Ben Katzman "Survibes" All the Way to the Final Three on Survivor Season 46

Since leaving Fiji last year, Ben Katzman has been living the reality TV rock star dream.

"The funny thing about being on Survivor is it's kind of like joining a fraternity," says Katzman, who's been chilling hard with his Survivor homies since filming season 46 about a year ago.

While recently on tour, Katzman has been bringing a multitude of Survivor colleagues to shred the stage, including Charlie Davis in New York and Liz Wilcox in Orlando, who both made it to the final four with Katzman seen in last week's thrilling season finale. Katzman and his band Degreaser also headlined the Black Market's Battle Royale show at Revolution Live last weekend, where Survivor legend Benjamin Wade (AKA Coach, the Dragon Slayer) joined on trumpet.

"I have been writing so much music, and there's one song I was like, It would be sick if there's trumpet on it. I was talking to Carolyn Wiger, and she was like, 'You know who plays trumpet? Coach!' I don't know how I didn't put two and two together," Katzman shares. Survivor 44 finalist Wiger introduced Katzman to Coach, and both hit it off.

"He's putting the Slayer in Dragon Slayer," he adds.

In a season filled with consecutive unplayed idols, a hilarious Applebee's reward, Twitter beef, and iconic rock music references and quotes from Katzman, he ultimately came out as a loveable hero with a surprising lack of screen time for someone who made it to the final three — a difficult feat that includes outlasting 17 other people for 26 days on a beach where they're given no food or shelter and asked to compete in physical and mental challenges in grueling hot weather.
The harsh conditions, lack of food, and the "bad vibes" from playing the game did affect Katzman's mental health. As the game progressed, Katzman would experience night terrors and panic attacks, leading to a concerning lack of sleep.

In a game filled with lying and backstabbing, a few contestants, including Davis, Wilcox, and winner Kenzie Petty, who had many teary confessionals about helping Katzman during his night terrors, decided to put the game aside and support Katzman. "Charlie took care of me, and Liz would heat rocks over the fire so I could put them in my shirt so I could have some insulation. But this is where we talked about the game the most, at night when everyone was sleeping," he admits.

Ultimately, these same four, who dubbed themselves the "Gathering of the Goats" alliance because they were often overlooked, made it to the end — which wasn't a coincidence. Looking past the edited storytelling this season, it's clear that these unique friendships and alliances guided the trajectory of the game into a refreshing ending in which the social aspect triumphed over gamebot strategizing. Even Petty, who sat next to Katzman and Davis at the final three, won over the jury with her strong social game over Davis' strategy-focused playing.

At the final tribal council, Katzman wasn't given many chances to defend his game for the million dollars, showing that the jury didn't seem to appreciate his style of "survibing" through the game."A lot of the jury didn't check on me or ask how I was doing, and it's not their fault. They were there to play a game, they weren't there to take care of somebody going through something," he says. "I wasn't just the person who had panic attacks. I'm still proud of what I did."
Katzman's biggest moment in season 46 was winning the final immunity challenge — the one that guarantees the winner in the final three makes you choose one person to take with you and leaves the other two to hash it out in a fire-making challenge. Despite showing up to the challenge with only a couple of hours of sleep the night before, Katzman's skills as a musician helped him win the never-before-seen immunity challenge that featured a huge pinball-like structure.

"Some people can't play guitar or sing at the same time, and that's what that challenge felt like. You got to run and do a puzzle, count the timing when the ball is falling through the pegs so it doesn't hit the pipe — it was very much a rhythmic thing," Katzman says.

"Fire Sprite," Katzman's latest single, was inspired by his days in Fiji when he was sitting by the fire and facing demons. The 31-year-old musician, who's toured with Colleen Green, Mannequin Pussy, and Guerilla Toss, plans to continue collaborating with Survivor pals and teases a song with Soda Thompson and another with his fellow Siga tribe member Tim Spicer.

As Katzman continues releasing music and touring, he's grateful to have the chance to connect with new fans and talk about mental health.

"Whether it's at one of my concerts or a watch party or anything like that, I want people to know that I'm always there to listen, give my two cents," he says. "Life has been full of moments like that while touring, meeting fans, making art, and just trying to do what I already do because I do love my life."