Survivor invites medically evacuated contestant back to play again

The Survivor 44 season premiere was about as rough and tumble as it gets — including a literal tumble. Three different players required medical treatment in the first three days due to accidents or heat-induced illness, and while two of the contestants were able to continue on, one hopeful's journey ended just minutes after it began.

Bruce Perreault dove head-first into the game of Survivor. The problem was, his head hit a beam while diving. The accident — which took place during the opening challenge right after host Jeff Probst welcomed players to the start of the game — bloodied Bruce's head and eventually led to him collapsing and blacking out in the middle of the contest.

The Survivor medical team rushed in with oxygen and supplies to get Bruce conscious again, and the 46-year-old insurance agent from Rhode Island appeared to recover enough to continue playing. However, later that night, Bruce started experiencing major pain and headaches, and after another visit from the doctors, he was pulled from the game on a stretcher.

While being removed from the season after only about 12 hours would seem to be a worst-case scenario, it turns out there is a silver lining to that dark cloud of circumstance.

On the debut episode of his new Survivor podcast, On Fire with Jeff Probst, the host made a big announcement. "In the spirit of what Survivor is all about, getting up off the couch, leaving your ordinary world behind — your family, your friends — left to fend for yourself in the jungle and say yes to adventure, I don't think Bruce got his fair share of Survivor," Probst said.

But he didn't stop there. "So, here's the announcement. We are officially inviting Bruce to play Survivor again. First player of the new era invited back. It's kind of exciting. It just felt like the right call."

As to whether that means Bruce will come back in a returning player season or alongside a group of all newbies remains to be season, as does what season number it ends up happening in. "We don't have a season yet," Probst said on the podcast. "Lots to coordinate. He's got to leave his job again, leave his family, and miss those baseball games. But it's an open invitation. So hopefully we'll get Bruce out on that island again." (You can watch and read Bruce's reaction to the news.)

The announcement makes Bruce the first person since the all-winners installment of season 40 to be officially invited back, although there has been a slew of big personalities over the past few seasons — Naseer Muttalif, Maryanne Oketch, and Cody Assenmacher, to name a few — that surely would be on a receiving end of an invite whenever the next returning player campaign rolls around. Whether they end up on the same beach as Bruce remains to be seen.

You can listen to the full episode of On Fire with Jeff Probst, which also includes a look into the casting and pre-production process and a segment called "This is Why You Suck." Also make sure to read our interview with the host and full Survivor 44 premiere episode recap. Plus, watch a hilarious deleted scene from the premiere.

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