‘Survivor 49’ snake bite victim Jake Latimer reveals harrowing near-death details

Sue Hawk warned us back on season 1 of Survivor to beware of the rat and the snake. And 48 seasons later, the snake has finally struck.

In one of the most life-threatening events in the history of the show, Jake Latimer was bitten by a highly venomous banded sea krait snake while in the water by his tribe camp. He was immediately transported to the Survivor production base camp, as doctors and producers yelled “Is he breathing?” from the dock as he arrived via boat.

Jake was then treated by the Survivor medical staff, who were relieved to discover that it was a “dry bite” and that no venom had actually been released. Still, because of his diminished physical and psychological state due to the event as well as… you know… playing Survivor, Jake was pulled from the game so he could be properly treated and recover without taxing his body further.

It was a brutal way for the 36-year-old Canadian to go, but on the bright side, it meant he got to return home in time to witness the birth of his son. As an added bonus, he also got to live.

We spoke with Jake to get the full scoop on his Survivor snake attack, what didn’t make it to TV, and what happened once the cameras turned off.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Walk me through exactly what you were doing, what you saw, and what you felt when you got bit.

JAKE LATIMER: Every day, I went down to the beach by myself before a challenge. And I’d sit there kind of where the water just comes up to your feet, and I’d shut my eyes, and I talked to my wife and my family like they were there. I talked to my unborn child, and just said, “Hey, I’m doing okay. We’re not doing very well with challenges, but we’re going to win this one.”

And I did that every single day that you don’t see on camera. And my eyes were shut, and it felt like a crab claw on the bottom of my foot, because we were getting bitten by crabs at nighttime, sleeping on the beach. I opened my eyes, and the snake is latched onto the bottom of my foot, mouth wide open. But it didn’t hurt at the time. I just felt a tingling kind of sensation. And that’s when I yelled to Alex. I’m like, “Guys, I think this thing just bit me!” Then, as we saw on the show, everything else kind of followed after that.

It looked like the snake was kind of hanging out there for a little while near you guys after because we see him in some shots.

Yeah, it came up, and then after I got bit, I yelled at production, “Guys, whatever that is just bit me,” and the cameras hauled it up the beach. That snake was on the beach for two, three minutes, probably just going up and down the beach, and people coming out to look at it and people running out the jungle that I didn’t even know that were there. And then it kind of all got pretty chaotic after that.

You get on the boat, you arrive at the production base camp dock, all of a sudden people are yelling “Is he breathing?”, they’re are all over you, you’re put on a stretcher, they put an oxygen mask on you — what’s going through your mind at that point and how strong is the fear getting that this could be not just your game but your life being in jeopardy?

That’s when it gets real, man. Because I don’t remember who, but somebody did tell me that that was a very venomous snake and I need to get care, like, now. And when I was lying on that stretcher, man, you saw me say, “I’m going to be a dad…” I’m getting emotional about it, talking about it right now…

But it’s like, I’m going to be a dad. Am I ever going to get off this island? Am I again going to see my child? Ever am I going to meet my child? And that’s when it sunk in, because I had tubes coming out of me. I had oxygen masks on.

Let me tell you something, though. That Survivor medical team is something else. They were so good. And I’m not just saying that because I’m on the show, but they made me feel safe. But it was a lot. Like, I work in a prison, man. I’ve seen some scary things in my life. That has been the most scared I’ve ever been in my entire life. When you think that you’re dying, it’s a feeling that I’m never going to forget.

They’re telling you they believe it’s a dry bite and no venom got into you, so before they came back and delivered the verdict on whether you could continue, did you think they were going to let you back into the game?

So when Dr. Barry told me that it was a dry bite, that was relief. I can’t even explain that feeling of I’m not going to die. I’m not going to die. And then it’s like, “Okay, now I got to get back in this game. I got to go help my tribe with a challenge.” I did not think I was going to get pulled.

However, they had to monitor me. I’m not going to argue with Jeff Probst or the doctor. Like I said, doctor’s orders. So whatever they said is what I did. But I have unfinished business out there, and it was a tough way to go. But at the end of the day, I respect their decision. I think about it every single day. I dream about it every single night. But I respect their decision and I have no hard feelings towards them pulling me out of the game.

So after you got the diagnosis that it was a dry bite, you were kind of thinking that they’re probably going to let you back in?

I was hoping. Obviously, that didn’t happen. But yeah… it’s kind of hard to talk about, but I was not ready to go home. I did not want go home. But that’s just what happened.

What didn’t we see from that whole episode while you were being transported and treated? What didn’t make it into the final edit on TV?

I was getting pretty sick on that boat. I think it was possibly more psychological because I think I already knew that it was a venomous snake. I was getting pretty sick and I think I even laid on the floor for a bit. I don’t really remember. I was kind of in and out of memory, I guess you could say. I wouldn’t say consciousness because I don’t think I ever fully lost consciousness, but I wasn’t myself.

What happened after the cameras turned off? What were the next few days like for you?

Yeah, so obviously this is a major incident and they have to use caution with it, right? So they’re not just going to let me go. They thought it was best for me to get airlifted to a hospital in Australia, so I went to a hospital up in Brisbane, Australia, on a private ambulance jet. I was there not for very long, and I have a couple of sisters who live there. I was able to be with them for an afternoon, and I flew home. I got home just under 48 hours before my kid was born.

Come on.

Yeah. [Laughs] God works in mysterious ways. I think that God put that snake there for a reason, just to get me home. And I hate saying that because I wanted that game so bad, but I also got to see the birth of Jax, and that’s worth a million dollars. And I was there for my wife. So it’s a blessing in disguise. I’m [otherwise] never going to get that experience back of seeing my kid be born. Even though, like I said, I have unfinished business out there.

We talked out in Fiji before the game, and you had to make this horrible decision between going to play Survivor before your dad lost his vision or being home for the birth of your child. Instead, you got to go play Survivor, your dad presumably got to see it, and you were able to be there for the birth. I mean, you kind of hit the trifecta as far as that goes.

I hit the trifecta, man, and just speaking on my father — we were able to watch episode 2 together up in Edmonton at one of my watch parties. And we watched the whole episode together, and he had tears in his eyes, and he was so proud of me. Like you said, it’s a trifecta. I didn’t come home with a million dollars, but hopefully down the road I’ll get another shot at it.

Did you ever experience any symptoms from the bite other than that terrifying psychological impact?

Not really. My foot was pretty sore for a few days after that. But there hasn’t been any long-standing effects that have come from it. So I’m super lucky in that aspect. But let me say something about Jeff real quick. When you’re a kid and crash your bike and you scrape your knee up and you’re crying and you are looking for a familiar face, mom and dad will come and pick you up and that makes everything better.

When Jeff came in and held my hand and told me everything was going to be okay, the comfort that Jeff gave me in that moment was incredible. He doesn’t even know that, but because he’s just a familiar face and someone I’ve watched on TV since I was a kid — that moment right there… I wish they would’ve put that in the edit when he grabbed my hand and I looked at him. It was just comfort. Jeff doesn’t know what that meant to me. And, I wish to thank him for that.

What was the experience like of watching this traumatic incident play back on TV last night?

I’ve been nervous for that episode since I left the island. Because there’s a lot of stuff I don’t remember. There’s a lot of different things that happened that I’m like, “Holy s—! I don’t remember doing that!”

I was in San Francisco at a Brice and Wendell [viewing party] and I had Mr. Joe Hunter beside me, and having Anika and Kevin there supporting me was just amazing, man. Joe had his arm around me and Kevin was hugging me and it was really tough to watch. Dude, I’m not going to lie to you. I’m not going to say I was sitting there smiling. I was crying for most of the episode last night because it just, it brings back those memories of like, you’re thinking you’re going to die.

The Survivor family has been so good to me and my wife. Everyone’s reaching out to her as well. And the support is amazing, man. I wouldn’t have watched it anywhere else but with those guys. Obviously, my wife would’ve loved to be there, but my baby doesn’t have a passport yet, so she kind of had to stay home. But we’re going to watch it together when I get home this afternoon.

I imagine that was really difficult for her to watch it as well.

It was very traumatic. She actually put up a little video of her watching it, and she was…[getting choked up] Sorry, I’m getting emotional, man.

It’s okay.

Yeah, she was bawling her eyes out. Because when I gave her the phone call that I was bitten by a snake, it was almost like saying goodbye to her, right? So it was… [holding back tears]. Sorry, man.

No, it’s quite alright. Take your time.

She… she… she’s doing good. She’s strong. She’s okay.

Let’s shift into some game questions. Who was your true No. 1 out there: Alex or Sophi? And you can’t say both.

So what they didn’t show you on the show is that me and Sophi decided to be a ride or dies on day one. So it was me and her, and that’s why I made the bromance so known. I wanted to take the heat off me and Soph, because me and so were close, but I wanted it to look like it was me and Alex.

So I think Sophi was my overall number one, but at the end of the day, I told both of them, “I’m going to take both of you to the top three and then if either of you beats me, I’m going to be the first one to hug you.” So that was kind of my whole game plan. But if you wanted an answer between Sophi and Alex, Alex might kill me for this, but I’m going to go Sophi.

Kele is now zero for five in competitions. Why was your tribe so terrible at challenges?

Dude, listen, it’s the puzzles, man. I never put my hand up for a puzzle because number one, I’m not good at them. And I’ve made that very well known with my tribe. But guess what? None of us were good at them. So I told them that I’m going to do my ground work doing the running, the swimming, even that second challenge where we had to climb the wall. I ripped that ladder out of 400 pounds of sand! I was ready to go! We had a five-to-seven-minute lead on top of that wall, and we still lost. So, I don’t know, man, I think it all boils down to puzzles. We had a great tribe. We just couldn’t figure out a damn puzzle.

We knew it was a water challenge coming up, so I did tell my tribe that morning before the snake bite, “Guys, I’m doing the puzzle this time, because you’ve all tried it and you all suck. So let me at least try to suck with you and maybe I can get it done.” So that was the plan for the next challenge, but obviously I didn’t make it there.

Anything else that didn’t make it into one of the episodes that you wish had made it to TV and we had a chance to see?

Well, let’s talk about the Shoe Bandit for a second here. I actually did hide my own shoe at one point just to kind of take the heat off, but that didn’t make the edit. And I did hide Sophi’s shoe. And I hid Alex’s shoe as well. So I hid a lot of shoes. They only put a couple on the edit, though.

Like I said, I was just doing that here for entertainment, but there was strategy behind it, too. It was like: I want to see what’s going to happen when these guys start pointing fingers at each other. So there was a strategy behind all my stuff.

Were you putting all the shoes in the same place? Or were you hiding them in different spots?

No, it wasn’t malicious at all. It was all 10, 15 feet away, but, it was in the open. So I wanted people to start thinking there was like an animal on the island, like a feral goat or something, just picking up belongings and moving them a little bit. But it wasn’t malicious. It was purely for my entertainment. And nobody actually knew about it until the premiere! So when we saw that on the premiere, I was with the whole cast and I got some pretty dirty looks from some of the players.

You mentioned unfinished business a few times. Are you saying to me that if they asked you to go do this again that you would go play Survivor again?

I’m telling you right now, if my phone rang and it was someone from casting and they said, “Jake, do you want go back on Survivor?” I’d be saying yes before they even finished the sentence. I’m ready to go back. I want it, I need it, and I really hope they gimme another chance.

So just to be clear, no hesitation on your part then going near the water in Fiji?

No, no. It was a freak accident. If I go back to Fiji, and I’m on that island again, and I look at the water, am I going to think about it? Absolutely. But the first thing I’m going to do is I’m going to drive in that water and get over that fear straight away and play the game and bring home a million bucks, because next time I’m coming to play.

Want to be kept up with all things Survivor? Dig deep and sign up for Entertainment Weekly’s free Survivor Weekly newsletter to have all the latest news, interviews, and commentary sent right to your inbox.