New castaways are heading to the islands of Fiji to compete in Season 47 of “Survivor,” and the group of 18 hopefuls includes two contestants with local ties.
Sierra Wright, of Phoenixville, and Teeny Chirichillo, of Manahawkin, are contestants on the long-running reality competition, hosted by Jeff Probst. They will compete for the $1 million prize through a series of intense physical and mental challenges alongside their tribes.
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“Survivor” Season 47 premieres Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 8 p.m. on CBS. It will be available to stream the next day on Paramount+.
Here’s what to know about Wright and Chirichillo:
Sierra Wright
Robert Voets/CBS
Sierra Wright, 27, a nurse who lives in Phoenixville, is a contestant on this season of ‘Survivor.’
Wright, 27, is originally from Wilmington, Delaware, but now lives in Phoenixville in Chester County. She is a former Phillies ball girl who now works as a nurse for a plastic surgeon, according to a promotional video she posted to Instagram. She has degrees from West Chester University and the University of Delaware, according to her LinkedIn profile, and won the Miss Delaware USA pageant in 2018. But she doesn’t want that title to define her.
“People look at me and just see a little tiara on my head; there’s so much more to Sierra than just pageant Sierra,” she said in the promo.
Wright also called herself a “hoot” and said people are usually laughing when she’s around. She’s on “Survivor” for her father, who has gone through chemotherapy infusions and blood transfusions in the past few years.
“His last few words to me were just like, ‘Go get ’em, bud, bring it home and come home a millionaire.’ And that’s what I’m going to do,” she said.
Teeny Chirichillo
Robert Voets/CBS
The ‘Survivor’ Season 47 cast includes Teeny Chirichillo, 24, a freelance writer from Manahawkin, N.J.
Chirichillo, 24, is a freelance writer from Manahawkin, a community within Stafford Township, Ocean County, that acts as a gateway to Long Beach Island. She attended the University of Rhode Island and Rutgers University, according to LinkedIn. In a promotional video she posted to Instagram, Chirichillo said she has been developing her “social game in life” since she was little.
“I grew up dressing like a boy,” she said in the promo. “(I) wanted no attention for it, so had to distract them from having questions about me. That’s really taught me how to befriend any type of personality. … I know how to get along with anybody. And even people that I don’t like so much, I know how to make them like me.”
She now knows how to get along with anybody from sorority girls at Rutgers to “alpha male sales bro personalities” in the tech industry, and she’ll likely use that affability as a strategy in the game.
“The energy that I’ll bring forth is a pickpocket from the ‘Oliver Twist’ universe, stealing their trust, their hearts, their spot in the final three, and before they know it, they’ve voted for me and I won,” Chirichillo said.