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Stacey Stillman claimed Survivor rigged her elimination, lawsuit settled out of court. Contestants face backlash for breaking NDA rules, like Alec Merlino spoiling cast. Dark moment in Survivor history: Sue's disturbing quit over incident with Richard Hatch.

CBS has a few things they'd rather not discuss about its reality TV gem, Survivor. Using body doubles is one of them, while the depressing truth of residuals on the show is also not a great look.

Speaking of bad looks, in the following, we're going to take a look back at season 1, and a lawsuit launched by Stacey Stillman. In her view, she was purposely eliminated in favor of a more popular Survivor. We'll reveal what took place, and why her argument might've been legitimate. In addition, we'll take a look at other controversial moments that took place in the past, like cast members breaking an NDA, and a horrible incident that...

May 31, 2020 marked the 20-year anniversary of when a little show called “Survivor” first premiered on television. To mark the occasion, Sonja Christopher, now age 83, is breaking her silence on what it meant to be the first person ever voted off of CBS’s reality TV show. “Oh my God, what an experience!” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I’m so fortunate to have had it. And I’ve learned lessons about how to treat it, regard it, live with it, and go with the flow.” Watch a video retrospective of Sonja’s “Survivor” journey below.

As it turns out, Sonja is still a fan of the show after two decades and has some choice words for the winner of Season 40, Tony Vlachos. “He was such a loose cannon, it seemed,” she declared. “And his hiding in the tree almost seemed laughable. But it turns out apparently it worked for him!” She...

In HitFix's new feature "Waxing Episodic," we reflect on an episode of television we'll never forget. On May 31, 2000, I watched the premiere of "Survivor." I was edgy.  At that point, the "Survivor" audience was just me and 15.5 million of my fellow early adapters. The next week, the "Survivor" audience went to 18 million and then to 23.25 million. Before "Empire" made our minds boggle at the mere idea of a show actually gaining viewers each week, there was "Survivor," which started with a 6.1 rating among adults 18-49 and was at a 12.7 rating by its penultimate installment. [I actually missed that first finale, which averaged nearly 52 million viewers, because I was in the process of moving to Los Angeles. Nobody tell me who won!] Last week's 15th anniversary marked a good time to dust off my "Survivor" (or "Survivor: Borneo" or "Survivor: Pulau Tiga") DVDs and our frequent -- when we happen to have the time -- "Waxing Episodic" feature was a perfect time to reflect on how the game has changed and how it remains the same. I contemplated...