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Omar Zaheer is one of the 18 castaways set to participate in Survivor Season 42. The 31-year-old contestant is an exotic animal veterinarian from Whitby, Ontario.
According to his CBS bio, he is an empathetic, shameless, and silly person who loves training animals and watching television. While Zaheer likes one or two things, his pet peeves list is a bit longer, which includes Friends character Joey Tribbiani (played by Matt LeBlanc).
His bio mentioned that he doesn’t like:
“People who complain about the cost of vet care, rudeness, feeding seeds to parrots, gym grunters, Joey from ‘Friends,’ the fact that mini wheats have gelatin, when people talk bad about pigeons, and institutional racism.”
It is understood why his pet peeves involve parrots, pigeons and vet care, but it is unclear why he dislikes Joey's character.
Omar Zaheer called his parents “imperfect people”
Zaheer stated that his childhood struggles with poverty in his CBS bio. He said that his family was living off his mother's disability support; there were times when there was no electricity, no food, and they were evicted from where they stayed.
He further mentioned that he loved his parents, but they were "imperfect people".
“I still love both my parents very much, but I can also recognize their shortcomings. Their love for us was never a question to me, but I can reconcile that they are imperfect people who did the best they could, even though they fell short in some important ways.”
Zaheer names his late father and his elder sister as heroes of his life. He believes that he could be the first Indian Muslim to win Survivor with his ability to adapt, social awareness, manipulative and strategic thinking, and connections. The bio reads:
“I am playing for me and my family, and no one will get in the way of that. I can’t wait to do the show I love so much proud, by not only winning but being the first Indian and Muslim to do so.”
Zaheer will be in the Taku tribe on Survivor 42
A total of 18 contestants will participate in Survivor Season 42 and will be divided into three tribes — Taku, Vati and Ika. Zaheer will be a part of team Taku alongside Jonathan Young, Maryanne Oketch, Lindsay Dolashewich, Jackson Fox and Marya Sherron.
The remaining castaways are Lydia Meredith, Zach Wurtenberger, Drea Wheeler, Rocksroy Bailey, Tori Meehan, Mike Turner, Swati Goel, Hai Giang, Chanelle Howell, Daniel Strunk, Jenny Kim and Romeo Escobar.
The winner will receive a grand prize of one million dollars and the title of Sole Survivor. Hosted by Jeff Probst, the competition series is set to premiere its new season on Wednesday, March 9 at 8.00 pm ET on CBS and Paramount Plus.
