Survivor 41 spotlight: Meet app developer Xander Hastings
So how can Xander figure out how to flip these expectations on their head? He’s got his work cut out for him, but there’s all sorts of fun stuff that we’ll be talking about within this piece.
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What stands out about him – Xander is 21 years old, making him the second-youngest guy on the season. He hails from Jacksonville, Florida and works as an app develop. The most interesting thing about him, from our perspective, is his endless pursuit of knowledge. He’s a really smart guy with a lot of interests beyond just fitness — though he’s also a cross-country athlete. If the entire cast knew his skill set at the start of the game, he’d probably find himself voted out sooner rather than later. He’s also someone with a fairly decent understanding of the game and he claims that no matter what, he won’t let his position in the game get to his head.
What could hold him back? – Sometimes it’s easier for younger contestants to divide themselves up into cliques — we could see Xander, whether it is intentional or not, pairing off with some other young people in his tribe and not making enough connections elsewhere. This could hurt him down the road, especially at a tribe swap. He’ll be valuable in the early going but there comes a point in the game where tribe strength doesn’t matter as much.
Our personal pre-season assessment
Travis from Big Brother this summer is a worst-case scenario for Xander’s game — he could hit some bad luck and go out early. Luckily Survivor is a different game from Big Brother and we think that he’ll be okay early on. Yet, it’s really hard for a guy in this archetype to win this game because they’re so obviously a challenge threat. We see him being taken out at some point around the merge.
Related – Check out some other Survivor 41 spotlights now
Are you rooting for Xander Hastings to do well on Survivor 41?
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