Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, who appeared in the second season of “Survivor,” in the Australian Outback, wasn’t approached to be on the CBS show’s milestone 50th season — but he would be open to outwitting, outlasting and outplaying in the future.
Host (and Newport High graduate) Jeff Probst on Wednesday announced the cast of “Survivor”’s 50th season, which will bring together 24 players from the show’s 25-plus years of dropped buffs, “the tribe has spoken” and snuffed tiki torches. The cast includes fan favorites like Ozzy Lusth and Cirie Fields, “White Lotus” creator Mike White, and Jenna Lewis-Dougherty, who appeared on the very first season, which aired in 2000.
Long before he became known as a legal foe to the Trump administration, Brown appeared in the show’s second season following the seismic inaugural season that became a cultural phenomenon. That season drew 52 million viewers who watched Richard Hatch be named sole survivor. For the second season, Brown and 15 others were dropped in a remote part of Australia and competed over 42 days.
Brown was 23, a Harvard Law School student and a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He played a fairly low-key game, though his appearance is noted with several firsts: He was the first Washington resident to compete on “Survivor” and the first to purchase an item – 60 Australian dollars for four Doritos and salsa – during the Survivor Auction.
He was voted out on Day 30, becoming the third member of the jury that later voted for Tina Wesson over Colby Donaldson to win the $1 million prize. Brown voted for Donaldson, who went on to compete two more times and will appear in the 50th season. While he may have an attachment to Donaldson, any of the players could win “Survivor 50,” Brown said through attorney general’s office spokesperson Mike Faulk.
After the announcement that “Survivor 50” would feature exclusively returning players, rumors swirled over who was interested, who was getting calls from casting and who was already choosing outfits for Fiji. The first round listed 200 potential players out of approximately 750 former castaways, Probst said earlier Wednesday on CBS Mornings. They whittled the list down to 24 people in “brutal cuts,” Probst said.
Was Brown on any of the lists? It’s unclear, but Faulk said he wasn’t approached by casting.
Even if a casting agent had called, Brown is “pretty busy,” Faulk wrote in an email. He took office in January, and in the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term, Brown filed or signed on to each of the 13 lawsuits by the state of Washington against the Trump administration. More have followed, including one filed Wednesday with 15 other attorneys general against the Trump administration for cuts to National Science Foundation programs and funding.
But what about future “Survivor” seasons?
“He said he would be open to it again in the future,” Faulk said.