Survivor 41 spotlight: Meet Genie Chen, grocery clerk from Portland

Genie Chen is the sort of person we love to see entering Survivor 41 — someone who honestly feels real. She’s a little bit of a throwback to earlier seasons of the show in that way. She comes across like a normal person and a big fan of the show; with that, it also makes her glorious unpredictable within the game.

Does that make our job of trying to spotlight her in this article all the more difficult? Sure, but in all honesty, we really don’t mind. That just adds to some of the fun!

Check out our Survivor 41 preview video! If you look below, you can hear us taking on some recent comments from Jeff Probst about the season and some of the big changes. Once you’re done watching it, remember to SUBSCRIBE to Matt & Jess on YouTube! We’ve got more updates coming all season long and that’s the #1 way to not miss out.

What stands out about her – Genie is a 46-year old grocery clerk who lives in Portland, Oregon, and we give her a round of applause for everything she’s had to ensure over the past year and a half at this job. (She notes, understandably, that one of her pet peeves is people who don’t wear a mask properly.) She’s an avid video gamer, someone who describes themselves as “likable and sincere,” and also someone who wants to go into the game doing her own thing. She’s got one of the smallest bios of the entire season 41 cast and that is notable on its own — she seems like the sort of person who is about actions more than words.

What could hold her back? – More than likely Genie will be underestimated as a challenge threat, and we could also see her being the sort of salt-of-the-earth player who people love to such an extent that she becomes a threat close to the end. We think she’s going to be a hard worker and a team player around camp, but will she lead an alliance? She may be competitive, but is she really cutthroat? These are things we’re left to wonder about based on what little we know about her.

Our personal pre-season assessment

Genie seems like one of those players who becomes a fan favorite and then goes out close to the finale — she could ben early target but odds are, she finds a way to persevere and is deemed as valuable by those around her. We easily envision her being in an alliance, but also someone who is way too dangerous of generating all the jury votes when the dust settles.

Related – Check out some other Survivor spotlights!

Do you think Genie Chen will be an awesome person to watch on Survivor 41?

Be sure to let us know in the comments! Once you do just that, stick around — there are more updates coming and of course, we don’t want you to miss any of them. (Photo: CBS.)