NEED TO KNOW
- Season 48 of Survivor came to a close on May 21
- Finalists Joe Hunter, Eva Erickson, Kyle Fraser, Kamilla Karthigesu and Mitch Guerra competed for the $1 million prize
- Kyle Fraser was named the Sole Survivor
Season 48 of Survivor has come to a close, and Kyle Fraser was crowned the winner.
After weeks of living in Fiji and competing on the long-running CBS show, hosted by Jeff Probst, Fraser was named the Sole Survivor during the finale on May 21. He beat the other finalists in a 5-2-1 jury vote and took home the $1 million prize.
Ahead of filming, Fraser spoke to Parade about how he would make a lasting mark on the show. “I’m not saying that I’m going to be the winner. But if I win, I think it has to be a dominant game,” he shared.
“I run the sort of scenarios in my head. I don’t know how I can hide in a lot of ways. I have to come out, and I have to play hard,” Fraser said. “I think I can get it done in a dominant fashion. And I think that would leave my mark on the game for sure.”
As for how he approached the game, he told the outlet that his motto through the season was going to be “people first,” saying he wanted to “connect” with the other contestants to then “build a foundation to play the game.”
Here’s everything to know about Survivor season 48 winner Kyle Fraser.
He is from Virginia and lives in New York
Fraser is from Roanoke, Va., per a CBS press release, but now calls Brooklyn, N.Y., home.
He stayed in Virginia for school, graduating from Hampden-Sydney College in 2016, per his LinkedIn. Fraser then received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
Fraser is a former teacher turned attorney
Before going to law school, Fraser spent two years working as a teacher. Though he shifted careers and became an attorney, his years as an educator prepared him for going on Survivor.
“I taught a GED and history/humanities course at a juvenile detention center,” he said, per Entertainment Weekly. “Understandably, learning was not front-of-mind for my students who were in such a traumatic environment. But I found ways to connect and I’m proud of that.”
After graduating from the University of Michigan, Fraser began working in labor and employment law at a larger firm, as he told Parade. He went on to do white-collar criminal defense before clerking as a litigator for a judge.
As for how he took a leave from work to appear on the CBS show, Fraser revealed to the publication that because clerkships are “very intimate,” he had to explain his whereabouts while keeping things confidential.
“My judge is aware that something is going on, not exactly what it is,” he said at the time. “I actually [had] to end up doing a lot of my work in advance to sort of be able to come out here.”
He is married
In April 2023, Fraser announced on Instagram that he was engaged to his now-wife, Maggie Turner.
“Overwhelmed with excitement, love, and support,” he captioned the post. “Apparently we’re still not married yet, but one step closer is cool with me 😁.”
According to his Instagram, they’ve been together since 2019. They tied the knot on Sept. 14, 2024.
Fraser did a lot of physical preparation before going on Survivor
Before going on Survivor, Fraser had a strategy for physically preparing to outlast his fellow contestants.
“I first bulked up because I was like, ‘Oh, I need to be strong.’ But then I like, sort of realized, ‘I don’t need to be that strong,’ ” he told Parade. “So then I started what I thought about the best scenario being, putting on a bunch of weight so I can get as strong as possible.”
With the thought that “endurance matters the most for pregame,” Fraser began conditioning.
“And then, two weeks prior to coming out here, I’ve just been freaking wrecking burgers and just putting on a ton of fat,” he said. “I feel like I’m in great shape. I’ve definitely put on some pounds, but I know I have those fat reserves.”
As for mental preparation, Fraser focused on “flexibility” and “concentration.”
“I really tried to just incorporate Survivor into my everyday life,” he said. “I have not had a disagreement with a coworker. But maybe we see something differently. I think about, ‘How would I approach this in the game?’ And try to implement that, work on controlling emotions, or thinking through what emotion you’re feeling in certain circumstances.”
Fraser added, “Little things like that over time where I feel like I’m ready to play this game.”
His “biggest superpower” is his “charm”
During his interview with Parade, Fraser teased that his “charm” would be his biggest superpower heading into the game.
“I hate using the word ‘charm.’ But I do love people. I’ve been this way since I was a kid,” he said, adding that he can “be pretty persuasive.”
“I can also just be charming in a way that I like to connect with people. And I think people see that I’m genuinely interested in them,” he said. “So I think that that will be very helpful to me. It could be a weakness in that I’m really gonna focus on one-on-one connections. I’m not trying to be the guy that’s outwardly courageous or running the room. But I think charm and sort of that persuasion, if you want to call it, that would be a superpower.”
As for his biggest “weakness,” Fraser described himself as “impulsive.”
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