It’s too bad there’s no way to win immunity against the tax man! All the winners of big reality competition shows know their winnings will be taxed. It’s just a matter of how much. Survivor 49’s big winner, Savannah Louie, shared how much she had to pay to take home her $1 million prize money.
Survivor 49 champ Savannah Louie also revealed when she got paid
The controversial winner of Survivor 49 won individual immunity several times during her season, but that didn’t save her from having to pay her taxes. She shared that she had to pay approximately $380,000 for the $1 million cash prize.
“It was like a punch to the gut,” Savannah said on the Financial Tea podcast (at the 12:56 mark). “Because that’s more money than I have ever made in a year, by far.”
The Georgia resident noted, though, that the tax she paid was significantly less than what winners from states like California would have to pay, but much more than winners from Canada, who pay no taxes.
“To sign a check over, essentially, for that high, it was unreal. It hurts,” Savannah admitted.
Aside from having to fork over the large sum to the IRS, Savannah also shared how long it took her to get her winnings from the show.
“We have to wait until the finale airs, though, before we get that payout,” she revealed. “Our finale aired in December, so I was waiting a long time, very patiently. But literally less than 24 hours after the finale aired, I see that that $1 million straight deposited it into my bank.”
The payout takes a while because there are NDAs in place for the show when it comes to not revealing the winner or any details. That’s why they hold the payday out until the end.
Savannah also explained that Survivor is one of the better-paying shows. It’s no wonder that she did two seasons back-to-back.
On Survivor, the winner takes home $1 million, but the runner-up also gets a payout of around $100,000. “At least for most seasons,” Savannah shared. “They’re still walking away with a pretty nice paycheck.”
She added that she thinks the third-place contestants get about $85,000. Even the first eliminated contestants get something.
Survivor Season 50 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS. It streams the next day on Paramount+.
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