Michael Skupin

On Day 17, Skupin was tending to a fire at camp, when he accidentally inhaled some of the fumes and passed out into the fire. Seconds later, he let out a scream, then ran frantically into the water as his hands were now burned severely. The medical team was called in, and they determined that his injuries were too severe to keep him in the game. He was then evacuated by helicopter to seek further medical treatment, making him the first Survivor player ever to be medically evacuated and the first to be eliminated from the game without being voted off first. Overall, he had finished 11th place in the game.

On February 5, 2016, Skupin was arrested for his alleged role with Pay It Forward, being charged with five counts of larceny by conversion and one count of racketeering. Unrelated to these accusations, he was also charged with six counts of possession of child pornography, as such images, allegedly belonging to him, were discovered on his laptop while police were searching it during the Ponzi scheme investigation. Skupin's bond was set at US$350,000. On November 18, he was found guilty of four out of the six child pornography counts. A separate trial for his involvement with Pay It Forward took place November 21, during which he pled no contest to a single count of larceny by conversion, as part of a plea deal. He was sentenced to serve one to four years in prison for possession of child pornography, and four years' probation plus $31,800 in restitution for larceny. He was released on parole, on December 19, 2017, after serving a year in prison.

On February 23, 2013, Skupin was arrested for driving on a suspended license, having an improper license plate, and lacking proof of insurance. His driver's license was revealed to have been suspended approximately 20 times dating back to 1999.

In December 2013, Rob Wolchek, newscaster for WJBK in Detroit, inducted Skupin into his "Hall of Shame" for an alleged Ponzi scheme involving Skupin's financial business, called Pay It Forward. Wolchek alleged that Skupin never paid his investors any of the promised dividends.

In 2012, Skupin returned to Survivor for its 25th season. He was one of three previous medical evacuees returning to the game, along with Jonathan Penner (evacuated from Survivor: Micronesia) and Survivor: Samoa evacuee Russell Swan (no relation to Greg Swan, Skupin's friend and business partner). At the start, Skupin was assigned to the Tandang tribe. One of his tribemates was Lisa Whelchel, whom he recognized as one of the stars of the hit TV series The Facts of Life.

Skupin, a Christian, is also the founder of Michael Skupin Ministries, which helps people combat addiction. He had also considered running for the United States Senate in 2002, but ultimately decided against it. In addition, he has written a book about his life experience, entitled Fireproof. The book was released in 2004.

In 2000, Skupin flew to Australia to film the second season of the wildly popular TV series Survivor. He was one of 16 castaways competing for the $1 million prize and the title of Sole Survivor. Upon the start of the game, Skupin was placed on the Kucha tribe, and was almost immediately seen as the tribe's leader. At first, he disavowed the role of tribal leader, but later embraced being the tribe's main provider, catching fish for the tribe and even killing a wild pig for its meat.

Skupin's first job after college was selling copiers for 3M. In 1992, he teamed up with a childhood friend, Greg Swan, to found Rhinosoft Interactive, a software company based out of Wisconsin. In 2000, Rhinosoft was involved in a controversy when some CD-ROM versions of the Bible, published by Skupin and Swan, were distributed into various boxes of cereal as part of a promotion by General Mills. The cereal company, which had been distributing computer games and dictionaries on CD-ROM as part of the same promotion, claimed that it was unaware of the presence of the Bible CD-ROMs. General Mills apologized for the move, stating that it was against company policy to "advance any particular set of religious beliefs," although Swan insisted that the company had indeed been aware of the disc-based Bibles all along.

After high school, Landry tried to enroll at Western Michigan University (WMU), but he was initially denied acceptance due to the fact that no Social Security number existed for a "Michael Landry." He reapplied to WMU under his birth name, Michael Skupin, and was later accepted. In 1984, Skupin graduated with a B.B.A. degree.

Michael David Skupin (born January 29, 1962) is an American software publisher, television personality and convicted child sex offender. Best known for competing on two seasons of the reality competition show Survivor, he became the first person ever to be medically evacuated from the game after falling into a fire on Survivor: The Australian Outback.

Skupin was born January 29, 1962, in Farmington Hills, Michigan. When he was four, his father died of cancer. His mother, Mary Louise Skupin, went on to marry Clarence Landry when Michael was ten. Michael then took his stepfather's last name, though Clarence had never officially adopted him.