’Survivor’ Star Promises her New Book Will ‘Take Readers by Surprise’

The legendary “Black Widow” of “Survivor,” Parvati Shallow has had a busy schedule recently. In the last year, the former “Survivor: Micronesia” winner has appeared on Season 2 of “The Traitors” and Season 2 of “Deal or No Deal Island.” Though she previously confirmed that she was not invited back for “Survivor 50,” the four-time castaway is set to participate in “Australian Survivor: Australia vs. The World” in late 2025. 

Between her busy filming schedule, Shallow somehow found the down time to pen her first-ever memoir, “Nice Girls Don’t Win: How I Burned It All Down to Claim My Power,” which is set to make its debut on July 8. 

In a recent interview, the reality star opened up about the book, promising that the stories it holds will “take fans by surprise.”

Parvati Shallow Opens Up About Writing her First Memoir

Despite working as a journalist prior to joining the cast of “Survivor: Cook Islands” in 2006 and kickstarting her reality television career, Shallow told Reality Tea, “I’d never written my own story.”

Shallow’s forthcoming memoir, which will be accompanied by a new podcast of the same name, will chart the star’s journey, from her traumatic past to the struggles of living her life in the spotlight. 

Random House

“Sitting down and forcing myself to tell stories about time that were really hard, that I would rather never revisit, ever – I got through that, that should be enough – but going back and writing the scenes from my perspective now, 20 years later; it was like a fairy godmother writing to my younger self and giving her this gift of wisdom and acknowledgement and compassion that I didn’t have when I was 20 years old,” said Shallow, recalling the writing process. 

“It was full-on therapy,” added the star, now 42. 

Looking forward to the release of “Nice Girls Don’t Win,” Shallow revealed that “some of the stories I think are going to take readers by surprise and blow their minds, because I really did go there and dug into some really tender, vulnerable parts of my life. But I feel so much better having written it.”

Shallow Unpacks ‘Nice Girls Don’t Win’ Title 

The title of Shallow’s memoir is a reference to her feud with fellow “Survivor” winner, Sandra Diaz-Twine. Shallow and Diaz-Twine appeared on both “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains” and “Survivor: Winners at War,” before joining the cast of “The Traitors” Season 2 together in 2024. 

Over the course of their reality TV history, the two women haven’t always seen eye to eye, though things came to a head when Diaz-Twine took to Facebook to declare: “Parvati’s not nice” in 2023. 

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Shallow later responded to the slight on Instagram, writing: “Call me anything, but please don’t call me nice. Nice girls don’t win ‘Survivor’ or build lives they love.”

The star has since capitalized on the mantra. Shallow elaborated on the world-view while speaking to Reality Tea, saying: “You can’t really play nice and build an extraordinary life for yourself; you can be kind, but take no shit.”