S41 Shantel Smith

[Whimsy]

CBS Bio

Name: Shantel Smith
Age: 34
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Current Residence: Washington, DC
Occupation: Pastor

Hobbies: Running, improv, acting, comedy, dancing

3 Words to Describe You: Passionate, authentic, resilient

Pet Peeves: Bad breath, second-hand embarrassment and slow talkers
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? The accomplishment that I am MOST
proud of is doing the hard work in therapy and confronting my demons, working through the
pain and the feelings of injustice, and then being willing to cultivate a relationship with those
who let me down when I was little.

What is something we would never know from looking at you? I was in a gang.

Who is your hero and why? My mom, because I saw her fight her demons until her dying
breath. She experienced so much pain in her life, and my childhood was dark, twisted and
complicated, but she was an extremely hard-working Italian woman. She always made sure I
had a roof over my head and lunch money in my pockets. She did the best she could and I'm
grateful. She gave me the best life she knew how and loved me with all the love she had in her.
She is my image of beauty and strength. Also, Xena: WarriorPrincess. Lucy Lawless taught me
so much about how to be a strong, assertive woman and how to stand up for yourself in a world
full of men. She was my childhood hero, posters all over my wall. I even had a Xena: Warrior
Princess-themed birthday party…last year.

Which past Survivor will you play the game most like? I think I am probably going to play
the game most like Kim; strategically and relationally like Tai when it comes to idols, but I got
some Parv in me too.

Why do you believe you can win Survivor? I believe I have what it takes to win. I think living
on the streets, developing a strong work ethic, practicing excellence in all that I do and put out
into the world, having a high threshold for pain and suffering, endurance, perseverance, knowing
that nothing comes easily but everything must be earned and worked for, rigorous self-
examination, zero entitlement, trusting that self discipline is self love, believing in others and
making them feel capable of accomplishing anything, my interpersonal skills, my wit and my
grit, my reverence for God in others, my heart to serve, and an attitude of gratefulness and
celebration for the small wins all make me believe that I will be the final Survivor. 

[himela]

Are you getting the winner edit boo?

[peachmangosteen]

I hate her so yea she'll probably win.

[LadyChatts]

3 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I hate her so yea she'll probably win.

I don’t like Shan, but I hate Ricard so I’m leaning towards him winning, because that’ll be my luck.  
 

Shan, I think she maybe overplayed a little bit this week but I guess I could say the same for about half the cast at this point.

Edited October 8, 2021 by LadyChatts

[JudyObscure]

Shan's whole  divorce story is so disturbing.  The most basic childcare instructions say to never involve children in adult decisions.  Her mother shouldn't have asked her to chose which parent to live with anymore than she would have asked a five year old whether or not she wanted to go to school or  play in the street.  It was up to her parents to weigh all the factors and then tell her what they had decided would be best for her.  Children change "favorites" from one minute to the next,  They never should have the burden of a sort of Sophie's choice. 

Now Shan's bio says her mother is her hero: "She always made sure I had a roof over my head and lunch money in my pockets."  Really?  Is it possible her father had something to do with the roof over her head and the lunch money in her pocket but he never got credit because the mother who told her to choose was always in total control of the narrative?  I don't know for sure, of course, but I've seen quite a few women raise their children to think mom is a sainted martyr and dad is just a shadowy loser.  Sometimes that's true but other times  it's  only because the mother insisted it be that way.  No wonder the father was crying, Shan still chooses Mom.

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

It seems to me that Shan has gotten a lot of antagonism directed at her from viewers for reasons among the following:

Being bossy/ a "bully" and wanting to get her own way

Making "ridiculous" decisions and/or overreacting

Being weepy/emotional

Being a hypocrite

Getting a winner's edit/having the audacity to have the stupid theme song for "Evil Shan" and production indulging her by creating it

Am I missing anything?

Because each of the things above except for the winner's edit seems overblown to me.

I fail to see how she's any more bossy or wanting to get her own way than Danny, DeShawn, Ricard, Xander, Tiffany or Evvie.

Most of the things that she has done so far have been pretty logical IMO.  I mean, her whole alliance has been stupid in not putting enough votes on Xander to actually vote him out or at least make him feel threatened enough to use the idol.  But other than that.

Did anyone ever call players like Boston Rob or Tony or other winners hypocritical or bullies, even though they clearly have been? The game pretty much forces you to try to steamroll other players at times and to lie at times. 

It seems to me like some of the negative reaction to Shan has a subtext of negative feelings toward pastors, women, or African-Americans. 

[seacliffsal]

Oh my gosh, so many people have called Boston Rob and Tony bullies, controlling, etc.  Over the years over different forums (RIP TWOP) so many people have called so many players bullies, controlling, etc.  Maybe it should be considered an honor for Shan to be put into these same categories as previous winners?

[Guest]

50 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

Oh my gosh, so many people have called Boston Rob and Tony bullies, controlling, etc.  Over the years over different forums (RIP TWOP) so many people have called so many players bullies, controlling, etc.  Maybe it should be considered an honor for Shan to be put into these same categories as previous winners?

Seriously. It was just last season that Rob was being raked over the coals for being a bully. I thought that was overblown as well, for the record, but it certainly happened.

I don't hate Shan and won't go so far as to say she's a horrible pastor or human being or anything. I just find her tiresome. This is often the case when a contestant is focused on relentlessly and we are privy to their thoughts on everything. That was a bit unavoidable with Shan since she was running things on the tribe that kept losing all the time, but it still makes me check out and roll my eyes every time I hear their voice, fair or not. I got tired of hearing from the likes of Russell, Tony, Phillip, and others, too.

(This doesn't ALWAYS apply for me, though: see the afore-mentioned Boston Rob 😆 )

[JudyObscure]

5 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Am I missing anything?

Yes.

Numerous interviewers where she talked about herself as though she's the cleverest, cutest thing ever...( Look at me! A pastor who can be sneaky!)

When Genie was upset over being out of the loop on the Brad vote, Shan jumped up and announced she was going to nip it in the bud and told Genie, she hadn't been Brad's number one anyway.  Thereby hurting Genie's feelings for no good reason.

Shan made Jairus feel like a worm for not telling her about his advantage while hiding an advantage herself.

Shan was patronizing to DeShawn with her, "Tell me again so I can listen and learn."  Then interviewed that she was skilled in "making people feel heard" while still getting her own way.  Her example was women in her church coming to her with ideas about potlucks and altar flowers and herself listening and then doing whatever she herself wanted. 

-----------

That's why I don't much like her, but feel free to say it's because I'm a racist.  I'm getting used to that, because I know for some people there's no greater virtue signaling than calling other people racist.

[Chicago Redshirt]

The interviews fall under the "winner's edit"

The JD thing falls under her being a  hypocrite. Which is part of playing the game. Everyone practices one thing that is different from what they preach in this game.

The DeShawn thing falls under a combo of being bossy and a hypocrite. But I would also say it's not that she was bossy or hypocritical because she had no reason (from what was shown in the conversation) to take it that he felt the way he did. She never said or implied, "It's got to be this way" and it was in fact DeShawn who cut her off twice. 

The Genie thing is something I hadn't seen raised before. I don't think it was hurting Genie's feelings for no good reason. Or at least, Genie certainly didn't act like her feelings were hurt, between running to tell Shan and Ricard about the advantage she found, refusing to vote Shan when she had the chance, etc. 

I'm certainly not going to call any person a racist or a sexist, because I don't know what motivates them. But other than the amount and tone of the confessionals, I don't see what separates Shan from the other contestants this season or in general. 

Edited November 12, 2021 by Chicago Redshirt

[Chicago Redshirt]

6 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

Oh my gosh, so many people have called Boston Rob and Tony bullies, controlling, etc.  Over the years over different forums (RIP TWOP) so many people have called so many players bullies, controlling, etc.  Maybe it should be considered an honor for Shan to be put into these same categories as previous winners?

My bad if people talked about Boston Rob and Tony being bullies in the same way that they are talking about Shan being a bully this season. (i.e. I hat Boston Rob, I think that Tony should be fired from his real-life job because he's such a bully, etc.). I don't remember seeing it. 

[Guest]

Just now, Chicago Redshirt said:

6 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

Oh my gosh, so many people have called Boston Rob and Tony bullies, controlling, etc.  Over the years over different forums (RIP TWOP) so many people have called so many players bullies, controlling, etc.  Maybe it should be considered an honor for Shan to be put into these same categories as previous winners?

My bad if people talked about Boston Rob and Tony being bullies in the same way that they are talking about Shan being a bully this season. (i.e. I hat Boston Rob, I think that Tony should be fired from his real-life job because he's such a bully, etc.). I don't remember seeing it. 

Then I would respectfully say that I don't think you were present on this board during Winners at War. Rob has gotten more than his fair share of vitriol here, from expressions of hate all the way down to cheap shots at him looking old and out of shape (Shan's personal appearance has not been a target yet, so far as I've seen). No one said Rob should be fired from his real-life job because he didn't bring up his profession that much, but he got at least as much hate if not more than Shan during his last two seasons.

I don't recall anyone saying Tony should be fired, but his abilities as a cop were certainly questioned based on his antics on the show, especially in his first appearance.

Again, to be clear, I'm not agreeing that Shan should be fired, but there is plenty of proof on this board, at least, that you don't have to be an African American, a woman, or a pastor to be criticized for aggressive gameplay/being a bit of an ass.

[Chicago Redshirt]

9 minutes ago, tracyscott76 said:

Then I would respectfully say that I don't think you were present on this board during Winners at War. Rob has gotten more than his fair share of vitriol here, from expressions of hate all the way down to cheap shots at him looking old and out of shape (Shan's personal appearance has not been a target yet, so far as I've seen). No one said Rob should be fired from his real-life job because he didn't bring up his profession that much, but he got at least as much hate if not more than Shan during his last two seasons.

I don't recall anyone saying Tony should be fired, but his abilities as a cop were certainly questioned based on his antics on the show, especially in his first appearance.

Again, to be clear, I'm not agreeing that Shan should be fired, but there is plenty of proof on this board, at least, that you don't have to be an African American, a woman, or a pastor to be criticized for aggressive gameplay/being a bit of an ass.

I was on the board for Winners at War and probably commented some, but between me being old and it being a while ago. I freely admit that more people were down on Tony and Boston Rob for bullying back then than I remember. I also admit that Boston Rob and Tony, having played multiple seasons of Survivor, have built up far broader bullying resumes than Shan has and likely ever will. 

 

[violet and green]

She 'handles' people. I have disliked her for her behaviour on her tribe since episode one.

[LadyChatts]

The only people I ever thought should be fired from their jobs on this show were Colton and Na'onka.  I don't think Shan is bad enough to say that about, and definitely isn't on the level of those two (for me anyway), but those two were a special kind of bad.  

Quote

I fail to see how she's any more bossy or wanting to get her own way than Danny, DeShawn, Ricard, Xander, Tiffany or Evvie

I don't think anyone has been singing Ricard's praises on here.  To be fair about Danny and Deshawn, we really haven't seen a lot of them until the merge.  With what I'm seeing/hearing about Deshawn, I think he's a control freak that doesn't understand he's in a game where people are allowed to throw his name out and even write it down at TC.  No one likes it, but as Tiffany said (either on the show or a post-show interview, I can't remember), her name has gotten written down more than once.  The reason Shan is getting the reception she is is because she got a lot of pre-merge exposure, thanks to her being on a losing tribe.  I do think her being in a situation with a lot more people that she hasn't been with since day 1 is getting to her, game wise.  I don't think she knows what to do now that it's not just her and Ricard calling the shots, and I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to let her hold onto their advantage/idol again.      

Edited November 13, 2021 by LadyChatts

[Lamb18]

I think Shan was arrogant and feeling entitled when she berated Bradley and JD into giving her their Idol and advantage as a sign of trust. She was also demeaning to Genie. My unprofessional opinion is that her need to control the situation motivates this behavior and she is afraid of outcomes that her beyond her control.

[LadyChatts]

1 minute ago, Lamb18 said:

I think Shan was arrogant and feeling entitled when she berated Bradley and JD into giving her their Idol and advantage as a sign of trust. She was also demeaning to Genie. My unprofessional opinion is that her need to control the situation motivates this behavior and she is afraid of outcomes that her beyond her control.

I think this is why her game play has gotten kind of flaky.  She's playing with a bigger group now, and Deshawn clearly doesn't like getting bossed around.  It's no longer her way or the highway.  

Also, Brad didn't give her his idol, though he told her about it.  He got voted off with it, and then it was re-buried, found by Genie, but Shan took it.

[Lamb18]

That's right, he left with it in his pocket.

[himela]

I just wanted to say: Your edit was WAY better than you deserved. See you never.

[Valerie]

Most satisfying vote out since Wentworth idoled out Savage in Second Chance.

[himela]

54 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Most satisfying vote out since Wentworth idoled out Savage in Second Chance.

One million times YES!!!!

[Booger666]

Can someone please explain to me why Shan used her extra vote?  She used two votes for two different people so wasn’t it a wash?

[Marley GMA]

Anyone but Pastor Shan, thank you!

[ProfCrash]

5 hours ago, Booger666 said:

Can someone please explain to me why Shan used her extra vote?  She used two votes for two different people so wasn’t it a wash?

Shan used her vote in case the idol was played. That way they had enough votes on Heather that Heather went home instead of Shan or Ricard.

[Leeds]

Can someone reassure me that the following article is a spoof.

 

[Valerie]

Apparently that Patreon was set up before Survivor, but it's still gross and exactly what I'd expect from Shan.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I read "calling and gifting" as "calling and grifting."

[Nashville]

I’m pretty sure God‘s telling me not to donate.

[ProfCrash]

Not surprised at all. Love the bolded "I am leaving my job because God said so and now you should pay me through a Patreon group" 

Just gross. 

Just for kicks I looked her Patreon up, you can pay to participate in bible study. She only has 44 Patrons, which strikes me as strange. I would have thought that she would have seen some growth because of Survivor. It doesn't look like she added any new content since October.

[Hera]

Looks like her Patreon peaked in late March 2021, and has been steadily losing support since then: https://graphtreon.com/creator/shantelsmith

I am surprised it didn't get a bump from being on the show. Then again, she has over 100k followers on Instagram (which doesn't link to her Patreon, but does to her cameo account), so I suspect that's her primary stream of income.

[Leeds]

10 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I read "calling and gifting" as "calling and grifting."

How about "crawling and grifting"?

[ByaNose]

Survivor doesn’t have the same pulling power as back in the day. I didn’t mind Shan but unless she comes back for another season she’ll be pretty much forgotten or find some life as a influencer on Instagram. Whether she can turn that into $$$$ is a whole other subject. I remember when the Cookout from Big Brother were everywhere following their season and they are also sort of forgotten about. It’s not a bad thing but it’s just the show(s) need to be on the air (with them) to sustain any popularity. I’ve seen Michael Yeager from Survivor & Corey from whatever season of BB found lots of work as models and are living on Instagram. I think it helps to have the model money to sustain the Instagram money.

[LadyChatts]

If Shan were to come back in an all-star season I think she'd get eaten alive (so much so I could see her quitting).  Her game kind of tanked when the merge happened and she didn't seem a gracious loser at Ponderosa.  I think this season had enough interesting characters and people that would be ahead of her for a second chance.

 

[ProfCrash]

Her Ponderosa disposition seemed toxic. 

 

[Nashville]

19 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Her Ponderosa disposition seemed toxic. 

 

In other late-breaking news, water has been proven to be wet.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I wonder what would have happened if Shan had just done things a touch differently.

What if she had chosen the loyalist over the strategist and brought Genie to the merge?

What if she played into Deshawn's ego less condescendingly? 

What if she had truly been about the African American Alliance enough to be willing to drop Ricard the instant it was brought up? Or at least, keep her mouth shut about it to him? Or on the flipside, what if she were the first one to decide to stab the AAA in the back and go after Deshawn or Danny, in favor of the girl's alliance they'd been dreading? 

What if she thought to play her idol the TC where she was voted out?

I wonder if they bring her back again if she will learn from her mistakes or if contestants will insta-vote her out, especially since they likely will have some familiarity with her game. 

[ProfCrash]

I think Shan's problem was that she had to be seen as being in control. Ricard figured out pretty quickly that he would do well with Shantel if he let her lead. I don't think that Ricard was not an equal partner, possibly the actual one with ideas, but he was fine with not been seeing as the forward face of their alliance. But he fully understood that Shan needed to feel like she was in control.

I also think that Ricard realized that he was read as not being approachable by folks and Shan seemed to be more able to develop relationships with people. Shan wanted to be the number one for everyone, it was a good fit. But when something was important to Ricard, he stood up to Shan. The way he stood up to her was more effective because it was less whiney and more firm. DeShawn moved into whine mode which was problematic. 

Shan's background helps explain that, she was in foster care and had some real struggles in her life. She probably wants to control what she can because she has had too many times where she had no control. I can only imagine that is really hard and painful. 

That said, Shan seemed to genuinely bond with people. I think she had a real connection with Genie, Brad, JD, Ricard, and Liana. She didn't seem to really rub too many people the wrong way. DeShawn was the only person who she seemed to have a problematic relationship with. 

I am not a huge fan of her Patron approach,  please pay me to lead Bible Study because it is my calling feels very scammy. Some of the comments she made about how she handles Parishioners made me cringe. She had left her position before she appeared on Survivor so I wonder if her listen, pretend to care, and then manipulate approach was noticed and didn't work with her Parishioners. There is a part of me that wonders how much she really believes and how much she sees this as a way to pay her bills and gain some level of control. I don't know anything about her beyond what we saw on the show but she was not one of the religious folks who was worrying about stabbing people in the back or praying regularly or doing anything that would remind you that she was devoted to her faith. I am not sure that I see this as a real calling on her part. 

That said, there is a lot that isn't shown so maybe there was more of that there then we were shown. 

I did not appreciate the game she played and how she handled herself in the game or on the jury. I do not want to see her play again. I don't think she was as bad out there as some folks think. I think she developed some real relationships with people that would not have happened had she been as awful as some folks think. 

I hope she is able to find what she is looking for.

[whiporee]

My problem with Shan and Liana was that they were just lying about wanting to make a community statement. Shan lied to JD and stole his advantage. Liana voted Abraham out. They weren't concerned with community when they did those things, yet they were quick to throw them in the face of DeShawn, or used them as leverage during voting. I just find that distasteful. If you want to lie about your motivations, I'm understanding of saying whatever you need to say in order to stay alive in the game. But to then guilt someone for not agreeing to your term after you already violated them? That's not gameplay. it's just hypocrisy.