Across 25 years and over 700 contestants, Survivor has had its fair share of love stories. And another one has recently come to light, as Season 45 contestants Katurah Topps and Sabiyah Broderick have gone public about their relationship. They are the first lesbian couple to come from the Emmy-winning reality series, as well as the first Black queer romance.The two recently sat down for an interview on "The Pride Has Spoken," a podcast on the "Rob Has a Podcast" network that focuses specifically on interviews with alumni of the CBS reality stalwart from the LGBTQ+ community. The two players went public in their sitdown, talking through the story of how they came together.
? SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox ? As the couple put it, their dynamic began before Survivor 45 even started. During the pregame period, contestants live among one another, but are not allowed to speak. Despite that, Katurah and Sabiyah were still picking up good vibes from one another. The only issue: Sabiyah, who was admittedly not wanting to give anyone signals to make assumptions, was giving Katurah nothing in response. It took a wayward trip to the bathroom hours before the game began for them to finally connect.
"It is the morning that the game is starting," Katurah describes. "It's 3:00 a.m. The boats are pulled up. This is the last second. We are in the bathroom, and no one's supposed to be in the bathroom together. I go in the bathroom first, and she follows me in!""I didn't even have to pee," Sabiyah continues. "And I let wait until she goes out to wash her hands, and I immediately go out to wash my hands. And we're sitting there for a second, and I can tell she's trying not to look at me. I'm staring her down.""I'm washing my hands. I look up in the mirror, and I see her eyes. And I go, 'Oh.' And she says, 'Just so you know, I got you.'"
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Unfortunately for both Katurah and Sabiyah, that promise was not able to come to fruition. The latter was put on the ill-fated Lulu tribe, where, despite leading the wayward group for the first week of the game, she was voted out third with an idol in her pocket. Katurah proceeded to head to the Lulu camp the very next day, where she lived for the rest of the premerge. And, while the two were never able to meet on the island, Sabiyah had incidentally left some clothes behind at camp prior to her vote-out. Katurah would proceed to wear her clothese the rest of the season, making sure Sabiyah had her, but more in a wadrobe-like fashion.
Following the season, including Katurah's impressive fourth-place finish, the castways of Season 45 began to connect in the outside world. As the two never ended up interacting in the game, Sabiyah formally introduced herself to Katurah. They hopped on the phone and immediately hit it off, connecting across a variety of shared interests.
"We're both super passionate people," Sabiyah says. "Love our friends, love to party. There's just so many different things that we just have overlapping. And I kept hearing myself say, 'Do you want to be best friends forever?' in a real, genuine way. And that's such a weird thing to say."
As odd as she felt saying it, it was completely reciprocated by Katurah.
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"Going on TV, being in the public eye, the real ones show," she explains. "And the people who are actually not really there for you or envious or jealous or bothered or you're on TV or getting all this attention, they fall to the wayside. And so I was like, 'You seem really genuine. And honestly, I just want to surround myself really genuine people. And if you're a genuine, dope, respectful, cool as hell girl, let's be friends in a real way.'"The two developed their friendship over the months, as they pursued separate relationships which respectively fizzled out. They would proceed to visit each other in New York and North Carolina, spending a week at a time together twice a month. And, as they put it, it was only a matter of time before things turn romantic.
"[Katurah is] beautiful, funny, everything I like, a lawyer, Survivor – I can’t miss that boat," Sabiyah says. "It’s just kind of one of those things where I feel like I’d be an idiot [to not be with her]. And she feels the same about me."
The two officially coupled up on January 20, 2025, with the interview coming out just after their six-month anniversary. While the two still split their time between New York and North Carolina, Katurah also used the podcast to announce her upcoming memoir, and how traveling for the writing process will send her aorund the world, with Sabiyah in tow.
Katurah and Sabiyah officially going public with their relationship has prompted a massive outpour of positivity and support from the Survivor alumni and fan community. And while the two are incredibly grateful to be able to publicize a relationship that has seemingly been years in the making, it's also an opportunity to show how extreme lows can lead to the most incredible highs.
"Even if you just watch a glimpse of our individual stories and our individual lives, just our time on Survivor, you’re going to get a lot of hits," Katurah says. "But that doesn’t mean you’re down forever. We get up, we keep fighting, we shine regardless. Love brings you back."
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