'Survivor' players reveal the worst and grossest parts of competing on the series

• Former "Survivor" players told Insider about the worst and grossest parts of being on the series.
• Sleep deprivation and dangerous infections can take a physical toll on competitors.
• Players said boredom and social anxiety are both difficult aspects of the competition.

From harsh sleeping arrangements to difficult challenges, "Survivor" players have to overcome several obstacles to win $1 million.

Insider spoke with former "Survivor" competitors about some of the grossest and worst things they experienced on the popular series.

The sleeping conditions and lack of rest can take a toll on players

"Survivor: Island of the Idols" player Elaine Stott said sleeping at camp in man-made huts is worse than it looks on-screen.

"The sleeping arrangements are a lot harder than what you would imagine," she told Insider. "It's miserable."

"Survivor: David vs. Goliath'' competitor Davie Rickenbacker said that although it was especially difficult to fall asleep at the start, it got better as the season went on, likely because "more people got voted out day after day."

Rickenbacker said he eventually found a Tiki statue shaped like a surfboard and used the island prop as a makeshift bed. Although it helped him rest in the short-term, other players wanted to sleep in it as well.

"That's how 'Survivor' works - you find a cheat code and then everyone wants to do it," Rickenbacker said.

Between the uncomfortable sleeping conditions and long days at camp and tribal council, the lack of rest can interfere with players' social game, according to "Survivor: Island of the Idols" competitor Karishma Patel.

"You are so tired after tribal and all you're supposed to be doing is talking to rehash what just happened, and all my a-- ever wanted to do is just go to sleep," Patel said. "I would be so exhausted."

Players said they sometimes have to eat spoiled food and drink dirty water

Up until season 41, players were provided with rice to ration throughout the game, even though they also foraged for a lot of their meals. But according to "Survivor: Island of the Idols" competitor Lauren-Ashley Beck, that food source can get rancid and moldy.

"Elaine [Stott] and I, we were so done with it because rain had gotten into our rice, so it was moldy and would make us physically ill," Beck told Insider.

Four-time competitor and one-time champion Tyson Apostol added that the provided drinking water was "disgusting" and would get "dirtier and dirtier throughout the season."

"When you come off the show, you're just like, 'I never want to drink water again,'" Apostol said.

Competitors said they were 'eaten alive' by bugs

Several players told Insider that although insect repellent is kept in an accessible med box, bugs are still a big issue, especially at night.

Patel said that she rarely washed her pants because she couldn't go too long without the insects swarming her legs.

"I had long pants and I could not risk not having them at night because I got eaten alive by the bugs," Patel explained. "When I say eaten alive, they come right at me."

Stott said when she first got to the island, she didn't think she needed bug spray, but quickly learned otherwise.

"As soon as the sun went down they were just caked on top of you," Stott added.

But not all of the challenges are physical - the game can mentally wear players down

The series is known for its high-stakes physical challenges, but several players said that the game is more mentally taxing than viewers might expect.

Patel said that the "outwit" element of the show's famous slogan - "outwit, outplay, outlast" - was the hardest aspect of the competition.

"The first thing you need is your mind," Patel explained. "You need your mind in order to play in the challenges. You need your mind in order to get through the rainy, rainy nights when it's freezing cold and you're physically in a lot of pain."

Three-time player Andrea Boehlke agreed that the stress of the game and lack of food can push people to their mental and emotional limits.

"Out on the islands, you're not eating very much," Boehlke said. "You're very emotionally unstable. You're probably not doing well. I speak for myself, but I wasn't doing well mentally."

Players said the boredom can be mind-numbing

Three-time competitor Malcolm Freberg said one of the challenges he grappled with time and again was the sheer boredom of island living. He added that element "gets to you" before the hygiene or "people you're on the beach with."

"Anybody who was there long enough will tell you the time is the worst," he told Insider. "... You can't talk strategy for 12 hours a day. You just sit there staring at each other."

Boehlke agreed and said she "doesn't do well with being bored," so she attempted meditation and yoga to combat mental fatigue.

The cutthroat nature of the game can lead to social anxiety

Several competitors cited social anxiety as another everyday struggle of the game.

"The biggest hurdle was trying to find that inner peace," Boehlke said. "I got so hung up on the paranoia and all the anxiety out there on the islands."

The environment of "Survivor" is cutthroat by design. But Patel told Insider that even though strategizing and forming alliances is inherent to the game, some players could be malicious.

"You can't trust anybody," Patel explained. "And there's a lot of nastiness going on, you know? There's stuff going on that you're not used to in your life, and that can take a toll on you."

She added that "you get bruised a little bit more easily" in those moments because "you're struggling a lot more."

Injuries can be painful and lead to infections

Former "Survivor" competitors have walked away from the show with physical scars, but some injuries are so severe that players could get medically evacuated from the game.

Freberg said that toward the end of "Survivor: Philippines," he scraped his leg and was left with a nasty infection that "was hot to the touch and inflamed." Fortunately, he said, he was able to get antibiotics.

"It was just a constant conversation with the doctors and everyone, like, 'How's it doing? We're going to look at it.' They're keeping a real nervous eye on you the entire time," Freberg said. "Had that happened on day 22 instead of 32, I would have been out."

Patel told Insider that there's an overwhelming "level of fear and anxiety that comes along with the pain from injury" on the island.

A week into her season, Patel said she stabbed herself between her forefinger and middle finger while using a knife to scoop out coconut meat. She added that she "didn't feel anything in the moment," but she could "see straight to the bone" when she inspected the wound.

She said that although she received medical attention, she had to keep her hand dry and bandaged throughout the rest of her season and was worried it would get seriously infected.

"Being out there - extremely hungry, uncomfortable, and vulnerable - when something so unexpected happens like an injury, you feel a waterfall of emotions that in normal circumstances you may be able to control," she explained.

And several players contracted painful urinary tract infections while competing

Wearing the same outfit - and particularly underwear - for over 30 days can take a toll on competitors' health and hygiene. Several players recalled issues with periods and painful urinary tract infections during their seasons.

Beck said that although players with vaginas submit tampons to be kept in the med box, she ended up getting her period twice while on the show and had to wait about 24 hours before she could get more tampons.

"Periods, in general, are hard to deal with, even when you're not starving on an island and you have an actual bathroom and toilet paper," Beck said.

Beck, Patel, and Boehlke also all told Insider that they experienced painful UTIs while on "Survivor."

Patel described her infection as "a constant, 24-hour pain" that she "couldn't shake no matter what." Although the crew gave her antibiotics while she was still in the game, she said she experienced "pretty bad side effects like fatigue, dizziness, and diarrhea."

"I came home and I was in the hospital," Patel said. "It was really, really, really bad to get it taken care of because I still had traces of that infection in me and it [had spread] to my bladder."

Boehlke also said that on her last season, "Survivor: Game Changers," she contracted a UTI on the island that eventually spread to her kidneys.

"I was in the hospital for a week with a very severe kidney infection," Boehlke told Insider. "It was also affecting my other organs, so my heart was in a weakened state. My whole body was out of whack."

For more details, read 'Survivor' players wear the same underwear for up to 39 days with potentially life-threatening consequences.

After starving for weeks on the island, players often eat themselves sick

Competitors who make it far enough to become a jury member - post-merge players who get a say in the winner - stay at a camp-like resort called Ponderosa once they're voted off the show.

Filled with unlimited food, games, and vacation activities, Ponderosa is meant to be a rewarding place for jurors to relax while remaining unplugged. But some players said that it's not the dream vacation viewers might imagine.

"There were many times that I was on Ponderosa where I was throwing up because I just wasn't used to eating that food," Boehlke said.

She added that she ate endless loaves of bread during one of her stays because "your brain is just so confused that you now have food that it just thinks you're supposed to eat it all as fast as you can."

Apostol agreed that it's hard not to eat yourself sick at Ponderosa.

"Everybody's feeling really gross after a few days," Apostol told Insider. "And then you have to go on medication for your digestive tract because you've just done horrible, horrible things to it and you can't stop."

For more details, read 'Survivor' players share what it's like at Ponderosa, the luxurious resort where losers wait for the finale.

Some competitors face intense internet backlash

"Survivor" is pieced together from countless hours of footage - and Boehlke said "it's easy to hate on people because of the edit."

"I think that it's easy for people to criticize you when they're watching at home," Boehlke told Insider. "They're watching you do this experience where you're starving and you're trying to win $1 million."

She added that criticism about both your looks and personality can "weigh on you."

"I was a pretty noncontroversial character and I got death threats," Boehlke said. "I can't imagine what the villains on 'Survivor' face. It gets so crazy."

Insider has reached out to representatives for CBS for comment.

Follow along with our series of interviews to see what else the former players revealed to Insider.