ROGERS, Ark. — The 42nd season of Survivor premieres Wednesday, March 9, on CBS, and one of the contestants lives in Rogers, Arkansas.
Tori Meehan is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, but she moved to Rogers in December 2021 after she got married. She says her favorite things about Northwest Arkansas are Crystal Bridges, the bike trails and unique coffee shops.
Every Christmas, Tori and her family binge an entire Survivor season together. As soon as she turned 18, she started auditioning for the show. It took seven years, but her persistence paid off.
“What really drew me to Survivor is the social strategy part,” Meehan said. “I’m a therapist, so I’m all about psychoanalyzing people, psychology, how the brain works and how people work.”
Meehan works specifically with eating disorders, so she’s all about giving others the tools to have a positive body image. As an avid crossfitter, Tori says she felt confident in what her body could physically do and was less focused on anything superficial.
“When you’re on the island, you don’t have mirrors,” she said. “You don’t get to do your hair and makeup. You don’t even know what you look like, so your body appearance just becomes a lot less important.”
Tori takes pride in what she calls “nerdy” hobbies, which she thinks added an extra layer to her strategy.
“I’m a huge Harry Potter fan,” she said. “I literally played Muggle Quidditch.”
She was also in marching band, loves tabletop games like Scrabble and wrote a science-fiction novella.
She couldn’t give away any spoilers about the show.
“You guys are just gonna have to watch to find out,” she said. “It’s gonna be a wild ride.”
March 9 is a unique date for Tori. Last year she got engaged, and this year it’s the special two-hour season premiere.
Filming took place in Fiji and lasted 26 days.
You can watch Tori and the 17 other castaways Wednesdays from 7-9 p.m. on CBS.
It’s expected to be one of the most extreme versions of Survivor ever.
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