Season 44 of Survivor was the spark of a new romance between a pair of contestants in Fiji.
Matt Blankinship and Frannie Marin, who were both with the Soka Tribe from the start of the season, quickly bonded, becoming each other’s closest allies.
SPOILER ALERT for fans if you don’t know the series yet!
Blankinship, 27, eventually became voted out during the final episode and is now the first judge. During his exit interview, he confirmed that they were now a real couple.
“We’re still dating. We’re still going strong,” said the San Francisco, California native Weekly entertainment. “Of course there is so much chemistry there. We’re two dorky magnets. We couldn’t stay away from each other. And we knew it all along.’
Showmance: Survivor season 44 contestant Matt Blankinship, 27, revealed that he and Frannie Marin, 23, are dating and still going strong
He continued, “I consider myself a very logical, smart guy. The one thing you get into Survivor that you don’t do is get into a showmance because it’s terrible strategy, but there was literally nothing we could do about it. So yeah, we’re still going strong. We did get Ethiopian food though. We’re planning that road trip. We make it possible.’
Blankinship then revealed his mindset as he went into the contest, which was taped from June 5 to June 30, 2022 in Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands, and that a showmance was “the last thing he anticipated.”
“You prepare for this match, but you can never prepare for that, can you? One of the things I told myself when I went there was to just embrace what the experience had for me. Go out with an open mind and just let myself feel the things I felt and express them and let myself be whatever, whoever I am at the time. I think I really did,” he admitted.
Having the clarity to see and feel their connection, he confessed, “For me, that connection is so strong. That relationship with me and Frannie is so beautiful and so pure. It would be a disservice to me and a disservice to her not to let that bloom, regardless of the game, you know? I am the true winner of Survivor 44.”
Now that almost a year has passed since they were off the show, Blankinship shared how they both reminisced about their blossoming relationship.
Honestly, there are a lot of little moments that were so cute and it feels so sweet and precious to me. I wasn’t sure if they would edit because there’s a lot to see in the show,” he said.
Drawn in part by their adorable quirks, he also shared how they clicked from the very beginning, which comes in handy when you need someone to trust in the heat of the moment.
“I can’t express enough how much you need someone you can trust out there, someone you’re super confident you support,” he confessed.
“I think Frannie and I were for each other. In another universe, we would end up stabbing each other in the back. I’m sure some fireworks would go off. But I thought of that more in an endgame way and not in the short term.”
Sparks fly: Blankinship confessed that both he and Marin recognized their connection early on
Hosted by Jeff Probst, who also serves as an executive producer along with Mark Burnett, the US version of the series premiered on CBS in May 2000.
As with every season since Season 41, Season 44 contained 26 days of gameplay, pitting 18 contestants against each other in three original tribes.
The cast of those 18 new players was divided into three tribes: Ratu, Soka and Tika, while the name of the merged tribe was called Va Va.
Former Seattle Seahawks fullback Brandon Cottom was one of the participants.
The premise of the reality competition series depicts a group of strangers in a remote location, where they must fend for themselves with food, fire, and shelter.
The contestants compete in challenges that include testing the contestants’ physical ability, such as running and swimming, or their mental abilities, such as puzzles and endurance challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination.
“One of the things I told myself when I went out was to just embrace what the experience had for me,” Blankinship said of his mindset going into the game, but a showmance was far from what he expected.
The contestants are gradually eliminated from the game as they are voted out by their fellow contestants until only one remains and is given the title of “Sole Survivor”
The series has been nominated for 63 Emmy Awards over the course of its hugely successful run over the past 23+ years.
Probst won the award for Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program four consecutive times after the award was introduced in 2008.
In 2007, Survivor was included on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
And then in 2013, TV Guide placed it at number 39 on its list of the 60 Greatest Series of All Time.
Season 44 of Survivor is available to stream on Paramount+.
Ready to Stream: Season 44 of Survivor is now available to stream on Paramount+