Survivor star slammed as sexism row erupts over female contestants' strength

04 November 2023 , 23:03

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Survivor contestant slammed after sexism row about female contestants' strength (Image: BBC)

A Survivor contestant has been slammed by viewers as sexist after making controversial comments about his female tribemates.

Lee Reeves stirred the pot on tonight's episode of the BBC reality series over his strategy during the tribal immunity challenge - which appeared to prioritize his male teammates' skills over those of the females.

Each tribe had to chase their rival through water while carrying 50kg in weight distributed amongst them, and if they dropped out, they had to give their weighted bag to a fellow tribe member. If they caught the tribe in front of them, they won immunity and were safe from elimination.

The tough challenge saw both tribes adopt very different strategies, with Caleton spreading the weight more evenly amongst them and La Nena relying on just three male contestants to carry the load. Ultimately, the latter group was unable to keep up the pace and Caleton took home the prize of remaining in the competition.

Caleton beat La Nena on Friday's immunity challenge (BBC/Remarkable)

Tensions came to a head during Tribe Council, when La Nena's Rachel revealed she'd heard other contestants gunning for a female to be eliminated next.

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"I heard today that, 'It needs to be a female that goes, it needs to be a female that goes,'" she told host Joel Dommett. "But why? What's the difference between a female going and a male going? It doesn't determine whether...a female's less stronger than a man."

Ashleigh echoed her La Nena's teammate's objections, insisting that their strategy to do a sprint over a marathon in the water was to blame for their loss.

"I 100 percent believe that if we'd have gone for a different strategy, we would have hands down had that," the 34-year-old said. "I know, Ren, Rachel and I could very easily have done that at a different pace and done that for a long time." She added that it was "extremely frustrating" to have lost over choosing the wrong strategy.

Joel appeared to agree, replying: "We've all discussed it's the strategy that's to be blame, not necessarily the strength." Earlier in the episode, Ren had vocalized concerns that it was becoming more difficult for the female contestants in the tribe. Rachel had also accused Lee of "trying to pick the women off one-by-one" and of "playing a big game."

Lee, who hails from Belfast, jumped in to defend himself at the elimination ceremony. "I don't think it's a thing of gender or sexist whatsoever with strength," the 28-year-old objected. "I think the sad truth is that Doug, myself, Christopher and Peg are stronger in the physicality stuff. The boys were in the water, and the girls were outside." He also raised eyebrows after rejecting Joe's suggestion he underestimated his ability, replying, "I pushed to the last minute. But what I underestimated was, maybe, other people's ability."

Lee has defended his position on Survivor (BBC)

It didn't take long for Survivor viewers to criticise Lee's attitude, with many taking to Twitter to call for the professional boxer to be eliminated from the show.

"Lee reeks of misogyny and I’m not a fan," one person wrote, while another said, "I’ve never wanted a man gone more than i want lee gone." A third wrote, "Lee starting a man’s alliance? who’s shocked?"

It was ultimately Rachel, who hails from Whitstable, who was voted off and had to surrender her torch. "The tribe has spoken," Joe said, extinguishing the 23-year-old's flame. "It's time for you to go."

Emma Dooney