Survivor Castaway Jake O'Kane Gets Emotional Recalling Fight to Overcome Binge-Eating: 'I Can Do Better'

“I didn’t want to admit it — I ignored it, I hid it,” the Season 45 contestant says in a clip from this week’s episode

Survived competitor Jake O’Kane opens up about one of his biggest fights.

In PEOPLE’s exclusive look at this week’s episode, the 26-year-old Boston attorney gets emotional as he reveals that he had a “serious binge eating problem” — and how he worked to overcome it.

“When I was overweight, I didn’t feel very well. I had a serious problem with overeating,” says O’Kane. “I know there are a lot of people who do this, but they just don’t talk about it and try to ignore their problems. But you have to face them.”

“I knew what I was doing,” adds the Season 45 contestant. “I didn’t want to admit it — I ignored it, I hid it.”

Jake O’Kane pictured in ‘Survivor’.

CBS

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O’Kane then talks about what drove him to make the drastic change to stop overeating.

“The day everything, in a way, turned around for me… I’m eating in my car in front of my parents’ house, my whole family is inside. My mother comes out and says, ‘Jake, you don’t need to be embarrassed about what you’re doing. I love you no matter what,’ he continues.

“And I just said to myself, ‘I don’t like this. I can do better. My life was not meant to be like this. I can overcome this.’ And I did,” O’Kane recalls before breaking down in tears.

Jake O’Kane in ‘Survivor’.

CBS

Season 45 of Survived it started on September 27. The show returned to its familiar location in Fiji, where the previous four seasons were filmed, with longer 90-minute episodes this year. In this week’s episode, “I Don’t Want to Be a Worm,” starving castaways dream of their favorite food from home. One person from each tribe then embarks on a journey where each is forced to make a choice between food and potential advantage.

Survived Flashback: Take a look back at some of the show’s most memorable moments

Earlier this season, CBS released a sneak peek of the contestants competing in new challenges while Taylor Swift’s song “Mastermind” was fittingly played. In the clip, the contestants are seen walking along the beach, jumping into the water and lighting a fire for the challenge before joining their new camps.

“I watched every season Survived,” said one contestant in a voiceover, while another remarked, “This is strategic excellence on display.”

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Survived airs Wednesdays at 8pm ET/PT on CBS and is available to stream on Paramount+.

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