Survivor 47 Winner Rachel Lamont Shared Her Thoughts On Season 48

With Survivor about to mark its 25th anniversary, Jeff Probst’s beloved reality show has been around so long that new fans have to figure out which seasons to watch first. That longevity also means that it is very hard to become one of Survivor’s best players ever or star in one of the greatest seasons. Fortunately for Rachel LaMont, she was able to avoid being medically evacuated and take her place among the best winners after prevailing during Survivor 47.

Not only did Rachel win Survivor, she appeared in several amazing moments and she was smart enough to lie to the jury. Given Rachel’s impressive Survivor experience to date, it makes sense for fans and players to listen to her. That is why it is so fascinating to learn what Rachel said about Survivor 48.

Rachel LaMont Reflected On How Important Winning Survivor 48’s First Challenge Was

On February 26th, 2025, the new season of the “On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast” began after the premiere of Survivor 48. The previous seasons of the podcast were co-hosted by Rick Devens, Dee Valladares, and Charlie Davis.

After Rachel LaMont won Survivor 47 and received all but one of her season’s jury votes, she made a huge impact on the show’s fans. Rachel also clearly impressed Jeff Probst as she was chosen to co-host the official podcast as it airs alongside Survivor 48.

During her first appearance on the podcast, which can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Rachel gave some fascinating insights about Survivor 48. For example, Rachel perfectly explained why it was so important for Survivor 48’s tribes to win the first challenge.

Survivor 48’s first challenge allowed the three tribes to compete for supplies that play a key role in their survival, including their pot, machete, and flint.

While speaking to Jeff Probst and the podcast’s other co-host, Rachel explained why getting those items right away would be extremely helpful for the tribes. At first, Rachel brought up how great it would be for a tribe to be able to stay together instead of one of them going off to a solo challenge.

I think that having your entire tribe together and not having to send someone away from camp at the start of the game is a huge factor.

After that, Rachel brought up a way that winning the first challenge can dramatically help a tribe.

After the first challenge, each of the tribes that didn’t win had to pick one of their members. Those two players, one from each tribe, were then sent off to compete against each other in a single challenge.

In February 2025, Entertainment Weekly quoted Jeff Probst saying how easy it was to choose Rachel LaMont as his podcast co-host. “I got to be honest, although there were a lot of people from 47 that would’ve been fun — including Rome, who desperately wanted to do it — for us it was a pretty easy decision. Rachel was such a dominant player in so many different ways, and such a good talker. When we called her and told her the news, we could have recorded the first podcast right then. She’s ready.”

That challenge provided a second chance for one of the players to win the supplies for their tribe, with the other going back to camp with nothing.

During her debut on the official podcast, Rachel explained the uncertainty that having a player leave to compete in a solo challenge creates.

“I think that it creates, positivity, and everyone can kinda get to know each other, feel everybody out. You don’t have to worry about that solo person that’s off doing who knows what, bonding with someone on another tribe. They come back. Do they have something? Are they hiding something? You know, I think it’s a really big advantage.”

Rachel LaMont Explained Why Kyle Fraser Helping Kevin Leung Beat Him Was A Strategic Moment

After two of the three tribes failed to win their supplies, they chose a player each to compete in a solo challenge. Those two players were then given a task that created an extremely compelling moment.

Ultimately, Kevin Leung and Kyle Fraser were chosen to compete and they had to take a pot and fill it with water. Then, they had to carry the pot over to a large glass jug that had a key inside of it and pour the water in. As the jug filled up with water, the key that was attached to a cork floated to the top. Once the jug was full enough, the player would retrieve the key which they would use to unlock their supplies.

In June 2025, Collider published a review of Survivor 48’s premiere episode. That article recognized Kevin Leung and Kyle Fraser’s solo challenge as one of the most compelling parts of the episode.

In a moment that made millions of Survivor fans gasp, they saw Kyle smash part of his jug, which disqualified him. After a moment of despair, Kyle then began retrieving water to help fill Kevin’s jug. Considering Kevin injured himself during the first challenge, it was a really sweet moment… Or was it?

While talking about the solo challenge, Rachel stated that Kyle helping Kevin was a strategic moment, even if he didn’t mean it to be.

“Kyle can say, ‘Kevin hurt his shoulder. He’s worked his a** off. I’m gonna help him because it’s the right thing to do.’ But the second Jeff says, ‘Welcome to Survivor 48.’ Until he reads the final vote to crown the winner, the game never stops for a second. And so, as a player, you can make a decision to act out of the kindness of your heart. You can say it’s outside of the bounds of the game, and you can mean that. But every decision that is made impacts the game, therefore, it is gameplay, whether you intend it to be or not.”

Rachel LaMont Reacted To Survivor 48’s Incredibly Sweet Moment

During Survivor 48’s premiere episode, fans were introduced to Eva Erickson. An incredibly driven person who seems extremely lovable, Eva soon revealed in a confessional interview that she was diagnosed with autism.

As the premiere episode progressed, Eva told the player she trusted the most, Joe Hunter, that she has autism. More than two decades older than Eva and a father, Joe instantly seemed to go into protector mode.

First, Joe asked Eva to tell him how he could best help her when she might be struggling. Then, during a confessional interview, Joe pledged to support Eva, even if doing so ruins his game. “This is bigger than the game now and transcended it in a way that changed everything. What if my daughter was here in that situation? I have made a decision. She’s with me. She came to the right person, 100%. It was, you know, that was meant to be. So even if, you know, whatever comes of that or why that happened, I’m not gonna let her down. So even if that hurts my game or whatever, if I gotta go home early, I’m not gonna let her down.”

While talking about that highly emotional moment between Joe and Eva, Rachel reminded listeners to remember that Joe and Eva’s relationship is gameplay.

“Joe’s relationship with Eva certainly impacts the game. And therefore, no matter the intention behind it, it is still gameplay. We are still playing Survivor. And I think that’s what makes Survivor so compelling is you can have these very human moments. You can have these really real relationships, but you’re still in the framework of Survivor, the game. And that is so interesting.”

While Rachel explained the gameplay of that moment, she still spoke about how affected she was by Joe and Eva. “I think Joe has all the good intentions about Eva… It also made me emotional. I feel like this is an amazing relationship.”