Meet Kyle Ostwald, the Cheboygan man making his debut this week on ‘Survivor’

CHEBOYGAN — Kyle Rhen Ostwald first discovered “Survivor Fever” while watching the show. Before he knew it, Ostwald was on his way to Fiji to compete for the $1 million prize.

Born and raised in Cheboygan, Ostwald, 31, will be one of 18 contestants competing on season 47 of “Survivor,” a popular reality TV show.

“You want to see a guy with a fire under his ass? You take a broke kid, put him on Survivor and dangle a million dollars in front of him,” Ostwald told the Daily Tribune. “You’re going to see a kid running like you’ve never seen before.”

More: Cheboygan man among ‘Survivor’ castaways competing on season 47 of show

Ostwald is currently rebuilding the home he grew up in to create a stable life for his family, including his fiancée Shania, one-year-old daughter Ellie and son Rhen, just a few weeks old.

Ostwald said his upbringing was “a big challenge,” with his family dealing with financial insecurity, addiction and suicide, as well as years of foster care. Ostwald said he would take every opportunity he could to help his family succeed.

“You can run around all day looking for every opportunity under the sun and 1-18 is probably the best odds I’ll ever find at a million dollars,” he said.

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Ostwald said the community was “almost in shock” when he announced he would be joining the cast this year. Coming from Cheboygan, he said, it can be easy to think you’ll be overlooked. But, Ostwald added, seeing him compete could give people in the community the confidence to know they can do something as cool as being on “Survivor.”

In a game that drops you on a remote island to fend for yourself, Ostwald said the experience was “miserable, exhilarating, incredible.”

The new season of Survivor will air at 8 p.m. starting Wednesday, September 18 on CBS.

— Contact journalist Karly Graham at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.

This article was originally published on The Petoskey News-Review: Meet Kyle Ostwald, a ‘Survivor’ Season 47 contestant from Cheboygan