Survivor Ghost Island cast: Donathan Hurley breaks conventions

Everything you could guess about Survivor Ghost Island’s Donathan Hurley goes out the window as soon as the East Kentuckian opens his mouth.

Here at Surviving Tribal, we typically don’t dig deep into reported upcoming players’ lives before CBS officially reveals their names to the world. A player deserves all the anonymity they can get before they trade that in for a spot on television once a week, although Donathan Hurley presents us with a bit of a problem; we’ve seen him out and about on various forms of social media.

Even though he wasn’t the first Survivor Ghost Island player to follow us on Twitter, he still pops up both there and on the Survivor subreddit, making him the second known player (after Adam Klein) to spend time talking about the show at that extra layer of dedication before playing the game.

In a season where superfans were cast at a higher degree to strengthen the effectiveness of past players’ mistakes, Donathan Hurley being one of the most knowledgeable players of the game on this show may work to his benefit. On the flip side, we’ve seen students of the game fit into a gamebot archetype more often than not, which hopefully won’t happen this time.

Whatever Donathan Hurley is doing, you can tell he puts 125% effort into it. His CBS bio is possibly the longest in the history of this Q&A type, weaving personal stories that read in the voice of Donathan. That’s not an easy task for someone audiences barely know!

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While being a member of the LGBTQ community is just a small part of Donathan the person, you can see how much it will impact the story of Donathan the Survivor Ghost Island character. He aims to stand strong as a representative of his community despite his staunchly conservative surroundings, illustrating the good-heartedness he and so many others are pre-judged for (which crosses off one of his major pet peeves).

I hope his charming, energetic, dance-happy self doesn’t fall into the same hole that Patrick Bolton found himself dug into for Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. As much as I find him as an excitable, energetic character, you don’t know how nine others on his starting tribe will feel about him. Rubbing people the wrong way is one of the quickest ways to find yourself back at Ponderosa.

Interesting is the way Jeff Probst views Donathan. He sees his Survivor Ghost Island spot as an opportunity for him to grow and explore as a person, taking a big personal leap into a bigger world outside the box life has put him in. Noting that he’s “so likable,” and that “you want him to win” shows promise in one of the most enigmatic characters this season. Considering we’ve looked at Desiree, Jacob and Kellyn so far, that’s high praise.

You can tell how much he cares for others beyond his position as a caretaker; as a person. That level of sincerity while still having a deep knowledge of the game will make him a strong ally right out the gate, as he seems to be the kind of person that can talk his way into whatever alliance he wants to be, regardless of their view of him positively or negatively. That blazé attitude to others’ opinions could work to his advantage.

Next: Survivor Winners: Ranking 34 Sole Survivors By Season

Could Donathan Hurley be the second of two Survivor Redditors to win the million-dollar prize? It may not have the same caché as his poor Kentuckian rising out of adversity to overcome a 39-day challenge, but just like Adam Klein, not letting others know about your game-winning story may be the key to getting the opportunity to tell it at the Final Tribal Council.