Sherri Papini’s Alleged Ex Shauhin Davari Joins Survivor 48 Cast

Shauhin Davari, who allegedly dated Sherri Papini before her kidnapping hoax, is now a cast member on Survivor.

Davari, 38, is one of the season 48 contestants, with the full cast list being announced by CBS on Wednesday, January 29. He is best known for past comments about dating Papini, 42, before she made headlines for a kidnapping hoax. Papini disappeared on November 2, 2016 after going for a jog in her California neighborhood and resurfaced 22 days later, which is when she claimed she had been beaten and branded by captors.

As new details emerged following her return, Papini was ultimately arrested in 2022 for orchestrating her abduction. She pleaded guilty to a federal judge later that year and was sentenced to 18 months in jail for committing mail fraud and lying to a federal officer about being kidnapped.

“[I am] so sorry for the pain I’ve caused my family, my friends, all the good people who needlessly suffered because of my story and those who worked so hard to try to help me,” Papini said in a statement at the time about how “deeply ashamed” she was of her actions. “I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done.”

Papini was also ordered to pay more than $300,000 in restitution for losses incurred by the California Victim Compensation Board, the Social Security Administration, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She was released from prison in August 2023.

Davari, for his part, called Papini a “compulsive liar” while discussing their alleged romance in 2022. (Papini didn’t address his comments at the time.)

“I was like, there’s no way [she was kidnapped]. She’s fine. I promise you, she’s fine. There’s just no chance that she got kidnapped,” he told Inside Edition. “She would not talk to you for three or four days, and then all of a sudden there’d be some fantastical story about what happened.”

Davari spoke out to shut down rumors he was the ex-boyfriend Papini planned the hoax with, who turned out to be James Reyes. The case recently became a topic of conversation again when Hulu released Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini in June 2024.

Sherri’s now-ex-husband Keith Papini and several of her family members and loved ones participated in the docuseries. Law enforcement also broke down how they ultimately pieced together the clues that pointed to a kidnapping hoax.

One month after Perfect Wife started streaming, Investigation Discovery announced an upcoming docuseries in which Sherri will speak out for the first time about the controversy. The show will debut in 2025.

“Sherri Papini drew worldwide attention when she went missing and then again, when she returned. While many perspectives have been told, there is one point of view that the world hasn’t heard and that is from Sherri herself,” President of ID Jason Sarlanis said in a statement in June 2024. “Investigation Discovery will present a new side of Sherri Papini’s case — told by her in her own words.”