Throughout Survivor's lengthy history, it has featured several memorable villains who've made their mark on the reality show. As a result, it can often feel like each new season of the show isn't compelling until fans have identified a player, or players, who seem like a villain. However, the truth is that each Survivor villain is a real person with faults and virtues outside the show.
For anyone who wants proof of the fact that so-called Survivor villains are real people, all they have to do is learn about what happened to one of the show's former competitors who was hated at the time. Years after the former player outraged fans, they underwent a truly terrifying medical situation, which led to them requiring an extremely serious life-saving surgery.
Scot Pollard recently underwent a heart transplant
During Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, Scot Pollard and Kyle Jason did a series of things that seriously angered many of the show's most passionate fans. At the time, Pollard was labeled a bully by many observers for things like how he seemed to treat the season's most beloved player, Tai Trang. Years later, observers got an entirely different perspective on the former Survivor player.
Before Pollard competed on Jeff Probst's show, he played in the NBA for 11 seasons. As a result, an ESPN article from June 2025 covered the news after Pollard got a heart transplant on Feb. 16, 2024. As the outlet revealed, Pollard had been born with a genetic heart disease called cardiomyopathy that his father had before him.
Sadly, his father's health began to seriously decline when Pollard was only 12 years old. ESPN's article detailed the fact that Pollard's father suffered a heart attack while driving and passed away when the former NBA star and Survivor player was 16 years old.
After Pollard got sick in 2021, that led to complications involving his cardiomyopathy that became life-threatening. Pollard told ESPN how profoundly he was affected after he got the flu, and it attacked his heart.
"A couple days later, I got the flu, and it attacked my heart. I couldn't walk across the room."
Thanks to having lost his father to the disease, Pollard clearly knew how serious the danger he was facing was. As a result, he told ESPN that before undergoing the surgery that saved his life, he'd accepted that he might be dying. However, Pollard also knew that he wanted to live, and he told the outlet that he is happy that he has more to achieve in his life.
"I do remember feeling like, 'If this is it, I'm going to be OK.' But if it's not, I've got a lot to do... I'm really glad I have a lot to do."
Before Pollard's health suddenly spiraled downward, he'd been a healthy professional athlete for many years. In fact, ESPN's article revealed that because of knowing what happened to his father, Pollard had always been very proactive about his heart health. That goes to show how fragile life can be. Fortunately, Pollard was able to get the help he needed to recover and feel healthy again.