Season 44 of Survivor was the spark of a new romance between a couple of contestants while in Fiji.
Matt Blankinship and Frannie Marin, who were both on the Soka tribe from the beginning of the season, and quickly grew a tight bond, resulting in them being each other’s tightest allies.
SPOILER ALERT to fans if you haven’t gotten caught up with the series!
Blankinship, 27, ended up being voted out during the latest episode and is now the first member of the jury. It was during his exit interview that he confirmed they were now a real-life couple.
‘We’re still dating. We’re still going strong,’ the San Francisco, California native told Entertainment Weekly. ‘Obviously, there is so much chemistry there. We’re two dorky magnets. We couldn’t stay away from each other. And we knew the whole time.’
Showmance: Survivor season 44 contestant Matt Blankinship, 27, revealed he and Frannie Marin, 23, are ‘dating’ and ‘still going strong’
He continued, ‘I think of myself as a very logical, smart guy. The one thing you come into Survivor and not do is get into a showmance because it’s a terrible strategy, but we literally couldn’t help it. So, yeah, we’re still going strong. We did get Ethiopian food. We’re planning that road trip. We’re making it happen.’
Blankinship went on to reveal his mindset going into the competition, which was shot in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji from June 5 through June 30, 2022, and that a showmance was ‘the last thing he expected’ to get into beforehand.
‘You prepare for this game, but you could never prepare for that, right? One of the things I told myself going out there was to just sort of embrace whatever the experience had for me. Go out there with an open mind and just let myself feel the things I was feeling and express them and let myself be whatever, whoever I am in that moment. I think I really did that,’ he admitted.
Having the clarity to see and feel their connection, he confessed, ‘For me, that connection is so strong. That relationship with me and Frannie is so beautiful and so pure. It would be a disservice to me and a disservice to her to not allow that to flourish, regardless of game, you know? I’m the real winner of Survivor 44.’
Now that nearly a year has gone by since being off the show, Blankinship talked about how they have both been reminiscing over their blossoming relationship.
‘Honestly, there are a lot of little moments that were so cute and it feels so sweet and dear to me. I wasn’t sure if they would make edit, because there’s a lot to have to show on the show,’ he said.
Attracted, in part, by their adorable quirks, he also shared about how they clicked from the very beginning, which comes in hand when you need somebody to trust in the heat of competition.
‘I can’t express enough how much you need somebody that you can trust out there, someone who you feel super confident has your back,’ he confessed.
‘I think Frannie and I were that for each other. In another universe, we eventually would have to stab each other in the back. I’m sure some fireworks would go down. But I was thinking about that in a more endgame way and not anytime soon.’
Sparks flying: Blankinship confessed both he and Marin recognized their connection early on
Hosted by Jeff Probst, who also serves as executive producer along with Mark Burnett, the American version of the series premiered on CBS back in May 2000.
As with every season since season 41, season 44 featured 26 days of gameplay, pitting 18 contestants against one another in three initial tribes.
The cast of those 18 new players were divided into three tribes: Ratu, Soka, and Tika, while the name of the merged tribe was dubbed Va Va.
Former Seattle Seahawks fullback Brandon Cottom was among the contestants.
The premise of the reality competition series showcases a group of strangers in an isolated location, where they must provide food, fire, and shelter for themselves.
The contestants compete in challenges including testing the contestants’ physical ability like running and swimming or their mental abilities like puzzles and endurance challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination.
‘One of the things I told myself going out there was to just sort of embrace whatever the experience had for me,’ Blankinship said of his mindset heading into the competition, but a showmance was far from what he expected to
The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted out by their fellow contestants until only one remains and is given the title of “Sole Survivor”
The series has been nominated for 63 Emmy Awards over the course of its wildly successful run the lasted more than 23 years and counting.
Probst won the award for Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program four consecutive times after the award was introduced in 2008.
By 2007, Survivor made Time magazine’s list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time.
And then in 2013, TV Guide ranked it at number 39 on its list of the 60 Best Series Of All Time.
Season 44 of Survivor is available to stream on Paramount+.
Ready to stream: Season 44 of Survivor is now available to stream on Paramount+
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk