Deaf 'Survivor: The Amazon' Contestant Made Reality Television History

For contestants on any Survivor season, there are going to be major hurdles to overcome. They may come in the form of physical challenges like finding resources or building shelter. Or they may come in the form of mental and emotional conflicts with other contestants that make their time in the wild more difficult.

But one contestant on Survivor: The Amazon dealt with an entirely different level of challenges that made her quest for the big win just that much harder.

That would be Christy Smith, who made history as the first deaf reality TV contestant. Here's what we know about her time on Survivor and who she is when the cameras are off.

Today's reality television is fairly diverse. Some shows even focus on those with disabilities and sometimes those who don't fit society's expectation of "normal."

Yet there was a time when that wasn't at all the case.

According to Entertainment Weekly, 2003 marked the first time a deaf contestant appeared in a reality television contest as Christy Smith made her Survivor: The Amazon debut.

Unfortunately for Christy, she was not able to utilize many of the accommodations that she relies on in day-to-day life, so things started on a rocky footing for the outspoken contestant.

From nearly day one, she was butting heads with other competitors as she discovered that there wasn't enough light during the nighttime fireside chats for her to read lips. And disagreements over who should be doing which chores caused some friction after several of the women in Christy's tribe neglected to keep her apprised of what they had agreed to do.

In the end, Christy lasted an impressive 33 days while immersed in the rugged and unforgiving Amazon, surrounded by people unwilling to accommodate her.

While it may not have been the win Christy longed for, it was an impressive showing and a reminder that even when you have extra odds stacked against you, tenacity and dedication can take you far.

Of course, Christy is more than a deaf person who competed on a Survivor show.

So who is the woman behind the history-making reality TV milestone?

During the 2020 lockdowns, Entertainment Weekly interviewed former Survivor contestants about their lives since the show. Christy opened up in a rare public disclosure, sharing how life had changed since she first struck out in the Amazon in 2003.

Christy recounted to the outlet that appearing on the show, despite the fact that she didn't bring home the big win, instilled her with a sense of confidence. She explained that she now knows she can "survive" anything.

Since leaving the show, she's working in deaf advocacy, launching a show on PBS with both hearing and deaf kids. She also launched a non-profit called Discovering Deaf Worlds, using her reach and experience to help those in the deaf community.

Christy later obtained a master's degree in Deaf Education in New York and taught American Sign Language (ASL). But perhaps one of Christy's most remarkable post-Survivor moves brought her back to where it all began.

She shared with EW that she brought her mother to the Amazon, making that full-circle journey to revisit the place that once changed her life.

She also shared that when the show aired, she described having fled to Southeast Asia to avoid people's probing questions she didn't know how to answer. There, Christy says, she saw "true survivors" who were being heroic by just surviving their daily lives.

Christy may not have won, but her presence on Survivor: The Amazon opened many doors for others in her community, and paved the way for Christy herself to explore new avenues of learning and advocacy.