Austin Li Coon slid into one castaway’s DMs before filming ‘Survivor 45,’ and it’s not who you would expect

With Survivor 45 officially underway, its hard NOT to be crushing on the one and only Austin Li Coon.

The 26-year-old has been having quite the success on Survivor 45 thus far, with a hidden immunity idol in his pocket and a buddy like Drew Basile by his side at all times. Having never gone to tribal council, things are looking great for the Chicago native thus far, however, Survivor superfans can’t wait to see his gameplay continue to unfold as the season progresses — after all, there have only been four episodes!

As the competition starts to get more and more intense, will Austin play a heroic game like Cirie Fields, or a villainous game like Sandra Diaz-Twine? Only time will tell…

Nonetheless, in his official biography for Survivor 45, the graduate student revealed which castaways he feels as though he will play the most similar game to.

“I identify most with Owen Knight — long hair, Asian, loves the outdoors, never-say-die attitude. I think I’ll play most like Jay [Starrett] and Wendell [Holland]. Their games revolved around forming genuine connections that led people to keep them in the game, even when they were huge threats. On top of that, I have the intelligence to make big strategic plays as well as the physicality to win clutch immunities,” he explained.

Concluding with a grin, “Also, like them both, I too have a crush on Michele [Fitzgerald]” — seriously though, who doesn’t?

While Owen, Jay, Wendell, and Michele are the few castaways he mentioned in his official biography for Survivor 45, turns out there is another former Survivor contestant who he has been messaging for years.

Keep scrolling who was lucky enough to receive a DM (or should we say a series of DMs?) from Austin Li Coon.

To the surprise of Survivor superfans across the globe, Austin revealed in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly that Benjamin “Coach” Wade of Survivor: Tocantins, Survivor: Heroes vs Villains, and Survivor: South Pacific is his favorite castaway of all time.

“Coach, easily. Coach Wade. The Dragonslayer. He is just hilarious. Comedy gold,” the 26-year-old gushed in said interview, before diving into his social media tendencies.

Austin continued, “I would love to meet him. I’ve been in his DMs for years now, just saying, ‘I love you. Just please respond to me,’ so maybe now I’ll be able to get a response.'”

Fortunately, Coach saw the interview, posting on his Instagram story a photo of the Survivor 45 castaway with the caption, “When r we hanging Austin?” It is safe to say that his DMs have been answered!

While Coach is his all time favorite castaway, Austin revealed that a “New Era” Survivor player has given him a run for his money…

“Okay, Carolyn [Wiger] is making a real case for herself, but obviously I was only able to see a few of those episodes,” he spilled, sharing that he could not finish the remainder of Survivor 44 due to the fact that he was filming Survivor 45. “If she continues going, she might take Coach’s spot, but it’s between them.”

“Coach just wins out because I’ve seen more of him,” he concluded with a shrug.

To see Austin Li Coon in action, catch brand new episodes of Survivor 45 every Wednesday at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.