DEVASTATING NEWS: Another Survivor Star Passes Away as Cause of Death Is Revealed

Survivor 49‘s first episode closed with a dedication to Vince Costello, a Location Manager with the veteran CBS reality series. And its penultimate episode closed with yet another shoutout, this time to former crew member Sean Foley. “In memory of Sean Foley, our friend and colleague,” it read. The heartfelt message immediately got fans wondering, who is Sean Foley? And what role did he play on Survivor over its 25-year history?

Here’s everything you need to know about former Survivor crew member Sean Foley.

Sean Foley was a former crew member on Survivor and many other TV shows. According to his IMDB bio, “Sean Foley’s 25-year career in entertainment began while he was still an aspiring student at UCLA. He has worked as a visual effects artist, sound mixer, camera operator, editor, and producer, eventually becoming an Executive Producer and Showrunner on programs for CBS, the CW, Animal Planet, A&E, Discovery, YouTube Originals and Amazon. In [the] past decade, Sean has led a variety of acclaimed documentary series including Whale Wars, Naked and Afraid XL, Celebrity Undercover Boss and The Age of A.I. His work has taken him all across the US, and to 27 different countries. Sean has been nominated for seven Emmys in three different categories.”

What role did Sean Foley play on Survivor?

Sean Foley was with Survivor from the very beginning, working as an editor with the show from the premiere of its first groundbreaking season. He continued editing through the first eight seasons of the show, then segued into working specifically on the main title design starting in 2004. It was his job to craft the iconic opening sequence that fans eagerly watched every week as a reminder of the players in the mix, usually in epic, slow-motion fashion. From Seasons 22 to 31, Foley also served as Director of Photography on the show. He wound up leaving Survivor after Cambodia in 2015.

What role did Sean Foley play on Naked and Afraid?

Sean Foley came into the Naked and Afraid universe as Executive Producer and Showrunner of Naked and Afraid XL. That then expanded into a larger role in the franchise, as he worked on Naked and Afraid proper, as well as spinoffs Last One Standing and Apocalypse through 2025.

XL contestant Kyle Hennington spoke about Foley’s impact on the franchise in a Facebook post about his death, writing, “The Naked and Afraid community has lost a great man. Sean Foley was one of the pioneers from the start of the show and helped engineer the XL spinoffs into the phenomenon they became. He touched so many lives and was the kindest human. Although I never had the privilege of formally meeting Sean in person, I spoke with him several times since my challenge. He was always so polite and cheerful and listened to what I had to say. He will be greatly missed. Rest easy my friend.”

How did Sean Foley die?

Story’s Facebook post indicates that Sean Foley died after a battle with brain cancer. Mandy Horvath, who appeared on Season 18 of Naked and Afraid and made history as the show’s first amputee contestant, recounted how the two comisserated on his struggles during his final months in a Facebook post. “After the challenge, the cancer took over fast,” she writes. “I started texting him every Monday. I do not think he realized that was my rhythm but it was. I just needed him to know someone cared. We vented about our situations and our bodies and everything life was hitting us with. He went through two craniotomies. He lost his ability to drive. He lost the work he loved from the franchise he helped build. He called me once and cried for hours because he felt like a burden to his family, something I understood all too well.”

Was Sean Foley nominated for any Emmys?

Yes! Sean Foley received six Emmy nominations from 2001 to 2005 for “Outstanding Picture Editing For Non-Fiction Programming.” Many of those were for Survivor, though he also got a nod for his work on another Mark Burnett reality series: The Contender.

How have the Survivor and Naked and Afraid communities responded to Sean Foley’s death?

As the dedication message to Sean Foley has only just been posted at the end of this week’s Survivor episode, we have to wait and see how the alumni and fan community will respond. However, since the news came out on Nov. 30, people from across Naked and Afraid have posted their tributes to him.

“Successful shows weren’t Sean’s legacy,” said Story in one of the many posts across he fandom about him. “It’s how he led and inspired everyone around him. One of our coworkers nailed it: ‘He was the perfect balance of taking the assignment of making great television seriously, without taking himself seriously at all.’

“That’s so true. He would sometimes drive us crazy delaying Zoom meetings by telling dad jokes or old production war stories. And he never missed a chance to insert one of the stock Naked and Afraid narration bites—’If left untreated….’—into any conversation. But that geeky humor was just part of how he fostered such a creative, familial, friendly environment where everyone worked their tails off to match his storytelling skills. When Sean believed in you, it turbo-charged you to be better at your work.”