Sprint Player of the season? Gone. Fan Favorite Award? Finito. The latest recipient of the Sia Award for her favorite Survivor player is Davie Rickenbacker.
Ever since Kaoh Rong, superfan, excellent Celebrity Survivor pick and, most famously, singer/songwriter Sia has been offering her favorite players an extra monetary gift. She gifted both Tai Trang and an animal charity of his choice $50,000 each in an unscripted moment of finale reunion insanity. Donathan Hurley would be the second such recipient in Ghost Island, receiving a tax-free-accepted gift of $14,000 and continuing to a trend both appreciated and looked down upon in online circles.
It seems like there isn’t as predictable a pattern as once thought, as Entertainment Weekly reveals that Davie Rickenbacker was the recipient of what he dubs the Sia Award for David vs. Goliath. He tells the story of someone sending him a random email message praising him for his faith and spirit in the game, providing the email with his personal information required to give him the gift.
Funnily enough, the excitement of the potential of Sia giving Davie a gift meant doing so without first checking with production to make sure it was legit, which resulted in a panicked back-and-forth with production, who was unaware at the time! Thankfully, it turned out to be a legitimate gift from the acclaimed singer.
Davie Rickenbacker was one of the biggest fan favorites of Survivor: David vs. Goliath. When we asked about all of the players from that season who should return in a future season, Davie had the highest percentage of people agreeing with him at 93%. That slightly surpassed that of Christian Hubicki at 92%; someone who had been one of the show’s frontrunners all season long.
Considering that Davie was a last-minute alternate that was likely linked up for Edge of Extinction instead, to get sixth-place money and $14,000 on top must have been a whirlwind of a year for South Carolina native.