Everything To Know About Emmy Winner Mike White’s Time On Survivor

Mike White might be best known as a writer, director, and actor, but the Emmy-award winning multi-hyphenate is also a veteran of the long-running reality competition juggernaut Survivor. Mike White has been working in Hollywood for decades. He notably wrote the 2003 film School of Rock and memorably played the character of Ned Schneebly in the movie. Some of his other writing credits include Orange County, The Good Girl, Nacho Libre, Pitch Perfect 3, and The Emoji Movie.

Most recently, Mike White has found great success with the HBO anthology series The White Lotus. Mike created the show, which focuses on wealthy vacationers at an upscale Hawaiian resort and the working class resort staff who must navigate the personalities and demands of the entitled guests. Mike wrote and directed every episode and was rewarded with three Emmys for his work, including an award for writing, one for directing, and the Emmy for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. During one of his acceptance speeches, Mike referenced his time on Survivor: “I just want to say I was on Survivor, and on Survivor the way to stay in the game is you lower your threat level. And it’s like, now I feel like I’ve raised my threat level. And I just want to stay in the game. Awards are great, I love writing, I love doing what I do — don’t come for me. Don’t vote me off the island, please!“

Mike appeared on Survivor in its 37th season, David vs. Goliath. The tribes were initially divided into a “David” tribe and a “Goliath” tribe, the Davids representing societal underdogs and the Goliaths representing those with privileged lifestyles. Mike, as a successful Hollywood filmmaker and actor, was on the Goliath tribe along with other successful figures like news organization CEO Natalie Cole and former WWE superstar John Hennigan. Mike started the game on shaky ground by aligning with some of the tribe’s early targets, but he managed to turn his game around and eventually became a major strategic force on the season. He led many votes during the merge portion of the game and made it all the way to the Final Three. Though he received votes to win from the jury, he ultimately came in second place to winner Nick Wilson in a 7-3 vote.

Mike was a very strong player on David vs. Goliath, but he was also an expectedly entertaining contestant on the season. He was involved in several incredible moments, including “Jacketgate,” which became one of modern Survivor‘s most memorable Tribal Councils when Angelina Keeley begged Natalie for her jacket moments after voting her out. Mike also provided several meme-worthy moments that are still frequently used on social media, the primary instance being when Mike sipped on wine from a reward while helping Angelina search for a Hidden Immunity Idol.

Overall, Mike is one of the rare celebrities who played Survivor and actively maintains a visible relationship with the show. Unlike former celebrity contestants like Jimmy Johnson, Chase Rice, Jeff Kent, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Mike is very open about his time on the show and his reality TV fandom in general. He also appeared on two seasons of The Amazing Race with his father, whom he honored in his Emmy acceptance speech, and he seems genuinely proud to be a member of the Survivor family. Jeff Probst credits Mike for coming up with the ideas for some of the changes implemented in the last two seasons. It’s this enthusiasm for the show that makes him an exceedingly popular figure within the Survivor community.