They may not have won “Survivor,” but they won Sia’s heart.
The pop musician, who is famously a “Survivor” stan, continued her tradition awarding her favorite contestants from the show cash prizes from her own personal funds, a representative for the show confirmed to USA TODAY. For Season 44, she gave $100,000 to second runner-up Carolyn Wiger, $15,000 to Carson Garrett and $15,000 to Lauren Harpe.
Garrett, a self-proclaimed Sia stan in the top 0.1% of her listeners on Spotify, shared a video on Instagram Thursday of his call with pop star, in which she reveals she’s giving him $15,000.
“You are a beautiful, beautiful person, and I love the way you played the game,” she said. “I was so impressed with what grace you played the game and how thoughtful you were but not Machiavellian and really considered and considerate.”
Sia said the prize is tax-free, meaning “I pay the taxes on it, so you don’t have to.”
“And I’ll help you out whenever I can… I know you are a student, and that is expensive,” she added. “Your heart spoke to me on the show, and I guess that we are kindred spirits.”
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, published in December, “Survivor” host Jeff Probst reflected on how meaningful “the Sia Award” has become to contestants.
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“The Sia Award is a beautiful gesture, and it comes straight from Sia’s heart,” he said. “It’s all her. It’s very fun to be a witness to her process.”
He added: “Back when we did the live reunion shows, she would either be sitting in the audience or in my dressing room. She would watch the finale and then let me know who she wanted to receive the Sia Award. The players would find out immediately. It was very powerful to see it go down.”
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