Meet Miami Survivor Contestant Sophi Balerdi

It’s been eight years since Miami’s Sophia “Sophi” Balerdi first applied to join the rugged, isolated, and occasionally nude group of castaways on Survivor, one of the longest-running television series in American primetime. She’s lost track of the number of times she applied — she even got close to getting cast on the show at age 19 — but Season 49 was the charm.

“Part of me couldn’t believe it was real, and the other part was already picturing myself running around on the island,” Balerdi says of finally getting cast on the show’s latest season, which premieres Wednesday, September 24, on CBS.

Her history with the program dates back to early childhood, when she began watching the series with her grandmother. Twenty-five years after it premiered on May 31, 2000, the seven-time Primetime Emmy award-winning reality show is still the most-watched Emmy-nominated series on television. The competition famously places about 18 contestants on a remote island, where they go head-to-head in both mental and physical challenges for a cash prize of $1 million. Hosted by the charismatic Jeff Probst, the show follows teams of contestants as they form alliances, develop strategies, and live without modern comforts for 26 days, or risk being voted off the island.

Balerdi says her relationship with her grandmother practically revolved around the show. “I started watching Survivor at seven years old with my abuela,” Balerdi tells New Times. It’s interesting, because she didn’t speak any English, but she would tell me that the show helped her learn English.”

She first applied for Survivor at 18, when her grandmother was diagnosed with dementia. “I wanted to give her something special to watch,” she says.

After her grandmother passed away in 2020, Balerdi persevered and continued to apply in her honor. Though she did not live long enough to see her compete, Balerdo, now 27, says Survivor still connects her with her grandmother’s memory — and her sense of humor. “She was a Cuban immigrant, just like a lot of my family…and she would say that Jeff Probst was her teacher — but she wished that he was her boyfriend.”

With every application cycle, Balerdi maintained hope. As she waited to hear that “yes,” she continued her education and earned her MBA from Duke University. She entered the tech repair industry, becoming a multi-store owner of CPR Cell Phone Repair, one of the largest mobile repair franchises in the country. When she finally got the green light to compete, she trained to live on a secluded Fijian island by sleeping outside and mentally preparing for challenges with puzzles.

Balerdi says growing up in Miami and coming from an immigrant household offered some preparation, too.

“It’s a melting pot of people; you’re dealing with people from all walks of life,” she explains. “Growing up with immigrant parents and grandparents — seeing all of the sacrifices that they make to give you the life you have here in the U.S. — any time I got hungry, I got cold, [or] I was lonely out there, I thought about those sacrifices and I was grateful for the strength that was passed down to me by my family to tough out the Survivor experience.”

Survivor 49 is set in Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands and features three tribes with 18 first-time castaways. The Hina, Uli, and Kele tribes feature contestants with diverse backgrounds, with professions ranging from an NBA career coach to a rocket scientist. Balerdi’s business acumen and decades of observing winning strategies on the show establish her as a formidable contestant to watch in the Kele tribe, and as one of the few South Florida locals ever cast on the show, she says she’s already feeling overwhelming support from her hometown.

“Miami tends to do that; they rally behind their people,” she says. “Coming back to Miami, I realized there are a lot of things I take for granted; even just cafécito on a Sunday morning made by my family. Out there, you get nothing.”

Returning to those hometown comforts has reminded her of why she fought so hard to get cast on the show in the first place. “Going on Survivor was a symbol of mine and my family’s American Dream, because they sacrificed everything so that I could have opportunities, like being on [the show],” she says. “I would definitely use the money to help them, because they’ve done a lot for me in my life.”

Although her grandmother did not live to see her compete on their favorite show, Balerdi says the experience connected her to the woman who first introduced her to Survivor. “While I was out there, I felt so connected to her,” she says. I always felt this lack of closure from her death, and this experience made me feel like I got that, so it was extremely special.”

Survivor 49. Airing 8 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS and Paramount+ Premium. Available to stream Thursdays on Paramount+.