Jess Chong, Canadian ‘Survivor,’ on her casting and what it’s actually like on the show

For Survivor Season 46 contestant Jess Chong, there was one glaring element of competition that she did not expect to be missing: living and surviving on a beach in Fiji didn’t come with the trademark dramatic score she’d become accustomed to as a fan of the show.

“The thing that was the most striking about (being there) is that you don’t hear the music when you’re out there!” she told Global News in a recent interview.

“It feels like you’re not on Survivor, it feels like you’re in a nature documentary…. When you’re walking into Tribal Council, you’re not hearing ancient voices or anything like that,” she said, laughing at how it felt less cinematic to be there, in person, than watching from home.

Chong, who hails from Toronto but now works in California as a software engineer, is one of two Canadians competing for US$1 million and title of Sole Survivor.

After years of watching the show and waffling on whether to accept an invitation to be part of the long-running reality survival series, she decided to bite the bullet and soon found herself travelling to Fiji.

Global News sat down with Chong to discuss her time on Survivor — watch in the video, top.

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The 18 castaways will begin their journey for the title of Sole Survivor on a 90-minute episode airing Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, on Global TV.