Santa Barbara residents will see a familiar face on their televisions this fall. 

Kristin Flickinger, 49, the former executive director of Santa Barbara’s Pacific Pride Foundation, is going to see if she can outwit, outlast and outplay 20 other people on the CBS reality television game show “Survivor.”

Being on the show for season 51 fulfills a dream that Flickinger said she has had since she watched the first season in 2000.

“It really felt like it reached into my heart and was like, ‘You, go play the game. You need to do this,’” Flickinger said. “And it took a minute for ‘Survivor’ to agree, but I always knew that I’d be out on that island.”

Flickinger said she’s been applying for the show since the first season. She talked about wanting to be on the show so often that when she went away earlier this year for filming, most people she knew started guessing that she was on the show. 

Any time Flickinger would take a new job, she always warned them that she was applying each year for the show and would have to leave if she got the chance.

“I’ve heard from folks locally, I’ve heard from people from law school, I’ve heard from people from elementary school. People are just really excited to go on the journey,” Flickinger said. “They’ve been on the journey. I have collected people on my journey for 26 years. I haven’t been quiet about it, and they’re excited to be here as we enter the season.”

The Idaho native was the executive director of the Pacific Pride Foundation from 2020 to 2024 and now runs her own local crisis management firm called Flickinger Consulting. 

As a fan, Flickinger said she has spent a lot of time studying the game. She used to record new episodes then watch that episode every single morning for a week while she worked out until the next new episode aired.

Going into her season, the former players she admired and wanted to model her game after were Rachel LaMont, winner of “Survivor 47,” and Tyson Apostol, who has been on the show four times and won the “Blood vs. Water” season.

Flickinger said she admires LaMont’s smart game play and puzzle ability in the show’s challenges. She also wanted to be a little mischievous like Apostol.

“Survivor” is one of television’s longest-running reality television shows and celebrated its 50th season earlier this year. 

The game involves players divided into two or three tribes who compete in competitions each episode for safety. The losing tribe then has to go to tribal council, and members vote someone off their tribe.

Halfway through the season, the groups merge and everyone competes in individual immunity challenges before the tribal council until only three contestants remain. 

At the end of the season, a jury of the eliminated contestants votes for the winner.

To prepare for the season, Flickinger said she did CrossFit training, worked on puzzles, practiced common challenges, and researched plants and bugs she could eat on the island. 

At 49 years old, Flickinger is the oldest contestant on the season. The next oldest players on season 51 are 40, and the youngest players are 24.

As a fan of the show, Flickinger said she knew that older women are often voted off early for either being a liability in challenges or for being too “bossy,” so she went in trying to not be perceived that way.

“My strategy going in was to be prepared, but not appear too prepared or bossy or domineering or any of those words that we use for women, and then to let it go, take a big breath, let it go, understand that season 51 was likely to be chaotic,” Flickinger said.

“Survivor” has been airing since 2000 and gained popularity for the intense game strategy, unforgettable high-stakes moments, and for cast members that often reflect the state of America’s population and society at that time.

The upcoming season, the show’s 51st, marks a turning point and is labeled as the “open era,” meaning every twist from the show’s 26-year history could make a reappearance. 

“It’s exciting, and if you’re from Santa Barbara or Idaho, or you’re a queer person, check it out because you’ve got somebody to root for,” Flickinger said.

Flickinger’s season is set to premiere at 8 p.m. Sept. 23 on CBS and can be streamed on Paramount+.