Survivor star, Sonja Christopher dies, aged 87

The news of Christopher's death was confirmed by fellow Survivor contestant Liz Wilcox, who viewers are currently watching compete in the show's 46th season, in Fiji.

She wrote in a post on Twitter, which has been re-branded as X: "Today, the legend herself Sonja Christopher of Season One passed away. I had the pleasure of meeting her on Christmas. She had so much spunk + love for Survivor and what the show brought to her life. I hope you’re singing + playing your heart out somewhere beautiful, Sonja."

Wilcox then added in a separate post that fans should not send flowers, but that "donations may be sent to Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church (Walnut Creek, CA), the Cancer Support Community of the San Francisco Bay Area, or the Sjogren’s Foundation".

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2020, Christopher revealed that, after she retired, she had become a music therapist, going into assisted living facilities with her banjo to get senior citizens involved in singing.

"I was doing that sometimes five or six times a week," she explained. "And also, people would ask me to play for club meetings or parties. So that's what I did, but I retired in December [2019]."

Christopher also revealed how she ended up going on Survivor in the first place, explaining that she was recovering from breast cancer treatment at the time, and had just come to the end of an 11-year relationship.

She said that she was by herself with no ties, living in a senior retirement community and with her son being "grown and taking care of himself".

She explained: "I was reading the morning paper, and it said something in an article about CBS looking for 16 Americans to cast away on a deserted island and see who could survive for 39 days. Well, I had always wanted to see if I could survive using only my hands and my wits.

"As I read on, it said something about the one who stayed on the longest would get a million dollars, and they'd vote someone off every three days, and the program was called Survivor.

"This was around October 1999, and about the same time I was one of 18 breast cancer survivors from around the country who were selected to go on a three-day outdoor training program, sort of like Outward Bound. We were taught mountain biking and kayaking and rock climbing and orienteering. I was by far the oldest of these breast cancer survivors. I was then 62."

Fans were quick to pay tribute to Christopher on Twitter/X, with one saying: "Sonja Christopher is a legend in the #Survivor world. She was robbed when she took a fall in the first challenge, she had the potential to reach the end and win… had it not been for a single vote, and her ukulele scene is something I’ll never forget. R.I.P."

Another said: "She paved the way for every person to ever play Survivor. We will always smile when we think of Sonja Christopher. RIP to a legend".