What happens when you suffer massive caffeine and nicotine withdrawal while starving on an island? One man found out. Shane Powers revisits absolutely losing hi

What happens when you suffer massive caffeine and nicotine withdrawal while starving on an island? One man found out.

Shane Powers revisits absolutely losing his mind on Survivor

What happens when you suffer massive caffeine and nicotine withdrawal while starving on an island? One man found out.

By Dalton Ross

California Dreams was better than Saved by the Bell. There, I said it.

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on July 30, 2025 11:52AM EDT

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Shane Powers on 'Survivor: Panama — Exile Island'. Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS

There have been a lot of interesting encounters I have been lucky enough to experience while on location for *Survivor*, but one of the most unique was on season 12, two days before *Survivor: Panama — Exile Island* would commence filming. That was where I was met soon-to-be legend Cirie Fields. I was introduced to her booming laugh before ever laying eyes on her as I could hear the famous couch-dweller cracking up in interviews from hundreds of feet away.

But Cirie was not even the main attraction that day. Neither was the guy who went by "Bob Dawg "(one of my best pre-game interviews of all-time, incidentally.) Instead, all the chatter on that October 2005 morning was focused on the absolute madman chain-smoking and mainlining coffee to a degree never witnessed before. Members of the press out on location were all asking the same question to each other: "Who *is* that lunatic?"

That lunatic was Shane Powers. A 34-year-old free spirit from Los Angeles fueled on an astronomical number of smokes and cups of joe, Shane was a frenetic force of nature. And all of us wondered the same thing: What the hell is going to happen to this guy when he hits the island and the coffee and cigarettes are taken away?

We (and all of America) got our answer soon enough, and it was pretty much what we all expected as Shane had to deal with nationally televised withdrawal on top of the already beyond brutal experience of starving on a deserted island. It made for amazing television, if not an amazing two weeks for the guy going through it as he, well… lost his mind.

Shane Powers on 'Survivor: Panama — Exile Island'. JEFFREY R STAAB/CBS

We were reminded of all this when it was announced recently that Shane had started up a new coffee company called Jolene with longtime friend and Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis. "We've been friends for 30 years and we have coffee every Thursday, no matter what," Shane tells * *of what inspired the duo to start a business. "We've literally enjoyed a lifetime of friendship over coffee. It's super authentic and organic to who we are as friends."

It took the buddies five years to get the coffee in the can as they searched for the perfect shelf-stable taste while also lining up investors. Once Live Nation came aboard as an equity partner, it was go time. "We're off and running, man," Shane says. "And we're having a blast. "

And *we* thought it would be a blast to revisit the last time Shane had to give up his favorite beverage to go play *Survivor*. What does the former contestant — who ended up in fifth place, lasting 33 days — recall about his epic televised withdrawal? We cracked open a can of Jolene and asked him.

Shane Powers and Anthony Kiedis.

**: Okay, how many cups of coffee and packs of cigarettes were you going through the day before *Survivor: Panama* began?**

**SHANE POWERS:** I was smoking heavily — three packs a day — and drinking probably 20 to 30 cups of coffee a day. And it was all day long. I was 34 and I was immortal. And I also thought I was the smartest guy in the room. And I was reasonably athletic and there was no doubt in my mind I was gonna win. Like, there was no doubt. And then the game happens, and the elements happen. And that thing happens that is just so beautiful about old school *Survivor* where it breaks you down, and now all of the negatives of Shane are out and about.

Everybody complains about their editing. My editing was great. They really got a pretty good full picture of who that guy is. Like, charming as s--- but out of his mind. And loyal, but, like, nuts. And misogynist and crazy. It was all of it. It was such a beautiful, fun experience. I have chased trying to get on that thing again for 20 years and it's just never worked out.

There were a couple times it didn't work out for me because it was important for me to be there for my son and coach football. And there was a time that I did show up actually, but I was so drunk and I was lying to everybody saying, "I'm not drunk." And I peed like a .28 to the physical and took the psych test drunk with Dr. Liza. And then the fans spoke on *Second Chance* and they said they didn't want to see me anymore. And that was the end of it.

It was a beautiful, beautiful experience. The going, the not going, the relationships, my insanity and my behavior with Jeff [Probst] at times, the wonderful relationship I have with Lynne Spillman, Rob Cesternino, and you — it's always been just really lovely.

Shane Powers considered using 'Survivor' cocaine before challenges

Cirie Fields says 'Survivor 50' is her 'swan song' (exclusive)

**Did your friends advise you or did you think about weaning yourself off the coffee and cigarettes at all, or was that never a consideration?**

Well, I just don't think you're thinking that far ahead. First of all, my friends weren't real reality TV guys, right? They were like, "Why are you doing this?" And I was like, "I'm doing it because it looks insane. It looks impossible. They're giving away a million dollars!" I like the concept of suffering. I think people learn a lot about themselves. And also, I'm gonna win this thing. And so again, dude, it was more immortality. I had never really been humbled on a cellular level. That was really the thing that was so great about that time for me is that I was really humbled by that place, man.

**What hit you harder: the caffeine or the nicotine withdrawal?**

I think the nicotine withdrawal. To be honest, I probably had never been off both ever, so I don't know which one was which. I do know that they were a little worried that I was gonna do something dangerous, so at one point they had the doctor come in and look at me and they basically said, "Here's what's going on with this guy. He is withdrawing from nicotine. The nicotine is stuck to the fatty cells of his brain."

The one thing you need to come off of nicotine is water. We hadn't had any water for two and a half days, so I was having hallucinations and it was a very strange time. I mean, it was very, very difficult. It's difficult enough as it is, and I made it all that much more difficult on myself by doing what I did. But again, when you're young, you just think you're immortal.

Shane Powers on 'Survivor: Panama — Exile Island'.

BILL INOSHITA/CBS

**Beyond the hallucinations, were you having headaches? Were you having physical pains?**

It was super headaches, and super cloudy. There was no impulse control. I get less reactive as the season wears on. It was that first 10 to 12 days where I'm just this reactive machine, right? I have no impulse control. There's no edit button, which was great for the show and was super interesting. It's me without impulse control, right? Men learn to have defense systems and learn to act appropriately. And that keeps people from acting like animals.

But at that moment, I was broken down so hard and there were so many different facets — the lack of sleep, the freezing, the raining for 12 days, the no food 'til day 12, the no water for three days. This is when we thought if we drank the water, we'd get sick and die. There was a lot going on, man. And it's the experience that no one will ever understand unless you've gone and done it. That's what makes it so beautiful.

Shane Powers on 'Survivor: Panama — Exile Island'.

BILL INOSHITA/CBS

**What did you have first after being voted out: a smoke or a coffee?**

I walked out [of Tribal] and everybody has a handler. And I had Lauren Brock, who's just gone on to have this amazing career. She was just so incredibly beautiful and maternal with me. When I walked [out of Tribal Council], she had a pack of cigarettes waiting there. And I was like, "You are the best."

And I got a pack of cigarettes and then there was a production guy was like, "Oh, you can't smoke until we do your final words." And I was like, "No, bro. No, no, no. Hold on a second. I've taken back my power here. I'm out of the game. I can't win the money. I'm gonna smoke my cigarette and then I'll do the final words. We're done with you being the boss of me." Which at the time, again, was me trying to take back control so that I could feel, you know, safe.

**And then when did you get the coffee?**

I got the coffee pretty quickly, immediately after. And there was just coffee flowing and cigarettes flowing the whole time. I didn't have a ton of time to be there. I think it was five days, and it was actually a really wonderful experience. Because you get the full thing, right? I know there's people that have won the show, but there's a lot that goes on life experience-wise with Ponderosa. All of the great cool things that have ever happened in my life have happened over coffee.

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