Joe Manganiello almost became a contestant on “Survivor” before he became famous

Joe Manganiello is not only a werewolf. He is also a survivor.

The 47-year-old actor recently announced that he was incredibly close to becoming a contestant on CBS’ Survivors before he found success as an actor. Manganiello loved the reality show from the moment it premiered in 2000, even hosting weekly viewing parties with his West Hollywood roommates.

“A few years later, I was at a house party and met someone who worked for CBS casting and they said, ‘You would be great for Survivors,’ he said Men’s Journal in a new cover story. “I said, ‘Oh my God, I can win!’ I went through my whole strategy and they said, ‘Would you do a tape? But you can’t be an actor.’ I had no agent, no manager. I was shoveling sand and gravel.”

At the time, Manganiello was earning his rent by working for a masonry company, so he decided to use this as a starting point for his audition video and called himself Joe, the construction worker from Pittsburgh. He also emphasized his roots as a descendant of a survivor of the Armenian genocide. “I am a survivor,” he said. “I have survivor genes in my blood.”

But Manganiello was metaphorically voted off the island before he even got there. Producers were ready to cast him in the reality show when a pilot he had shot the year before was optioned for the series. His involvement with Tori Spellings So notorious on VH1 made him ineligible for survivors.

Although he never made it onto the show, he still remembers his plan for success. “I wanted to have surgery to correct my eyes,” he recalls. “Because I wear contact lenses, although I found out that you can get contact lens solution for that.”

He continued, “And I met a yogi whose specialty was weaning people off solid food,” he continued. “The philosophy is that you can eat a leaf and it has more nutrients than a whole large pepperoni pizza. I wanted to wean myself off solid food, so I wasn’t worried about energy. And then, as a big, athletic guy, you’re going to help win all the challenges for your tribe. But at the merge, you’re going to have to win immunity, because I’m a target.”

Sign up for Weekly entertainmentfree daily newsletter for breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars and more.

Survivors has since changed its guidelines on whether or not actors or well-known personalities can appear, from NFL players to baseball stars to The White Lotus Creator Mike White competed in previous seasons. Comedian, podcaster and political speechwriter Jon Lovett will join the cast for the upcoming 47th season.

Maybe it’s time for Joe to re-evaluate his strategy and dig out the audition tape from its hiding place.