Three years ago, Dee Valladares won Season 45 of Survivor, beating out her alliance and showmance partner Austin Li Coon to take home the $1 million prize. Now, Valladares is returning to the show for Season 50 in hopes of becoming a two-time champion.
Ahead of the show’s February 25 premiere, CBS is re-airing past iconic episodes featuring some of the Season 50 cast members. That includes the Dee-centric Season 45 penultimate episode on February 18.
Valladares and Li Coon’s flirty showmance will be front and center in the episode. Scroll down to find out whether it lasted after filming ended and for an update on where the two stand now.
Are Dee Valladares and Austin Li Coon still together?
No, Valladares and Li Coon are no longer together. At first, after their season finished airing in December 2023, they kept coy about the status of their romance.
“This has been a whirlwind of emotions, and we have decided to keep it low-key for now,” Valladares, who later competed on The Challenge, told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s been too crazy, and it’s getting crazier. So we’ve decided to keep it low-key for now, only because it’s been insane.”
She clarified, “Keep it low-key, you’ll see pictures here and there, but we’re not going to focus on it right now because so much is happening in our lives, and yeah, we’re just going to keep it low-key for now.”
In his own interview with the outlet, Li Coon agreed. “We kind of want to keep that a little private for now, just because things have been so crazy,” he explained. “The finale just aired, and I don’t think I’m ready quite yet for dealing with all the fans and giving out the answers. So going to keep that private for now.”
However, it turns out that the relationship was already over at that point. On December 19, 2024, Li Coon celebrated his one-year anniversary with his now-girlfriend (more on her below), which means he was already dating this new woman when Survivor 45 finished airing.
Who is Austin Li Coon dating now?
Li Coon is still dating someone from the Survivor universe. In fact, he’s in a relationship with host Jeff Probst‘s niece, Amanda Probst. The two hard-launched their relationship in September 2024 after nearly a year of dating.
In his Instagram post debuting the relationship, Li Coon revealed that he and Probst met in Chicago in November 2023. “Wild to think that our casual meet-up to talk about Survivor would lead to 10 months of cross country flights to visit each other,” he shared. “But ya know when the vibes are this good you can’t just drop it. She’s amazing and has made this year the most fun I’ve ever had.”
For their one-year anniversary, Li Coon gushed, “Survivor transformed my life in so many incredible ways, but without a doubt the best part about it all was meeting you. Happy 1 Year.”
He then paid tribute to his girlfriend on their two-year anniversary, writing, “2 years + 5 Survivor finales with the most amazing girl in the entire world. Life is better with you ❤️.”
What happened between Austin Li Coon and Dee Valladares?
While the two have never publicly spoken about why their relationship didn’t last, Li Coon revealed that everything “happened in a respectful way.” He also pointed out that filming for the show ended in spring 2023, months before viewers got to see how it all unfolded.
At the beginning of 2024, the internet was filled with rumors that the relationship ended because Valladares started seeing fellow Survivor winner Wendell Holland. After Holland’s then-girlfriend, Chelsea Brooks, with whom he shares a child, posted on Instagram, “Goodbye to the false promises, the fake potential, the disrespect. Goodbye to trying to force someone to see my worth. And most painfully, goodbye to what I thought my life would be,” fans assumed that he’d cheated on her. Online sleuths speculated that Valladares was the other woman.
In a now-deleted post, Holland addressed the situation. “I’ll clear the air with a few facts,” he wrote. “My gf and I broke up. I take responsibility for that. I’m sorry to her for all that has transpired. The person the internet keeps attaching me to deserves an apology from me as well. We got close at the end of November through December, and I was dishonest about my family life with her. I created a situation that was unfair to both parties and although I’ve apologized to both privately, I would like the community to know that I am sorry as well.”
