BBC Survivor star changed name to Pegleg after having foot amputated

13 October 2023 , 23:01

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BBC Survivor contestant with amputated leg on why he changed his name to 'Pegleg' (Image: BBC/Remarkable)

These are the new contestants on BBC's primetime show Survivor making a TV comeback in the UK for the first time in over 20 years.

The line up includes a singer/songwriter, semi-Professional female Footballer, boxer and a Surf School Owner who has changed his name by deed poll to Pegleg.

Pegleg Bennett was born with no ankle in his left leg and his parents opted to have his foot amputated, a decision he describes as the best they could have made. He legally changed from Rick to his nickname, Pegleg, to stop any weirdness around his disability.

Pegleg, 54, said: "Going into the show I was World Champion in my surf division and I gave up the opportunity of retaining the title to be on Survivor as I had to miss 3 competitions whilst we were filming.

"My strategy was to try and be Mr middle-of-the-road; I didn’t want to be seen as a threat but also didn’t want to be a weak link in the chain who wasn’t worth keeping around. As an older one-legged guy I had to prove I could hold my own."

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The surfer changed his name from Rick to Pegleg after he had his foot amputated (BBC/Remarkable)

Lee Reeves, 28, will also appear on Survivor (BBC/Remarkable)

Elsewhere in the line up, boxer Lee Reeves, 28, originally from Limerick and now based in Belfast, says he is massively competitive which should be a good starting point for the show.

He said: "I like to keep myself in good shape and I train often so I maintained that before the show. Because of boxing, I feel that mentally I have the strength you need to have in the challenges, to persevere and push yourself to your limits."

Semi-pro footballer Hannah, 30, binge watched Survivor series from the US and Australia in lockdown which inspired her to take part.

She says: "Survivor is as much about strategy and alliances as it is about physical prowess, so I wanted to bring a well-rounded approach to the game. In preparation I focused on increasing my physical fitness by dedicating more time to the gym."

In total 18 people, carefully selected from across the UK with ages 21 to 54, are marooned in a tropical location where they are divided into two tribes, competing against each other in a range of physical and mental challenges for reward or immunity.

One by one, players are voted out of their tribes at the iconic Tribal Council until the two tribes eventually merge and the game becomes a head-to-head battle. Ultimately only one person can triumph, winning the cash prize of £100,000 and the title of Sole Survivor. Teasing the show, show host Joel Dommett said: "Outwit, outplay, and outlast - that's the phrase that the whole show sort of hangs on.

"And we have two tribes on a deserted island and they have absolutely nothing. So everything they receive, they play for. They play for rewards and they play for immunity. And so we do these big reward challenges, and then we do big immunity challenges. And if you don't win immunity then you come to tribal council with me, and then one of them gets sent home.

"It's great. It feels like now's the right time for it to be in the UK. And it sort of feels like a piece of every one of our favourite shows in the UK. And it's not because it's the last one to the table. It's because it was the first one to the table, and you realise watching how many other shows have taken parts of Survivor for their show.

"Even if it's as simple as standing around the fire in Love Island. That's a Love Island thing but that's also a Survivor thing. And it's like The Apprentice and The Traitors too...there's so many elements that you can trace back to it."

TV bosses have attempted to make Survivor once before on British TV, it ran on ITV from 2001-2002. But the new BBC version will be all action and closer to the series made in America and Australia where it has been a hit for decades.

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In America they have just made series 45 and the show, which may appeal to fans of The Traitors and I'm A Celebrity, goes from strength to strength. Survivor first aired in Sweden in 1997 and there have been 50 adaptations commissioned around the world to date. As well as returning to the UK there has been a first season in French Canada recently, and a reboot in Colombia.

Mark Jefferies