Survivor's Dan Spilo Breaks Silence After Being Removed From the Show and Uninvited to the Reunion

Survivor's Dan Spilo has spoken out for the first time after viewers learned he had been removed from the game for inappropriate touching, just ahead of the season 39 finale.

By Lauren Piester Dec 17, 2019 8:13 PMTags
SurvivorCBS

After a week of silence, Survivor's Dan Spilo is publicly apologizing for his behavior on the show. 

Last week's episode ended with Jeff Probst announcing that Dan had been removed from the game following an incident that involved a crew member, and now Dan has spoken out in a statement, apologizing for making Kellee Kim uncomfortable earlier on in the season. 

"I am deeply sorry for how my actions affected Kellee during the taping of this season of Survivor," he said. "After apologizing at the tribal council when I first learned that Kellee still felt uncomfortable, I want to make sure I do so again, clearly and unambiguously. I truly regret that anyone was made to feel uncomfortable by my behavior. In my life, I have always tried to treat others with decency, integrity and kindness. I can only hope that my actions in the future can help me to make amends and show me to be the kind of father, husband, colleague and friend that I always aim to be." 

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Dan will also not be present for the finale and reunion, which will be pre-taped this season as opposed to airing live, in order to better handle the more serious subjects that came up this season. Kellee had been expressing concerns about Dan's behavior since the very first day, and had asked him multiple times to stop. The concerns grew worse after the merge when Kellee and Dan were on the same tribe again, and when Kellee told other players about Dan's behavior, her concerns were used as gameplay to vote out Dan. The votes later switched to vote out Kellee herself. 

Dan made it to the final six before being removed after an incident where he touched a female producer's thigh, according to People. CBS made no statement further than saying it was an incident that did not involve another player, and Jeff Probst didn't want to elaborate out of privacy concerns. 

Survivor's three-hour season 39 finale will air tomorrow night beginning at 8 p.m., including the final four days on the beach following Dan's departure, followed by the announcement of the winner and the pre-taped reunion, on CBS.