'Survivor: Winners at War' Season 40: Ethan Zohn stopped eating Doritos, smoking weed to get back in the show
Ethan Zohn is one of the most admired and respected players in the Survivor franchise. Ethan won 'Survivor: Africa' Season 3 and used his million-dollar prize money to create an organization named 'Grassroot Soccer' that is dedicated to fighting HIV.
Not only that, but Ethan himself is also a two-time cancer survivor. He endured experimental drugs, stem cell transplants and spent many extended days and nights in the hospital, making him an inspiration for many. And to see him back now in 'Survivor: Winners at War' Season 40, vying for the $2 million prize money and with the title of the greatest player in the show is surreal.
Though Ethan got voted off during tribal council, he is technically still in the game, as he is with the rest of the voted out castaways in Edge of Extinction. Last week, when the merge happened, Tyson secured the first spot as the castaway to return from EoE. There is one more spot left, and we are yet to see which castaway snatches it.
While we are yet to see if Ethan snatches that spot, MEA WorldWide (Meaww) spoke to Ethan regarding his time on 'Survivor' and if he had the slightest doubt that Adam's alliance was targeting him. He also opened about how he felt going back to 'Survivor' after all these years.
Talking about the tribal council where he got voted off, and what went down, Ethan shared, " I didn't. I mean, I had a strong alliance with Parvati. She was my number one. And then Rob and Adam at that time were around the same level. I wanted to align going into this show with some old school players and with the new school players. I liked that (old school) style of game and I wanted to have a foot into that new way (new school) of playing the game for me. So Adam was a good choice. He tried to make a big move and it backfired and I was caught in the crosshairs of an impatient millennial."
As for why he gave his fire token to Parvati, Ethan shared, "Well, Parvati and I did have like a link to a prior to the game. We're friends outside of the game. And so she was my number one alliance when I was playing in the game, so I definitely wanted to like help her out as best I could."
Revealing how it felt when he got the call to take part in the competition, Ethan shared, "I live in New Hampshire. So there was snow up to my waist, and I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm going to have to start getting in shape. What am I going to do? I'm going to stop eating Doritos and smoking weed', So my wife and I, we made some life choices. We moved to a warmer climate for a couple of months, so I could train a little bit the outside swim, you know, tie, knots, light fires, do everything I wanted to like best, prepare myself for this game because it had been so long since I had played."
Sharing how game rules and twists had changed since he played, Ethan said, "I'd watched it on TV of course, but you know, there's twists and clues and idols and now there's this currency and there's ways to get back in the game, hidden this and that. I didn't play with any of that. We didn't even have blindsides back then. There was like no such thing as a blindside. The craziest thing that happened on 'Survivor: Africa' was like a tribe swap."
Ethan has always credited the use of CBD to restoring his confidence and peace of mind. Opening up if it was hard for him to stop using CBD during the series, he revealed, "I don't know if it was difficult, but it definitely a little bit nervous because I have lived a nice life since survivor. I have my toolkit here. I got my wife, I've got, I got my CBD. So I was worried a little bit concerned. I'm normally a kind of high energy, high anxiety type of guy, and then all of a sudden you put me out there on this show, where I'm away from everything I'm comfortable with, away from that toolkit. And then you plop everything that Survivor has on top of that I was worried about that. And obviously CBD has helped me mitigate the side effects of cancer treatment and a lot of the anxiety and fear that I have from just living a condensed lifestyle. So yeah, I was. I was nervous."
'Survivor: Winners at War' Season 40 airs every Wednesday night only on CBS. Check your local listings for more information.