‘Survivor’ Star Karishma Patel Announces Pregnancy With First Child
Memorable player Karishma Patel from Survivor 39: Island of the Idols became the first female to successfully play a hidden immunity idol since Cambodia’s Kelley Wentworth, quickly catapulting her to a favorite to win the season. Although she didn’t walk away with the title and million-dollar prize, she seemingly found herself and experienced a breakthrough with her marriage. Two years after competing on the reality show, the Survivor star announced her pregnancy with her first child.
Karishma Patel competed on ‘Survivor 39: Island of the Idols’
Personal injury lawyer Karishma Patel joined the cast of Survivor 39 (2019) as part of the Lairo tribe. As she had no close allies and didn’t perform well in challenges, the other players targeted her, but she managed to escape.
When the tribes merged, Patel immediately flipped to Vokai to save her game, believing her former tribemates would go after her. She later found a much-needed hidden immunity idol in what host Jeff Probst referred to as “one of the most powerful” scenes of the season.
Patel then positioned herself as the swing vote and became the deciding factor in eliminating a physical threat, Missy Byrd.
During the next Tribal Council, the personal injury lawyer successfully played her idol, negating seven votes against her, and sent home Byrd’s closest ally, another threat Elizabeth Beisel. Before she joined the jury in Episode 12, many fans thought she could win.
She recently announced the pregnancy with her first child
In an Oct. 2021 Instagram picture, the fan-favorite announced she and her husband are expecting their first child. The post included their mini doodle, Fiji, a sign that revealed the expected due date as May 2022, and a sonogram of the baby topping several pregnancy self-help books.
Season 38’s Ron Clark joked, “omg, no more wine for nine months,” in her comment section, to which Patel responded, “that means you drink double for me!”
Her co-stars Lauren Beck, runner-up Dean Kowalski, and winner Tommy Sheehan also congratulated the upcoming parents. Following Patel’s time on the show, she appeared at a couple of watch parties for Survivor 40: Winners at War and promoted the new season in a recent post.
Other than that, she’s largely remained out of the Survivor community. She had a gender reveal party the following day and announced they were expecting a boy.
Patel broke a couple of ‘Survivor’ records
Throughout Patel’s unique journey on season 39, the fan-favorite has broken a few records.
For starters, she had 22 votes cast against her over the course of Island of the Idols, which is the most in a single season.
Additionally, the personal injury lawyer tied the record with the most votes one player has cast against her with five (from Kowalski). Survivor: Nicaragua’s Jane Bright and Marty Piombo are the other record holders.
Finally, Patel is the first Indian-American contestant to play the game in 39 seasons. Survivor 41 airs Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on CBS.
