Parvati Shallow explains why she won't return to Survivor

Parvati Shallow recently completed her time on season 2 of Peacock’s The Traitors when she was finally unmasked and banished as a Traitor. She had a good run — poisoning one contestant, murdering some others, and even extinguishing a feud with another Survivor legend.

But now that her stretch in the Scottish Highlands is over, would Parvati consider returning to the far more tropical climate that originally put her on the map? Would the woman, considered one of the best to ever play the game, come back for a fifth appearance on Survivor?

Even though host and showrunner Jeff Probst recently revealed to EW that it will be all new players through season 48, it is generally assumed there will be some sort of returning player element for the landmark season 50, which would air in 2025. Would Parvati — who also appeared on the landmark seasons 20 and 40 (in addition to 13 and 16) consider returning for the half-century season?

“Oh God, no,” replies the Micronesia champion. “I don't want to do Survivor anymore.”

According to Shallow, she may have simply outgrown the franchise that made her famous. “What's that going to be?” she wonders of a theme that would include her. “Old people versus young people? And I'd be the old one.” She laughs. “They used to call us old school. Now they're just going to call us old people.”

While Probst recently addressed with EW whether the show will ever bring theme seasons back, there’s no doubt that fans would love to see the Survivor legend back on the island. And while Parvati has seemed to shut the door on that happening, she also said she was done before… and then returned for Survivor: Winners at War.

“Okay, I know,” says Parvati when reminded that she came back previously after saying she wouldn’t. “It's only because I have such a soft spot in my heart for Survivor. It feels like an extended family for me. Seeing Jeff, seeing the producers, seeing all the camera operators — I know them all so well. They've been there through my whole growth trajectory in my life. So I do feel a sense of, it's a family reunion I can't miss. It's twisted and sick, but I kind of love it.”

There is, however, a practical problem in terms of how someone as famous as Parvati could even do in the game if she returned, considering the target on her would be roughly the same size as the entire Tribal Council set. “If I play that game again, people will just try to get me out right away, and it kind of sucks. I want to be able to play. What was fun about The Traitors is they knew my reputation, but they were willing to keep me around.”

That issue extends to her former rival Survivor queen, two-time winner Sandra Diaz-Twine. “Sandra too. I feel like if Sandra goes back to Survivor 50, she's out first too. But on The Traitors, people was like, ‘We can work with these girls. We don't know what they're up to. and we know they're kind of diabolical and messy, but maybe we'll play with them because it's such a different array of people.”

But if Parvati won’t return to Survivor, what about following her Traitors appearance with another reality competition show? After all, her buddy Tyson Apostol competed on The Challenge: USA, while her bestie Boston Rob Mariano is about to appear on Deal or No Deal Island.

“I love those guys. They're great. But I don't want to do The Challenge. That's a bunch of hoodlums getting drunk in a bunk bed situation. Not for me. Deal or No Deal Island is so Boston Rob. Nothing could be more him. I think The Traitors was like a coming out party for me. It was like a renaissance. I could wear new outfits, I could show up as a character, I could play a different role. I don't see another show like that for me, unless it's Dancing With the Stars or Drag Race, I don't really want to do another show where it's manipulating and emotional warfare. It's triggering for me to do that, to be honest. So I'd like to do something that would be more of performance-based, maybe a physical kind of challenge, like Dancing With the Stars.”

But if Parvati can’t compete for the Mirrorball trophy, she’d also like to be explore being on the other side of reality TV spectrum. “I'm looking for my own show to host. I'd like to do that. Alan Cumming is so iconic on The Traitors and he weaves himself into the fabric of the show and he's such an excellent host. I'd like to bring myself into some kind of show where I could do something like Jeff or Alan does, where they weave themselves into the fabric of the show. They influence it, and they work with the information they're receiving from the contestants. I play off people really well in the moment, so I think I would be really good at that.”

Someone give this lady a castle! Or an island.

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