[Baltimore Sun] Meet Baltimore’s ‘Survivor’ Season 47 castaway Gabe Ortis

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“Survivor” Season 47 premieres this week with Charm City’s castaway Gabe Ortis set to bring a little Baltimore to the island.

The 26-year-old radio host, who started a new job on WYPR’s evening broadcast, will be one of 18 players competing for the $1 million prize on the hit reality TV series. “Survivor” castaways battle it out in challenges, fighting for food and rewards — and voting off one member of the cast at tribal council each week.

The new season kicks off with a two-hour premiere Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CBS. Viewers can also stream the show on subscription service Paramount+.

The Sun spoke with Ortis recently about his experience on the island and how his background as a communications manager for Sheila Dixon’s 2024 campaign — a job he quit so he could be on the show — helped him to strategize.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How long have you been a “Survivor” fan, and when did you know you absolutely had to be on the show?

So I was one of those kids that, you know, watched it with their family. And it was the highlight of the household week. Then I fell off the show for quite a few years. It wasn’t until I moved in with my current roommates, who were just unbelievably big, super fans, that I was like, oh yeah, I used to watch “Survivor” all the time, but I haven’t seen the past 15 seasons or so. They were like, “Oh my God. OK, well, guess what? That’s the show that’s going to be on the TV 24/7 now … we’re getting you caught up.” And the more and more I was watching, I just kind of had this moment of, you know, not only could I go do this, I think I could go win this thing.

Did you come up with a role model or base your game on anybody that you followed?

If I’m being honest, you know, I don’t want people to watch me on Season 47 and say, “Oh, he played like, Boston Rob. He played like, you know, Harvard [John Cochran] or Sandra, or whoever.” I want people to watch seasons after mine and say, “Wow, that person played like Gabe.” You know, I kind of want to create my own legacy.

Despite saying that you weren’t there to make friends, did you end up making friends — or maybe an alliance — on the show?

I don’t want to give anything away — to see the names and faces, you’re gonna have to tune in. But “Survivor” is a bonding experience, because it is unlike anything else. You’re one of about 700 people who have had this experience, so naturally that bonds you with people after the game. I have a very special and a very unique bond with all the people that I got to play with out there. We all went through something that we can only relate to each other. I can’t come home and talk to my dad about starving on an island because he’s never done that before.

Sept 12, 2024: Gabe Ortis, a Baltimore radio host, is a contestant on Survivor Season 47. (Kim Hairston/Staff)

What was the most surprising thing about being on the island?

It is an insane production. Walking around camp, it’s kind of a run-and-gun style of production where you’ve just got a few cameramen. But then once you get to those challenges, it feels like you are on a big-budget Hollywood studio. I mean, you have hundreds of cameras, hundreds of crew members. You don’t see that when you’re at home, you just see [host Jeff Probst] and the castaways and that’s it. No, this is a full-fledged, big-budget, Hollywood-level production.

You were a member of Sheila Dixon’s campaign staff. Were there any similarities between the politics in Baltimore and the politics of “Survivor”?

When you’re playing “Survivor,” everybody will just be hanging around a rock chatting. Then you’ll look out the corner of your eye and you’ll see two people talking. And the first thing that comes to your mind is, what the hell are those people talking about? So part of navigating big city politics is being able to know when it’s time to approach those conversations, understand the relationship that you have with those individuals, and [decide] if it’s a good time to try to siphon information. For a lot of people who don’t have that experience, they just want to blow up the conversation, or go up and say, “What are you guys talking about?” All that does is paint you as this chaotic, erratic, paranoid player who gets ostracized and people don’t want to work with.

Who do you think would do better on “Survivor,” Sheila Dixon or Brandon Scott?

Sheila Dixon, every time. Mayor Scott is, in the limited interactions I’ve had with him — he’s a wonderful person. I think that you know he has all the best interests of Baltimore City at heart. But I think that Sheila’s got that wisdom. She knows how to talk to people. You can put Sheila Dixon in a room with a person of any age, any race, any creed, any religion, any background, and by the end of the conversation, they’ll feel like she’s their best friend, and that’s her superpower as a politician, and it’s her superpower as a person.

You were born and raised in Charm City. Did you bring a little Baltimore vibe to the island of Fiji?

I’m as Charm City as it gets. A big reason, a big motivation, I had when I got out there was being a representative of Baltimore. I wanted to be a representative of this city in a positive light. People talk about this city in ways that I don’t really appreciate sometimes, and if I can be even a small part of changing the national narrative about, in my opinion, the greatest city in America, the greatest city in the world, I want to do that. Baltimore means everything and more to me, and to be able to be a representative on such a large scale with such a large platform like CBS and “Survivor,” it was a dream come true, and I really think I did this city proud.