SURVIVOR champion Savannah Louie has pulled back the curtain on what it really means to win a life-changing cash prize after her victorious run on the CBS series.
The 32-year-old, who rose to fame on season 49, has explained how much money she actually took home and how long she had to wait before she could access the million-dollar payout.
Speaking on the Financial Tea with Mrs. Dow Jones podcast, the Survivor star broke down what happens behind the scenes and how much of the prize fund she was able to keep.
After being crowned Sole Survivor and securing the $1 million grand prize, the 32-year-old said the reality of the tax bill hit hard.
Savannah described the experience as a “punch to the gut,” saying the tax burden alone was far greater than anything she had earned in a year before.
The Georgia resident was asked: “How much of that are you actually getting after tax?”
She answered: “Oh, my God, girl, it is painful. It’s actually devastating.
“So I have already paid my taxes, obviously, from the past year and I think I paid, of that million dollars, $380,000.
“It was like a punch to the gut, because that’s more money than I have ever made in a year by far, especially when I was working as a journalist.
“My first couple of jobs out of college, I was at 30k a year and so to sign a cheque over for that high was unreal. It hurt.”
She went on: “Canadians get to keep all that money. They don’t have to pay taxes.
“There actually was a winner who was from Canada a few years ago, and so the money that’s in her pocket is a little different from the money in mine.
“At the same time, living in Atlanta, I’m very grateful that I’m there and not, like, probably California.”
On the wait for her winnings, she explained: “This is actually sickening.
“So we played the game in summer and you can get a very small advance of maybe $10,000, but other than that they’re keeping that money because with Survivor or maybe other reality shows, I’m not sure, there are NDAs in place.
“So I know who the winner is. Our cast knows who the winner is, but production doesn’t want that to get out and so they have that cheque at the end of the day that’s kind of looming.
“We have to wait until the finale airs before we get that payout.
“For me, our finale aired in December, so I was waiting a long time, very patiently.”
After winning her season, Savannah was asked back to compete on Survivor 50.
The former winner ended up leaving the competition early and was the second person to be voted out.
