'Survivor' Alum Erik Huffman Arrested for Domestic Violence
His wife alleges he assaulted her during an altercation.
Erik Huffman, best known as a contestant on Survivor, has been charged with domestic violence after the police allege that he assaulted his former co-star and now wife, Jaime Dugan.
A police report, which TMZ obtained, indicated that cops were called to the scene of a disturbance at a convenience store in Spartanburg, South Carolina, back in January and were approached by Huffman, who told them he was looking for his spouse.
Huffman, according to the police, admitted to them that he was worried about Dugan after she had left in their car after they had gotten into an argument over allegations of cheating, specifically that she had accused him of having an affair. In the report, officials said Huffman admitted they fought over his phone. Huffman told authorities that she was threatening to harm herself, and he just wanted to ensure that she was safe.
The police eventually caught up with Dugan, however, and she gave them an entirely different version of events, one claiming Huffman was physically assaulting her.
As per police reports, she slammed Huffman for lying about wanting to harm herself and said it was blatantly false. Dugan then proceeded to tell officers that she had located his burner phone while they were in the car, but that he had twisted it out of her hand and had left her with a few small cuts on her hand and claimed he had broken her middle fingernail as well.
She told police she drove away because she felt unsafe while Huffman went into the store. Law enforcement later determined that Huffman was the primary aggressor in the altercation, and as a result, he was arrested by law enforcement and committed to jail after he was charged with third-degree domestic violence.
In 2007, Dugan and Huffman met while filming Survivor: China and fell in love. After filming the show, they decided to try out a long-distance relationship for two years while Huffman finished his college education. They got married in 2009 and share a son named Harper.
The Sway, a local blog, spoke with Dugan later in 2020 about her relationship with Huffman. "It's crazy because our first conversation is recorded. We spoke for the very first time on national television," Dugan said. But it wasn't a typical meet-cute. "The hardest part was definitely the starvation. You're so gross and you smell. My hair fell out and my eyes sunk in. I lost, like, 21 pounds in 20 days, and I think Erik lost like 30 pounds."
Dugan alluded to a strong relationship that developed after going through those circumstances together. "We were automatically connected because we grew up in the same town. We felt at peace with each other. I'd always joke with him, 'If you screw me over, I'm going to tell your mom,'" she added.
The possibility of a legal battle was hinted at on March 7, 2024, when a Redditor posted, "Rewatched China during the pandemic and was really rooting for Jaime and Erik and their relationship. I looked them up after finishing the season and found out that they were married and she's a lifestyle/home influencer on Instagram, so I began following her page. She has just shared that Erik is going on trial for domestic violence against her and/or her son. Super sad and shocking."