9/21 - Survivor 43 Premiere Show Discussion

Before going on Survivor, Shan was a pastor at the Fellowship Church in Los Angeles. Despite her religious background, however, Shan isn’t afraid to make big moves. Apparently, her senior pastor “blessed” Shan with some pre-forgiveness. She explained, “My senior pastor ‘released’ me. He told me, ‘Just go play the game and we will deal with all of that when you get back.’”

Survivor: Shan Says God Told Her to Quit Pastorship For Patreon

BY

ERIC ELDREDGE

PUBLISHED DEC 26, 2021


Shantel Smith, from Survivor season 41 is quitting being a pastor and joining Patreon instead — all at God's behest.

Shantel Smith from Survivor 41 is quitting her job in pastoral ministry in order to pursue a career as an entrepreneur and religious content creator, in part because that is what God has called her to do, according to a recent post. She announced this move on her Patreon page. Fans of hers will likely not be blindsided by this decision: Shan has shown an affinity for growing her social media viewership with comedic posts throughout the recent Survivor season. This new career direction combines ministry with digital content creation.

Shan became the star of Survivor 41 when her original tribe, Ua, went to almost all of the pre-merge tribal councils. She controlled each vote by winning over all five of her tribemates before sending them to Ponderosa one by one. Many viewed Shan as their number one ally, but only Ricard Foyé was ultimately proven correct when Shan sided with him over Genie Chen in the starting tribe's final three-person vote. Later, Ricard helped orchestrate Shan's stunning 8th-place boot.

When Shan announced her decision on her Patreon page, she further developed the connection between her faith and entertainment by describing her content as "Christian apologetics via comedic content creation, online discipleship, and Kingdom-minded Christ centered messages." While much of her content is accessible only to patrons, her recent posts feature several zoom Bible studies from both before and during the airing of Survivor 41. Just like on her Instagram and Twitter pages, Shan is focusing on creating videos on Patreon. It appears as though she is not starting a new venture, but rather shifting toward "independent ministry" full-time.

Patreon allows creators to offer tiered membership levels, which Shan has done. Her tiers range from "Here to Support," a $4.99 per month tier that she describes as "perfect for all of you college students or recent graduates who are still looking for a job!" to "Bible Boss," a $25 per month tier that includes free workshops and biweekly Bible studies. Another tier description promises that "Your reward shall be great in heaven!" to purchasers. As one last incentive, Shan claims in her Patreon self-description that, "Your fiscal support will go towards basically helping me stay alive."

In another universe, Shan would have easily made the cast of Survivor 35 – on the Hustlers tribe. She is clearly an ambitious, bold self-starter, which is in part why she excelled throughout much of her season. A recent reality TV star asking young, jobless college graduates for money, however, does not come off well. She might want to consider rebranding her tiers.