It was one of the most beautiful and emotional moments in Survivor‘s history. We’re talking about Eva Erickson and Joe Hunter’s bonding moment after the intense immunity challenge, and yes, we’re still crying!
Joe and Eva were originally in the Lagi tribe when they first landed in Fiji. Eva was hesitant to talk about her autism but found significant trust in Joe. She told Joe about it, and he was completely understanding and offered to help her out whenever she had an episode. It was a bittersweet moment when they switched tribes because Vula was getting tribal council each episode. With Joe now in Vula and Eva staying in Lagi, Eva didn’t have her support person. Civa won the reward challenge that brought them to the Sanctuary, and she bonded closely with her new tribemates.
However, it all came down to the immunity challenge when Lagi and Civa were down to the wire after Vula won first place. After her three tribemates, Mary, Charity, and David, finished their part of the maze, Eva became increasingly frustrated and anxious about not getting the ball to the finish line. With encouragement from her own team, she was able to win the immunity challenge and she bursted into tears. Her team group hugged her for a long time, and with Joe looking over with support from a distance, Jeff asked if it was a good time for them to hug. Joe was able to calm down Eva with a prolonged hug and holding hands.
“Please let’s take a step away from the game and understand that this is what I deal with with my autism, and everyone who has autism should not be ashamed to ask for help and ashamed to receive it,“ she said as she revealed her condition to her castmates.
For the first time in 48 seasons of Survivor, Jeff Probst wept some tears about the connection that was happening on the beach. “There is a young girl or boy just like you watching right now going, ‘Hey, mom, hey, dad,‘ ” Jeff said emotionally. “Now you got me. I’m a parent too, and I do see it. Wow, this [crying] has never happened. But I see it too, and that’s why I love Survivor. I really do.”
Where are Joe and Eva from Survivor now?
The two are currently with their families watching Survivor like the rest of us since the season was filmed last year. Eva announced that she’s selling t-shirts that say Fiji Hockey Club with $5 proceeds going to MN Special Hockey. And with next week’s preview, we know that the castaways have dropped their buffs and made it to the merge. The two will go head to head with other tribe members individually, but will their alliance make it to the final tribal council?
In an interview with People, Eva revealed how she felt during the touching moment. “This compression helps calm me down, helps bring me back, get grounded, and this just works wonders on me in a situation like that,” Eva told the outlet about how Joe calmed her down. “And I was able to get my head out of that loop, like this loop that’s been spinning and spinning, now I’m able to break that and actually re-center myself and reset and rejoin the game.“
She later wanted to tell Joe a message after seeing the episode with her boyfriend. “I want to tell Joe that he’s my superhero. He is an amazing man, and I am so thankful I got to meet him through Survivor, and that this is someone who, regardless of what happens in the rest of the game, he will always have a place in my heart,” Eva said. “He saw me in this hard situation — and he had the tools and knew what to do — and he acted on that.”
Jeff Probst wrote a personal essay where he detailed what happened after they stopped filming. “Somehow, without a word, we all understood that something sacred was happening. It didn’t matter that none of the other players knew Eva had autism. Most of our crew didn’t either. They didn’t need to. Because in that moment, it wasn’t about the details. It was about something much more universal: vulnerability. Pure and unshielded.”