In the wake of American Idol announcing its final season after 15 years on air and the last finale of America’s Next Top Model airing this past December, Survivor remains an anomaly of early 2000s reality TV. This February the sturdy CBS show will enter its 16th year and 32nd season, renewing its slot on prime-time Wednesday night television.
Among the ‘shipwrecked’ castaways competing in Kaôh Rōng, Cambodia, for $1 million dollars is a local Berks County resident and chemist, Debbie Wanner.
Her daughters, Jade and Crystal, introduced her to Survivor, calling it the game show equivalent of William Golding’s brutal novel the Lord of the Flies. A life-long athlete educated in winter and summer survival skills, the show immediately caught Debbie’s attention. At almost 50 years old Debbie applied, confident in her ability to thrive on the show.
Trained at Hawk Mountain Ranger School in Kempton, Debbie is a captain of the Air Force Auxiliary and unafraid of the survival challenge. However, the tropical beaches of Southeast Asia are much different than her home among the Appalachian oak forests of Pennsylvania. Just 10 degrees north of the equator and filmed right before monsoon season, there were elements to the game that were impossible to prepare for.
“The utter definition of sucks, to me, is being cold and wet,” Debbie says. It seems like a simple thing, but completely open to the elements, Debbie knew it was something she was going to face. In past seasons, grown men have been reduced to tears on the show after days of unforgiving downpours. When the rain comes, a makeshift shelter with a tarp isn’t going to be much help. She went on to say, “I just tried to think through every uncomfortable scenario and how I would literally, physically and mentally, survive it.”
It’s now been almost a year since she lived beneath a hand-woven shelter of palm fronds, but the season’s premier is on the horizon. As Debbie prepares to relive the second life of her adventure alongside an estimated 9 million viewers, she admits it’s an exciting time. However, appearing on TV was never of much importance to her. She says the cameras played no factor in her wanting to participate; she simply saw it as another opportunity to live her life to the fullest.
But now that she does have a sizable amount of eyes on her, she wants to use the Survivor platform to do some good. “Go to the Humane Society or Rescue League and save your next best friend’s life,” she tells readers. Having been heavily involved with the Animal Rescue League and the Humane Society of Berks for years, she’s made it her life-long mission to raise awareness for the millions of animals put down in kill shelters each year. “Don’t go to a puppy mill; don’t go to a pet shop; they’re hell holes,” she says. She adopted her Boston Terrier, Spanky, herself.
“To all the critics who make snarky comments about past and future Survivor players, I want them to know this,” she says with vigor. “However hard you think it is, magnify that by 10. I knew that it was going to be tough and it was 10 times harder than I expected.”
Amid the cast reveal, many people have mentioned to Debbie that they do not think they’re capable of living 39 days ‘shipwrecked’ on an island. But Debbie asserts that, despite it being one of the hardest things she’s ever done, anyone with the right attitude could do it too. “Whatever it is that you want to do in this life [do it],” she says. “Don’t let others tell you what you can or can’t do, or what should or should not interest you. You just have to stay positive.”
Tune in to CBS Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. as Debbie hits the beach on for the Survivor: Kaôh Rōng’s premier. And stay tuned to berkscountyliving.com for Part 2 of our interview.
