‘Survivor 47’ preview: Kishan Patel is an ‘adorable’ ER doctor who is ‘here to play’ [WATCH]

“Survivor 47” fans, it’s time to meet Kishan Patel, a 28-year-old emergency room doctor from San Francisco, California. “The adjective that I use to describe myself, or other people use to describe me — I’m just gonna say it — adorable,” he proudly states in CBS’s preview video. Watch Kishan’s intro above at the 9:13 mark.

In comparing the hospital to the island, he explains, “Part of being an ER doctor is strategizing and prioritizing and triaging and just having that chaos at all times, nights to days, gunshot wounds to stab wounds. [It’s an] emotional whiplash, and the ER trains me for that. You never know what’s coming at you, but you still have to be in control of it. You have to know the strategy of what to do next. That’s exactly what ‘Survivor’ is.”

Kishan opens up about his personal life, noting, “I was very strategic about when I came out. My parents, they would view this as a distraction. That’s why I had to be so patient and once I had achieved becoming a doctor, I could live my life. I wanted to prove that I can achieve anything I want to be, and that’s regardless of my sexual orientation.”

He then reveals, “Some of my extended family still don’t know that I’m gay, and so [my parents] were like, ‘Maybe you can just pretend you’re not.’ Hell to the no! I’m here to play and share everything about me. And here I am now.”

Kishan Patel is one of the six contestants competing on the red Lavo tribe this year, along with Aysha Welch, Genevieve Mushaluk, Rome Cooney, Solomon “Sol” Yi and Teeny Chirichillo. See the cast photos in our gallery below.

The 47th season of “Survivor” will premiere on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 with a two-hour episode, followed by 90-minute episodes thereafter. Four-time Emmy winner Jeff Probst returns to host and produce the long-running reality TV show, which films in Mamanuca Islands, Fiji. Make your predictions at Gold Derby right now to let us know who YOU think will win and who will be voted out each week.

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