Avid ‘Survivor’ Fan Sia Has Donated Nearly $1,000,000 To Her Favorite Contestants Over The Years: “The People Who Entertain Me And Bring Me Joy”

It turns out that Sia doesn’t only love cheap thrills. The “Chandelier” singer also loves Survivor, and has reportedly donated almost a million dollars to contestants since 2016.

Series host Jeff Probst spoke about the special “Sia prize” on Wednesday’s (Aug. 23) episode of The Howard Stern Show, which he described as “personal money that she has given to players over the years.”

“How it started was we were friends and she loved Survivor,” he explained, noting that’s how they “originally met.”

“So she was coming to some of the live shows and she came to a live finale back when we had it, and there was a guy Tai [Trang], and he was just a very lovely human and a big animal activist,” he added.

In the middle of taping the live show, Probst hears a voice call out his name.

“I see Sia in her wig, and she’s walking up to the stage and she says, ‘I just love you and I want to give you some money,” he continued. “And that’s where it started. Her thought is this: I make a lot of money, I’ve been really lucky, and I want to share it with the people who entertain me and being me joy, and one of those shows is Survivor.”

You don’t need to win #Survivor to take home prize money, sometimes you just need @Sia to like you. @jeffprobst explains how the singer became involved with the show during his chat with @robertabooey on #SternShow Summer School. pic.twitter.com/TPfBXqDpmO

— Stern Show (@sternshow) August 23, 2023

According to Screen Rant, 16 lucky contestants have benefitted from the Grammy-nominated pop artist, the largest donation going to Trang in the form of a $50,000 donation to him and a $50,000 donation to a charity of his choice.

Survivor 44 contestant Carson Garrett, who was mentioned during Probst’s interview with Howard Stern received $15,000 via the Sia award, which the singer told him is “tax-free.”

“I pay the taxes on it, so you don’t have to,” Sia said as she surprised him during an interview.

“And I’ll help you out whenever I can,” she told Garrett. “I know you are a student, and that is expensive. Your heart spoke to me on the show, and I guess that we are kindred spirits.”

Garrett retweeted a clip of Probst’s interview, writing, “Got to be on my favorite show of all time and meet my favorite singer all in a year! Dream big y’all.”

The premiere of Survivor Season 45 airs on Sept. 27 on CBS.