As of May 21, Kyle Fraser is officially a millionaire. The young attorney made it through 26 grueling days surviving the elements and the other contestants of the Fijian island to be crowned “Sole Survivor” and the winner of season 48 of CBS’s “Survivor.”
But Kyle has more to his story than winning a million-dollar game.
Listen to Reilly Gaunt’s interview with Kyle Fraser in the podcast below
From the Classroom to the Courtroom
On the island while on “Survivor," Kyle told fellow contestants that he was a teacher, which was not a complete lie.
Before going to law school and becoming a white-collar defense attorney, Kyle taught GED and Humanities classes at a juvenile detention center alongside teaching at a prestigious boarding school.
"(A juvenile detention center) is a very tense environment, but you can make a difference... when you're in the classroom, there are literally security guards in there," Kyle said. "To be able to connect with the kids on many pieces of fiction and literature in a very tense environment but make it lighthearted and try to make it as relatable as possible was just a life-changing experience."
Kyle himself was involved in the criminal legal system growing up, so he saw himself in the kids he taught.
“And I think that teaching with having those experiences with the criminal legal system, I was able to teach effectively and talk about many different types of experiences because I've been in so many different spaces between being with wealthy individuals who obviously I have so much to learn from and people who come from well-off families, from being with individuals who didn't have a dollar to their name.”
His experiences both in the system and then teaching in the system enlightened him to a different career path than he originally anticipated. He said he always knew he wanted to be a teacher, but after two years, he felt the call to be a lawyer.
“I felt as if I had built up a really awesome catalog of life experiences, some of which were really good, some of which were really bad,” Kyle said. “That would make me a good lawyer because I would understand the people that I'd be eventually working with. I wanted to stop talking about things and actually working on things.”
Surviving “Survivor”
Kyle took all his skills learned in the classroom and in the courtroom and brought them to the islands of Fiji where he succeeded in playing a million-dollar game.
Kyle compared his start in life to his start in “Survivor.” He said it was not until he watched the show back how much he realized the connections between his life and his game.
"I had one of the most historically bad ‘Survivor’ starts, I think ever. It's funny, I never really looked at my life that way, but I definitely did have some rocky starts," Kyle said. "I think that if I look at my ‘Survivor’ game and how it relates to my life, it's about resilience in a lot of ways.”
When Kyle first entered the game, he floundered a bit. But as his time on the island moved on, he said he became very close with his tribemates and had a hard time deciding the best way forward to his eventual victory.
He said that he lost faith in himself and his abilities to move forward in the game. Like his past life outside the game, Kyle had to pick himself up from a difficult position to turn his life around into something even better.
"Eventually it kicked back in. Eventually I had faith again. Eventually I had faith in myself again, and eventually I realized, wow, I can win this thing. And so, it's kind of a funny comparison of how my life worked out in the real world and also on the island."
In a game where lying and betrayals are commonplace and expected, Kyle decided to play a more honest and loyal game focused on his connections within the tribe.
"Morally, I felt backed into a corner because if you're my friend, I will never hurt you. I'll do everything in my power to uplift you, to support you, to help you... But in the game, it felt like I didn't have a choice," Kyle said. "I was going to do what I needed to do to win, but I was going to find a way to win and thread a very narrow line while also keeping my moral compass and my beliefs intact."
Triumphant Return
Since returning from his unconventional win on “Survivor," Kyle has gotten married, gone back to working for his law firm and is helping some clients pro bono and has gotten the call to return for the legendary 50th season of “Survivor."
Kyle's final message to anyone who does not believe in themselves or is having a hard time in life is a message of resilience.
"Take it from somebody who's been there," he said. "Again, I've spent time in some dark places, and you might feel like you're down and out, but think about everything that you've accomplished up until that point."
See how Kyle continues to live out a life of honesty, kindness and resilience off the island, in Brooklyn and back on the beaches on “Survivor 50” by following him on Instagram @kylefrasr.