Survivor fans and fellow players have accused Benjamin “Coach” Wade of perhaps stretching the truth a bit on some of his wilder stories over the years, but exaggeration or not, the reality show legend has a way about him that makes people listen. At least he’s got a way of making me listen, which is why I’m currently writing a story on a Sunday morning about a conspiracy theory he dropped in an interview that I’ve convinced myself is probably accurate.
The Dragon Slayer connected with Self a few months ago for an article about how Survivor deals with medical issues on the island. During the conversation, the subject of alcohol on reward challenges came up, and Coach dropped a theory I’ve convinced myself is probably accurate, to the point where I had to pass it along. When contestants win a reward challenge that involves beer, wine or cocktails, he thinks host Jeff Probst and the producers offer drinks with extremely low alcohol content. He says that would explain why the players never seem as drunk as they should be, given their lack of food and the fact that they haven’t had any other alcohol in weeks. Here’s a portion of his quote…
I feel like they gave us near beer on one of the rewards, because none of us felt the slightest bit [drunk]. I think that it’s really, really low alcohol content. That’s my opinion—I don’t think anybody else will say that… If I don’t drink for a week, I know exactly how alcohol is going to affect me. We’re out there without alcohol for a month. Medically, physiologically—we should have one drink and just be smashed, but you don’t really see that. So, I’m not sure what they’re giving us, because there’s no labels on anything. But I would have to say that it’s not a very high alcohol content. I’ve not personally witnessed somebody getting completely smashed and then having a terrible hangover the next day.
Now, I’m not saying this is for sure the case. I’d need to hear it confirmed by Jeff Probst, but I will say this makes a lot of logical sense. We get the occasional reward challenge montage where someone gets a little drunk and goofy and/ or tired, but the implication is almost always that they had a ton to drink. Running low on calories and with their tolerances having plummeted for almost a month of not drinking, you’d think people would get pretty drunk from only a single drink or two.
It also makes sense because, unlike other reality shows, Survivor probably isn’t that stoked about its contestants getting absolutely hammered. A tipsy confessional is probably a positive and likely to generate good content, but people getting blackout drunk near fire is a safety risk the show likely doesn’t want to take given how many sober people end up getting hurt.
Coach has played Survivor three times and made the jury in every single appearance. He’s, without question, one of the most memorable castaways in the show’s history and is frequently cited as a favorite by many New Era players. Whether that means he’ll get invited back for Survivor 50, which will feature all returning players, is an open question, but whether he makes it or not, I’d love to see him back on TV, maybe in an upcoming season of The Traitors, which will feature several beloved Survivor players in the upcoming Season 3.
