Jeff Probst leads tributes to first ever cast-off

Jeff Probst has paid tribute to Sonja Christopher, who has died at 87.

Christopher made history as the first person voted off Survivor.

“Sonja was one of the kindest people to ever play Survivor,” Survivor host Probst shared in a statement on the show’s official Instagram page.

“Every interaction I had with her over the years was lovely.

“She would always greet you with a smile on her face and joy in her heart. I’m honoured that our paths got to cross,” he added.

Born in January 1937, in Olympia, Washington, Christopher was a 63-year-old music therapist and breast cancer survivor when she competed on the first season, Survivor: Borneo.

The show, then titled simply Survivor, premiered on 31 May 2000.

She once said she was inspired to audition after enduring a three-day outdoor training program for breast cancer survivors.

Christopher struggled with the first challenge, with Probst snuffing out her torch on day three.

She is known for playing the ukulele and singing Bye Bye Blues to Richard Hatch, who went on to win the season.

At the time, she said that being the first castoff was “a little humiliating”.

Eventually, she was able to make light of being the first to get the axe.

“If somebody recognises me and asks, ‘Weren’t you on ‘Survivor’?’, I’ll say, ‘Yes, I have the dubious distinction of being the first person ever voted off,” she recalled to Entertainment Weekly in 2020 for the 20th anniversary of her season.

“Now, how many people can say that? I think it’s pretty funny.”

A cause of death has not been disclosed.