Meet the 'Survivor 48' Cast! Kevin Leung Brings a Chaotic Mind and a 'Family Tree' Plan

If you could use two words to describe Kevin Leung's brain, it would be "calculated chaos." The finance manager has a nose for numbers, already coming in with a plan to go to Tribal Council in the premerge and wait to make his big moves until specific points in the endgame. But he's also self-admittedly disheveled, ready to throw away any of these plots to make his game as fluid as the profuse amount of water he'll drink to mask his idol hunting. The 34-year-old wants to build a "family tree" on the island, forming familial one-on-one relationships before lopping off the branches and leaves. And, hopefully, his game can be as groomed and well-maintained as his hair care routine.

Read on for my interview with Kevin, and check in with Parade.com daily for interviews with this season's contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 48 premieres on Feb. 26 with a two-hour premiere on CBS.

Related: Meet the Full Cast of Survivor 48

Interview with Kevin from Survivor 48

To start, give me your name, age, and occupation.
I'm Kevin, I'm 33, and I'm currently a finance manager.

Have you always been interested in number-crunching?
I was never really a business finance person when I was growing up. My parents are both engineers, and they really were like, "You're either gonna be a doctor, lawyer or engineer. "And I was like, "Okay, what's none of the above? [Laughs.] What's the least amount of school? "And they said, "Probably an engineer." So I was like, "Okay, what's the easiest engineer?" And they said, "Civil engineer." So I was a civil engineer for a little bit. And then I was like, "I just can't work in AutoCAD and drawings all day." It's not my vibe. I'm much more of a people person; I like talking. So I went to business, and then now I'm in finance, so I just kind of pivoted careers.

So what does that involve for you?
I work for a tech company. So it's forecasting, budgeting, return on investments. We have product launches, and I'm the guy who always crunches the numbers and is like, "Is this good? Can we make money off this?"

I imagine a lot of that is forecasting trends and trying to look ahead. And, not to say you should be trying to predict too much about what this game is going to bring. But I imagine there's a lot of strategic similarities. Like, "If I make this decision now, will it pay dividends on Day 26?"
That's exactly right. I mean, even before the game has started, I've already been calculating, "There's 18 people on the cast. There's probably no way that the three muscle heads that are on the beach are gonna be in the same tribe. So how do we break up the tribe?" So it's about making sure there's a stereotypical muscle meathead shield. Then there's a really smart kind of middle-sized person like me. Then there's the really skinny athletic girl who's killing it at all sports. So when I was doing all the permutations and combinations, I'm like, "Okay, here's other people who I can probably interact with, and maybe most likely will be on the beach with me."

So what brings you out here to make that assessment in the first place? Why Survivor?
I always watched Survivor when I was younger. However, growing up, my parents are both immigrants from Hong Kong. They worked really, really hard to get themselves through college. They had to work two, three jobs just to get by, pay themselves through college, just for me and my brother to have a successful career or just even a better life. And growing up, my parents both had to work on weekends and even late nights, so I was put into after-school programs a lot. And nothing bad about after-school programs. But I always wished that I could play sports after school, or I always would see parents pick up their kids and they're going to, I don't know, their activity, and I would either walk home or take the school bus home. And I just always was like, "Man, how come I'm so different? I want to experience things and I want to try new things. But I'm just either brought up differently or just don't have the same opportunities."

My parents were also really strict on TV, because they wanted me to do well in school. So they're like, "Watch the news when I'm watching it." But it's in Chinese. I can't even understand it. So I watched the news with them, and then I would do homework. My dad would watch TV downstairs, and my mom was upstairs, getting ready for bed because she had to sleep so early. And she'd be like, "No TV." And I'm like, "Okay, no TV."

And then one night, I just heard the intro sound to Survivor: Australia. And my dad was actually asleep. And I was like, "Oh my gosh, what is this?" So I actually went downstairs to turn off the TV for my dad. But when I went there, I was encapsulated. Because I saw Colby Donaldson and Jerryi and I was like, "Something's happening." And then I had to silence it, because I was afraid my mom was gonna hear it. And I was like, "What's happening? Why is there fire? Why is someone jumping in the water?" And that's kind of how I first saw Survivor. I watched it many seasons because my mom would do the same; it's the same ritual. She'd go to sleep. I would go downstairs, watch it without any noise, and not understand what a Tribal Council was.

So no subtitles and no audio? Do you know how to read lips?
[Laughs.] Now, I should, honestly. But I just noticed people were talking together. There's all these different tribe names, and then they'd go to Tribal Council, and then I know one person would leave. And I'm like, "Okay, this is a 'vote someone out' kind of situation. And it wasn't till I was in high school, where I was able to watch Yul Kwon, Season 13, Cook Islands. And when I first saw Yul Kwon and the Puka Puka tribe, I was like, "Oh my gosh, someone like me looks like they're on the tribe and they're doing so well. They're not the stereotypical smart person. Yul is not just smart. He's strategic, he's athletic, he's social. This is someone that I aspire to be. Wow, I would love to one day be on Survivor, but I don't have that physical aspect of Yul or anybody else to make it out here alive." So I spent many years trying to bulk up and gain a lot of weight. So I'm like, "Okay, I'm smart, that's one part. And I'm social, because I love to talk to people. But I lack the physical aspect." So I think I'm ready now.

Give me one winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most. Would Yul be the winner?
So Yul is in that category just because of representation. But me and him are totally different. He's methodical; he weighs the options. He's quieter. I'm just kind of chaotic and a little bit disheveled. Some of my friends call me "chaotic friendly." I love to smile; I love to laugh. Bbut sometimes my brain is firing at all cylinders of my thoughts. So I would like to say that I really like the David tribe for David vs. Goliath. That's actually the reason why I started applying consistently after watching David vs. Golaith, because I was like, "They're Davids. I feel like a David." And there are people here who aren't the best at one thing. They're just here to prove themselves. I grew up really skinny, really small. I had glasses, braces, was made fun of at school for not being good at sports or just like other things. So Christian, Davie, Nick, the David tribe itself is someone that I really like to be. And also Kaleb from Season 45, he's someone that I was like, "Okay, he's a social player. He's a smiley guy. So I'd love to play like him." But not be too much like him, because I think he was pereceived a threat really early on.

What's your favorite moment in Survivor history?
I mean, going back to Season 37, when they used their advantages together, the minority vote split. The Goliaths just sounded so confident. They thought they had this in the bag. Dan had two idols. I mean, I also really liked the Goliaths too, like Alec and Dan and everyone. But the Davids just banded together. They trusted each other. And it was multiple idols. It was an Idol Nullifier. It was a Steal-a-Vote. And I was like, "Oh my gosh. If I could be on the island, I would rally the misfits together, and we would join together and be like, 'Let's take down these big guns.'" Because there are some pretty big people here on the island right now! [Laughs.]

What's one life experience you feel has prepared you most for the game?
Something interesting that it might not look like, just from me. But after I started working out and I changed my hair, I got better skin, I just was like, "I want to look better." I actually was recruited by Abercrombie to be a greeter slash model in their front store in California. And I was like, "This is better than getting an MBA. This is better than graduating college." I don't care about any of those things. Working at Abercrombie is the highlight of my life. [Laughs.]

Because I was like, "Oh, what a success story!" I never thought that I would be even working at Abercrombie to begin with, someone like that looks like me or just has a vibe. But then the manager was like, "Okay, your job is to charm people. Make people feel like a million dollars when they come in the store. Recommend different items. Say, 'This looks great.' Be hospitable, be friendly.'" That really trained me really well to talk to so many people and charm their socks off. And I feel like that's kind of how it got me in life. I got through MBA; I was number one in my class. I work in tech now, a really big tech company, working there for six years. And I feel like all of it is how to charm people. Smiling maked them feel like they're like a million bucks. Talk to them about what they like, ingratiate myself in their life, be a family member, that kind of stuff. I think that's gonna help me in this game.

Would you say that's the biggest superpower that you're bringing into this game?
I think so. I think that bringing in the socialness and characteristics of smiling, laughing, charming. Also, there's another part of me that has a lot of grit. And that's because, when I was younger, I really wanted to play sports. And my dad was like, "Okay, let's play tennis." Basketball, football, and baseball were out of the question. I was like 4'5", so there's no way. My parents were like, "You just can't compete with the boys." So tennis is one of the few things [where] height isn't the only thing to win. So my dad was like, "Okay, let's try tennis." And he noticed that, you know, even though I was small, I had a lot of work ethic. I had a lot of drive to win.

So my first tournament that I played at–and this is kind of going into why I want to do Survivor. Because the first time I attended, I was 10, 12, years old. And I played kids that were six feet tall. And I was like, "This is impossible. How are these kids so huge?" And it was at a country club. I went in there, and me and my dad felt like outcasts immediately. I didn't have a tennis bag, I didn't have nice outfits, I didn't have good shoes. I just had a racket that my dad got from me at, I think, Target or Big Five. And I just felt so out of place. And we would get looks, and people would look at us, and they would snicker. They would say, "Oh, you're playing my son? That's not right. Are you sure you're not in the 10 category, or the 8?"

And my dad just told me, "Don't listen to these people. Show them they're wrong. It's okay that you're not the biggest person or strongest person. But you have grit. You can run fast." And I think that moment when I saw my dad, he was watching me from the sidelines. He wouldn't even watch with the parents, because he didn't want to interact with them; he doesn't want to get looks from them. So he would watch from the side. And I remember I actually won that tournament against those people. And I looked to my dad and gave him a fist pump. And I was like, "Dad!" And he was like, "You can do anything." So I really want to win a challenge and do a fist pump. And it'll be for my dad.

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That's a beautiful story. On the other hand, what would you say is your biggest piece of kryptonite?
My biggest piece of kryptonite is fairly obvious. I'm not that outdoorsy. I love to backpack and I love to hike. That's about it. I mean, I do care about how I look. I want make sure my hair is done every morning. Do all that. I'm like, "Okay, this island is not the place for that."

Are you gonna try to trade your flint in for a mirror? "I need to look at myself right now."
[Laughs.] Yeah, it's like, "Well, everyone's gonna be idol hunting. Hold on, I'm gonna make a gel out of some coconut mash and some sea water, and let me get ready for the day." So I think my biggest kryptonite is honestly surviving. The challenges part, I'm physically ready. I work out, I feel really fit. I've also been fasting quite a bit, so it's like, "Okay, I can go on a couple of days without eating." But the challenges, the puzzle part, I'm really excited about. The challenges [in general] I'm really excited about. It's like, "How do I survive?" But you know what? I got grit. So I'll be able to do this.

And hopefully, you'll get some people on your side who can take care of that kind of survival stuff for you.
"You build a shelter. I'll look for an idol. I'll share with you. This is how it works."

Exactly, symbiotic relationship. I mean, speaking of that, I know you had mentioned some assessments you made of the competition earlier. Talk to me more about that. Who are you picking up good vibes from in the preseason?
Okay, the biggest person that I already have a good vibe with already is the mom. I think it's the… I don't wanna say "elder." She's older. She looks like a mom. We're both going for the ranch. And I both grabbed it, and I looked at her, actually.

It's like a meet-cute! I'm pretty sure I watched a romcom like that called Love Over the Ranch.
[Laughs.] And she was like, "Are you gonna use it?" And I was like, "Huh?" [Laughs.] All I heard was, "Work with me! Come on!" And she was like, "What?" So her, I'm really good vibes with there. I know that there would be one really, really buff muscle head at least on my tribe. There has to be. I can't be the buffest one. There's three people that I already see; I call them Captain America, Hulk, and Falcon. They're part of the Avengers. And I'm Spider-Man. So I'm like their friend. [Laughs.]

But you're doing your own stuff. New York City needs to be policed.
Yeah, please, I gotta see Zendaya. I'm just Tom Holland right here. But one of those three is gonna be on my tribe no matter what because there's no way that they can't be. And I've been getting good vibes from them. They're very fit and very athletic. So I've been trying to do puzzles and brain teasers next to them, to be like, "Hey, every Batman needs a Robin." I'm smart. I don't want to show that I'm really smart, although I think people can probably either assume, or maybe they can tell, "Okay, this guy is a little bit of a brainiac." So those people I feel good about.

What about the other side? Who are some people who are putting up red flags?
So overall, everyone has good vibes. But I think the people that are really expressive. So there's some people out here who are really showing leadership qualities. They like, "Oh, can I go the bathroom?" First on the bus. I'm like, "Okay, these people here know what they want. They're assertive. They're not wavering. These people are gonna be not hard to work with." But they're just gonna be the ones I have to look out for. Because they're gonna want to make sure that people listen to them, and that they're gonna be dominating either the conversation [or other] stuff.

I had this game plan already, and I mapped it out. It's called "Kevin's Family Tree." So what I'm gonna do is I have the whole tree, and I'm right here. And everyone that I meet, I'm gonna make myself a family member to them. So, if they're older than me, they're my mom, they're my dad. If they're a little younger to me, they're my little sister, little brother. If they're really, really talkative, my best friend. So for me, the family tree is going to evolve. I'm gonna make myself a family member to them. And therefore, it has some kind of connection, compatibility. I think that will serve really well.

Right. On a tree, you can lop off the branches or the leaves. It's much harder to chop down the trunk or dig up the roots.
I gotta play a really strategic game of not being so social, because I think people can already see that I'm kind of smiley and really friendly. Which means, if I do that, everyone' slike, "Oh, he's just doing that. He's a threat, because he's actually making the same loyalty and alliance to everyone that they see". So for me, it's all about numbers. I love numbers. I love calculations and logic. Six people on a tribe, I have to find a meat shield first. So the two guys, we have to be together and say, "Hey, they're gonna come after us. If we don't stick together, they're gonna come after the physical threats." Then I gotta find a girl to ensure that they don't have a girls' alliance. And if they do have a girls' alliance, I'm the fourth guy. I'm the Charlie. Bring me in here, get the four aligned. But if that guy can find a girl, and I can find a girl, that's our four right here. And we just don't talk that much. We just mingle; we meet. We tell other the other two, "Hey, it's gonna be that person." That's how I'm gonna survive the first couple Tribals to get to the merge.

And I kind of want to go to the merge without a big shield. Because in Season 44 when the Tika three came in, they were weak. They were weak and they were disheveled, and Carolyn was off doing whatever, and Carson was scheming everything, plotting everything. But they came in, and the Ratu tribe and the Soka tribe went after each other. And I think that's what I would love to do. So premerge I have to vote out one of the meat shields.

So you want to go to Tribal Council in the premerge?
Yeah, at least once. Because I think going into the merge with six people is going to be just death. And they're going to see us, and we're gonna get picked off pretty easily, because the other two tribes are gonna combine and take out us. So I think going to the merge with four is ideal.

I want to go back to what you said before about your "chaotic mind" and how it works. Are you just consistently always running through a bunch of ideas? And how do you think that will translate to your game?
Yeah, it's gonna be really tough. This is crazy that I'm actually out here playing a game, that it's not real life. Because at home, I'm so calculated. During MBA, I was voted best negotiator in one of the classes. I really like Angelina because she came in with confidence. She was like, "This is how it's done." And then everyone was like, "We're voting her out." She's like, "I did not know that." And then I also will ask someone for the jacket. I'm very cold at night. So Natalie–I don't know if there's a Natalie out there–I need your jacket.

You could just say, "Listen, I used to be at the front of an Abercrombie store. I can wear it well."
[Laughs.] Absolutely, a dress, skirt, whatever. Just give it to me, I want to wear it. But the part of negotiation is like, "Okay, what's the biggest risk and take?" And for me, back at home, it's calculated. Everything has a benefit and a negative association. But you can make the most calculated risk to where it's the most logical, it has the most benefit taken well, or it's not taken well because of the fact that there's a lot of cons to it. In this game, I'm so paranoid, and I'm just a paranoid person in general, that I can't make a calculated risk because I don't know all the information. I'm gonna be hearing random things that people are gonna be saying. I may be lying to people. They're gonna be lying to me. So for me, that's gonna be in my head a lot. I already know I can't sleep that well normally. So in my head, up at night, I'm just gonna be running these scenarios. I will need someone who's really chill, hopefully a meat shield, or hopefully one of those bigger guys, to be like, "Hey, what do you think?" Calm me down a little bit. I think someone to help me calm me down, that'd be a good alliance member.

Related: Everything to Know About Survivor 48

Something else that might keep you up at night: Idols and advantages. How do you plan on incorporating them into your game?
Honestly, the idols, Beware Avantages, Steal-a-Votes, Bank-a-Votes. Knowledge is Power. All these different advantages play a huge role in my strategy. Because you can't come in with a whole game plan; it's not gonna work. Because someone might have a Bank-a-Vote or Steal-a-Vote, and then your vote is taken away, and your numbers aren't gonna work. So, for me, I'm gonna plan it all out in my mind every day and say, "Okay, these are the numbers if no one has an idol or if no one has an advantage. Now, who might have an idol, and who might have an advantage?" That's where it'll come into play. "Okay, if this person might have an idol, then how does this play out? Should we put one vote on them to flush it out, or two votes on them, and then two votes on somebody else to flush out the idol?" That's gonna be how it works. I wanna be the brainiac of my tribe, but in a very subtle way.

You said you're very strategic outside of the game. What did you end up telling your work about what you're doing for the next month?
They know that I'm out for a month. They said, "Okay, where are you going? "And I was like, "I'm just traveling." They're like, "Where?" And I was like, "You know, something warm." And they're like, "You never do this. You don't just take vacation ever. And a month is crazy, and also you're not telling me where you're going." And I was like, "[Stammers.] C'est la vie!" [Laughs.] And then my boss is like, "You're way too neurotic and paranoid. And you're really good at your job, so what are you doing?" And I was like, "Trust me, I will explain everything later.. I'll shut you up with a Moscow Mule." We'll go to a bar, and I'll just be like, "You know what? Here's $10." They don't know, but I think they have a hint. They're like, "Are you crazy? Are you doing something insane? And I was like, "I am doing something insane!"

What's your main takeaway from Seasons 45 and 46 that you're bringing into your gameplay?
Yeah, so for 45, Austin and Dee–poor Austin. But also not poor Austin because he played the game, but Austin fell in the showmance, but he trusted people so much that it ruined his own game. Tthere was Julie, there was Dee, there was Jake, there was Katurah. Katurah making a mistake of not voting out Dee in the moment, trusting her gut. I think Dee trusted her gut the entire way, lied to Austin about not telling Mama J about the vote. So that's what I learned in 45. If you have an instinct, go for it. Do not waver in your emotions. You can waver in your gameplay, as a gameplay evolves. But you can't waver in your emotions. If you have a game plan and you're sticking with this person, don't make things crazy, and don't try to rock the vote. I think this game is gonna change a lot for 48 because we've all seen 46 right? No one used their idol. So my take is that if someone has an idol, they're gonna use it immediately because they're so scared of going home. Now that is actually like reverse psychology. Because everyone thinks that, and now it's like, "Okay, now that they think that, let's not vote them out and vote someone else out and make them waste their idol."

Yeah, it's like something out of The Princess Bride. The metagaming.
The metagame, yeah. So, I mean, I think that's where all my calculations come into play. And it's kind of crazy because things don't make sense. Statistically, I'm gonna go out there and be like, "What am I doing? I need to find someone to talk to. No one's talking to me." But I think in my head, the best way to prepare is to be as laid out as possible, have a game plan going into it. And if things change, it's okay. Things will change. I'll be left out of the vote. I have to be left out of the vote eventually. I can't be driving the whole tribe the entire game. I would love that to happen, but I don't know if that will probability-wise happen. But it's okay. Just play every day, wake up and say, "Okay, it's a new game."

And also, at nighttime, look for idols. I'll be up. I have a game plan too. I drink a lot of water naturally, because I like to work out. But also, I think I'm just really talkative and always thirsty all the time. So I'm like, "Okay, great. If I go to the water well a lot, not because I'm looking for idols or talking to someone. I'm just so thirsty. My canteen is always empty."

But you're thirsty for something else!
I'm thirsty for some idols. I'm thirsty for some conversations. So my goal is to keep using the water well as a passageway to be like, "Ugh, water again! Here I go." And if someone's like, "Oh, I'll go with you," I'm like, "Oh, okay. They're sensing an opportunity to talk to me, or I'm sensing an opportunity to talk to somebody else." And therefore it could be natural. No one will sense that we're working together.

What's your hottest Survivor take?
Well, I don't know if this is controversial because I think Q, he's polarizing. You either love him or you don't like his gameplay. Kind of like Liz. You either like Liz because she's so crazy and chaotic, or you don't like Liz because she does outbursts. Or Venus, same thing. I really like those characters. I like characters who bring their charm, pizzazz, but also they're not afraid to showcase who they are. And I think for me, I play it so safe at home, and I just am just such a normal guy. I really do think I'm just a normal guy. Maybe I'm not actually. [Laughs.] But I think I'm normal back at home. But here it's like, "Okay, Kevin, it's time to be diabolical. Time to utilize everything that's in your head for the last 10 years and all the circumstances I've been through in life, all the shortcomings and fire. Use that fire and passion and play aggressively. Play Day One. Don't be afraid to hold back." So that's a hot take, that people who play hard is not necessarily a bad thing. It's actually their character, and actually, they're very real about that.

What celebrity or fictional character would you bring out for a Loves Ones visit?
Alright, so my favorite tennis player growing up is Maria Sharapova. And it's because of her story, she came to America with her dad. Her dad only had $700 in his pocket, worked really hard to be number one in the world, and was so successful. She's my crush growing up. I had her poster on the wall. I was like, "Maria, wow. I should name my goldfish after Maria too." So Maria is at home, my goldfish. And I'd bring the real Maria over here to the eyelid. Because I just love her tenacity and her grit, and I think she did well in this game, too.

Lastly, how are you going to deliver an ace on Survivor 48 to make sure you serve again for Season 50?
I mean, I hate to say I haven't been thinking about 50 at all. But it really is. 50 is a gigantic opportunity for all the best players to come back. I gotta play like it's the last time I'll ever come out here. I gotta make big moves. And the worst part is I can't make big moves if I'm not at the end, like towards the end of the game. If I make it towards the beginning, it's gonna be, "Okay, so what? He found an idol, he didn't use it. He used the idol incorrectly because he was so eager to use the idol so quickly." So for me, it's about getting my personality out. It's about getting my charm, getting people to like me, being social enough, getting it through the merge. And then at the merge, getting enough numbers to play.

I want to control the merge at the end. That's when the family tree grows. That's when the apple starts falling. Chop this person off. Chop that person off. And at the end, I think to make a big move is that seven or six. To get you to be returning back at Season 50, eight, seven, and six are the times when you really start driving the game in the beginning. It's all about surviving. I am not here to be the biggest threat out there. I'm here to be the best friend, the little brother. Any person I'm seeing like, "Oh my gosh. Do you like ranch? I love ranch. You like bacon? Bacon, me too, right here. Let's go." But I think to get to the merge, at eight, seven or six,e to find an idol, to play correctly, to be able to mislead somebody, to voting the wrong way, to lie, to deceive. That's how a good player becomes a great player. Parvati, Rob, Tony. These people did not waver in their gameplay. They had it, and they had a game plan going in. Parvati, in Micronesia, was like, "Oh, I'm gonna take this girls' alliance, and I'm gonna ride it to the end." So I think, for me, that's how you go from good to great to the best.

Make use of the investments you have at the moment. And then, if the interest accrues, that's quite literally money in the bank.
Also, Liz in 46, I mean, she had this grand story to tell during Final Council. But she never got the opportunity to say it, because she didn't make fire. So I think for me, you can have a great story; you can have a great game. If you're not there at the end to tell it, there's no point in doing all these things. You're here to make it to final Tribal Council. So in the beginning, I'm okay with not playing that flashy. In my head, I'm like, "Okay, what's the strategy?" The strategy is to survive with the numbers going in, with the people that you trust going into the merge. So as long as I can do that, then I can really unleash it during the postmerge and the very end of the game. I'm trying to look as clueless as possible. Even when people are, reading, I'm just staring into space.

[Laughs.] They're gonna think you're some sort of robot!
Good! People know I spend a long time in the bathroom trying to get my hair and my skin ready. And I'm like, "This is good." I want them to think that I'm a clueless idiot who just came out here to look it on the beach. And that's good. That's all I want them to think I am. And hopefully, it'll be good.

Next, check out our interview with Survivor 48 contestant Justin Pioppi.