Disheartening news comes this past weekend of an arrest made in late January of this year after Survivor alums Erik Huffman and Jaime Dugan allegedly got into a fight. TMZ was the first to report the news on March 8, with Us Weekly also reporting on the news on March 11 after obtaining the police report on the case. Huffman and Dugan met on Survivor during the 15th season, titled Survivor: China, which aired on CBS in 2007.
As US Weekly reports, police arrived at a convenience store in Spartanburg, South Carolina in January after receiving a disturbance call, to find only Huffman at the scene. Huffman told authorities that Dugan left the store after they allegedly got into a fight, in which Dugan accused her husband of cheating on her. "He told the police that he was concerned about Dugan’s wellbeing," the publication reports. TMZ reports that Huffman told authorities that Dugan said she might harm herself.
When police finally spoke with Dugan, she explained that she and her husband got into an argument because she found a burner phone in his car. "She alleged that they fought over the device and he broke her fingernail and left some small cuts on her hand," Us Weekly writes. Dugan shared that she ended up leaving the convenience store for her own safety. TMZ says that Dugan also denied saying she was going to harm herself.
Huffman was then arrested for third-degree domestic violence. You can see his mugshot in the TMZ tweet below.
Erik Huffman -- famous from 'Survivor' -- has been busted for domestic violence.
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 9, 2024
What we know 👉 https://t.co/vzCXWJPhGF pic.twitter.com/g2eRzF21V4
Neither Huffman nor Dugan ended up winning their season of Survivor, with Dugan, then 22, finishing on Day 21, and Huffman, then 26, leaving on Day 33. And while the two cast mates did not make things official while on the show, they ended up dating after they were voted off. When meeting on Survivor: China, they realized they didn't live far from each other in the real world and bonded over that connection.
Huffman and Dugan got engaged in 2008 in Charleston, South Carolina. Since then, the couple got married — after winning a $80,000 wedding — in 2009 and welcomed their son Harper into the world.
It's uncertain where Huffman and Dugan go from here. Dugan, who is active on Instagram, has her page set to private right now, and it doesn't look like she's made any public statements to the media since the arrest. Curious Redditors discussed her recent social media activity in a forum, with the general consensus being deep disappointment in the situation and heartbreak for Dugan.
Huffman and Dugan have one of the longest Survivor relationships, and fans are incredibly sad to hear this news.
Survivor season 46 is currently airing on CBS.