Since the year 2000, fans of Survivor have learned to expect the unexpected when it comes to Jeff Probst’s beloved reality show. While new fans who are figuring out which seasons to watch first may think there is one way to prevail, longtime viewers know that Survivor’s best winners have taken different paths. Fans who also have opinions about the greatest seasons and the best players ever will also recognize that unexpected medical evacuations happen.

The same kind of fan who knows that some Survivor players have refused to return also recognizes that the show has also spawned love. Even though they are filthy and stressed during the game, several former Survivor players have gone on to fall in love. The wonderful news that Katurah Topps and Sabiyah Broderick becoming a couple are the latest example of the reality show leading to love.

Katurah Topps And Sabiyah Broderick Are Survivor’s First Black Queer Women Couple

Throughout the history of Survivor, there have been many so-called showmances that led to nothing off the show. In those cases, a pair of Survivor players seemed to be falling for each other in the game, only for their fledgling relationship to be over once they got back to their real lives.

On the other hand, there have also been some Survivor players who fell for each other later after they never seemed to connect during the game. In some ways, it is more exciting for fans when Survivor couples are in the second category since their love is unexpected and hopefully exciting news.

Many months after they never connected when fans saw them play the game, Survivor’s latest couple was announced. In June 2025, fans learned that Katurah Topps and Sabiyah Broderick are Survivor’s first Black queer women couple.

In June 2025, Out published an article about Sabiyah and Katurah announcing they’d become a couple. The two popular Survivor players spoke to Out about how they fell in love for the profile.

While speaking to Out, Katurah revealed when she and Sabiyah actually met each other properly for the first time.

“Our first meeting was on a trip to Cape Cod with our cast after filming…before our season aired. We’d talked on the phone for a bit [prior to the trip], but this was the first time we saw each other in person and the true beginning of our friendship.”

Even though they both played during Survivor 45, they met after the game because Sabiyah and Katurah were never in the same tribe together.

Like a lot of other couples that last, Sabiyah and Katurah began their relationship as friends. In June 2025, Sabiyah and Katurah were a guest on “The Pride Has Spoken,” which is a podcast that is a part of the “Rob Has a Podcast” network.

During that conversation, which can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Katurah and Sabiyah seemed extremely happy to tell the world about the life they are building together. For example, during that podcast episode, it was revealed that Sabiyah and Katurah became so close that they wound up spending hours daily speaking to each other over Facetime.

While still speaking to Out, Katurah explained that her relationship with Sabiyah began turning romantic in late 2024.

“We realized that our friendship — being ‘besties’ who talked every single day — was turning into something more last fall, around August 2024, and we decided to explore it casually. But, by January of this year, we knew we needed to make it official.”

It is also worth noting that when Sabiyah and Katurah’s friendship began, they were living far apart. Katurah was living in New York and Sabiyah was living in North Carolina. Still, that initial distance obviously didn’t keep Sabiyah and Katurah apart.

During her discussion with Out, Katurah revealed that Sabiyah asked about them becoming a couple in January 2025. According to Out, Katurah referenced Sabiyah wanting to bring some happiness into the world on the day that Donald Trump was inaugurated into office for the second time.

On June 22nd, 2025, Sabiyah and Katurah announced they were a couple in a joint Instagram post.

“On Survivor, we both struggled with fire🔥 I couldn’t make it and she went a week without it. But what we’ve built together? That’s a fire that finally lit itself! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥from Players to Partners, from Castmates to Co-dreamers… Meet Survivor’s FIRST Black Queer Woman Couple✨🏳️‍🌈”

How Survivor Fans Were Introduced To Katurah Topps And Sabiyah Broderick

As was referenced earlier in this episode, Katurah Topps and Sabiyah Broderick played during Survivor 45. Knowing now that they have become a couple, it is remarkable to see how similar and different Sabiyah and Katurah’s Survivor games seemed to be on TV.

Unfortunately for her, Sabiyah was voted out far too early during Survivor 45 since she was the third player to have her torch snuffed. As sad as that must have been for Sabiyah, it was even more disappointing for many Survivor fans.

During Survivor 45, Sabiyah proved that she could effortlessly connect with people. On top of that, Sabiyah also showed that she had real strategic chops.

Sadly, Sabiyah’s obvious skills made her a threat to her tribemates. Worse yet, Sabiyah’s tribe lost the first four immunity challenges. As a result, after two other players on her tribe were voted out first, Sabiyah had her torch snuffed to get rid of her as a threat.

On the other hand, Katurah went much further in the game, as she came in 4th place. With that in mind, it may seem strange for anyone to think that Katurah and Sabiyah’s game had much in common. However, from the fan’s point of view, it was frustrating to see what happened to Katurah in the game because she seemed to be capable of so much more, similar to Sabiyah.

Unfortunately for Katurah, she wound up on a tribe with a leader that she simply didn’t get along with, Bruce Perreault. As a result of that drama, it seemed like Katurah’s time on Survivor was dominated by her efforts to get Bruce voted out. Furthermore, once Bruce was gone, Katurah clearly didn’t trust her tribemate, Jake O’Kane.

As a result. it felt like Katurah was never really able to properly get her game on the right footing. That felt like a real shame for any Survivor fan who noticed how incredibly smart and likable Katurah came across. Based on what went wrong in their games, it truly would be wonderful to see Sabiyah and Katurah return to play Survivor again.