Stephanie Berger is ready to join the castaways during Survivor season 48 and take the game by storm. The coronavirus pandemic brought her back as a viewer to the long-lasting reality game show, after tuning into the inaugural season alongside her parents when she was a teen.

“Y’ALL I AM ON SURVIVOR SEASON 48!!! Beyond excited to finally be able to scream this news from Instagram’s highest rooftops (and so sorry to all my friends who genuinely believed I was ‘on a silent retreat in Bal’ last summer — me? quiet?? lolol),” she captioned her January 2025 Instagram announcement about going from a fan to an official contestant. “I love Survivor so so much, and I am so humbled and grateful that I got to play the best game in the entire world.”

In Touch has all the details about Stephanie so viewers can meet the contestant and get to know her before the February 26, 2025, premiere of Survivor season 48.

Where Does ‘Survivor’ Season 48 Star Stephanie Berger Live?

Stephanie was born and raised in New York City and although she temporarily moved away from the Big Apple as a young adult, she replanted her roots in Brooklyn, New York.

What Is ‘Survivor’ Season 48 Star Stephanie Berger’s Job?

Stephanie is a technical product manager at an e-commerce company. However, her career didn’t begin in the corporate world.

“I was a public school teacher. I taught as part of the Teach For America program. I moved to New Orleans in 2008,” Stephanie told Parade in an interview published in February 2025 ahead of her Survivor debut. “Most people teach for two years; I stuck around and taught for eight years. It was really cool.”

Stephanie found her job to be a “fantastic challenge,” but the salary couldn’t comfortably support her, so she decided to attend business school.

“I went to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in 2016, and then was recruited to the company I worked for after that. So, I’ve worked my way up the corporate ladder a little bit,” she continued to the outlet. “Been lucky enough to be promoted, had new opportunities. But it certainly was not what I started doing out of college.”

Stephanie Berger Reveals ‘Survivor’ Season 48 Game Plan

Although being the leader is in her nature, Stephanie is going to tackle the challenge of playing passenger princess on Survivor. In fact, Stephanie told Parade that she is “gonna literally have to sit on my hands and hold back and allow other people to be in charge, which transparently sounds really nice.”

“I think part of my journey being here will be about letting go of control and being comfortable with being really vulnerable in a massive setting,” she continued to the outlet.

Stephanie Berger’s Cat Died Before ‘Survivor’ Season 48 Aired

Stephanie had to say goodbye to Ruby, her cat and family member of 17 years after adopting the pet at 3 years old.

“We had 17 years, five cities, 14 apartments (she somehow *always* matched the decor); a half dozen roommates and more catsitters. She’s outlasted every partner, my entire teaching career,” Stephanie captioned her January 2025 Instagram tribute to Ruby.

She later added, “I don’t really know how to be an adult without her. To be fair, I’ve never had to. Seeing death up close calls up the biggest questions life has to offer, the ones about hope and love, entropy, and the strange passing of time. But mostly, I just really miss my friend.”