Who Is Jon Lovett? ‘Survivor’ Season 47 Star Worked as Presidential Speechwriter for Barack Obama

From speechwriting to Survivor! Podcaster Jon Lovett was one of the 18 castaways who competed on season 47 of the reality series, which premiered on September 18, 2024. According to a press release ahead of the new season, Jon will “find himself thrust into a world filled with a different kind of cutthroat politics.” Host Jeff Probst has also already gushed about the contestant, leaving fans wanting to know more about him, even after his elimination in episode 1.

Who Is ‘Survivor 47’ Star Jon Lovett?

Jon is a 42-year-old podcast host from Los Angeles, although he was born in Long Island, New York, to a Reform Jewish family with Ukrainian roots. After graduating from Syosset High School, he attended Williams College and received his B.A. in mathematics in 2004. He was the class speaker at his commencement ceremony.

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What Is ‘Survivor 47’ Star Jon Lovett’s Job?

He’s a jack of all trades! After graduating from Williams, Jon worked as a paralegal for a year and did stand-up comedy on the side. He also volunteered for John Kerry‘s presidential campaign and was asked to write a statement for John, which led to a writing internship.

Jon went on to work in Jon Corzine‘s Senate office before he was hired in 2005 to work alongside Sarah Hurwitz as a speechwriter for Hillary Clinton. He continued to write speeches for Hillary throughout her presidential campaign in 2008. Jon began writing speeches for former President Barack Obama and his administration after he won an anonymous contest that same year.

In addition to speechwriting, Jon has dabbled in screenwriting. He cocreated the NBC sitcom 1600 Penn with Josh Gad and Jason Winer in 2011, and the series ran for one season. Jon also worked as a writer and producer on season three of HBO’s The Newsroom.

Jon cofounded the media company Crooked Media in 2017 with Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor after they hosted The Ringer’s “Keepin’ It 1600” podcast together. Jon has since become known for the “Pod Save America” and “Lovett or Leave It” podcasts.

Is Survivor’s Jon Lovett Married?

Jon is not currently married. However, he was previously engaged to investigative journalist and author Ronan Farrow. Their relationship began in 2011, and Ronan publicly announced their engagement in his 2019 book Catch and Kill.

However, Jon revealed during a March 2023 episode of “Lovett or Leave It” that he was single again after his “10 and a half year” relationship came to an end.

The speech writer has kept his romantic life mostly private, but he seemingly hard-launched a romance with Crooked Media Chief of Staff Ari Schwartz via Instagram on September 2, 2024. “State fair (not pictured: lactaid),” Ari captioned a carousel of photos from the fair, including one where Jon kissed him on the cheek.

Jeff Probst Gushed About Jon Lovett Ahead of ‘Survivor 47’

Jeff had nothing but kind things to say about Jon in an interview with Entertainment Weekly ahead of the Survivor season 47 premiere.

“Jon Lovett is one of the greatest storytellers that we will ever have on Survivor,” the host said in the September 17, 2024, interview. “He’s up there with Mike White. This is a guy that wrote for [Barack] Obama. He is a really amazing thinker and fascinating to talk to.”

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Jeff continued, “On a show like Survivor, where you rely on the players to be the narrators, having somebody like Lovett is just this beautiful gift to us. Because no matter what the situation or how you pose a question, he will give you a compelling answer. That was the most exciting part of Lovett.”

The host also teased that Jon’s knowledge of Survivor made him one of the show’s best narrators.

“When you add into it that he’s a massive super fan and has studied this game from different vantage points, including a political point of view, meaning he’s been in the world of politics so long,” Jeff added. “He can look at the politics of Survivor in a fresh way and explain it to the audience in a fresh way.”

He concluded, “I think the biggest question for Jon is going to be: Are there people that know him either from his face or his name? And how will he handle dealing with if somebody understands he is a celebrity in his own right and that he’s obviously a very bright guy? That could be a big obstacle for him to get out from under early on. It could also be part of the toolkit that gets him very deep in the game. That’s going to be on Lovett.”