1. Falling into the fire
Editor’s note: Michael Skupin, the Survivor player, is remembered in this piece for his moments on the show, not for his Ponzi schemes and prison time served for possession of child pornography among other charges.
It’s gruesome, but the most memorable moment from Survivor: The Australian Outback was when Michael Skupin fell in the fire on Day 18.
At that point in the game, Kucha was kicking Ogakor’s butt in the challenges and had the 6-5 numbers advantage when it came to the merge. Even though Ogakor had won the last Immunity Challenge, Kucha was eating chicken, fish, and even a pig at one point. They were doing quite well for themselves, and it showed in the challenges.
It appeared that Kucha was destined to go into the merge with a 6-5 advantage and would be able to pick off the Ogakor members one by one. That did not end up happening, due to the worst possible scenario.
As Mike was tending to the fire, he inhaled the smoke and passed out onto the fire. The skin on his hands was hanging off, and even though his tribemates were trying to comfort him, you could tell each one of them was terrified for their teammate.
Mike had to be medically evacuated out of the game via helicopter, and it was the first ever medical evacuation in Survivor history. To this day, it’s one of the more extreme instances on the show, and at the time, viewers were horrified watching everything unravel.
Mike made a full recovery and would return to compete for season 25, where he made it to the Final Three.
This moment being number one proves just how harsh the elements were in the Outback. Mike falling in the fire isn’t even just the top moment for the Outback season, but the show’s entire history.