RI Native Returns To 'Survivor' Competition After Injury

CRANSTON, RI — Earlier this year, Warwick's Bruce Perreault was forced to bow out of the competition on CBS's "Survivor" after he dove head-first into a beam during the first challenge and later collapsed. Now he's back for the show's new season!

Survivor announced Wednesday the 18 new castaways who will compete against each other when the iconic reality series premieres its milestone 45th edition Sept. 27.

Among them is Perreault, a 47-year-old insurance agent who had locals cheering him on when he was announced as a season 44 contestant—only to suffer the painful fate of becoming the earliest departure in the show's history.

After Perreault's injury, he opted to soldier on and continue the challenge before losing consciousness. That night, his pain escalated, and he opted to leave the competition.

Later, the show's longtime host announced on the first episode of his podcast that he was going to give Perreault another chance.

"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 on the podcast. "So, here's the announcement. We are officially inviting Bruce to play 'Survivor' again."

The unveiling of the new cast members Wednesday came with short video introductions for each contestant.

Perreault began his video with an enthusiastic "I'm back baby, let's go!"

"I'm just the dude that was on television for 12 minutes," Perreaul continued. "I got to [season 44], we all know what happened there. Jeff does his thing: 'go!' And I took off running. Bang. I hit my head."

Perreault said that for the 12 hours he competed last season, he was the "father figure."

"I need to not be 'dad,'" he added. "Your dad is the one who puts down the rules and all of that other stuff. Your uncle is who you go talk to and have a conversation with about how dumb your uncle's being. I'm going to be known as Uncle Bruce out here."

He seems to be going in with the right mindset.

"I'm not going to let fear and the past dictate [my experience]," Perreault said. "If I play scared, if I play afraid, if I play any way other than how I'm supposed to play this game, why am I here?"