Why do ’Survivor’ castaways wear clothes instead of swimsuits?

Survivor superfans might remember castaways running around the beach in bikinis and board shorts back in the day, but in more recent seasons, undergarments have become the norm instead. Because of this, viewers have just one burning question — why?

Competing in Immunity and Reward Challenges that often require them to trudge through mud, sludge, sand, or water, wearing clothes instead of swimsuits seems rather unpractical, however, the Survivor crew has a method to their madness…

Keep scrolling to see for yourself.

From the looks of things, it appears that swimsuits have been phased out of Survivor altogether, but Karishma Patel from Survivor: Island of the Idols confirmed the theory in an exclusive interview with Business Insider, admitting that they were forced to wear clothes or undergarments instead during her season, which made Immunity and Reward Challenges even more taxing.

“Whatever you’re wearing is all we had. It was miserable,” she dished in said interview. “We were talking about it amongst each other, and we think that there was a push towards making us look more like we were shipwrecked.”  

Thanks to Patel, we know that the castaways have to wear clothes instead of swimsuits in order to look more on the “shipwrecked” side (as opposed to a vacation), however, do they get to choose what said clothes are?

Nope! Lauren O’Connell from Survivor: Edge of Extinction admitted that her entire outfit was chosen by the Survivor crew, down to her bra and underwear — how wild is that?

“I didn’t really have a ton of say on what I was actually wearing while I was on the show,” she shared in a TikTok video. “I was asked to send in clothing that I would want to wear on the island that was either in a blue or a purple color. Within that color scheme, right? Because I started off on Manu, and Manu was the blue tribe.”

“I sent in three different sports bras. Then, I also sent in spandex,” Lauren prefaced, but unfortnately she did not get the thumbs up from production.

“I get an email that says, ‘This sports bra and spandex situation is not going to work. Please go find bra and underwear,’” the Texas native dished. “They actually sent me a link to the underwear they wanted me to get, so I get them, I try them on… That’s what they decide they’re going to dress me in.”

Long story short, given that production picked everything that O’Connell wore during Survivor: Edge of Extinction, we would not be shocked if other castaways endured the same process before embarking on their Survivor journey.

Nonetheless, to see Karishma Patel, Lauren O’Connell, and more try their luck at one million dollars and the title of “Sole Survivor,” Survivor superfans can stream all 45 seasons of the beloved competition series on Paramount Plus now.