A popular contestant from one of reality TV’s biggest franchises has announced he’s been diagnosed with cancer, sharing that he ignored three warning signs for months before finally getting medical advice.
Ken McNickle, who finished in the final three on Season 33 of Survivor in 2016, disclosed the diagnosis in an Instagram post this week. He told followers he went back and forth on whether to share the news publicly, but ultimately felt his story might encourage others to act sooner.
“I’ve made some mistakes in the process and should have taken care of myself better and sooner,” McNickle wrote.
“If you have a health concern, don’t sit on it. Get yourself checked. There’s no valid reason not to. Not one.”
In a follow-up video, the former model and father of one began with a “trigger warning” for viewers who prefer to avoid graphic medical details, then described the symptoms he initially brushed aside.
First, he said he developed a wound on the skin near his chest. He explained that he waited close to a year to seek treatment, and by the time he did, the area had deteriorated to the point that the skin was splitting.
“Had I gone in sooner, it would have been a simple procedure, not a three-inch hole in my chest,” he said.
Second, McNickle shared that he was seeing blood in his stool. He said it was happening each morning, yet he ignored it for almost three months.
After he eventually went for help, he said it was confirmed his “insides were tearing open.”
Third, he described noticing a lump in his groin. He admitted he didn’t have it checked until it had grown significantly—comparing it to the size of his testicle. McNickle has not publicly named the specific type of cancer he’s facing, though that symptom can align with testicular cancer, which is most commonly diagnosed in men aged 20 to 40.
Looking back, he didn’t mince words about his decisions: “I have been so f**king stupid.”
McNickle suggested that long-standing expectations around masculinity played a role in why he hesitated to get help. “I heard the words, ‘Stop crying. Don’t be a baby. Don’t be a bitch. Don’t be a p—y. Just be a man,'” he said, adding that he believed it had “something to do with” his delayed response.
He also pointed to what he described as an “epidemic” in men’s health, saying men are 50% less likely to see a doctor for physical problems and 60% less likely to seek support for mental or emotional struggles.
Many fans have responded with messages of support, with numerous commenters thanking him for being candid about what he’s going through.
More broadly, his story lands amid growing concern from researchers that millennials face a notably increased risk of developing 17 different cancers compared with older generations—and that they are twice as likely as baby boomers to develop colorectal cancer.
McNickle hasn’t confirmed the exact diagnosis yet, but he has said he plans to share more details in the days ahead.