Survivor 41 winner Erika Casupanan joked that she attempted the viral grape-eating New Year’s Eve challenge in hopes of getting a boyfriend – only to realise she’s a lesbian. (Survivor 41)
Survivor winner Erika Casupanan has come out as a lesbian in a funny New Year’s Eve post on social media.
Casupanan won viewers’ hearts when she came out as the winner of Survivor 41 in 2021. She made history as the first Canadian to win Survivor and the first woman to win in seven seasons.
Now, Survivor fans are once again cheering for Casupanan after she announced that she’s part of the LGBTQ+ community in a special and hilarious video posted on Saturday (30 December).
In the video, Erika Casupanan joked that she attempted a New Year’s Eve tradition of eating grapes under a table in hopes of getting a boyfriend – but the Survivor star just “chugged wine” and realised she’s a lesbian.
“I was wearing rainbow socks what did I expect??” she captioned the video.
The grape-eating tradition, which has gone viral on TikTok as people prepare for 2024, dates back to 19th-century Spain.
According to Atlas Obscura, the 12 grapes signify the 12 months of the year, and a person is supposed to each a grape as the clock counts down to the New Year while making a wish or setting an intention.
Erika Casupanan’s announcement was met with tons of love and support from Survivor fans. Fellow contestant Richard Ficard Foyé commented: “I HAD A GAY ALLIANCE?!”
“WE HAVE A LESBIAN SURVIVOR WINNER!!!!!” one fan wrote in the comment section. “BRB I’m CRYING from JOY!”
Over on TikTok, Squid Game: The Challenge’s Tyler Austen, aka Contestant 264, described Casupanan’s coming out video as “amazing” before adding that he’s “so proud” of the Survivor star.
Another TikTok user and Survivor fan commented that Erika Casupanan is “an icon”.
“So happy for you, for my fellow queers, and for the Survivor fandom,” they wrote.
It’s truly been a big weekend for LGBTQ+ folks who love the reality TV series.
On Saturday, fellow Survivor star Parvati Shallow set the record not so straight when she came out as queer and shared that she’s in a relationship with Mae Martin.
Shallow’s post on Instagram showed a strip of photobooth pics of the Survivor legend cuddled up with Martin and sharing some sweet kisses with the non-binary comedian.
“We’re here. We’re queer. Happy new year,” Shallow simply wrote.