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Survivor season 44 is set to air this week and will take contestants to the Fiji Islands where they will spend 26 days trying to win the title of the next "Sole Survivor."
One of the contestants set to appear on the show is Josh Wilder, a Cincinnati surgeon born with prune belly syndrome. According to Parade, the upcoming castaway received a life-saving transplant, which inspired him to become a surgical podiatrist.
Survivor season 44 is set to premiere on CBS on Wednesday, March 1, at 8 pm ET.
Meet Josh Wilder ahead of his appearance on Survivor season 44
Josh Wilder is one of the 18 castaways set to compete for the cash prize of $1 million and the title of "Sole Survivor." The 34-year-old Surgical Podiatrist from Atlanta, Georgia, wants to be a part of the show to test the adventurous side of his personality.
In an interview with Parade, he spoke about his appearance in the upcoming season and opened up about having a congenital deformity as a child. He added that due to prune belly syndrome, his kidneys weren’t fully functional, and shared:
"Thank God I got a kidney transplant when I was nine years old by a cadaveric transplant donor, Kristen Reagle. She died at the age of 15 by a drunk driver; it was like her life hadn't even started."
The Survivor season 44 contestant stated that his donor was an adventurous person and liked being outdoors, so he’s doing this for her as much as he is doing this for his own family.
Josh started watching the show when it came out in May 2000 and would watch it alongside his family every Thursday. He stated that he’s seen almost every season of the CBS show except when he had to miss a few during med school and college.
The one winner that he relates to is Jeremy, and the non-winner that he identifies with is Davie because Davie was a great social player and did really well during the challenges.
The cast member of the upcoming season of the survival show stated in the interview that he wants to be perceived as athletic while on the show alongside being someone who provides for his teammates. Josh wants to be more social and inclusive of his fellow contestants to get to the end, but when he’s there, “it’s all gloves off.” He added:
"I'm going to backstab, cheat, and do what I need to do to get there. But at first, I'm gonna play a very social game, be athletic, be the provider. And then once we merge, God willing, then I'm going to do what I need to do. All bets are out the window."
The Survivor season 44 contestant stated that while on the show, he will not let his emotions get the best of him and wouldn’t let others play on his emotions either. Josh said that he’s seen it on the show before, people playing on emotions and tugging at them to use it against each other, and intends to prevent the same from happening to him.
Moreover, according to the contestant, he needs to keep his eyes on the prize and not let other people get on his nerves as Jonathan did with Maryanne.
Tune in on Wednesday, March 1, at 8 pm ET on CBS to watch the season premiere of Survivor season 44.
