It’s not about the money! Survivor superfan Shirin Oskooi is competing in her second Survivor season (back to back Seasons 30, Worlds Apart and 31, Cambodia—Second Chance) and she’s going into it with no regrets.
For those who may have forgotten, Oskooi, a Yahoo! executive who competed on the White Collar tribe before being voted out on day 27 in Season 30, made quite a confession at the final tribal council.
“What you guys don’t know about me is that I made my first million by the time I was 25 years old,” Oskooi admitted during the season finale.
Before the season started, her competitors — who like her are all returning players — were already questioning her decision to admit her fortune.
Stephen Fishbach, who competed on Survivor 18: Tocantins, believes Oskooi has a “harder road.”
“I think that there is probably a part of people that think, ‘Does this person need the money? Does this person deserve the money?’” Fishbach tells Us Weekly.
Jeff Varner, who competed on Season 2, Survivor: The Australia Outback, planned pre-show to use Oskooi’s admission to his advantage.
“I would like to align with her, she has already won the million too, so I wouldn’t mind going to the end with her,” he reveals to Us. “She was perfect until [her admission] – and then she was like, ‘By the way I was a millionaire at 25,’ and I was like, yes!”
But for Oskooi, who had a hand in creating Google Calendar, there is nothing to regret.
“That was the sweetest revenge that I had all season long and it was the only thing I was waiting for all season long – was to watch that finale,” she tells Us. “I think there are a few people here who will likely target me because of it, or not want to work with me because of it, but no one has ever been voted out for something so trivial as how much money they have in their bank account. … When people look at me they’re going to say, ‘That’s someone I can beat.’ Everybody is going to underestimate me.”
Survivor Season 31 Cambodia—Second Chance premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 23, on CBS at 8/7c.
