If you have been keeping up with Survivor 45, it is no surprise that sparks are flying between 26-year-old entrepreneur Dee Valladares and 26-year-old graduate student Austin Li Coon. Constantly flirting with one another around camp (and even going on a romantic reward with one another in episode 12), the duo is seriously as cute as can be!
Dee and Austin have been working with one another since the very beginning of their Survivor journeys, beginning on the Reba tribe, separating after the tribe swap, and then reuniting post-merge. Now, the pair has coasted their way to the final five alongside fellow Reba member Julie Alley, as well as Belo members Jake O’Kane and Katurah Topps.
Will one half of the showmance manage to take home the title of “Sole Survivor” and thw million-dollar cash prize on Wednesday (December 20) when the highly-anticipated finale rolls around? Only time will tell…
Nonetheless, with the question of who wins Survivor 45 aside, fans of the franchise have another burning question: Are showmancers Dee Valladares and Austin Li Coon dating in real life? Keep scrolling to see for yourself…
Unfortunately for Dee and Austin shippers, it looks like we will need to wait even longer to find out whether or not the two lovebirds are a couple post-filming. Neither Dee nor Austin has spoken out about the situation (likely due to the NDAs imposed by CBS), but viewers have taken to Reddit to create theories of their own, primarily based on some social media sleuthing.
When the question was asked via Reddit as to whether or not Dee and Austin are dating in real life, 26 viewers shared their thoughts, many of which believe that they are still together after Survivor 45 wrapped.
“I honestly feel like it’s been the worst kept secret this season. Jeff said during pre-season press that a relationship emerged after filming and there really aren’t any other possibilities. They also follow each other’s family members on social media and are constantly reposting/liking things that imply they are in a relationship.”
“I definitely think they are. He has a post up on his Insta, someone commented ‘great caption’ (I think it was someone from a past season) and Austin replied ‘I had a lil help with this one 😉’ and the person then responded ‘your secret is safe with me,’ and then Austin hearted the comment. I have WAY too much time on my hands…”
“Yes. People have posted some of their social media interactions on [Reddit] which allude that they’re together.”
While a majority of the commenters believe that Dee and Austin are a couple post-filming, some respondents had a much more pessimistic outlook.
“I’m not getting my hopes up. I think any social media/Twitter stuff could be genuine, but it could also just be them having fun and reminiscing on what happened on the show. They don’t live near each other and I don’t see any signs of them ever being in the same city at the same time aside from Survivor events. On social media, he’s in Chicago and she’s in Miami almost exclusively, and I feel like there would have been SOME fan sightings of them together or some Instagram posts/stories of her in Chicago or him in Florida at some point, which there haven’t been so who knows. I guess we’ll know by the end of next week.”
While there is no way to know for sure, do you think the love between Dee Valladares and Austin Li Coon will last a lifetime? With Frannie Marin and Matt Blankinship from Survivor 44 still going strong, our fingers are crossed (to say the least).
Nonetheless, to find out who takes home the title of “Sole Survivor” and the million-dollar cash prize at the end of Survivor 45, catch the highly-anticipated finale on December 20 at 8pm ET/PT on CBS, or the following day on Paramount Plus. Until then, it is safe to say that we will be keeping up with the two lovebirds on Instagram until further notice…