Sonja Christopher, a contestant on SURVIVAL, has died.
The former TV star was 87 years old.
Sonya is best known for her time on the first season of the CBS reality show Survivor.
Also, she was the first person to be sent home.
Star of Survivor Season 46, which is currently airing, Liz Wilcox broke the sad news on X, which used to be Twitter.
She said, “Today, Queen of Season One Sonja Christopher passed away.” I got to meet her on Christmas, which was great.
“She was so fierce and loved Survivor and what it did for her.” Sonja, I hope you’re sing and play your heart out somewhere beautiful.
Someone asked where they could send flowers in the comments.
Liz told them to give money to the Sjogren’s Foundation, the Cancer Support Community of the San Francisco Bay Area, or Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church in Walnut Creek, California.
Liz also showed a picture of herself and Sonja on a FaceTime call. In the picture, Sonja is showing off her ukulele, which she performed on Survivor.
Sonja was on Survivor: Borneo in 2000. During the week, she helped her team lose a challenge, which got her kicked off the show.
When she was done with Survivor
She did an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2020 and talked about her time on the reality show, meeting the show’s host Jeff Probst, and what she was having fun with.
When people asked her what it was like to be the first person to leave Survivor, she said she had “mixed feelings” and felt “beaten up.”
Twenty years after she first showed up, she said she used to work as a music therapist until she retired.
She said she would bring her banjo to nursing homes and sing with the older people who live there.
She would put on shows and sing songs that they remembered from when they were kids.
More fans shared their sadness on X.
“Rip to the queen,” someone said.
Someone else wrote on Twitter, “Rest in peace Sonja Christopher. She was the one who started it all.” This is what a legend looks like!”
Someone else said, “I’m sorry she left. You’re lucky to have met her!”
“This is really sad.” A fourth person said, “Tonight in honor of Sonja Christopher, I’m going to watch #Survivor: Borneo Episode 1 again.”
“She made it possible for everyone to play Survivor.” Radio host Rob Cesternino said, “We will always smile when we think of Sonja Christopher.”
