midnight snacc

The nerdy twunk of ‘Survivor 44’ is quite the sneaky game-player—and gay fans are divided

As RuPaul’s Drag Race enters its home stretch, the gays’ other favorite reality series about outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting the competition is just heating up.

That’s right, we’re talking Survivor 44, which has quickly proven itself to be highly entertaining season of television and also just so happens to have one of the show’s most LGBTQ+-inclusive casts ever. Coincidence? We think not.

While we’re going to keep on rooting for the queer survivors (we must protect Yam Yam and Carolyn at all costs), there’s one other contestant who’s gotten a lot of attention from Gay Twitter™ in particular: 20-year old NASA engineering student Carson Garrett.

Don’t let the glasses fool you, this self-proclaimed “space nerd” is a secret twunk:

It’s giving Tom Holland, no?

*Spoilers ahead for Survivor 44 up through episode 4.*

To recap Carson’s journey so far, he started off as part of the Tika tribe, which took an early blow when member Bruce was injured in the initial challenge and pulled from the competition. In the second episode, Tika was sent to Tribal Council, and Carson made a last-second flip—aligning himself with the aforementioned Yam Yam and Carolyn—proving he was in it to win it.

In the most recent episode, Carson was one of three sent to Advantage Island where he was gifted an immunity idol that would last until merger, but also told he’d have to switch tribes, shipping off to Ratu. At his new home, Carson made some smart connections (while throwing his previous Tika alliance under the bus) and then helped his team to a win in the Immunity Challenge, ensuring he’d survive another day.

All of that is to say, Garrett has already shown he’s got the Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent to take the win, but he’s also the kind of game-player that’s so blatantly strategic that he’s become quite divisive among the fans—even the gays!

For example, remember all those surprising muscles we showed you earlier? (Of course you do!) Well, he revealed he recently put on 30 pounds specifically so he’d be a more adept physical competitor on Survivor. Talk about strategy!

Oh, that “I’m the quirky little nerd” line? Carson knows exactly what he’s doing.

It’s a ruse we’ve seen on the show plenty of times before—the charming yet unassuming sweetie who’s just happy to be there—sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Some of Carson’s fellow competitors are already catching on, like former Tika tribe member Sarah who pegged him as a “dangerous” player. (Of course, she was just voted out, so that’s one less person for him to worry about.)

Over on Twitter, where Survivor has a very vocal contingent of gay viewers, folks are divided. Is Carson a savvy competitor worthy of a win? Or are people just so taken by his good looks that they’re willfully ignorant to the fact that he’s too shifty to stick around much longer?

Here’s what Team Carson has to say:

And here’s some hot takes from those who think this twunk has got to go:

Either way, Carson (as well as the rest of his Survivor 44 cast) is giving us some good TV. And, as long as he keeps posting screen caps of himself online, he’s giving us some good social content, too. Keep it coming, Tom Holland Carson!

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