New Season Of 'Survivor' Features Walt Whitman High School Graduate

BETHESDA, MD — When the 43rd season of “Survivor” premieres on CBS on Sept. 21 with a special two-hour episode, it will feature a cast member who grew up in Bethesda and graduated from Walt Whitman High School.

Owen Knight, who now lives in New Orleans, was born in Korea and adopted when he was four months old. While growing up in Bethesda, Knight swam for the Montgomery County Swim League and worked at Bethesda Row’s Georgetown Cupcake, The MoCo Show reported Wednesday.

“I am very privileged to have grown up in Montgomery County! My parents moved away when I was in college, but I still get to visit multiple times a year for work. I still go out of my way to eat at Ledo’s and Bethesda Bagels, and ironically, one of my family’s favorites growing up was Louisiana Express,” Knight told The MoCo Show’s Patrick Herron.

Knight, 30, studied business administration at Tulane University and now works at his alma mater as the director of admission engagement.

Getting hired as a college admissions director at such a young age is rare, Knight told Parade magazine when asked about the proudest moment in his life.

“To be named director at my alma mater reminds me that the grind has been worth it, and that people have noticed how dedicated and genuinely invested I am,” he said.

In the interview with Parade, Knight said he had been dreaming about being on “Survivor” since he was a child.

“I think my job has prepared me the most out of anything for 'Survivor.' Working in a selective admissions office is very cutthroat,” he told Parade. “But I also have to bring a lot of humanity into it, focusing on relationships. And I have to work with a wide, wide range of people. It's not just the students; it's also their parents.”

When asked how viewers might perceive him, Knight said: “People might not know how to perceive me. I've got the long hair right now, so I think I'm giving off Woo in certain ways. But I'm also wearing glasses, and I'm Asian. So people might assume that I'm really smart.”

Knight said the truth might be somewhere in the middle. “I really want to have fun out here. But I am strategic. I am a smart guy,” he told Parade.

The 43rd season of “Survivor” includes Knight and 17 other cast members and was filmed in Fiji.