Sue Smey might have made it all the way to the Final Tribal Council of Survivor 47 — with dirt on her face and all — but her journey on the Emmy Award-winning series was far from smooth sailing. After all, everyone on Survivor overcomes some sort of adversity, but Sue’s might have been the worst we’ve ever heard of…
Despite receiving no votes at the Final Tribal Council — finishing in third place after “Sole Survivor” Rachel LaMont and runner-up Sam Phalen — Sue had a rather impressive run on Survivor 47, winning an Individual Immunity Challenge (and becoming the oldest woman in Survivor history to do so), finding a Hidden Immunity Idol, and more.
In the first few days of the game, the 59-year-old thought that she was going to have to be medically evacuated, though, as she was “battling severe stomach issues” and “a relentless migraine” while on the Tuku tribe. Although it was not shown on our television screens, the New York native told Dalton Ross at Entertainment Weekly in in exclusive exit interview that “it was tough and incredibly worrisome, because the thought of being taken out of the game for something beyond [her] control was devastating.”
Despite her health struggles, Sue was not “taken out of the game,” making it all the way to day 26. Delving into the details later on in the interview, see below for what hardships Sue had to face to get to the Final Tribal Council of Survivor 47.
“I was severely sick,” the New York native prefaced, mentioning that after only a couple days of not eating in the early days of Survivor 47, she suffered from unbearable stomach cramps and vomiting. Poor Sue!
Believe it or not, it even impacted her performance in Immunity and Reward Challenges. Sue reminisced:
“I remember one of the other tribes, they saw me in the field throwing up, and then we had to go compete. I was severely sick and almost like in a zombie state for easily two days. It was really, really tough.”
Training for Survivor for months, the flight school owner was as devastated as can be, concerned that her chance at the title of “Sole Survivor” and the million-dollar prize was slipping through her fingers. She continued:
“My biggest fear was being taken out because of being sick or something, and my whole training was based on not getting injured. All these other people are training to build their muscles up and be a beast. I was training to not get injured. I was taking weighted vests and running four miles to strengthen my joints. I had a different mindset of ‘Don’t get injured,’ and that was my biggest fear. Being taken out of the game because of an injury or an illness.”
In the midst of her illness, though, Sue’s Tuku tribemates — consisting of Caroline Vidmar, Tiyana Hallums, Kyle Ostwald, Gabe Ortis, and TK Foster — showed her as much love and support as possible, even throwing a birthday party for her daughter. Describing the moment as one of the highlights of her Survivor journey, the camaraderie that was built throughout Survivor 47 seriously warms our hearts!
While she did not emerge victorious, to see Sue slay Survivor from start to finish — and to see said camaraderie — the entirety of Survivor 47 is available to stream via Paramount Plus. With this new information, it’s safe to say that we will be rewatching the first few episodes to see if we can spot her sickness…