Contrary to popular belief, Survivor might have more drama than Love Island or Bachelor Nation when it comes to dating within the franchise.
While Wendell Holland — the winner of Survivor: Ghost Island — famously dated fellow “Sole Survivor” Michele Fitzgerald prior to competing on Survivor: Winners at War together, it looks like another winner of the beloved competition series has caught his eye in more recent years (or months, or weeks). This individual is the one and only Dee Valladares — the winner of Survivor 45 — who was seemingly in a relationship with ally, runner-up, and showmance partner Austin Li Coon post-filming.
Before diving into the details, we can deduce that this situation is all kinds of messy! Keep scrolling for all of the tea surrounding Holland and Valladares and their (not so) secret relationship.
After his relationship with Fitzgerald was long gone, Holland appeared to have found his perfect match in Chelsea Brooks. They even welcomed their first child together, Wendell Carter Holland, in May!
While it appeared to be smooth sailing between Holland and Brooks, things took a turn for the worse on Jan. 4, 2023, when a series of spoiler accounts revealed via X (formerly known as Twitter) that “Wendell (Survivor 36 winner) has apparently been cheating on his girlfriend and mother of his two children with recent winner of #Survivor45. His girlfriend found out about his secret ‘relationship’ after Wendall gifted Dee a bracelet which was shown in recent IG pictures.”
This bracelet is seen on the wrist of Dee Valladares in photos from the finale watch party for Survivor 45, which happened to be hosted by Wendell Holland and his roommate, best friend, and Survivor: Cagayan castaway Brice Izyah.
While @BB_WhatNow summarized the situation, @TheSpoilerGirl1 shared screenshots of their messages with a friend of Chelsea Brooks, detailing the mess from start to finish.
According to this anonymous individual, Holland and Valladares met at a Survivor watch party in May, before the former began frequently traveling to try to stay relevant within the reality television world. This mention of traveling likely references the Survivor watch parties that Wendell Holland and Brice Izyah host from coast to coast, launching their own company called Brice And Wen Present and hosting functions in New York City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and more.
While traveling definitely took a toll on their relationship, what ended it all was when Chelsea Brooks found the bracelet in her home that Dee is seen wearing in photos from the finale watch party for Survivor 45. According to the source, the bracelet was made by Louis Vuitton and is worth over $500, so it does not appear to be a harmless congratulatory gift for the newest winner of the beloved competition series.
Since this situation has come to light, Holland and Brooks have wiped away all of their photos with one another from their respective Instagram profiles, and Brooks took to her story to share a rather cryptic message.
“Goodbye to the lies, to the deceit, to the manipulation. Goodbye to the false promises, the fake potential, the disrespect. Goodbye to trying to force someone to see my worth, and most painfully, goodbye to what I thought my life would be.”
In a now-deleted post via X, Holland took full accountability for the situation, however, Valladares is yet to come clean. He wrote, “Although I think people’s private lives should remain private, I’ll clear the air with a few facts. My gf and I broke up. I take responsibility for that. I’m sorry to her for all that has transpired. The person the internet keeps attaching me to deserves an apology from me as well. We got close at the end of November through December, and I was dishonest about my family life with her.”
The Survivor: Ghost Island winner continued, “I created a situation that was unfair to both parties, and although l’ve apologized to both privately, I would like the community to know that I’m sorry as well. Thank you.”
While there is still more to transpire regarding this scandal, it is safe to say we will be keeping up with both Wendell Holland and Dee Valladares — as well as Chelsea Brooks — on social media, until further notice, for all of the nitty-gritty details.
