When each new season of Survivor premieres, fans of Jeff Probst’s beloved reality show hope that it will be truly great. The kind of fan who knows which players have refused to return and who was the first person to be medically evacuated hopes the new season will be great for new viewers to watch. Of course, both new and old fans also hope that each new season will be one of the best because it features fantastic players and an iconic winner.

Unfortunately, most fans have felt that Survivor 48 isn’t one of the best seasons because of the boring gameplay and the truly horrible journey. However, one thing that every fan should love about Survivor 48 is how lovable Shauhin Davari was during the season and after.

What Makes Shauhin Davari Such A Lovable Survivor Player

In the year 2000, I started watching Survivor almost from the very start. While I missed the first episode ever, which I later went back and watched, I caught the second episode of Survivor’s first season, and I was hooked. In the years since then, I have watched every episode of Survivor that has ever aired, and I have grown to really like many players.

In most cases, my favorite Survivor players are the ones who I think make the best strategic moves. That said, I also love seeing a Survivor player who has lots of personality. Since I like both of those things, it makes a lot of sense that my favorite Survivor player ever is Tony Vlachos.

While watching Survivor 48, there have been several players who I’ve grown to really like. For example, I can’t get enough of seeing Kamilla Karthigesu and Kyle Fraser as a strategic pair. Additionally, I have grown to find Shauhin Davari to be so lovable that I find it hard to understand how anyone could dislike him.

The first reason why I find Shauhin to be such a lovable figure is extremely obvious, his personality. After all, throughout Survivor 48, Shauhin consistently came across as an incredibly kind and genuine person.

When Shauhin won the reward that involved the letters from home, he made the choice to bring Joe Hunter and Kyle Fraser with him. When Joe was speaking about a letter he’d received from his son, I think that Shauhin’s response seemed extremely telling. Instead of asking about what was written, Shauhin asked Joe to read his son’s letter aloud.

For all viewers know, Shauhin, Joe, and Kyle could have all decided to read their letters aloud and that wasn’t shown during the episode. In that hypothetical case, Shauhin calling for Joe to read his son’s letter aloud may not have seem as meaningful. However, that isn’t the point.

Moments earlier in the episode, viewers saw Shauhin tell Jeff Probst how much getting a letter from his mom would mean to him.

When Joe was talking about the letter from his son, Shauhin was sitting there with his mom’s letter.

While it seems clear that Shauhin had already read his mom’s letter, many people would have been wrapped up in the emotional impact of hearing from their loved one.

In Shauhin’s case, however, he seemed to be extremely excited to hear what Joe’s son wrote to him. Based on everything that fans had seen of Shauhin up until that moment, the reason he wanted to hear Joe read his son’s letter seems clear. Shauhin seems to sincerely care about people and be invested in their happiness.

The next reason why I think it is hard to understand why Survivor fans could not love Shauhin is because of his passion for the show. Let’s be blunt, there is no denying that Survivor 48 isn’t one of the show’s best seasons and that most fans found a lot of the gameplay boring. Similar to other players, most notably Mitch Guerra, Shauhin has gotten blame for that since he didn’t turn on Joe and Eva Erickson.

While I certainly agree that Survivor 48 was far from the best season, there is something about it that I loved. I found it delightful to see how Shauhin seemed to be celebrating getting to become part of Survivor history at every turn.

There are two moments that to me, epitomize how excited Shauhin seemed to be that he was a Survivor player.

First off, I was delighted when Shauhin began recreating the memorable Survivor chants as he watched a challenge he’d been eliminated from play out. The reason why I loved that moment so much was that it felt like Shauhin was acting like he was watching a Survivor moment play out in front of him.

Secondly, Shauhin’s reaction after he was voted out was truly fantastic to see, in my opinion. First off, Shauhin showed that he still cared about his tribemates who’d just voted him out by demanding hugs. Then, as Shauhin was walking out of tribal, he turned back to recreate the chants once again and make his tribemates laugh. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, while speaking to the camera about being voted out, Shauhin put his face in his hands and lamented that he’d been voted out. Shauhin showing those emotions again proved that he loved Survivor, and he really cared about what winning the show could have meant to him and his loved ones.

What Made Shauhin Davari Such A Compelling Survivor Player

In addition to Shauhin Davari being so lovable, there was something else that he brought to the game that was incredibly compelling. During a handful of scenes, Shauhin spoke about his family’s background, and he had extremely compelling things to say.

During one camp scene, Shauhin, Joe Hunter, Kamilla Karthigesu, and Kyle Fraser had a conversation at camp about what their parents had gone through. A truly special moment that was extremely powerful to watch, I wrote an article in May 2025 about why it was one of the best camp scenes in Survivor’s history.

At other points during the seasons, Shauhin spoke about his relationships with his parents. Anytime that he was discussing his family on the show, Shauhin spoke with so much respect for them and emotion that those moments were extremely compelling.

On top of being compelling and lovable on Survivor, Shauhin Davari has been great on social media too. For example, after fans saw him get voted out, Shauhin expressed gratitude on X/Twitter for being the first person like him who got to play Survivor.

“First Persian man to ever play Survivor Proud of how I represented myself, my family, and my culture I’m not what is usually represented in the media when it comes to Persian men or Middle Eastern men. I hope I get to see more of us play the game Thanks @survivorcbs”

In another X/Twitter post, Shauhin stated how much he enjoyed getting to play Survivor. “I enjoyed every single second. I played Survivor.” After seeing posts like that, I am really baffled that anyone could dislike Shauhin and how much heart he has shown.

Survivor

Release Date

May 31, 2000

Network

CBS

Showrunner

Jeff Probst

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