It Seems a Survivor Contestant Had to Harass a Crew Member Before the Show Took It Seriously
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Dan Spilo, the Survivor: Island of the Idols contestant accused of harassing another competitor earlier in the season, has been removed from the show by producers following an “undisclosed, off-camera incident.”
People is reporting that the incident occurred after an immunity challenge on a boat taking players back to camp and did not involve fellow contestants but instead involved Spilo and a member of the production team. According to People, there is no video but at least one other contestant saw what transpired. At the close of Wednesday’s episode, host Jeff Probst told contestants that Spilo would not be returning. After the screen faded to black, a title card read “Dan was removed from the game after a report of another incident, which happened off-camera and did not involve a player.”
Earlier in the season, Spilo was accused of unwanted physical contact by fellow contestant Kellee Kim, who said he rested his hand on her knee, stroked her hair, and wrapped an arm around her while she slept. Her complaints began the first week the show filmed. Kim was voted off in the eighth week, after two other contestants Missy Byrd and Elizabeth Beisel, manufactured complaints against Spilo to convince Kim she had an ally. While the production team did offer to intervene on Kim’s behalf and issued a “warning” to Spilo, they also did nothing to prevent Kim from being eliminated and allowed Spilo to continue on in the competition. It seems that Spilo had to be involved in an incident with a crew member before the show took his behavior seriously.
In response to Spilo’s removal, Kim released a statement on Twitter that read, in part: “While Dan’s dismissal has validated the concerns that I raised from the beginning of this season, I wish that no one else had to be subjected to this type of behavior.”
Even prior to the latest incident involving Spilo, CBS announced that the December 18 Survivor finale, which is traditionally aired live, will film two hours before it is aired.