Survivor Ghost Island cast: Desiree Afuye will persevere

Seemingly ready to stir the pot, play to everyone’s sensibilities and strive through the game’s hardships, Desiree Afuye is one to watch.

When you look back through the catalog of Survivor players, you can see people from all walks of life. The wealthy have clashed with the poor, the rednecks have come both in last and first place, and we’ve even seen competition split between men and women. Very rarely do you see people who have come back from fierce adversity before even playing the game; few players are like Desiree Afuye.

She is the first player due in our series of Survivor Ghost Island cast assessments, and the 21-year-old student from Brooklyn, NY certainly has a story to tell. Her CBS bio recalls her being homeless for up to two months in the US, as her parents lived in Nigeria and her brothers couldn’t help her.

Living in a house with seven other women trying to keep your head above water in NYC, paired with being out on the streets for months at a time, gives Desiree Afuye strength enough to persevere during the harshest of times in Survivor. She knows how to deal with several hectic personalities in a confined space and has had to brave the elements for weeks at a time, handling some of the show’s main factors.

You can tell this opportunity means a lot to Desiree, and going off how she presents herself, you can tell she knows her limits of when to push herself and other peoples’ buttons. Even though she draws inspiration from Michaela (a strong player who didn’t know how to control their emotions among seasoned players), you can see her wheels spinning while maintaining a calm, cool composure.

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One thing that may be a cause for concern about Desiree is that she’s willing to cross any line to win a million dollars. Granted, many Survivor players have been downright despicable en route to victory (look at you, Brian Heidik), but she supposedly wants to work with superfans who are as knowledgeable about the game as she is, only to cut them before the Final Tribal Council.

Sure, superfans are willing to overlook people who cross the line in the name of great Survivor gameplay but making those big movez and crossing those lines in a season filled with superfans (required to know the Ghost Island relics from past seasons) will bring attention to you. Desiree Afuye seems to be entering the game with the right mindset and can look down the road to see how others would react, but the fact that so many players know the game as she does means this style of play may not have end-game play.

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Regardless, Desiree has a spark in her that shows a player who is ready to play at any time but waits in calm reserve. She certainly has the potential to go far, but she’s also got a fire in her that, if let loose, could burn her early. To me, she looks set up to be an early boot or make it to the finale episode. She has a great story, though, and I hope we get to see it fully developed over time.