Shauhin Davari has been a fan favorite from his first moments on the beach in Survivor 48. Shauhin was a great interview and public speaker all season long. He provided fans with some iconic moments throughout the season before he was voted out in episode 12, and it almost didn't happen this way.
In fact, Shauhin was actually an alternate for another season of Survivor. He might not have even been part of this cast, which is wild to think about.
For those who don't know, Shauhin was an alternate on Survivor 46. He spent the week out in Fiji preparing to play the game, but then, at the last second, he learned that he wasn't part of the cast. It's a story that we've heard from a lot of Survivor players who actually get a taste of the experience, only to have it delayed again at the last second.
Shauhin might not be the only Survivor 46 alternate you know, either. Survivor 47 winner Rachel LaMont was also an alternate on Survivor 46 with Shauhin. Obviously, neither were picked for that season, which is very interesting when you start to think about the possibilities.
Neither Shauhin nor Rachel seemed like good fits for the Survivor 46 cast, but I can imagine them playing on those seasons. I don't think either player would have won Survivor 46, but based on how they played on their respective seasons, it's not outside of the realm of possibility to think they would have made it near the end.
It's also interesting to imagine Shauhin in the Survivor 47 cast and Rachel in the Survivor 48 cast. Ultimately, I do think Shauhin could have thrived in that Survivor 47 cast. He would have been able to make a few more moves simply based on his strong connections that he had no trouble making on his season. I do think Survivor 47, looking at that cast, had a few more strategic threats who made it deeper into the game than the Survivor 48 players. Andy Rueda, Genevieve Mushaluk, Rachel LaMont, Sam Phalen, and Gabe Ortis are just a few of the big strategic from that season.
Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly asked Shauhin about the moment he found out that he wasn't going to be part of the Survivor 46 cast, but he said that telling his family that he was going to be voted out before the final was actually the hardest part of his Survivor experience. That includes getting voted out of Survivor 48 and getting cut at the last second before Survivor 46.
Here's what he told EW about that moment:
"The hardest part actually happened two days ago. I didn't tell my family anything about what happened out there. I let them watch it and enjoy it. And so in that moment, the hard part was knowing that I was so close to the finale, knowing that I was so close to the end and really feeling like I had played a winning game that I was going to explain at final Tribal. And knowing that my family wasn't going to get to see a Final Tribal Council speech and my debate team wasn't going to get to see a Final Tribal Council speech from the speech and debate guy, that was a huge, huge bummer."
I'm sure we'll see more alternates continue to thrive on new seasons of Survivor. I would love to know if going out to Fiji and seeing how it all works before the season actually gives these players any advantage. It's not surprising that Rachel and Shauhin performed so well.