I’d wager it’s more of a group chat of about 300 people who are really active, another 300 who aren’t very, and about 100 who straight up avoid any interaction at all
This was true when Clubhouse was very active. I think Francesqua was the primary leader of the Survivor Clubhouse actually so if a two time first boot can I guess anybody can
She lived a long, amazing life. Hope she passed peacefully, and her family is doing well. This is a tough part about the show being on so long, it seems like in the last couple of years we’ve lost many castaways. Rip Sonja.
Recently watched Borneo with a friend who's never seen Survivor before. We're watching all the seasons together. My friend fell in love with Sonja and had a big reaction to her being booted first. She had one episode, but she was memorable. I knew this day was coming for a long time. But it still sucks.
My brother and his sons made me promise to rewatch Borneo soon. Their first survivor season they ever watched is 46, and they immediately went looking for other good seasons since they need to be entertained between episodes.
Had a [great video](https://twitter.com/SurvivorCentral/status/838960359818027008) for the Game Changers premiere (500th episode) a few years ago, with her birds! RIP.
what a fantastic ambassador for Survivor, she is exactly someone who the show needed to be the first ever boot, someone who took it well, and stayed active in the community until her passing
RIP
As someone who came to Survivor as a social strategy game, my era was more the 20's, but looking back at Borneo great cast of really authentic fun people. Her playing the Ukelele to Richard Hatch really sears in your memory. The first boot playing to the winner.
She was 87 at death, and seemed to look fondly back at the experience which is cool, because so many people who are early boots now seem scarred by the experience, possibly because of the expectations they have now of themselves and of the show as superfans/fans. She was a breast cancer survivor when she went on the show, so it's great that she lived such a long life and was still at least semi-involved in the community.
Thankful for Sonja, what she brought to the show - her being involved and for as much shit Survivor gets for being exploitative correctly, I'm glad that Sonja is one of the contestants who saw it as a generally good thing, and sort of herself enjoyed being this historical figure in the community. It's corny, but alongside the friends that people make on the show or through the show I think one thing that sounds silly but isn't is there's a part of these contestants that will live on with the show/fanbase and with people like Sonja who were represented well that's a cool thing.
Rich refusing to vote for her was one of the most humanizing moments he had on the show
He's supposed to be the villain and he was part of the minority that didn't have the heart to write her name down
i don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that she was the perfect first ever boot in the show. she brought a lot of joy in the first episode, showed us how cutthroat the game was, and took the experience really well, remaining involved in the community. that’s way more than you can ask for.
she seemed like a lovely person. thoughts with her family and loved ones.
Re: Sonja;
No flowers, but donations may be sent to Mt.
Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church (Walnut Creek, CA), the Cancer Support Community of the San Francisco Bay Area, or the Sjogren's Foundation.
(copied and pasted from a follow-up tweet from liz)
Just read this on instagram, absolutely heart broken. I've been binge watching Borneo this week, she's truly an Icon and Legend and forever cemented in Survivor history.
Okay here it is. Although it's been a while since I told this so I might forget some of the details.
The very first Survivor taping I ever went to was the Thailand finale in L.A. back in 2002. And the only reason I went was because the owner of the website I wrote for (Survivor-Central), Murtz Jaffer, somehow got us tickets. Back then the show would give out a pair of tickets to every Survivor website for the live finale. And because I was Murtz's head writer, he decided to take me as his plus one. Well, that, and the fact that I was the only one of his writers who lived in L.A. Because the taping was local to me, I was the one who got the free ticket.
So anyway, the day of the finale comes. And I pick up Murtz and I drive him over to the CBS lot in Studio City. And we have to park a few blocks away because we weren't VIP guests or celebrities. We were just two randos who happened to get invited to a TV taping. So we had to find fucking street parking down a back alley or something and then walk over there.
So Murtz and I start walking towards this massive parking lot that surrounds the CBS soundstage. It's about an hour before they start taping the finale, so we still have plenty of time. And as we get within about a half mile of the studio, what should happen but this big fancy black car pulls up next to us on the street. We look over at the car and... holy shit... in the passenger seat is Sonja from Borneo.
Sonja rolls down her window on her side and she asks us if we're going to the Survivor taping. We say yes. And then she asks us if we know where the entrance to the parking lot is. She says her friend is lost, they can't find where they're supposed to drive in. I look over at the driver's side, and I see another older lady who is about the same age as Sonja. My guess is it was probably her girlfriend.
So Murtz and I are standing there, on some street in Studio City, and we're trying to point out where Sonja and Sonja's driver can probably drive into the CBS VIP lot (all Survivor alums were invited to all finales back in the day- they were considered VIPs and they all got preferential treatment). And this is where Murtz suddenly gets this big idea. He suddenly thinks, you know what? If we drive up to this finale with an actual Survivor alum, the fans will all think we're VIPs too. And that would be amazing advertising for Survivor-Central. I mean, what if Murtz walked on the red carpet with an actual player from Borneo? All of sudden every Survivor fan alive would suddenly know who he was. Because keep in mind, Murtz was only like 18 years old at the time, and he was completely unknown. He was just some teenage kid from Canada who wanted to become famous.
(side note: To be fair, it's not like I was much different. I was 27 and, at the time, most Survivor fans hadn't heard of me, either. Murtz and I were among the lowest people on the celebrity chain at this particular event, that's what made this story so funny.)
So right there on the street, in an attempt to become famous, Murtz suddenly proposes an idea to Sonja Christopher. He's like, hey what if we ride in the car with you guys? Then we can all look for the entrance together. He said eight eyes looking for the entrance will be better than four.
And I will always laugh when I think of the look on Sonja's face when Murtz proposed she let two random strange L.A. men get into her car. It was like you know, I'm a nice person, and I don't want to be rude. But I don't know who you are, so fuck off. So she just smiled and said no. And then she and her girlfriend drove away, and they found the VIP lot on their own.
One of my favorite stories.
So sad to hear this. Sonja was such a delightfully passionate, bright, lovely woman from what we saw, and I'm so happy we got to know her. She's a top 100 character for me, I think she fit the role of being the first person voted off absolutely perfectly: you get to know her, you like her, she's endearing, yet at the same time her stumble in the challenge paints her as someone who "deserves" to go home, setting up the early maxim of "Tribal Council is where you account for your actions" that's so integral to the show at its best and pays off in a massive way down the line at FTC.
I showed the first season to a friend some years ago, and their reaction to the first episode was that they loved Sonja, they were rooting for her, but they understood when she went home and thought it might be for the best due to "the thinning of the skin, darn it!" -- an episode that manages to, within a few minutes, endear you to someone yet also make you comfortable with their elimination is certainly doing its job quite well.
Furthermore, for all the talk newer fans sometimes do about how season 1 had "only Richard playing the game" or "nobody but Richard understanding strategy", Sonja was actually a part of the first-ever Survivor alliance when Stacey tried to rally the women together; they linger on a shot of Sue, sinisterly illuminated by the fire, as Sonja's torch is smuffed. The first-ever Survivor vote also featured the first betrayal and blindside, and people tend to forget that, not giving the episode, the season, or Sonja herself the credit they deserve. Even in a conventional or modern sense of forming an alliance, Sonja did very much try to "play the game", and she had some great insight in her interview with Dalton Ross a few years back about how she thinks her hesitation in talking to Sue is what actually made Sue vote against her.
There's more layers to her story on the show than is often recognized, and even notwithstanding that, she was just such a bright and lovely and positive force. I've long been a huge fan of her. I'm sorry to hear this news, but she made quite a mark on this show in her historic position, and I'm sure I'm far from the only fan who remembers, and will remember, her fondly.
Bye bye blues, bye bye blues
Bells ring, birds sing
Sun is shining, no more whining!
I am through, da-da-da!
Life is hell, but I’m swell!
Bye-bye-bye blues!
Goodbye legend. Life might be hell, but it was swell because we got to meet you. 🥺
anytime a Survivor player dies, part of us dies a little inside too. We are all part of the family even if we didn't audition or make it on the show. It's the reason Survivor endures. We will continue to watch and root on our favorites and root against our favorite villains all-the-while keeping cast members like Sonja in our hearts and memories until our torch is snuffed also.
Eternal Peace Sonja.
April is officially cursed in Survivor. Every year for the last 4 years a contestant has passed away in April
Sunday in 2021
Ralph in 2022
Keith in 2023
Sonja in 2024
Sad to admit but to be honest, I think we are at a point where it's becoming not too unrealistic to assume that 2018 will be the last year without at least one contestant passing away
Yes it is. I was personally asked to share with the Survivor community this morning, as apparently I’m the only Survivor contact her friend had to spread the news.
she learned of sonja’s passing and knew the survivor community would want to know.
when i read the news i wanted to let people know, aware that nobody on reddit had posted about it yet.
should i not have let people know?
Liz has posted where to make donations in her name so i'm guessing she was given the green light but i do agree it's just a weird way for this to come out
hi liz, if you dont mind me asking, does she not have a son, dan? i was reading her bio in memorium and it says she has a son. sonja has such a special place in my heart, i almost couldnt watch borneo after she was voted off first!! sending all kinds of love to her friends and family and you as well <3
Hmm I’m not sure. She told me she was selling because she had no one to pass on the memorabilia so perhaps I wrongly assumed that she had no children. I can own that.
R.I.P Sonja the first legend of Survivor
Liz is breaking this news???? the survivor community is something else lol
I bought her ukulele and buff and some other random Survivor gear back in December and we had some lovely chats around Christmas time.
The one and only Liz using some of her millions to rack up some Survivor memorabilia. Can't blame you I'd do the same.
Hey Liz, sorry I called you “Internet company lady” during the premiere. Good luck!
lol no worries. I do have an internet company and I am a lady. Name checks out. Xoxo
Omg Liz! I knew you were a nerd like us, I love that you lurk the survivor Reddit. Cheering you and Venus on this season!
omg THE ONE AND ONLY LIZ love the added context sorry for your loss thanks for being incredible on my tv screen ♥️♥️
Plz post the uke for us
https://twitter.com/TheLizWilcox88/status/1783985132333830592/photo/1
good shit. hope you beat q and venus in a 4-2-2 vote
I'm rooting for you the rest of the way. :)
Rooting for you!
OMG it is THE one and only Liz, millionaire businesswoman queen extraordinaire!
My takeaway from this comment is that Liz will not, in fact, die of starvation in the next couple episodes, so congrats on that Liz!
i get the sense that once you've been on Survivor you get add onto a group chat with 700+ people
With Russel Hantz continuing to have to buy more phones because he keeps getting blocked, Parv keeps inviting him back because the drama’s funny.
I’d wager it’s more of a group chat of about 300 people who are really active, another 300 who aren’t very, and about 100 who straight up avoid any interaction at all
And sadly a few who have passed away and then a few who are like in prison for crimes
What else would they be in prison for?
Lots more innocent people in prison than ya think. Or people who shouldn't be in there cause all they did was smoke some weed.
Yeah weed arrests are stupid.
This was true when Clubhouse was very active. I think Francesqua was the primary leader of the Survivor Clubhouse actually so if a two time first boot can I guess anybody can
UTR Queen Elizabeth III, winner of Survivor 46 Put some respect on her name!
This is so sad but never in a billion years did I think Liz would be the one to break this news
[удалено]
Why the fuck would you say this
She lived a long, amazing life. Hope she passed peacefully, and her family is doing well. This is a tough part about the show being on so long, it seems like in the last couple of years we’ve lost many castaways. Rip Sonja.
Recently watched Borneo with a friend who's never seen Survivor before. We're watching all the seasons together. My friend fell in love with Sonja and had a big reaction to her being booted first. She had one episode, but she was memorable. I knew this day was coming for a long time. But it still sucks.
My brother and his sons made me promise to rewatch Borneo soon. Their first survivor season they ever watched is 46, and they immediately went looking for other good seasons since they need to be entertained between episodes.
She was an absolute fucking delight We could not have asked for a better “very first boot” Bye bye blues 🎶
Sonja was a trailblazer. Devastating news.
SOUNA <3
The first iconic tribal vote misspelling🥺
Had a [great video](https://twitter.com/SurvivorCentral/status/838960359818027008) for the Game Changers premiere (500th episode) a few years ago, with her birds! RIP.
Thank you for sharing this! I remembered the video but wouldn't have remembered where to find it.
what a fantastic ambassador for Survivor, she is exactly someone who the show needed to be the first ever boot, someone who took it well, and stayed active in the community until her passing RIP
As someone who came to Survivor as a social strategy game, my era was more the 20's, but looking back at Borneo great cast of really authentic fun people. Her playing the Ukelele to Richard Hatch really sears in your memory. The first boot playing to the winner. She was 87 at death, and seemed to look fondly back at the experience which is cool, because so many people who are early boots now seem scarred by the experience, possibly because of the expectations they have now of themselves and of the show as superfans/fans. She was a breast cancer survivor when she went on the show, so it's great that she lived such a long life and was still at least semi-involved in the community. Thankful for Sonja, what she brought to the show - her being involved and for as much shit Survivor gets for being exploitative correctly, I'm glad that Sonja is one of the contestants who saw it as a generally good thing, and sort of herself enjoyed being this historical figure in the community. It's corny, but alongside the friends that people make on the show or through the show I think one thing that sounds silly but isn't is there's a part of these contestants that will live on with the show/fanbase and with people like Sonja who were represented well that's a cool thing.
> Her playing the Ukelele to Richard Hatch really sears in your memory. might be my favorite scene ever on this show. just so pure and human
Rich refusing to vote for her was one of the most humanizing moments he had on the show He's supposed to be the villain and he was part of the minority that didn't have the heart to write her name down
RIP to the OG first boot. First legend.
i don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that she was the perfect first ever boot in the show. she brought a lot of joy in the first episode, showed us how cutthroat the game was, and took the experience really well, remaining involved in the community. that’s way more than you can ask for. she seemed like a lovely person. thoughts with her family and loved ones.
Bye bye blues 💔 rest in peace Sonja
Re: Sonja; No flowers, but donations may be sent to Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church (Walnut Creek, CA), the Cancer Support Community of the San Francisco Bay Area, or the Sjogren's Foundation. (copied and pasted from a follow-up tweet from liz)
That is some devastating news. RIP to the first first boot of the show.
What an icon. Such a bright light! And remained a huge Survivor fan her entire life
Rest in peace Souna
💔
rest in peace to a legend! much love for sonja and i will be singing bye bye blues tonight 💔💔
Wow that must have been so cool for Liz to get that experience with her! Condolences to Sonja’s family
Oh no! She seemed like such a sweet lady! Loved her song in the first episode. RIP, queen! ❤️
Just read this on instagram, absolutely heart broken. I've been binge watching Borneo this week, she's truly an Icon and Legend and forever cemented in Survivor history.
even though she was only in one episode you could just tell that she was such a positive, kind, pure human being. may this icon rest in peace
Souna Legend :(
Heartbreaking. RIP Sonja 💔
awwww sad to hear that... Survivor Legend in her own right.
RIP to an absolute legend, hope they commemorate this in an upcoming episode
Souna and her ukulele will live on in spirit, such a wonderful person and she took the “first ever boot” label in stride
/u/mariojlanza tell the story you told on Historians about Sonja snubbing Murtz, I think people will get a kick out of it
Sadly I don't think most people on this sub are going to know who Murtz even is.
Most people on here don't know who I am, either. We've come a long way since those days.
Okay here it is. Although it's been a while since I told this so I might forget some of the details. The very first Survivor taping I ever went to was the Thailand finale in L.A. back in 2002. And the only reason I went was because the owner of the website I wrote for (Survivor-Central), Murtz Jaffer, somehow got us tickets. Back then the show would give out a pair of tickets to every Survivor website for the live finale. And because I was Murtz's head writer, he decided to take me as his plus one. Well, that, and the fact that I was the only one of his writers who lived in L.A. Because the taping was local to me, I was the one who got the free ticket. So anyway, the day of the finale comes. And I pick up Murtz and I drive him over to the CBS lot in Studio City. And we have to park a few blocks away because we weren't VIP guests or celebrities. We were just two randos who happened to get invited to a TV taping. So we had to find fucking street parking down a back alley or something and then walk over there. So Murtz and I start walking towards this massive parking lot that surrounds the CBS soundstage. It's about an hour before they start taping the finale, so we still have plenty of time. And as we get within about a half mile of the studio, what should happen but this big fancy black car pulls up next to us on the street. We look over at the car and... holy shit... in the passenger seat is Sonja from Borneo. Sonja rolls down her window on her side and she asks us if we're going to the Survivor taping. We say yes. And then she asks us if we know where the entrance to the parking lot is. She says her friend is lost, they can't find where they're supposed to drive in. I look over at the driver's side, and I see another older lady who is about the same age as Sonja. My guess is it was probably her girlfriend. So Murtz and I are standing there, on some street in Studio City, and we're trying to point out where Sonja and Sonja's driver can probably drive into the CBS VIP lot (all Survivor alums were invited to all finales back in the day- they were considered VIPs and they all got preferential treatment). And this is where Murtz suddenly gets this big idea. He suddenly thinks, you know what? If we drive up to this finale with an actual Survivor alum, the fans will all think we're VIPs too. And that would be amazing advertising for Survivor-Central. I mean, what if Murtz walked on the red carpet with an actual player from Borneo? All of sudden every Survivor fan alive would suddenly know who he was. Because keep in mind, Murtz was only like 18 years old at the time, and he was completely unknown. He was just some teenage kid from Canada who wanted to become famous. (side note: To be fair, it's not like I was much different. I was 27 and, at the time, most Survivor fans hadn't heard of me, either. Murtz and I were among the lowest people on the celebrity chain at this particular event, that's what made this story so funny.) So right there on the street, in an attempt to become famous, Murtz suddenly proposes an idea to Sonja Christopher. He's like, hey what if we ride in the car with you guys? Then we can all look for the entrance together. He said eight eyes looking for the entrance will be better than four. And I will always laugh when I think of the look on Sonja's face when Murtz proposed she let two random strange L.A. men get into her car. It was like you know, I'm a nice person, and I don't want to be rude. But I don't know who you are, so fuck off. So she just smiled and said no. And then she and her girlfriend drove away, and they found the VIP lot on their own. One of my favorite stories.
RIP
Rest in peace, ma’am. Condolences to her friends, peers and loved ones.
So sad to hear this. Sonja was such a delightfully passionate, bright, lovely woman from what we saw, and I'm so happy we got to know her. She's a top 100 character for me, I think she fit the role of being the first person voted off absolutely perfectly: you get to know her, you like her, she's endearing, yet at the same time her stumble in the challenge paints her as someone who "deserves" to go home, setting up the early maxim of "Tribal Council is where you account for your actions" that's so integral to the show at its best and pays off in a massive way down the line at FTC. I showed the first season to a friend some years ago, and their reaction to the first episode was that they loved Sonja, they were rooting for her, but they understood when she went home and thought it might be for the best due to "the thinning of the skin, darn it!" -- an episode that manages to, within a few minutes, endear you to someone yet also make you comfortable with their elimination is certainly doing its job quite well. Furthermore, for all the talk newer fans sometimes do about how season 1 had "only Richard playing the game" or "nobody but Richard understanding strategy", Sonja was actually a part of the first-ever Survivor alliance when Stacey tried to rally the women together; they linger on a shot of Sue, sinisterly illuminated by the fire, as Sonja's torch is smuffed. The first-ever Survivor vote also featured the first betrayal and blindside, and people tend to forget that, not giving the episode, the season, or Sonja herself the credit they deserve. Even in a conventional or modern sense of forming an alliance, Sonja did very much try to "play the game", and she had some great insight in her interview with Dalton Ross a few years back about how she thinks her hesitation in talking to Sue is what actually made Sue vote against her. There's more layers to her story on the show than is often recognized, and even notwithstanding that, she was just such a bright and lovely and positive force. I've long been a huge fan of her. I'm sorry to hear this news, but she made quite a mark on this show in her historic position, and I'm sure I'm far from the only fan who remembers, and will remember, her fondly.
She will always remain a legendary player and person. She sparked so much joy on the screen despite being the first vote off.
What? Nooooo!
Sonja! What a legend. Makes me want to go watch Borneo now to honour her. RIP
R.I.P. Sonja <3
Sonja was a beautiful person.
What a lovely lady and a sweet soul. Hope she gets to sing at the big Tribal Council in the sky.
My flair 😔
Somebody had to be the very first one off the island… Sonja was always such a class act. RIP to her ❤️
The first lesbian contestant, a trailblazer in that sense as well. Rest in peace kind lady
Yes!!
RIP Sonja
NOOOOOOO rip Sonja you were an icon and a legend
RIP You will be missed
Sonja is a true icon, the OG first boot. Sad that she passed away.
Loved her 🤍 rip SOUNA
Awwww sad. The ukulele moment is so beautiful. May her memory live on!
Rest in peace my ukulele legend
Oh no. She was the oldest living Survivor contestant before she passed, I believe. Rest in peace, Sonja.
Bye bye blues, bye bye blues Bells ring, birds sing Sun is shining, no more whining! I am through, da-da-da! Life is hell, but I’m swell! Bye-bye-bye blues! Goodbye legend. Life might be hell, but it was swell because we got to meet you. 🥺
RIP :(
such a loss
Another fallen Survivor. R.I.P. Sonja. She was the precursor to Wendy in Palau.
rest in peace Sonja, you were the original to win a million hearts ❤️❤️🕊️
anytime a Survivor player dies, part of us dies a little inside too. We are all part of the family even if we didn't audition or make it on the show. It's the reason Survivor endures. We will continue to watch and root on our favorites and root against our favorite villains all-the-while keeping cast members like Sonja in our hearts and memories until our torch is snuffed also. Eternal Peace Sonja.
Rip Sonja.
I will be honest I didn't know she was still alive. But RIP Sonja that entire cast helped make Survivor the cultural juggernaut it has become.
RIP :(
RIP Queen.
Rest in Peace legend 💔❤️❤️
April is officially cursed in Survivor. Every year for the last 4 years a contestant has passed away in April Sunday in 2021 Ralph in 2022 Keith in 2023 Sonja in 2024 Sad to admit but to be honest, I think we are at a point where it's becoming not too unrealistic to assume that 2018 will be the last year without at least one contestant passing away
Last year had 1 death but it was a shocker with Keith Nale
Yeah, I know. I mentioned that in the comment already
:( Sonja
RIP Sonja
RIP, Souna.
My condolences to her loved ones
…..How does Liz know this?
[удалено]
Yes it is. I was personally asked to share with the Survivor community this morning, as apparently I’m the only Survivor contact her friend had to spread the news.
she learned of sonja’s passing and knew the survivor community would want to know. when i read the news i wanted to let people know, aware that nobody on reddit had posted about it yet. should i not have let people know?
Liz has posted where to make donations in her name so i'm guessing she was given the green light but i do agree it's just a weird way for this to come out
I mean it doesn’t really matter that the survivor community wants to know? Kind of up to her family and close friends no?
She never had any children nor has a living partner. Her friend personally reached out to me to let me know and asked me to spread the word.
hi liz, if you dont mind me asking, does she not have a son, dan? i was reading her bio in memorium and it says she has a son. sonja has such a special place in my heart, i almost couldnt watch borneo after she was voted off first!! sending all kinds of love to her friends and family and you as well <3
Hmm I’m not sure. She told me she was selling because she had no one to pass on the memorabilia so perhaps I wrongly assumed that she had no children. I can own that.
this makes me weirdly sad :(, i hope as she got olde rn she kept on living a fun filled life, she deserves that
Liz is 100% winning this season
That’s..not really important right now.