Nick Wilson rose to fame as the winner of Survivor: David vs. Goliath in 2018, but now he’s making headlines for a completely different reason. The 33-year-old, who is a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, came under fire for filing a state bill that would legalize sex between first cousins. After the intense backlash online, Nick released a statement and confirmed he was refiling the bill to include first cousins among the list of relationships that qualify as incest in Kentucky.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about Nick.
Nick was on Survivor twice.
Nick first competed on the 37th season of Survivor. He made it to the final tribal council and received more jury votes than Mike White and Angelina Keeley to become the winner of Survivor: David Vs. Goliath. Three seasons later, Nick competed on Survivor: Winners at War and was voted off the episode before the finale. He came in seventh place,
He’s a politician in Kentucky.
In 2022, Nick won an election to become the Republican state representative of Kentucky’s 82nd district. As a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Nick tried passing a bill that would’ve legalized sex between first cousins. He ultimately withdrew the bill and addressed the controversy on Facebook.
“During the drafting process, there was an inadvertent change, which struck ‘first cousins’ from the list of relationships included under the incest statute, and I failed to add it back in,” Nick explained in his statement. “During today’s session, I will withdraw HB 269 and refile a bill with the ‘first cousin’ language intact.”
“This is a bill to combat a problem of familial and cyclical abuse that transcends generations of Kentuckians. I understand that I made a mistake, but I sincerely hope my mistake doesn’t hurt the chances of the corrected version of the bill,” the reality star added.
After confirming the bill was refiled and changed, Nick wrote on Facebook, “House Bill 289 adds ‘sexual contact’ to incest, applies a penalty to such conduct, and adds incest to the violent offender statute. This bill makes NO other changes to current law.”
He was a public defender.
After law school, Nick got a job as a public defender in Williamsburg, Kentucky, which he considers his personal claim to fame. “I am so proud of my self for being a public defender to help people instead of chasing money,” he told CBS. “Especially because money and the thought of being rich motivated me in school.” Nick was a public defended until being elected into the Kentucky House of Reps.
He was mostly raised by his grandmother.
Going into Survivor, Nick listed his grandma as his biggest inspiration. He explained in his CBS profile that he and his four siblings lived with their dad after his parents got divorced, and it was his “Mamaw Joan” who raised them. “She taught me life-changing lessons like the value of hard work and the importance of helping others,” he revealed. “She also taught me how to enjoy a beer and some bluegrass music.”
He was the first member of his family to graduate college.
When Nick graduated from the University of Kentucky he became the first member of his family to ever obtain a Bachelor’s degree. He graduated from Whitley High School, then went onto the University of Kentucky, and took his education a step further by attending the University of Alabama School of Law.