The Traitors Star Carolyn Wiger’s Survivor Journey, Explained

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Known for her hatred towards Big Brother alum and fellow “Traitor” Danielle Reyes—as well as her oh-so kooky personality—on The Traitors Season 3, Survivor alum Carolyn Wiger is arguably the face of the Emmy Award-winning series.

“A drug counselor by profession, Wiger was also a very popular contestant during Survivor 44. So much so, that Wiger was awarded $100,000 by Australian musician Sia for being her favorite competitor ever on the long-running series. Fourteen years sober herself, Wiger is definitely going to play by the eccentric beat of her own drum,” her Traitors bio reads, courtesy of NBC.

via: Euan Cherry/Peacock

Nevertheless, for several fans of the show, Carolyn is a fresh face, with many viewers having never seen her journey on Survivor 44 before. Making it to the Final Tribal Council, said journey was successful (to say the least), and we’ve got you covered with everything you need to know.

For a deep dive into Carolyn and her journey on Survivor 44, just keep scrolling.

Who Is Carolyn Wiger?

For starters, Carolyn is 38 years old, born and raised in Minnesota. Describing herself as “passionate, open and a little bit loud,” she is so much more than meets the eye, recovering from addiction—and raising her son in recovery—and now working as a drug counselor. How incredible is that?

“I want to share my story. I want to bring the hope. Addiction looks different for everybody and recovery does too. Survivor is so much more than a game to me. It’s the human interactions, the growth and the fun. Of course, I want to be a part of that,” she shared ahead of her journey on Survivor 44.

To top things off, in her official Survivor biography she also shared that her addiction to drugs and alcohol is what prepared her to play the game, as well as delve into the reality television world as a whole. She dished:

“Overcoming my addiction and learning how to forgive, love and accept myself. Active addiction is mental and emotional torture. It took me years to realize my mistakes don’t define me. I’ve worked hard to become this person I am proud of. I know this game will break me down, but I am strong, resilient and (most importantly) I believe in myself!”

Confident that her “authentic connections will win [her] the game,” Carolyn was so close to taking home the title of “Sole Survivor” and the million-dollar prize due to said connections, however, she fell short at the Final Tribal Council. Poor thing!

Carolyn Wiger’s Journey On Survivor

As far as her journey on Survivor 44 goes, Carolyn instantly stuck out like a sore thumb, blowing the Tika tribe’s lead during the first Reward Challenge of the season, which would have earned their survival supplies: a flint, a pot, a machete and more.

Returning to camp empty-handed, Carolyn then failed to form connections with some of the younger, smarter and savvier players on her tribe, quickly becoming an outcast among her Tika tribemates. Knowing she was in danger, she searched for and found a Hidden Immunity Idol—hidden inside a birdcage at camp—which ultimately kickstarted her rise to success.

When Yam Yam Arocho expressed an interest in working with Carolyn, the pair then strayed Carson Garrett away from his original alliance—consisting of Helen Yi and Sarah Wade—forming the iconic “Tika Three” that coasted their way to the end of the game.

With Carson losing the final four fire-making challenge, the “Tika Three” was eventually split up just shy of the Final Tribal Council, with Carolyn and Yam Yam securing their seat at said Tribal Council alongside Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt instead.

Unfortunately, Carolyn was far too emotional at the Final Tribal Council—failing to be taken seriously by the jury—ending with no votes:

“At Final Tribal Council, Carolyn made an emotional plea to the jury and attempted to distance her game from Yam Yam’s, however, the jury was indifferent to her case and proved to be more convinced of Yam Yam’s strategic control.”

“With Danny [Mazza] casting a vote for his ally Heidi and the rest of the jury backing Yam Yam, Carolyn finished the game as the second runner-up with no votes to win.”

Despite falling flat on Survivor 44, could Carolyn earn her first reality television victory on The Traitors? Only time will tell…

Carolyn Wiger On The Traitors

Just a few episodes into The Traitors, Carolyn is arguably playing the best game among the remaining “Traitors”—AKA Danielle Reyes and “Boston” Rob Mariano—with seemingly nobody on her tail. Well, besides fellow “Traitor” Danielle…

At the round tables thus far, Carolyn has voted to banish Wells Adams, Tony Vlachos, Bob The Drag Queen, Nikki Garcia, and Danielle, with each of her votes leading to that contestant getting banished that fateful night (besides the latter).

Ending Episode 6 on Wednesday (Jan. 29) with some serious drama—with Carolyn uttering the words “f**k you, Danielle” after she decided to float the Survivor star’s name around the castle—it looks like viewers are in for a treat these next few episodes.

Speaking of this feud between the two “Traitors,” Carolyn doubled down in a recent interview with PEOPLE, expressing her hatred towards Danielle yet again:

“I don’t believe that we need to emotionally manipulate people on The Traitors. I don’t believe we need to swear on our family or our children. I don’t believe we need to cross those moral lines. I watched last season, and this is supposed to be fun.”

“What is this b***h doing? It gave me such anxiety, because I’m thinking, we are playing with Housewives and Britney Spears’ ex and all of these randoms who don’t even know what’s going on. We are not playing Big Brother. I looked at this as lighthearted and fun.”

Nevertheless, to see where things go from here, you may stream The Traitors Season 3 each and every Thursday via Peacock.