The man who played up the alphabet “strategy” and created the superpole, Sean Kenniff speaks out about his Survivor experience for the first time in years.
Though they were inescapable from the public eye close to two decades ago, many of the first 16 Survivor players have done their best to remain away from the public eye. With more than 50 million people watching the finale, the sudden flash of fame did some better than others.
Sean Kenniff was one of the more fun “goofball” characters on Survivor Borneo, with the show playing up his silliness and underplaying his background work in the field of medicine. Who could forget the brilliant merge strategy of “write down peoples’ names in alphabetical order so that the only alliance in the game can throw votes their way” that helped pave the way to Pagong’s Pagonging and keep him safe longer?
Though it had been years since he offered any interviews, podcasting legend and two-time Survivor player Rob Cesternino managed to bring Dr. Sean out of hiding to interview him for an hour and a half about his journey, what he’s doing now and his time in Borneo for almost 39 days.
The origin story is something almost written for a screenplay, with Sean taking a trip to talk with his friend after quitting his job and searching for something bigger in life. All it took was a TIME Magazine ad asking for contestants to compete in a reality show in Borneo that changed his life forever, coming weeks and months after almost creating his own medical television show for MTV.
Thankfully, time has made it easier for Sean Kenniff to talk frankly about his time on Survivor, including discussions on the superpole, his mindset in implementing the alphabet strategy, why he picked a razor as a luxury item and (ahem) if he still had his nipple ring. Though he seems modest and unassuming at the idea, we’d love to see how he’d compete in a modern season.