Survivor alum Sonja Christopher, the first castaway ever voted off the CBS reality series, has passed away at age 87.
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"Today, the legend herself Sonja Christopher of Season One passed away. I had the pleasure of meeting her on Christmas," Liz wrote on X.
"She had so much spunk + love for Survivor and what the show brought to her life. I hope you're singing + playing your heart out somewhere beautiful, Sonja."
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Along with her post, Liz uploaded a screenshot that showed Sonja showing off her iconic signed ukulele to Liz via FaceTime.
Liz did not reveal Sonja's cause of death, but she wrote in a subsequent post via X, "No flowers, but donations may be sent to Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church (Walnut Creek, CA), the Cancer Support Community of the San Francisco Bay Area, or the Sjogren's Foundation."
Survivor's official Instagram account then posted about Sonja's death on Saturday, April 27.
In addition to sharing a photo of Sonja smiling on the beach while filming Survivor's inaugural season, the show included a statement from longtime Survivor host Jeff Probst.
"Sonja was one of the kindest people to ever play Survivor. Every interaction I had with her over the years was lovely. She would always greet you with a smile on her face and joy in her heart," Jeff said.
"I'm honored that our paths got to cross."
Sonja had competed on Survivor: Borneo in 2000, when Survivor premiered its first season on CBS.
Sonja got along well with her tribemates, but after struggling in the first Immunity Challenge, she was voted out of the game at the first Tribal Council session.
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Not only did Sonja make history as Survivor's first-ever vote off, but she was also the show's first lesbian castaway.
Sonja appeared on Survivor three years after fighting breast cancer.
"I was newly recovering from breast cancer treatment. And I had been in an 11-year relationship and my partner got consolation elsewhere during that time of the cancer," Sonja told Entertainment Weekly in 2020, two decades after her early Survivor exit.
"So I had moved to a senior retirement community, and I was by myself, no ties, my son was grown and taking care of himself. I was reading the morning paper, and it said something in an article about CBS looking for 16 Americans to cast away on a deserted island and see who could survive for 39 days."
Sonja admitted to EW that she "had mixed feelings" about being the first person voted off Survivor.
"I was pretty beaten up... To this day, I still have bruises that don't go away,” Christopher shared.
"Someone once asked me if I thought my being voted off early was due to ageism. And I said, 'Oh, no.' And you know why is because I had no concept of ageism."
She elaborated at the time, "I was always good at sports and very active physically. I just didn't realize I was, to some of these people, an old lady."
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Many Survivor alums have paid tribute to Sonja on social media since the news of her passing, including Rob Cesternino.
"She paved the way for every person to ever play Survivor," Rob wrote on X. "We will always smile when we think of Sonja Christopher. RIP to a legend."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
