'Survivor' Winner Nick Wilson Says Filing Kentucky Bill To Make Cousin Sex Legal Was 'A Mistake'

By Emily Richardson | TV | January 18, 2024 |

By Emily Richardson | TV | January 18, 2024 |

Back in the fall, my partner and I got super into watching old seasons of Survivor. Our favorite was Survivor 37: David vs. Goliath. That was the one where White Lotus creator Mike White came in second to public defender/good ol’ Southern boy, Nick Wilson. At the time, we liked Nick. But, after finishing the finale, we Googled him, and … um. Not anymore.

Since Nick’s 2018 win (and subsequent appearance on Survivor: Winners at War), he became a (Republican) member of the Kentucky House of Representatives. Then, last March, he voted in support of a bill that bans gender-affirming care for transgender children and the discussion of sexual orientation in schools. So, yeah. Nick is a transphobe. F*ck him.

On Tuesday, 33-year-old Nick made headlines again for his support of another bill: House Bill 269, which would amend the Kentucky law that makes sex with your first cousin illegal. The winner of Survivor 37: anti-trans rights, pro-banging your cousin!

Nick immediately received heavy criticism and mockery for supporting first-cousin incest. Less than a day later, he took to Facebook to clarify things: he never meant to file the bill like that, you guys! It was an honest mistake! In fact, Nick says he was trying to toughen penalties for perpetrators of incest. As of now, Kentucky law only makes incestuous sexual intercourse illegal; the purpose of Nick’s bill was to make “sexual contact” (inappropriate touching, groping, etc.) a felony as well.

Unfortunately, during the drafting process, someone (or their cousin) made an “inadvertent change,” which struck “first cousins” from the list of illegal relationships. Nick “failed” to catch the error, and never added it back in. Since his mistake made headlines, Nick has withdrawn the bill, re-added first cousin sex, and refiled. Here’s his post:

The comments on the post are a mix of sarcastic gifs, pics of George Michael and Maeby getting married on Arrested Development, jokes about Kentucky incest, people still not understanding the original point of the bill (“you think making incest legal is a top priority?”), and supporters telling Nick that “God will take care” of him during this tough time. Oh, and a bunch of people joking that Nick made this so-called “mistake” so he could have sex with his cousin. So, yeah. Your average, run-of-the-mill Facebook comment section. The tribe has spoken.