Survivor plunged into crisis: Explosive claims about cocaine on-set to keep contestants ‘calm’ and horror accident that chopped off winner’s leg
A Survivor Greece winner who lost a leg in a gruesome spearfishing accident claims TV bosses doled out cocaine to calm the nerves of shaken castaways so they could carry on filming, a new lawsuits claims.
Stavros Floros, 22, was diving for his dinner at a secluded resort in the Dominican Republic when he was struck by a passing tourist boat on May 11, according to the filing obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail.
The propeller severed one leg and badly damaged the other but Floros miraculously survived after a tourniquet was applied to his mangled limbs.
Floros is now suing multiple media companies involved in the production of Survivor Greece season 13 for negligence and fraud in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.
His complaint, seeking a colossal $100 million in damages, claims producers failed to protect contestants from maritime hazards then tried to minimize their liability.
Remaining castaways were plied with cocaine and marijuana to calm them down as film crews continued to shoot scenes for the hit reality franchise, the suit alleges.
It also claims that an eyewitness was offered the second-place prize if he signed an ‘untrue’ statement about the timing of the grisly incident.
Floros spent 61 days in a Miami hospital afterwards undergoing multiple surgeries and having his left leg amputated above the knee.
Stavros Floros, 22, has filed a lawsuit against multiple media companies involved in the production of Survivor Greece season 13 after he lost a leg in a gruesome spearfishing accident mid-competition
Floros, who ultimately won the season despite the accident, alleged in the suit that he was only crowned winner purely because he endured the ‘catastrophic injury’
Floros, pictured prior to the saga, claims he was diving for his dinner at a secluded resort in the Dominican Republic while filming the show when he was struck by a passing tourist boat on May 11
He told the Daily Mail this week he was taking legal action because he wants ‘the world to know the truth’ about his ordeal.
‘I went onto a reality show and ended up with only one leg at 22 years old. I want people to know that they didn’t look after us,’ Floros said.
‘I hope this case inspires people going through any kind of struggle and makes them feel like they aren’t alone.’
The complaint names Acun Ilicali – a Turkish tycoon with an $11 million mansion in Miami Beach – and his various media companies, Acun Medya, Acun Medya Global, and Florida-based Acun LLC, as defendants.
Skai TV, the Greek network that financed and broadcast the show, is another defendant listed in the 61-page filing.
Floros, an accounting graduate who works for his family beekeeping business in Kavala, northern Greece, said he grew up watching Survivor and looked up to Ilicali, a prominent media figure and owner of English Premier League soccer team, Hull City.
He was one of 37 contestants competing for a €250,000 prize, equivalent to $290,000.
Castaways were expected to spend four to six months living in huts and being constantly filmed on a remote beach in Bayahibe, a Dominican resort renowned for its powder white sand and tropical diving sites.
Floros spent two months in a Miami hospital afterwards undergoing multiple surgeries and having his left leg amputated above the knee
Floros says the boat’s propeller badly damaged his right leg and severed his left, with the detached limb never being recovered from the water, the suit states
The complaint names Acun Ilicali, a prominent TV producer, as one of the defendants. Ilicali was pictured visiting Floros in Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital following the ordeal
Their phones and electronic devices were taken away which left them unable to summon help or protect themselves in the event of an emergency, according to the suit.
‘For the duration of filming, the Production controlled cast members’ movement, access to food and water, and physical safety,’ the complaint says.
‘Cast members, including Plaintiff, were given only minimal rationed food and limited drinking water, and were expected and required to supplement their sustenance by fishing and foraging as a core and mandatory element of the show’s premise and televised format.’
The suit says Floros’s team won a competition for a speargun and he entered the ocean with his fellow castaway Emmanouil Malliaros on the morning of May 11 to fish.
The pair were using a small inflatable dive marker and were roughly 100 yards from the shore when Malliaros spotted a boat or catamaran heading toward Floros without slowing or changing direction.
He yelled at his friend to get out of the way, the suit says.
‘Despite Plaintiff’s evasive movements, the offending vessel’s propellers struck both of Plaintiff’s legs.
‘The impact severed Plaintiff’s left leg completely – his left leg was never recovered from the water – and severely injured his right leg.’
In his complaint, which is seeking a colossal $100 million in damages, Floros alleged castaways were plied with cocaine and marijuana to calm them down post accident
The complaint says the boat continued without stopping until the 20 or so tourists aboard it demanded that the operator turn around.
‘Plaintiff was pulled onto the offending vessel, and Malliaros helped push him aboard from the water. A tourniquet applied by someone aboard the offending vessel is believed to have saved Plaintiff’s life.’
It took an hour and a half to transport Floros to a local clinic before he was medically evacuated to the US for surgery and critical care, the suit claims.
The accident is said to have happened in an area teeming with marine traffic and tour boats which would travel close to the shore so passengers could view the Survivor cast.
But producers allegedly ‘did not provide any safety personnel, safety boats, spotters, or other measures to warn approaching boats away from the area where cast members were fishing.’
The suit says another castaway was involved in an earlier near miss when a boat severed his dive flag in similar circumstances.
A 15-year-old girl was also struck and killed in the same area in February 2023, something the crew would likely have known about as Survivor Greece has been shooting there since 2018, according to the complaint.
Yet filming did not stop after the incident, the suit alleges.
Producers dispatched representatives to the Dominican Republic to ‘control/shape the narrative,’ according to the suit.
‘The Production remained on location, continued to actively film and manage the show, and continued to exercise the same control over the remaining cast members that it had exercised before the incident,’ it says.
Acun Ilicali, a Turkish tycoon with an $11 million mansion in Miami Beach, is the owner of English Premier League soccer team, Hull City
Series 13 was filmed on a remote beach in Bayahibe (pictured) – a Dominican resort renowned for its powder white sand and tropical diving sites
‘In the period after the incident, while the Production was still actively operating the show, the Production supplied and provided remaining cast members with cocaine and marijuana, apparently to help calm and settle the cast following Plaintiff’s injury,’ the complaint adds.
Floros was named the season’s winner in the wake of the accident ‘based solely upon Plaintiff suffering catastrophic injury during the Defendant’s production of the show,’ the suit says.
His lawsuit includes photos of Ilicali – a broadcaster, entrepreneur and founder of Acun Medya – visiting him in Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital following the ordeal.
Malliaros was awarded second place, according to the suit, but only after he was allegedly asked to sign a document stating the competition had ended on May 10 – the day before the accident.
‘Malliaros refused to sign because the statement was untrue, and Malliaros instead required any agreement to state accurately that the competition remained ongoing at the time of the incident,’ the filing says.
This was part of an ‘unlawful’ scheme to shield Ilicali and the various companies involved in Survivor Greece from accountability for Floros’s injuries, the suit argues.
At the time, the production company AcunMedya issued a statement to ‘clarify’ the circumstances surrounding the incident.
‘Following our initial announcement regarding the serious accident involving a Survivor contestant in the Dominican Republic, and out of a sense of responsibility toward the public and, above all, toward the contestant himself, we consider it necessary to clarify the exact circumstances under which the incident occurred,’ the statement read.
‘According to the information available so far, the accident appears to have happened when a tourist boat injured the contestant while he was spearfishing outside the competitive process of the reality show.
‘From the very first moment, there was an immediate response to provide assistance and safely transport the injured contestant, while the competent port authorities are investigating the causes of the incident in order to fully determine the circumstances.’
Floros is suing for conspiracy to commit fraud and maritime negligence under the Jones Act, which gives legal protection to seamen injured while working.
Floros is represented by Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, one of the country’s top maritime law firms.
‘This is an incredible survivor story, both literally and figuratively,’ attorney Michael Winkleman told the Daily Mail.
‘We’re honored to represent Stavros in this fight and will not rest until we’re able to achieve full justice for him under the law.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to production company ACYNMEDYA and Skai TV about the lawsuit.
