Whether you’re tuning into the most thrilling seasons of “Survivor” or the less exciting ones, a recurring theme unites them all: the car curse. This notorious curse is well-known among dedicated “Survivor” enthusiasts, though those who started watching after the show, hosted by Jeff Probst, ceased awarding cars as prizes might be less familiar with it.

The car curse, despite its ominous name, is a consistent theme in the history of “Survivor.” To put it straightforwardly, every contestant who has ever been awarded a car has subsequently failed to win the overall game. This curse is particularly noteworthy because the car was awarded after the majority of contestants had been eliminated. This meant that top competitors vied for the car, yet whoever drove away with it was assured to lose the grand prize.

Is this curse a result of paranormal forces haunting the “Survivor” series, or merely an odd coincidence exaggerated by fans? The curse’s lengthy history includes various players, each with their own take on its significance.

If “Survivor” Season 1 feels like a distant memory, worry not, as the car curse made its debut in Season 2, “Survivor: The Australian Outback.” Colby Donaldson was the inaugural car winner, earning himself a Pontiac Aztek on day 37. Elated with his first-ever new car, Donaldson’s fortunes soon reversed as he ended up in second place, thus initiating the car curse.

In the subsequent season, “Survivor: Africa,” Lex van de Berghe clinched a Chevrolet Avalanche on day 35 and finished third overall. During the fourth season, Sean Rector won a vehicle and placed fifth, while in the following season, Ted Rogers Jr. also took home a car and similarly landed in fifth.

The curse persisted each season until “Survivor: Fiji.” In this installment, Yau-Man Chan secured the car but traded it with fellow competitor Dreamz Herd for an Immunity Necklace. Herd reneged on this arrangement, leaving Chan in fourth place. Ironically, Herd wasn’t spared by the curse either, tying for second place. After this season with two affected contestants, “Survivor” reformed its offerings and ceased giving out cars as rewards.

At this point the “Survivor” car curse is part of the show’s deep lore. The curse doesn’t plague the show today, so more recent fans might not even be aware of it. The only people who will never forget about the curse are the participants it impacted in the first place.

In 2025, Entertainment Weekly spoke to some of the former “Survivor” contestants who had supposedly been struck by the car curse. Colby Donaldson, the first victim of the curse, hadn’t even heard of it, and for what it’s worth, he traded in his prize Pontiac Aztek for a GMC. Lex van de Berghe wasn’t sold on the curse, saying, “I don’t really hold much stock in those things, but I do think that winning a high dollar item on a show where people get to decide if you stay or go is risky.”

What about Dreamz Herd, the last victim of the car curse? He thinks along the same lines as van de Berghe. “This is what I see it as. We’re all playing a game for a million dollars,” Herd said. “Once you win a prize of any money, everybody’s like, ‘Well, he already has this portion. So you can’t let him get too much.'” Supernatural forces simply can’t hold a candle to the competitive nature of “Survivor” finalists.