Nearly 20 years ago, a 23-year-old Parvati Shallow made her reality TV debut on the cast of 2006’s “Survivor: Cook Islands.” Since then Shallow has returned to the Emmy-winning reality competition series for subsequent appearances on “Survivor: Micronesia” – which she won – “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains” and “Survivor: Winners at War.” More recently, the former winner expanded her reality TV portfolio with follow-up appearances on “Deal or No Deal Island,” “Traitors” and, most notably, “Survivor: Australia vs. the World,” in which she became the thrid American contestant to win the title of “Sole Survivor” twice over.
While Paravati has since proclaimed that she was “born to play ‘Survivor,’” the star revealed that she nearly got her reality TV start on a different CBS competition series: “The Amazing Race.”
The revelation came during an October 21 appearance on the “Lovett or Leave It” podcast, hosted by “Survivor 47” contestant Jon Lovett. During their conversation, Parvati and Jon discussed everything from Parvati’s connection to longtime “Survivor” host Jeff Probst to working with “Real Housewives” stars on the set of “The Traitors.” Their interview began, however, with a frank discussion of how Parvati – better known to fans as “The Black Widow” – found herself on the cast of “Survivor” in the first place.
Parvati Reveals She Initially Auditioned for ‘The Amazing Race’ – Not ‘Survivor’
When Parvati first submitted her casting audition to CBS, she was vying for a spot on Season 9 of “The Amazing Race.”
“I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” Shallow told Lovett, “But I really wanted the adventure.”
At the time, Parvati had never even seen “Survivor,” so she was reasonably taken off guard when she recieved a call from a CBS casting director letting her know that she’d been cast on “Cook Islands.”
Getty“I was like, ‘Oh, that’s that show where they eat bugs,’” she added.
Regardless of being a relative stranger to the game that has since become a reality TV sensation, Shallow took the offer to participate in stride.
“I threw myself into this adventure, not knowing what to expect,” she said. “It was like a culture shock…I mean, I went camping and stuff when I was young, but I’d never slept in the dirt with bugs crawling on me and starved.”
Parvati Says She was ‘Destined’ to Play ‘Survivor’
Out of her element, Parvati relied on her fierce social skills to survive, and eventually thrive, in the game.
“I had been playing ‘Survivor’ socially since I was born,” added the reality star, who spent her childhood growing up on a commune in Florida with her parents and late brother. “The commune I grew up in was a, like, wooden, swampy kind of place…We had these fire ceremonies at night where people would gather around and [a guru] would lead them and people would throw their karma into the fire.”
“It’s what people do at Tribal Council,” she continued. “They come in and they’re like, ‘I’m gonna confess my bad deeds and Jeff [Probst] is gonna absolve me from my guilt and then you actually just vote someone out and crush their dreams. I was doing all of this. I was part of it. I was born into it.”
CBS/GettyParvati continued to rely on her social savvy as a teenager, especially in high school as she vyed for the senior superlative title of “Friendlist” alumni.
Opening up about how her journey towards the senior superlative related to her record-breaking “Survivor” career, Parvati told Lovett, “I gathered my allies.I had a girl group, basically like the OG Black Widow Brigade. I formed it at Spray Berry High School with my three best friends, and they helped me win all the things I wanted to win.”
While Parvati has since proven herself to be one of the best social strategists the game has ever seen. Her legacy was cemented ever further after her September 2025 victory on “Survivor: Australia vs. the World” made her the series’ third two-time winner after Sandra Diaz-Twine and Tony Vlachos.
Parvati Admits She’s ‘Glad’ She was Never Cast on ‘Amazing Race’
Looking back on her success, Parvati said that she’s “glad” she was never cast on “The Amazing Race.”
On top of feeling like she was “destined” to play “Survivor,” Shallow added that she doesn’t think she’d fare well on the CBS reality sister series, particularly when it comes to following directions, telling Lovett, “I lived in New York for like four years and never figured out which way to walk outside of the subway. I would always go the wrong way for a full 10 minutes.”
Check out Parvati Shallow’s full interview with Jon Lovett on “Lovett or Leave It” here.
