'Survivor' reality TV star 'legend' and musician Sonja Christopher dies aged 87

Sonja Christopher, who was a musician and a contestant on the first season of US reality TV series ‘Survivor’, has died at the age of 87.

It was back in 2000 that Christopher competed in the season, which was called ‘Survivor: Borneo or Survivor: Pulau Tiga’. She was the first to be voted off the island, but she remained a fan favourite.

The news of Christopher's death was confirmedon Friday (April 26) by fellow ‘Survivor’ contestant Liz Wilcox, who is currently competing in the show's 46th season, in Fiji in the South Pacific.

Alongside a photo of Christopher with a ukulele, she wrote on X: "Today, the legend herself Sonja Christopher of Season One passed away. I had the pleasure of meeting her on Christmas. She had so much spunk + love for Survivor and what the show brought to her life. I hope you’re singing + playing your heart out somewhere beautiful, Sonja."

Wilcox then added in a separate post that fans should not send flowers, but that "donations may be sent to Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church (Walnut Creek, CA), the Cancer Support Community of the San Francisco Bay Area, or the Sjogren’s Foundation".

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2020, Christopher spoke about what she was doing in her later life and said that in the two decades since her stint on the reality competition she had become a music therapist. She said she went to assisted living facilities with her banjo to get the elderly residents involved in singing.

"I was doing that sometimes five or six times a week," she told the publication. "And also, people would ask me to play for club meetings or parties. So that's what I did, but I retired in December (2019)."

Christopher also revealed how she came to sign up for ‘Survivor’. She said she was recovering from breast cancer treatment at the time and had also just come to the end of an 11-year relationship. Explaining further, she said she said that she was by herself with no ties, living in a senior retirement community and with her son being "grown and taking care of himself".

She went on: "I was reading the morning paper, and it said something in an article about CBS looking for 16 Americans to cast away on a deserted island and see who could survive for 39 days. Well, I had always wanted to see if I could survive using only my hands and my wits.

"As I read on, it said something about the one who stayed on the longest would get a million dollars, and they'd vote someone off every three days, and the program was called ‘Survivor’.

"This was around October 1999, and about the same time I was one of 18 breast cancer survivors from around the country who were selected to go on a three-day outdoor training program, sort of like Outward Bound. We were taught mountain biking and kayaking and rock climbing and orienteering. I was by far the oldest of these breast cancer survivors. I was then 62."

Many fans commented on Wilcox’s post to express their condolences. One person referred to Christopher as an “angel”. Another said: “Rest in peace to a legend. I think it’s safe to say Sonja Christopher will never be forgotten.” One more person said they were sorry to learn Christopher had gone, and added “RIP to the legend”.