‘Survivor’ Season 32: Neal ‘Regretted’ Not Hiding His Infection From Producers

Over the years, many Survivor castaways have had to be pulled from the game for their safety. Some get injured during challenges, while others’ bodies succumb to the elements. Unfortunately for Neal Gottlieb, he had to join the exclusive group of Survivor medical evacuations during season 32, aka Survivor: Kaôh Rōng — Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty.

Neal Gottlieb, who starred in 'Survivor' Season 32 on CBS, wears a light blue button-up shirt and his dark blue 'Survivor' buff around his head. — Neal Gottlieb | Photo by Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images

‘Survivor’ Season 32 producers medically evacuated Neal Gottlieb from the game

Survivor Season 32 split the show’s 18 castaways into three tribes — Brains, Brawn, and Beauty. And Neal, as an Ice Cream Entrepreneur, fit right in with the Brains tribe on Survivor: Kaôh Rōng — Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty.

Neal quickly connected with Aubry Bracco, and the twosome later found themselves in the middle of Liz Markham and Peter Baggenstos vs. Debbie Wanner and Joe del Campo, which helped them survive their first Tribal Council. Neal and Aubry split up after a tribe switch, but they both made it to the merge on Day 17. Plus, Neal had found an immunity idol before the switch.

Unfortunately, Neal would never get a chance to play the idol. Before Tribal Council on Day 19, where the plan was to either vote out Neal or Aubry, Survivor‘s medical team arrived at the merged tribe’s camp.

Dr. Rupert inspected Neal’s open wounds on his knee and back. And he determined that the infection on his knee could become life-threatening. The doctor worried it could spread to the joint, so they had to medically evacuate Neal from Survivor Season 32.

Neal was able to get treated for his infection and later joined the jury. But during the Survivor: Kaôh Rōng — Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty finale, Michele Fitzgerald won the final Reward Challenge, which gave her the power to remove one person from the jury. She picked Neal because of his strong relationship with fellow finalist Aubry. So he didn’t attend the Final Tribal Council and didn’t get to vote for the winner.

Ultimately, Michele won Survivor Season 32.

Why Neal doesn’t think producers should have evacuated him in ‘Survivor’ Season 32

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Neal reflected on his medical evacuation from Survivor: Kaôh Rōng — Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty.

“I regret not hiding the infection that was by my knee,” the former Survivor castaway revealed. “I should have just worn my long ice cream pants and trudged on. While near it, the infection was not in my knee, and I was running around the island the morning that I was evacuated without any pain. I really didn’t feel that there was a need to evacuate me.”

Neal added, “I can’t say that I ever regretted going on, but the experience certainly felt like a giant disappointment at times having my game end as it did. It took a good long time to get past that.”

When asked what he would change about Survivor, Neal said, “I would not let [host] Jeff [Probst] influence medical evacuations. Any such decision should be made independently by a doctor or preferably a team of doctors or other medical professionals. And I would allow cannibalism after the merge.”

It’s safe to say that Neal has strong feelings about his exit from Survivor Season 32.

‘Survivor’ Season 32 contained two more medical evacuations

Neal wasn’t the only castaway who producers had to pull from Survivor Season 32. Caleb Reynolds was evacuated from the game on Day 9, and Joe exited on Day 34.

Caleb suffered a heat stroke after putting his all into a brutal Reward Challenge. While two other players — Debbie and Cydney Gillon — also had to be treated for heat strokes after the challenge, they recovered. After securing the win for his tribe, Caleb passed out, and the medical team could not stabilize him. They decided he needed to leave the island via helicopter.

Thankfully, Caleb got the treatment he needed and recovered after spending a few days in the hospital. But his time in the game was over.

Meanwhile, Joe won a Reward Challenge on Day 33 and was treated to plentiful steak kabobs. Joe fell ill shortly afterward, and the doctors visited him the next day. The beef caused a blockage in his stomach, and they evacuated him from the game. But Joe recovered and joined the jury.

Survivor Season 32 is now streaming on Netflix.

‘Survivor’ Season 32: Neal ‘Regretted’ Not Hiding His Infection From Producers

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‘Survivor’ Season 32: Neal ‘Regretted’ Not Hiding His Infection From Producers

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