Long Island Teacher Battles To Become Latest 'Survivor'

PLAINVIEW, NY—CBS's long-running competitive reality show "Survivor" is in its 41st season, and one Long Islander is battling to stay on the show as long as possible.

Tiffany Seely is a 47-year-old teacher who lives in Plainview. One of 18 contestants will become the last survivor and win $1 million dollars by the season's finale. Seely filmed the show last spring in Fiji, where the show puts contestants on an island to see who can withstand physical and mental challenges, along with navigating alliances.

Seely struggled in episode two, during a water obstacle challenged but narrowly survived being voted out.

"I am patient and experienced in seeing the bigger picture. I know when to strike when the iron is hot, so to speak. I can read people in a minute and read their energy," Seely told Survivor in an interview about why she feels she has what it takes to win the show.

"Survivor" took a hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Seely told Parade magazine that she was a fan of the show since it began airing and even became engaged to her husband while watching. She says responding to hardship has made her ready for the challenges of the show.

"My life has always been about survival. My mother died of ovarian cancer, which happened to have come from a genetic pattern called the BRCA gene. And I was one of the youngest people in the U.S. to have a prophylactic double mastectomy and oophorectomy."

Seely has two sons, high school and college -aged and told Newsday she only had 24 hours of notice to pack up and get ready to fly to the South Pacific when she got the news she was selected for this season.

Will you be watching this season of "Survivor?" Who are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments.