Merissa Horvath

**Merissa Aledia Horvath** is the former host of the second generation of *Simvivor*. A figurehead for the franchise, Merissa is a former competitor on the first generation of *Simvivor*, where she was the only three-time winner. Following her appearance on its final season, Merissa was turned into an Alien, therefore becoming immortal.

## Biography

Merissa was born in the United States of America on Planet Earth, well before modern-day Sims existed in their new universe. Prior to competing on *Simvivor*, Merissa worked in marketing, having received a Bachelor's degree from university. She originally competed on *Simvivor: China*, where she was the season's eventual winner. On her return appearance to *Simvivor: Caramoan*, Merissa once again won the season, a feat that had never been seen before. After her double wins, Merissa played *Simvivor* twice more, before the penultimate season titled *Greatest of All Time* sought to bring back former legends of the game in one last battle. Merissa soon became the franchise's only three-time winner.

Due to her fame from *Simvivor*, Merissa retired from her career in order to focus on family life. She had not married and had no children, but she focused on caring for her elderly parents rather than putting them into a senior living facility. Before long, Merissa was abducted at some point by Alien Sims when they made their way to Planet Earth.

Beyond this, very little is known between the period in Merissa's life where she became "Alienized" and when she was defrosted from her cryogenic slumber. Adjusting to new life on Lunar Lakes, Merissa soon returned to university, where she received a diploma in Communications. Merissa worked briefly in the Social Media career track before marrying her husband, Gus. She then engaged in a brief career in the Fame field, but found permanent work with television hosting gigs and made multiple appearance on reality television game shows. Due to Merissa's prominent memories of her days in *Simvivor*, she pitched the idea to bring the television show back to life to television executives. *Simvivor* was greenlit not long after this, with production beginning just days later.

## Hosting Simvivor

After *Simvivor* received funding to begin production of its show, Merissa was promoted to Executive Producer for the series and was given an undisclosed sum to outsource work hunting down future locations. Fellow producers decided to film the inaugural season of the new generation of *Simvivor* locally in Lunar Lakes.

Beginning with *Simvivor: Lunar Lakes*, Merissa has continued to be the host of *Simvivor*, also filling in roles in both casting and design. She remained as the host during a period of time where she was appearing on television shows, including a competitive performance on the third season of Star Quality.

Merissa's longevity as the host of the network's flagship show seemed inevitable, but during the 17th season's airing, Merissa found herself in the middle of controversy due to "unprofessional" remarks to certain castaways. Eventual runner-up Winston Doolittle claimed that Merissa had made numerous derogatory remarks towards the cast of the season, including himself. At the Final Tribal Council for *Blood vs. Water*, a segment aired where Merissa implied that she felt Winston shouldn't win the season after all. Castaways from the season claimed that Merissa and Winston argued over her excessive commentary that degraded Winston's game, but this did not make the air.

Simvivor Network later issued a press statement that said that Merissa's conduct was not tolerated and she was already privately reprimanded, but due to the severity of the backlash, she was later fired from her role as executive producer of the show, effective after the conclusion of Simvivor's 18th season.

After the end of *Simvivor: Into the Future*, dozens of castaways and production members signed a petition to have Merissa fired from the show entirely.*Into the Future* castaway Ginny Tiraboschi leaked to their blog partially redacted documents that showed Merissa had been reprimanded a total of eighteen times during her tenure as the show's host, usually for unprofessionalism and violation of contract, as well as two reports of production influence unrelated to the Winston Doolittle scandal. Ginny later reported to her blog that Merissa's contract as host was not renewed beyond the 20th season, suggesting that she may no longer host *Simvivor*.

During the airing of *Simvivor: Heroes vs. Villains*, Merissa made a public apology for her conduct over the past decade and stated that she was permanently stepping away from her role as host after *Heroes vs. Villains* to "focus on family". She was not present at that season's Reunion Show, hosted by former castaway Kat Indie.

## I Love Merissa

After bombshell news dropped that Merissa and her husband Augustus were seeking divorce, she was contacted to appear in a dating show. It was quickly greenlit due to her celebrity status, being titled "I Love Merissa". The concept was that Merissa would be tasked with meeting sixteen eligible suitors, all competing for her love. In the end, Merissa could either select one of the final two suitors to marry or she could take a §100,000 cash prize and leave both men at the altar. However, either suitor has the option to split or steal the §100,000 prize and leave Merissa at the altar.

During the final episode of *I Love Merissa*, Merissa chose 39-year old architect Kieran Schrier to be the winner. He decided to stay with her, forgoing the §100,000 cash prize. At the reunion special for the season, the two announced that they had split up a week prior.

## Personal Life

* Merissa was previously married to her longtime partner, Augustus "Gus" Perseus. Gus has two children from a previous relationship, whom Merissa later adopted as her own. However, the two later divorced due to "irreconcilable differences". Merissa noted that the two remain close friends in order to co-parent their children.
* Outside of her hosting duties, Merissa indicates that she is interested in nectar-making, playing the piano, and building her martial arts skill.
* Years after *I Love Merissa*, Merissa announced that she was dating *Simvivor: Twikkii Island* alum Lincoln Bravado. The two got engaged in early 3009, with Merissa revealing during promotional interviews for *Simvivor: Heroes vs. Villains* that they were expecting their first child together.

## Trivia

* Merissa is the first representative of the first generation of *Simvivor* to make an appearance within the second generation.