The 'Chandelier' songstress and 'Survivor' superfan showed her favorite castaways some love.
There are no cheap thrills for Sia -- at least when it comes to being a Survivor superfan. After Wednesday's Survivor season 44 finale, the celebrated songstress showed just how generous she really is by dolling out some cash to a few of her favorite contestants that came up just short of the show's grand prize.
On Thursday, Sia surprised Carolyn Wiger, Carson Garrett and Lauren Harpe with some nifty consolation prizes after they all made it to the season 44 finale, but wound up going home empty handed.
Yamil "Yam Yam" Arocho was crowned the "Sole Survivor" -- and earned $1 million for his efforts - and Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt came in second place, and thus took home the $100,000 runner-up prize.
However, Wiger, Garrett and Harpe came in third, fourth and fifth respectively, meaning they essentially walked away empty handed. To take that sting away a bit, Sia swopped in with some whopping cash prizes of her own. The celebrated songstress gifted Wiger $100,000 for making it to the final three, and $15,000 each to Garrett and Harpe.
Sia surprised the contestants with the news during interviews on Thursday morning, and the shock and surprise of each recent castaway's face was truly epic.
@robhasapodcast We're still in shock . . . @Carolyn Wiger was surprised by SIA, the World's Biggest Survivor Fan, and Sia announced she was gifting Carolyn $100,000 for her gameplay this Survivor season. This all happened in our Survivor 44 Exit Interview, and was a surprise to EVERYONE. #Survivor44 #Survivor #SurvivorFinale ♬ original sound - Rob Has a Podcast
Wiger was brought to tears by the singer's revelation, and she had a hard time wrapping her head around the generous gift as Sia shared the news with a smile.
Meanwhile, Harpe was equally floored by Sia's news, and had an adorable mini-meltdown when the singer sang her praises during an interview with PopCrave.
"I wanted to tell you that you're awesome, and I really felt the struggle for you and your kids," Sia shared with Harpe. "I wanted to give you, not the biggest prize, but I wanted to give you 15 grand just to say, 'I love you,' and, 'Keep going.'"
Sia further explained that the gift would be "tax-free" as she had already paid the taxes on it for Harpe -- and added that $15,000 was the most she could legally gift someone and cover the taxes on.
"I truly appreciate you," Harpe said. "Just to know that you worked so hard to get to where you are, and to share that with me, it is so special."
While the generosity is clearly deeply appreciated, it's not totally unexpected. As many Survivor fans already know, the "Elastic Heart" artist has been giving out what she calls the "Sia Award" since 2016, starting with the show's 33rd season, Survivor: Kaoh Rong.
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