Q: What happens when "the tribe has spoken" and someone is voted off on "Survivor"? Are they immediately shipped off the island and home, or do the producers stash them somewhere in order to keep the winner more of a secret? —Cathy
A: Cast members generally tell only their family members or close friends that they've been picked for the show, although word tends to leak out about who is on the cast even before CBS' announcement. Thus, if a cast member was to return a few days after leaving, still fat and pale, it'd be pretty easy to determine that they were the loser who had the distinction of being voted off the island first. Likewise, someone who was missing for six weeks probably did pretty well.
To keep the results of the show as secret as possible, Survivor keeps all of its contestants away from their homes for the entire 39-day shoot. After their torch is snuffed and they do their post-exit interview, they head to a place that is affectionately known as "Loser Island," although it's not necessarily an island. (Jury members are presumably kept together in a separate undisclosed location.)
Often, non-jury members head out on a vacation. During the production of "Survivor All-Stars," a group of people — Rudy Boesch, Rob Cesternino, Richard Hatch, and Tina Wesson — were spotted in Argentina, as SurvivorNews.net reported.
And it was a good vacation for some of them: During the "All-Stars" reunion, Rich Hatch told us that he met his current boyfriend at their hotel in Argentina. Maybe CBS should get on the ball and start filming these vacations, borrowing the format of FOX's abandoned but incredibly addictive show "Paradise Hotel." —A.D.