Meet the 'Survivor 43' Cast! Owen Knight is Bringing His "Cutthroat" Skills from the Admissions Office

The 30-year-old college admissions director from New Orleans hopes that his adaptability in working with students and parents will help him out on the island.

Director of admissions Owen Knight is hoping to be accepted into the Survivor winners' circle by the end of this season. The 30-year-old fell back in love with the show as an adult and feels his interpersonal skills can get many alliance applications accepted. He feels he's perceived as a cross between a long-haired "bro" and a brainy nerd, and hopes that can make him a big unknown on the island.

Read on for my interview with Owen, and make sure to check in with Parade.com every day for interviews with this season's contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 43 premieres on September 21 with a special two-hour premiere on CBS.

Related: Meet the Full Cast of Survivor 43

Why are you here on Survivor?
I'm a huge fan of this game. I've been dreaming about being on Survivor since I was a little kid. And I got to fall in love with it again as an adult and realize how complex, strategic, and fun it can be. So I want to prove to myself that I can do it.

What's your history with watching Survivor?
So like most everyone, I watched it when it was a worldwide phenomenon back in the day. I remember watching season two with my family in particular. I really loved Colby, watching him win all those challenges. I used to daydream about myself, you know, ripping through the water, seeing my name in the opening credits and all of that. And I stopped watching, I think, after Fiji, middle school, high school. I just got busy with sports.

But I caught the premiere of Millennials vs. Gen X on a plane. And I was like, "Oh my god, Survivor's still on. It's so good." And like I said, I have this new appreciation for it getting to fall in love with it again as an adult and really appreciating how complex of a game it is. So then I went back and watched everything. I watch the international versions. I'm an RHAP patron, a full-on "super duper fan." I love it so much.

Give me one Survivor winner and one non-winner you identify with the most.
For a non-winner I identify a lot with, I'd have to say Gabby from David vs. Goliath. I was actually almost on that season, so watching it was a little bit bittersweet. But she reminded me of myself in a lot of ways: Her sense of humor, her ability to connect with almost everyone, her drive, and not giving up. I feel like we would be friends. As for a winner, I'd say probably Adam Klein. I thought he did a great job of managing his threat level, being involved in a lot of what was going on, but not being target number one. I thought he was authentic. I thought he was genuine and seemed to be having a great time out there.

What's your favorite moment in Survivor history?
I'm sure everyone's going to talk about Parv's double idol or the Davids pulling off the blindside on the mayor of Slamtown. But I enjoy the character moments almost equally as much as the strategic moments. So anything with Penner, like him getting into it with Jeff or screaming back, "Denise" when he was voting for Denise. I love him. Stacy Powell doing the "Benjamin, not Coach" speech. Just so many random funny moments over the years just really stick in my brain. And I think about them all the time.

What's one life experience you feel has prepared you most for the game?
I think my job has prepared me the most out of anything for Survivor. Working in a selective admissions office is very cutthroat. 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. It's also their school's college counselors. And they're coming from all over the country, all different backgrounds. I am also in this constant game of shifting power positions. Sometimes I'm appealing to them, and I'm like, "Please, please come to our school." And other times, they're saying, "Please, please let me into your school." So the power dynamics shift quite a bit. It's never the same on any given day. So I think it's prepared me a lot for this game.

What excites you the most about the new era of Survivor?
The new era of Survivor is really exciting to me because as a superfan, someone who's like studied the game, it's weirdly exciting knowing that I have no freaking idea of what's about to happen to me. (Laughs.) I'm sure Chef Jeff has cooked up some crazy, crazy twists. I'm excited to see what happens, and, in a way, it's weirdly calming knowing it's about to hit the fan, and I have no idea.

What do you think people will perceive you as?
I think 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. I think the truth might be somewhere in the middle. (Laughs.) I really want to have fun out here. But I am strategic. I am a smart guy. But hopefully, people are intrigued and want to get to know me more.

What type of player are you looking for in an alliance?
I think I could work with anyone. I've been telling myself I do want a meat shield in a way, which is not going to be a problem since there are some pretty fit people here, and I'm certainly not the most athletic person here. I think, to me, what might be important is a "brain shield" as well, like Sophie [Clarke] talks about with Yul [Kwon], her "nerd shield" or whatever. Because for me, again, perception is reality. Wearing glasses and being who I am, I think people might perceive me to be maybe more scheming and sneaky and smarter than I actually am. So I want to keep someone smart in front of me and work with them and cook up some fun plans out here.

How eager will you be to look for advantages in the game?
I do want to find advantages in the game because it'll be better to know where they are. And, of course, if it's in my own pocket, I'll know. But something that I've noticed over the years watching Survivor is that Asian people often get labeled as sneaky. So I'm not going to be the first one to leave camp and go run off and look for the idol. I do not want that label put on me.

What is the one thing you told yourself you wouldn't do in this game?
I don't know if there's anything I haven't told myself I wouldn't do. (Laughs.) I certainly want to like play in a fair and honest and open way and be kind overall. But nothing's off the table. First and foremost, I want to have fun, and I want to win. And in order for that to happen, other people are going to have a bad time and lose. Am I going to be a total jerk about it? I don't think so. But at the same time, I need to be willing to do whatever it takes.

Next, check out our interview with Survivor 43 contestant Morriah Young.