a cheeseburger at the end of the day, and you don’t get to go to a hotel at the end of filming.”
For her participation in “Survivor,” Fox spent 39 days on a remote island in the northern Philippines with nothing but a pot, rice and a machete.
“My experience on ‘Survivor’ confirmed for me how strong mentally and physically that I am,” Fox said. “It also showed me that even in a cut-throat game my true self was still present and I could play the game in a way that would still make my family and my friends and co-workers proud.”
In her nearly 40 days in the wilderness, she learned more than just how to make a bed and shelter out of bamboo and palm trees.
“It has taught me to appreciate everything that I have – my family, my friends, my home, my phone and my Wi-Fi,” Fox said.
“Even when things aren’t going well at work or with situations in my life, I’m still blessed because of what I do have. And after I played ‘Survivor,’ I felt that I could literally do anything that I wanted to do in life.”
Season 28 of CBS’ Survivor airs on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.cbs.com/survivor.
