Survivor 46’s Charlie Davis has proven time and time again he’s the biggest Taylor Swift fan in Fiji.
“I got my Taylor Swift socks, my Taylor Swift Eras Tour merch,” Charlie proudly declared in his first confessional during the February premiere episode. “I ride the Swiftie bus on the way to law school.”
Before the game even began, Charlie shared in preseason press that his biggest superpower in life was his “ability to name” any song by Swift just by hearing a few notes.
“[I can] name Taylor Swift songs within the first few seconds of them playing,” he said to Parade in February. “As long as it’s Taylor Swift. I mean, I used up a lot of memory on her.”
Charlie also gushed that if he could invite anyone in the world as his loved one for the iconic reward challenge he would choose Swift “13 out of 13 times.”
“I would simply die. I mean, that would be the downside is [if] that would happen, and I would have to exit the game. I’d probably have a heart attack. I mean, what an episode, right?” he said to the outlet. “Taylor Swift shows up to Survivor. I have a heart attack on the spot. [The show’s onsite medical professional] Dr. Will is explaining, ‘Well, what happened here is Charlie’s seen this celebrity that he’s very obsessed with. And he’s died on the spot.’”
As season 46 progresses, Charlie has fearlessly continued to wave his Swiftie flag high. Keep scrolling to see all the times he’s referenced Swift while on the island:
Proudly Proclaiming He’s a Swiftie
Charlie let everyone know that he was a Swiftie by sharing he owned Swift-themed socks and merch from the Eras Tour.
Taylor Swift vs. Metallica
In the second episode of Survivor 46, Charlie challenged his fellow tribemate and Metallica fan Ben Katzman to see who could name more song titles from their favorite artists.
“I’ve been getting to know Ben very well, he’s like a music savant,” Charlie explained in a confessional. “So I was like, I’m going to put my Taylor Swift knowledge head-to-head against Ben’s Metallica knowledge.”
The pair went back and forth for a while and named more than 100 songs each. Ben struggled to name songs from albums he deemed as “bad” to which Charlie quipped, “I don’t believe in any bad Taylor Swift albums.” After Ben decided to tap out after 106 songs, Charlie claimed his victory.
“Well Ben, this has been The Great War, which is another Taylor Swift song,” he said after naming 108 songs from Swift’s catalog.
Yelling Out Her Name After Jumping Off Tall Somethings
During episode 4, Charlie screamed Swift’s name while jumping into the water off a giant block during a challenge. After the episode aired, Charlie shared his inspiration for his shout-out.
“B4 the challenge while getting the rules Jeff said to have fun with the jump. I went to the Eras Tour a couple days b4 Survivor — so just said something corny and fun,” he wrote via X in March. “My inspo was the scene in 40 y/o virgin when Steve Carell yelled Kelly Clarkson. Didn’t expect it to make the edit 😂.”
Talking Taylor With Jeff
During the challenge in episode 8, Jeff Probst said the phrase “long live” which caught Charlie’s attention.
“Jeff, are you dropping Taylor Swift songs for me now?” Charlie asked while he was hanging from a pole. “‘Long Live,’ ‘Speak Now’? Is that your favorite?”
Jeff jokingly replied it was “one of them.”
As Charlie continued the challenge, his tribemates encouraged him to stay in by telling him to “shake it off.” (Charlie ultimately came in second place.)
“Aw! You set me up!” Charlie gushed. “My T Swift!”
The Taylor Swift’s Honest Truth
Charlie managed to squeeze two Swift references into the lead-up to Tribal Council in episode 11. They came on the heels of a conversation he had with Venus Vafa in which she implied she might have an advantage (it turned out she had an idol, but decided not to play it and was subsequently voted out). He then went to Ben to discuss the vote, which would come down to Venus or Q Burdette, who had long been the tribe’s consensus target.
“My head’s going in 22 different directions,” Charlie said in a confessional, referencing the Swift song “22” from Red. “It’s being pulled every which way. And I just have to hope that I can figure out what’s best for my game. But right now, it’s a big old storm cloud.”
The show then cut to a conversation between Charlie and Kenzie Petty.
“Here’s the Taylor Swift’s honest truth,” he said. “Ben and I want Q out of the game, but if we make that move right now, Ben thinks that’s too risky. And Venus was like, ‘Somebody has an advantage and they’re going to play it.’ Venus is dangerous.”
Feeling Day 22
For Day 22 of the 26-day season, Charlie wrote a large “22” on his left hand in red ink, a nod to Swift’s 2013 single. That was a big day for Charlie on the island, as he spent the afternoon reading a letter from his girlfriend, Judy, as part of a reward challenge he won earlier in the day. It probably left him feeling happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time.
No Taylor Swift Quotes Allowed
During the final tribal council, jury member Tiffany Nicole Ervin, requested that Charlie refrained from referencing Swift in his final remarks. While many viewers thought it was a dig at Charlie, the runner-up exclusively told Us Weekly that he thought it was “funny.”
“Tiff and I had a much closer relationship out there than people show, and I only laughed at it,” he said. “And I would also say if I wanted to make a deep cut Taylor Swift reference as if the jury could have known [but] I wasn’t going to risk it.”
Despite making it to the finale, Charlie ultimately lost to Kenzie in a 5-3 vote. While looking back on how it all turned out, Charlie shared that while he doesn’t think he would have risked annoying the jury with his Swiftie status “it would’ve been fun” to toss one Swift lyric that would have gone over their heads.
In His Tortured Survivor Era
While chatting with Us after the game, Charlie revealed that he’s currently in his The Tortured Poets Department era, which is Swift’s latest album.
“I feel like ‘I Can Do It With a Broken Heart’ was written for me,” he confessed. “For having to go through the after-show with a pretty shocking blindside in terms of Maria [Shrime Gonzalez] voting for Kenzie. So that’s been on repeat for sure.”
