About this episode

Elaine Stott shares her journey from a rebellious childhood in Kentucky to becoming a beloved contestant on CBS's Survivor.

Elaine Stott charmed audiences back in 2019 on the 39th season of CBS's Survivor. She was a shining light on her season and proved that a lesbian could, quite easily, win over the hearts of America, as well as her fellow castaways. This is Elaine's story - one of tomboyishness, and skipping school, and fierce independence. We discuss growing up in small-town Kentucky (where she broke records for the most write-ups in school history), meeting her now-wife working at the factory, and finally achieving her dream of playing Survivor. This episode is for Survivor fans and newbies alike. -Follow Elaine on Instagram and TikTok Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠Cruising's Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠ for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -Preorder our book, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support Cruising here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're…

People in this episode

Hosts: Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, Jennifer McGinity

Guest: Elaine Stott

Topics covered

• Survivor
• queer identity
• small-town life
• independence
• personal journey

Keywords

• Elaine Stott
• Survivor
• queer history
• Kentucky
• personal story
• tomboy
• independence
• rebel

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CBS

Places: Kentucky

More episodes of Cruising | Queer History and Culture

• Franco Stevens on the history of Curve Magazine, lesbian visibility, and extremely creative fundraising · April 14, 2026 · 58 min
• Angeli Luz on creating the Lesbian Masterdoc and the backlash · March 31, 2026 · 38 min
• Bernie Stark on women's softball, Title IX, and trans inclusion in sports · March 17, 2026 · 53 min
• Activists Heather Booth and Martha Scott on their historic underground abortion network · March 3, 2026 · 1h 4m
• Margaret Cho on her parents’ gay bookstore, BDSM during HIV/AIDS, and why Ellen hates her · February 17, 2026 · 49 min
• Diane on coming out at 77, going viral, and life as a nun · February 3, 2026 · 60 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Cruising | Queer History and Culture podcast page.