While Shauhin Davari didn’t ultimately make the final cast of Survivor 46, his presence was certainly known. Many of the castaways I talked to at the time had something to say about the enigmatic “man with the beard.” A year later, his identity is officially public, as I get to sit down and talk with Shauhin again. The professor is a quick study, and learned from his perception the first time that he doesn’t need to do as much to stand out. The speech and debate coach talks me through the pros and cons of his game, knowing he can be a “logic bully,” and looking for a strategist to temper his more hare-brained ideas. Shauhin hopes he’s got what it takes to present a million-dollar closing argument, and continue the run of winners from Season 46.
Read on for my interview with Shauhin, and check in with Parade.com daily for interviews with this season’s contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 48 premieres on Feb. 26 with a two-hour premiere on CBS.
Related: Meet the Full Cast of Survivor 48
Interview with Shauhin from Survivor 48
To start, give me your name, age, and occupation.
My name is Shauhin Davari, 37 years old right now. And I am a college professor and head speech and debate coach at Orange Coast College.
Was teaching something you always wanted to do?
I was actually a lawyer for a while. I went to law school and graduated. Was practicing and was teaching night classes for fun and coaching the team, just because I used to compete on the team, and really enjoyed it. And then they opened up a full-time position. And I looked back at my life and realized, when I was in high school, I was training kids in soccer. And when I was in college, I was tutoring. And then when I was in law school, I was a TA and a tutor. And I realized, “Bro, you want to teach. That’s the thing that lights you up. That’s the thing that you’re super excited about. ” On top of I had an opportunity to coach the speech and debate team.
That speech and debate team changed my life. Speech and debate absolutely changed who I was as a human being. So given the opportunity to go back and coach the very team that shaped who I am and give back to my speech and debate community. Give back to the school that helped me figure out who I was, it’s pretty awesome. I have an older brother who’s 10 years older than me, and I was very, very fortunate; I have the world’s best older brother. And so for my whole life, I’d had someone being like, “Oh, don’t do that. Do this. How about adjust this? Okay, you want to do that. This is how you do that. Okay, cool.” This job allows me to be my older brother, my hero for a bunch of people. And so that’s why.
Talk to me more about speech and debate changing your life.
I mean, [it] certainly trained me how to think critically about the world. It taught me how to see the other side and how changing your mind is actually a good thing. I think, especially right now, people like to be set in their ways, and changing your mind is seen as a bad thing. No, man! Changing your mind based on the evidence that becomes available to you, that’s a beautiful thing. And on top of that, I also coach an acting event. A lot of what I do is coaching acting, and that’s not what people think of when they think of speech and debate. But a full third of what we do on the performative. But there are performances, monologues, poetry, prose. These are actual performances that I coach as well. And I really enjoy performance. That’s something that I did a ton of in high school, and I am performative in nature, and so I love my job. I’m very lucky.
Well, let’s talk about what brought you out to the great debate stage of Survivor. Why did you want to play?
What brought me out here? Let’s see. I’m out here for my community, and I’m out here for my mom, for sure. That’s one of the reasons. The main reason I’m out here is because I fell in love with the show, and then got my mom obsessed with the show. I threw a vacation that was a Survivor-themed vacation where 12 people came. Not just family, but friends; we all played Survivor. I played Jeff, and over seven days, we had challenges, two or three challenges a day. We had Tribals and all of that shit. And my mom won the whole thing. And it was insane. And this was after I got my mom obsessed with the show. She watched all 40 seasons. She lost a bet to me, and so she had to watch every single episode. If I lost, I would have had to send her on a trip around the world. So the stakes were huge.
I mean, you could have just put her on Amazing Race!
Yes, that would be next for us. That’d be lovely. Jesse, give me a call. Me and my mom on Amazing Race. Could you imagine? Anyway, my mom fell in love with the show because it’s it’s a show about social dynamics. My mom was a hairstylist for 40 years, sat behind a chair. And as you know, hairstylists do very well on this show. Yam Yam, Kenzie, they tend to do really well, because they have to understand all different types of people. And my mom came here, didn’t speak the language, had to learn the language. Sat behind a chair for 40 years and sacrificed her body so that I could have a better life. Her hands don’t work super well. She’s had three back surgeries. And so when she won our family Survivor, I made her a promise. I said, “I promise you I’m gonna go on that show, and I promise you I’m gonna win.” So now I get to make good on my promise.
So what was your history with watching the show?
So, I watched the finale the very first season. I didn’t really watch anything else again until February 22, 2020. The week before everything shut down, I was in Northern California visiting my friends, and we were like, “Hey, man, this pandemic thing is serious. So we should probably just hang out in the house.” And he had just finished Season 18. And I was like, “Dude, you’re watching Survivor? That show’s still on the air?!” Threw on Season 19. I see Russell Hantz come on television, and there is not a more hateable person on planet Earth. And nothing will light my fire like a rival, a villain who I just want to see him get what’s coming to him. And is there a better ending to a season than watching Russell get what’s coming to him for that many episodes? Erik’s monologue at the end that seals the deal for Natalie, that had me hooked. And so I then watched every single season. I’ve watched every episode. I’ve watched them multiple times. I got obsessed with the show, got my family obsessed with the show, and now I have a Survivor fantasy league with 40 people that I run my own rules.
So how is that going to work for 48?
The drafts gonna be a little weird. They can all pick the same people. And by the way, just to plug my league real quick, it is better than every other league. Because, most other leagues, it’s done by Week 4. Someone on your tribe goes home, and you’re screwed. The winner pick is done, and you’re done. [With mine], you get to add one at the merge. But the key is, the points you gain the last three weeks become the amount you can wager Jeopardy-style on the ranking. So everybody’s in it all the way to the very end. It makes it an interesting league, and it tests actual Survivor knowledge. It’s not just you pick it at the beginning and you tune out based on some nonsense, useless pregame interview. No offense.
None taken!
It’s a cooler way to, I think, play that Survivor game that we all love. And so what comes with that is, every Wednesday night, I got 20 people that come over to my house, or my brother’s house, or my friend Jimmy’s house, and we all watch Survivor together. It’s the thing that brings my community together. And it’s cool, man. We make food, and we hang out, and we shoot the shit, and then we throw on the show. And if it’s not Survivor night, It’s movie night. So it’s awesome, man. I’m very, very blessed with my community. It’s awesome. The Probstie is the trophy. The trophy is this big. And if you win, you get your name on the trophy.
Does Jeff know about the Probstie?
I don’t think so. I mean, I’m gonna have to tell him.
You know how they have a little bowler on the top of bowling trophies? You need a golden Jeff on top of the Probstie.
That would be awesome.
Give me one winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most.
Okay, look, Adam Klein’s love of his mother is something that I certainly understand. I mean, I love my mom in the way that he, for sure, loved his mom. So I definitely identify with him from that standpoint. But from a gameplay standpoint, Yam Yam is probably the person that I identify with the most.
You have the beard to match!
Exactly. And [he’s] a dude who can’t hide. I can’t f–king hide. There’s no way. There’s nowhere I’m going. I can’t hide. So he couldn’t hide, and he figured out a way. And so, I studied his gameplay a lot. Non-winner, I think I said this last year, but I think Jonathan Penner is probably the person that I identify with the most as a non-winner. Just because he was viewed with a level of skepticism that didn’t befit what was earned. He was viewed as non-trustworthy when he was arguably the most trustworthy person out there. He was saying things like, “No, I’m not gonna do a Final Three with you. Because if I do that, then someone else is going to hear that, and then I’m screwed. And I’m not going to lie to everybody. I’m going to tell you the truth.” And that’s what cost him his game. And I think that that happens to me sometimes, that instead of telling the lie that everybody tells, I just tell you, “Okay, wait, wait, no, I’m going to tell my truth and hopefully explain it enough and serve it to you in such a way that you don’t hate me for it.”
🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬
You wrote in your bio that you wanted to be “Penner with a new era twist.” What does that mean? Do you think that frank honesty lends well to the new era?
I went back and did an analysis of all of Penner’s seasons right before I came out here. So the thing that I think Penner did that I have to avoid–and it’s definitely a tendency of mine–is when given any opportunity to drive, he drives. And even in opportunities where he didn’t have an opportunity to drive, he couldn’t help himself. He had to drive anyway. I do that sometimes. I’m a “logic bully.” I know the right call. Sometimes it just drives me nuts. The person won’t agree, and what that ends up leading to is a soft agreement, which is someone being like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure,” and then turning around and being like, “Dude, screw this guy. I’m out of here.” And that is definitely what happened to him as well. And I need to avoid that fate by being more Socratic, asking people to get them there, instead of telling people to get them there.
So you talk about last year. Let’s be upfront about what you went through in 2024 on Season 46, because not everyone might know that this is not the first time we’ve met.
So last year, obviously, as the alternate, you’re in a very weird space. Because you’re doing something that you desperately want to do and certainly wouldn’t pass up the opportunity. But also, I knew, seeing the cast of 46, seeing those [nine] dudes, none of those dudes are dropping out. They’re all fit as a fiddle, like, “I know, okay, cool. I’m really unlikely to play. But I have six days or five days, I’m gonna play my ass off. I’m gonna play as hard as I can.” And so I absolutely did go back and watch the pregame interviews from 46. And you see, they’re all like, “He’s smiling too much. He is staring at me.” And it’s like, “Yeah, man! I wanted you to talk about me!” And I got exactly what I wanted. Did I think that many of them would talk about me? No.
You were the talk of the town!
That’s crazy. I did not see coming. But that also tells me something. I don’t need to do that much, and I’m still gonna be talked about. If I did nothing, I still would have been talked about at least a little bit, I think. But I did a lot, and so that ended up leading to a little bit more of an overcorrection. Yo, that’s literally the story of my life. I am Icarus. I fly too close to the sun. I know that that is my issue. I over-correct and course-correct. If I’m driving down the highway and I hit a little bump, I’m going over the other bump too. That’s the way that I’ve lived my life, and that’s benefited me in some ways. Because I’m very willing to listen to feedback; I am very in tune. And that is, I think, the thing that surprises people about me. When they do come to me with feedback, sometimes they expect a negative response. And my response is always, “Oh, okay. What did I do wrong? How do I fix it? I won’t do that anymore.” I learn real fast.
What has the past year been like for you, especially having to ramp back up to come out here again?
There’s a reaction that you have to the first time you sit down in a confessional. The reaction the first time you sit down, there’s an ampedness that happens. And for some people, that’s good, and for some people, that’s bad. For me, I need the amp in order to perform at my best. I have to be on that razor’s edge. And so, yesterday was a little off for me. I just felt a little off because I’d been there before. I knew kind of what to expect. And so, for me, that necessarily didn’t necessarily help me so much. Obviously, knowing the boat ride’s gonna suck, and knowing like, “Okay, cool. I don’t need to do as much. I’m still gonna be noticed. There’s only [18] people here, so you’re gonna get noticed.” And they didn’t cast a single other beard! They couldn’t give me one other beard to hide behind. They said, “If you paid attention to any pre-game press from 46, you’re gonna know this is the dude. Because he’s the only dude with a beard that’s out here, and he wasn’t on 47.”
Did you ever think about shaving?
I considered it. I considered it for a while. But if I can’t get past that, I’m not gonna win the title anyway. So if I can’t get past, “Oh, you were the alternate last time.” It’s like, “Yeah, man, okay! I was the alternate.” I’m not gonna hide it. That’s not useful. It’s just not that big a deal. And I think after everybody sits through this, they’ll realize, having done this before, not that big a deal. What matters more to their game is my personality. And I can help them, man. I know that I can be a really good asset to a solid alliance.
Give me your biggest superpower and your biggest piece of kryptonite when it comes to this game.
Kryptonite, I talked about already. The fact that I’m a logic bully, that’s certainly my kryptonite. I tend to push a little too hard and then get a weak agreement, and that’s it. As far as my biggest strength, I think I’m a surprising level of empathetic. I think that people are surprised that I recognize where they’re coming from and their experience in a way that they would not have expected. I can put myself in somebody else’s emotional shoes very easily. And that helps me in my job; I understand my students and where they’re coming from.
And having that empathetic approach is also something that was new. That’s something that happened kind of after the pandemic, more understanding as a professor, more willing to go out of my way for my students. And so that helps me out here, man. Being able to put myself in their shoes and understand, “Okay, what are their motivations? Why are they really out here?” Because not everybody’s out here to win. ome people are out here to get famous. Some people out here to flex on camera. Some people are out here for all kinds of different reasons. Some people are out here to play on 50. I’m out here to win the title of Sole Survivor. That’s why I’m out here, take that title.
I think what’s so helpful about speech and debate is the ability to see things from multiple perspectives. I feel like that’s going to be so essential in a game that’s all about taking differing POVs and trying to fit it to the move that’s best for you.
I can make an argument for anyone. That’s the goal. That’s one of the things I try and teach my students. It’s not that you believe that, but can you make the good argument? What’s the best argument for it? I remember in my college class having to debate the merits of Prop 8. Remember this, in California? Gnarly. And we’re in a college class, and it’s gonna be voted on, and so I had to debate yes on Prop 8, which was making gay marriage against the constitution of California. That’s an unenviable position, especially for someone who’s pro-gay marriage and pro-gays.
And so, light bulb, make all marriage illegal! “Marriage as a whole should be illegal.” Oh, okay, cool. That includes gay marriage. So figuring out, having the state involved, making those types of arguments, being able to see even the bad, how do I make that a good thing? How do I get all the way around that bad to get to the good thing? That’s gonna be essential out here. Even if I’m a huge threat, how do I convince the person that I’m not the target? Dude, let me be the threat, but I’m not the target! The target and the threat. Those are two different things. Q showed us that last season.
What’s your favorite moment in Survivor history?
It’s just a silly one. I mean, Ozzy having the opportunity to bid on an item for 420. Ozzy being like, “420” to the camera is an all-time great moment. Guzzling the soft serve right out of the machine. It’s awesome. That’s an awesome moment in Survivor history. This is [another] weird, awesome moment. But the upside-down U. Before you knew that there was gonna be a fire-making challenge that saved Ben, the upside-down U is an all-time greatest moment ever. Just like, “Oh, here’s the dude who had it. No one’s had it closer than that.” And for all of it to just come crashing down, that’s epic.
Related: Everything to Know About Survivor 48
Well, let’s put the shoe on the other foot when it comes to preseason perceptions. Who are you picking up good vibes from right now?
I have “razor’s edge” people, which is like, “Hey, either this person has to be my ride or die, or I need them gone.” And that is…she’s got blue eyes. She’s gonna hate me for this at some point. But she has the tattooed sleeve, and she has three different crosses tattooed all over her body. She is suspect of me. I feel it from jump. I know people like her; they are suspect of me. But if I can get them on my side, they’re my biggest advocates. They can call me on my nonsense. They can be my ride or die.
I need someone like that because I have hair-brained ideas, man. I have all kinds of different arguments that happen in my own head, and I need someone to be the arbiter. I have a very low perception of threats against me. I think everybody wants to be my friend. So I want someone who I know isn’t necessarily my bestie to be my bestie. Other than that, the person that’s on a razor’s edge, MZ I think is her initials. Shorter, Asian girl who’s jacked. That girl, I would love for her to be my ride or die. Because I think she’s a razor’s edge for me too, someone who doesn’t really like me, but if I got on her good side, I think we would ride forever. And then the dude who ate Tom Cruise. That guy. I want him on my team.
[Laughs.] Okay, this is an image I need described.
Captain America, the biggest dude. He’s got a giant, beautiful face for camera. He’s, for sure, been in movies or on stage or something like that. Because this dude brought toothpicks out here after lunch so that when he does get his face seen, he’s not got anything in his teeth. He’s thinking, in a way, I think, that is unlike anybody else out here. He is more cerebral than I think most people will give him credit. And so I need a strategist, and I know that’s not me. I’m an idea guy. I need someone that’s gonna give me the strategy. I’m a social player. I can make the strategy implemented. I’m not the brilliant strategist. I’m the idea guy.
I know that you spoke about your “razor’s edge” people that will either be your close ally or worst enemy. But is there anyone you’re just straight-up picking up red flags from?
My bad vibes people [are] the people that I don’t get a read on at all. Because if I can’t read you, that’s a problem. I can read anybody. That’s my skill set. And so this could all change. I could fall in love with a person very easily. But the smallest person on the cast, I have no read on her, zero. Black hair, no read on her whatsoever. [Pause.] SB as well. I call her Santa Barbie. Because she has blonde hair. She’s a painter. She’s been painting out here the entire time, like amazing paintings. Actually, I want one. But I can’t really get a good read on her, but who knows?
Oh, I love the Rock. The Rock is out here. He is a delight. I just saw him fold a shirt. And the way he did it was like, “Oh, dude, he’s the sweetest man ever.” He was walking out of the bathroom in the middle of the night, and he closed the door, which is far away from where we’re sleeping. But I was walking to the bathroom, and the way he closed the door was like a father exiting his little girl’s room after he kissed her on the forehead good night. You know what I mean? Just so gentle. And for a guy that big, that buff, that strong, to be that gentle, that juxtaposition, oh my God, I love that guy.
You wrote in your bio that you know you’re perceived as brutish and aggressive, but you’re a “secret softie.” Is the former a perception you’re going to try to curb while out here, or is it more so “keep me around long enough, and you’ll get to see the other side”?
If this game was 100 days long, like, in my real life, I just let people figure it out. And in my real life, if you don’t figure it out, it’s a good litmus test so that you can screw off. I don’t want anything to do with you. Can’t happen out here. And in situations where I have to, I just go right at it. I just talk about it. That’s my skill set. I can talk about it. And so I’ll go right at it. If I feel that perception from somebody, I’ll just talk to them about it. Someone’s sitting across from me, and I can tell that my energy is too much for them, that they are fidgeting and they’re uncomfortable. It’s very easy to turn my energy away from them. All of a sudden, they calm down. They’re chilling out. I’m good about that. And I have no problem getting right after it, talking right to them, going at them, and being like, “Hey, look, I get that you’re uncomfortable. I promise all of this. It’s not a big deal. It’s just how I like to look. You’ll be fine. I don’t bite. You can twirl the mustache if you want. It’s fine.
Exactly. “I’m not the mustache-twirling villain. You twirl my mustache for me!”
Yeah, “You can twirl my mustache for me, baby. It’s all good.”
You said you were more of a social player than you were a strategic player. So how much do you want to incorporate idols and advantages into your game?
Okay, this is maybe sacrilegious, but I do not want the idol. I don’t want the advantages. Because I think people are sus of me already; I think I’m already going to be viewed as a threat. Adding that extra layer to that makes me way too hot. Here’s what I want. I want to know where they are. I want to know who has them. And one of the thoughts that I’ve had, and we’ll see if I actually end up doing this, is if I do see a Beware Advantage, I want to be aware of where it is. And then watch and see who’s going into that area, and check. And when it’s gone, then I know who has it.
And critically, I know if they come tell me, now I know, are they my alliance? Are they not in my alliance? Especially if it’s someone that’s in my alliance, and they go and find it, and then they don’t come tell me, it’s like, “Ah, okay, I know what’s up.” Because I think for a plain idol, you can hide that, keep that to yourself. But a Beware Advantage, no, you have to tell somebody because that costs your alliance a vote. And you have to do shit. It’s like, you have to climb a ladder and then do the hokey pokey and turn around, do all kinds of stuff. And so you need to tell your alliance about that. Who knows once you get in there? But that’s my plan for now.
Ordinarily, I ask people what their main takeaway is from Seasons 45 and 46. But you’re in a very unique position, considering there was a world where you would have actually been on 46. So what was it like watching that all go down recently, knowing you’d be coming out here again?
Yeah, I definitely tried to put myself in their position. That was one thing that the alternate thing taught me is, while, watching put myself in every single person’s position. So let me watch from a different perspective. One of the biggest takeaways that I had from 46 and 45, when you combine the two, is look at the difference. 45 were ride-or-dies, and how successful that was for the ride-or-dies. Even for people like Drew and Julie, who didn’t win ultimately. But they made it very, very far, and they played a successful game. Austin, all the way to the end. Dee, your eventual winner.
Versus people who don’t treat it like ride-or-dies. Respectfully, Kenzie won. But look at what happened to her ride-or-dies. They got cut a lot earlier and in ways that were really savage. Because the meta in 46 was you have to cut your number one. I don’t know who came up with that, but that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Why? Why do you have to cut your number one? No, you go to the end with your number one! And you sit there, and you make arguments as to who’s better. Now, if you hear your number one’s coming after you, okay, sure, take your shot. But this idea that you have to cut your number one, I don’t get that at all. That’s not how you should play. Look at Dee and Austin, they sat next to each other, and they crushed it. And think that’s the way that I will play. Unless I get the knowledge that [I shouldn’t]. This is why I want to play with someone who is socially bad. This is why I want to play with someone who’s not socially great, who’s a great strategist. So that we’re symbiotic in nature, so that we can talk to our individual games.
What’s your hottest Survivor take?
I know that a lot of people, especially right now, because it’s happened so often since Season 35, they hate firemaking. I love firemaking. We just need to do it more. The fact that it’s only once doesn’t make any sense. Two people have to compete in fire when everybody should learn how to make fire? Huh? We need to do it more. You got to earn everything. That’s the thing. You got to earn everything. Cool. That first juror spot is like, “Oh, you just get to be the first juror because you were in the group that went second.” No man, those two people that got voted out during that double Tribal, they sit and make fire. And the person who wins, they get to sit on the jury. They get to be the mayor of Ponderosa.
Okay, cool. Now we’re using fire more throughout. Because if fire is your life, and the only way that fire is your life is if you win Final Four, it’s not enough. We need more. Give us more fire. I didn’t practice every single day for how many weeks, just on the off-chance that I end up in the fourth and third spot where I have to. No, man, let’s do this more! Make it part of a challenge. Make it the opening challenge too. Three times.
Yeah, firemaking was the first individual Immunity Challenge in Survivor: Gabon.
Exactly! And I think it would also be cool if it was like–I know this is taking it way, way crazy. But if it was like, “Hey, the firemaking thing, it’s not at Tribal. Ready, go! Go get it. And first person who makes fire out here, good luck, you win.” That I’m into now. We’re making firemaking a thing. And I think it’d be a cool story to tell too. You’re walking around the jungle with them, and they’re trying to figure it out. And it’s like, “Oh man, I expect to just have flint and whatever.” It’s like, “Nah, man! This might take a day, but good luck.”
What celebrity or fictional character would you bring out for a Loves Ones visit?
Varys from Game of Thrones. The Spider, the Master of Secrets. That’s the dude you want. Talk about someone who was secretly controlling. The best, the most crazy social game of all time. I want that dude, because that dude will see the things that I cannot see. Or Venus. I’ll take Venus out here. Legitimately. Strategically dead-on the entire season, right? Didn’t miss strategically. Couldn’t get anything done socially, but that’s a mixture of her and the cast that she was on, right? A different cast, and all of a sudden, she might get some social footing.
And that’s exactly what you were describing in a perfect alliance member. A strategic expert, but someone who needs your social skills.
Knew the shot every single time. “We’re getting rid of Moriah, why? Charlie.” And then Charlie gets to the final and obviously played an incredible game. I’d love to have Venus out here. I’d love to have Emily Flippen out here. Or my mom, by the way. My mom is like that too, very much so high-perceived social threat player. Understands who is against her and thinks way too much, and I have no clue.
Lastly, how are you going to make your mark on Survivor 48 to make sure you return for Season 50?
Man, did not see this question coming. I’m a linear thinker. So I think one step at a time, and I tend to be very present and enjoy my moment. And I think that serves me really well, because I’m not wasting time on all kinds of eventualities that aren’t gonna happen. I’m figuring out what’s going on right now, and I’m very, very present. So what’s gonna help me make my mark is showing a unique style of gameplay that is really successful out here. That moment by moment, bit by bit, being present is the key to winning Survivor.
Next, check out our interview with Survivor 48 contestant Joe Hunter.
