‘Survivor’ Winner Ethan Zohn Reveals He Tried to Bring Cannabis Onto the Show

Survivor champ Ethan Zohn says he once asked CBS to let him bring medical marijuana onto the island, and he came surprisingly close to a yes.

Zohn, who won Survivor: Africa in 2001, spoke to Entertainment Weekly about his long road through illness and how cannabis helped him along the way.

The retired soccer player, 52, battled CD20+ Hodgkin’s lymphoma twice, facing two stem cell transplants and challenging recoveries that he said were made more manageable with the help of medicinal cannabis.

As a registered medical cannabis patient, the reality TV star asked producers if he could use it during the Winners at War season. He admitted that the doctor seemed surprised by the request and responded, “Well, no one has ever asked us that before.”

The plan was ultimately shelved because cannabis is not legal in Fiji, where the show was being shot. “I was THIS CLOSE,” he told EW.

Zohn explained that cannabis gave him back a sense of control during treatment, helping him eat, rest and stay mentally present. He said that while it could not erase his nausea, pain, or fear of relapse, it made daily life manageable.

Now he is channeling those passions into a new web series, Kicking Back, airing on High Times‘ YouTube channel.

Tied to the 2026 World Cup, the eight-episode show follows Zohn city to city as he explores what he calls the “intersection of soccer, cannabis, and community.”

The motivational speaker also weighed in on the tournament’s marijuana ban, calling it “a tricky situation” given that this year’s host countries have largely legalized the drug.