Every Survivor fan who cares enough about the show to be able to rank every season knows that the show has been controversial at times.

After all, when fans aren’t debating what Jeff Probst should do next or which season new viewers should watch first, they discuss the most controversial players.

Without a doubt, Dan Spilo and the first player to ever be medically evacuated, are two of the most controversial players ever.

With that in mind, it is fascinating to look back at the surprising statement that Dan released about his behavior that got him removed from the game.

Shamed Survivor Player Dan Spilo Put Out A Surprising Statement About His Actions That Got Him Booted Out Of The Game

As of August 2024, 46 seasons of Survivor have aired on CBS. Because of the show’s impressive longevity, nearly 700 people have gotten the chance to play Survivor. Among all those players, only one of them in the show’s history has been booted out of the game by the show’s producers.

During Survivor: Island of the Idols, Kellee Kim accused Dan of consistently touching her in unwanted ways. In addition to episodes of Survivor showing how upset Kellee was about how Dan touched her, footage of him making physical contact with her was also shown.

Ultimately, Survivor’s producers removed Dan from the game after someone on the show’s crew also accused him of inappropriate touching. After the episode that revealed Dan had been removed from the game aired, he released a public statement about his actions.

In December 2019, People published an article about Dan’s statement which appears to be the only time he has spoken out about the subject to date. That article revealed that Dan released his statement exclusively to People.

In his statement, Dan directly addressed the situation involving him and Kellee. Dan did this by bringing up the fact that he apologized to Kellee during a tribal council and then reiterating that he felt remorse for how he made her feel.

“I truly regret that anyone was made to feel uncomfortable by my behavior. In my life, I have always tried to treat others with decency, integrity and kindness. I can only hope that my actions in the future can help me to make amends and show me to be the kind of father, husband, colleague and friend that I always aim to be.”

The reason why Dan’s statement was surprising was due to how he handled things on the island. As Dan wrote in his statement, he did apologize to Kellee during a tribal council.

However, the truth of the matter is that it isn’t the full story of how Dan reacted to the situation during that tribal council. After all, before Dan fully apologized, he seemed to have an attitude as he tried to get Jeff to move on.

“Since it won’t be let go. Right? Clearly, Jeff. Right? It won’t be let go. ”

It is unclear how Dan expected Jeff to respond to that remark. However, if Dan thought he could convince Jeff to move on by saying that, he badly miscalculated. What actually happened was a visibly angry Jeff told Dan that he wouldn’t let the situation go.

“Dan, you’re right. I will never let it go. We’ll be here until day 39.”

It was after this back and forth that Dan offered his apology.

During People’s aforementioned article about Dan Spilo’s statement, they cited an inside source. According to that source, while talking about the incident with the crewmember, Dan, “insisted that the contact was inadvertent and accidental as he lost his balance while trying to get into the boat. But the show’s production team wasn’t convinced that the contact was merely incidental.

Before he apologized, Dan seemed to suggest that he knew better than to intentionally harass anyone since he worked in the entertainment industry.

“First of all, I work in, in the most highwire industry, in, in regards to this business. Most of my clients are women, most of the people I work with are women. If anyone ever felt, for a second, uncomfortable, I’m horrified about that, and I’m terribly sorry. And if that person was Kelly, if Kelly ever felt that in in the freezing cold rain, or in tight shelters, or in walking around and saying, ‘excuse me, hold on, I’m coming through’. Or in, in all the ways we have to crawl over and around and through each other in this game, I ever did anything even remotely that made her uncomfortable, it horrifies me and I am terribly sorry.'”

Jeff Probst Apologized Publicly For Dan Spilo’s Actions And How Survivor’s Producers Handled Them

As Survivor: Island of the Idols aired, a lot of the fan discussion revolved around Dan Spilo. Most notably, many fans were outraged Dan stayed in the game so long and Survivor’s producers left it to Kellee Kim to decide if she wanted him ejected.

After Dan was removed from the game, the show went on and the finale aired followed by the reunion. As a December 2019 Entertainment Weekly article revealed, Jeff took a moment during the reunion to publicly apologize to Kellee.

Jeff began his apology by stating that the way Dan treated Kellee was unacceptable and unasked for.

“You were right. You were right. You were right to speak up. You were right to step forward despite a lot of risks. And to speak your truth. And I want to acknowledge and apologize for your pain. You didn’t ask for it, you didn’t deserve it.”

In response to Jeff’s apology, Kellee expressed her desire that the situation would result in change. “I feel like I can be really proud of the fact that I spoke up and asked for those changes, and CBS and Survivor are making those changes because I asked.”

After Kellee expressed how she felt, Jeff pledged to make the changes that were needed to protect future Survivor players. “We are committed to it, Kellee… I offer my hand in partnership and I say thank you so much, Kellee.”

The same EW article revealed that Survivor’s producers had made a tacit acknowledgment that they handled things wrong. After all, the article revealed that the show’s producers made changes to the show’s rules about how similar situations would be handled in the future.