'Survivor' winner Luciano Plazibat reacts to the gays flooding his DMs

Yahoo

16-06-2025

Between winning Survivor Croatia and going viral with a video of himself singing and dancing to "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga, this has been a very special Pride Month for Luciano Plazibat. Now, the professional dancer and reality TV heartthrob is spilling some tea about his run on the show, his connection with Lady Gaga, and the response he's been getting from the gays since that viral video.
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"I have to admit that being on Survivor Croatia was never on my wish list, let alone imagining that I could win," Plazibat tells Out. "I always thought Survivor was more for the 'manly men,' for lack of a better word. Guys who excel at sports. And I'm a dancer. This could also be my upbringing talking, but [I thought] a dancer is for Dancing With the Stars, and athletic men go to Survivor."
He adds, "I found that being a dancer definitely helped in the physical challenges on the show, so I changed my own mind and proved to myself that I'm capable of different things — even if I didn't necessarily plan for them. Survivor is hard; it was one of the most challenging experiences of my life. But after being on the show, I feel that not much else will be harder than that."
Though Plazibat is still recovering from competing on (and winning) Survivor Croatia, the 26-year-old spent the weekend celebrating Zagreb Pride, has his 27th birthday coming up in a week — Monday, June 23 — and wants to attend Tomorrowland this year.
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"We're the best of friends, but she doesn't know it yet," Plazibat jokes when asked about Mother Monster. "Just kidding!"
In reality, the Survivor winner was 10 years old when he first saw Gaga "coming out of that pool in the 'Poker Face' music video," adding: "I thought to myself, 'I need to have that mask, but also those bangs.' And the rest is history; I was a fan ever since."
Plazibat says that being a Gaga fan has "kept me going as a dancer" over the years. "I'm still working towards one day performing [with her] and being on stage myself," he explains. "Name any one of her songs and I can dance it out right now."
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And yet, that creative connection with Gaga actually took an even more personal turn while Plazibat competed on Survivor Croatia.
"In week two, some of the contestants made fun of me for being her fan. They even mentioned it as one of the reasons why I should be kicked out… half-jokingly, probably," he recalls. "But, to me, it became like a symbol of staying on Survivor. The longer I stayed, the more I would sing and dance."
Plazibat's also proud to reveal that loving Lady Gaga is a family affair. "After two months of being on the show, we received video messages from our families, and my father quoted Lady Gaga in his video message," the Survivor Croatia star notes. "He wanted to motivate me, and send his support, and he knew exactly what to do."
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Meet Plazibat family😂 #moreenergy #passion #family #fyp
The very online gays were introduced to Plazibat through his viral video of "Abracadabra," which was filmed after he had already won Survivor. The Croatian series — airing on Nova TV since 2022 — shared that video on its official Instagram page, which took Plazibat by surprise.
"That video was actually filmed before my final interview on the TV studio. We were waiting for the interview to start," he explains. "Me being me, I felt like the room needed some entertainment; a little bit of 'Abracadabra.'"
As far as Plazibat knew, he was just trying to entertain himself and the production crew while the equipment was set up for his final interview. Though he was mic'd and knew the cameras were on, he didn't realize that the footage of him singing and dancing "Abracadabra" before his final interview would ever be used.
"It was a surprise to me to when the channel decided to post that," he says, adding that he also didn't expect that the video would go so viral. "I was very surprised, but also very happy, that the Little Monster community picked up on it."
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"Picked up on it" is an understatement: The video has gotten millions of views, and has reached way more people than just Little Monsters. The official Instagram page for Survivor Croatia first shared Plazibat's "Abracadabra" video on Saturday, May 24. Overall, the video has already reached 1.2 million views.
On Wednesday, May 28 — just four days later — Plazibat's video was re-shared on X/Twitter and got a new wave of very thirsty (and very queer!) responses.
"A contestant on Survivor sang Abracadabra," X/Twitter user @nichblink wrote along with the video, which can be seen below. This clip alone has reached 4.8 million views as of this writing — including 41,000 likes, 8,000 bookmarks, and 3,300 re-shares.
Popular responses to the viral X/Twitter video include:
"A big ass Chromatica tattoo." — @nichblink"The clap being precisely on beat is so satisfying." — @RandomSisco"Even the bulge was hyped af." — @volevonasceref"He can abracadabra his d*ck in my h*le." — @veterangagastan"Oh he has the choreo DOWN!! He even paused for the slayage at the end." — @MztrGaga"His bulge [face exhaling]." — @everardojnrr"I need him to abra my cadabra." — @cuutehoney"I see some magic I want to do a trick on." — @LosTexasDiablo
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Plazibat has accumulated 17 million likes and 348,700 followers on TikTok (@lucianoplazibat), 117,000 followers on Instagram (@lucianoplazibat), and 5,000 followers on X/Twitter (@PlazibatLuciano) as of this writing.
Specifically, he's gained 9,500 followers on Instagram and 7,000 followers on TikTok since that viral "Abracadabra" video (via Social Blade).
When asked about the reception of the video, Plazibat reveals that quite a few gays have been sliding into his DMs. "But who doesn't enjoy a little bit of flirting in the DMs? Or, in this case, a lot of flirting in the DMs."
Wildest response to the video so far? "A certain adult movie actor re-posted my video on his story and wrote, 'Marry me.' And that's nice, right? Because usually it's the other way around."
And, if anyone's curious, Plazibat confirms during this Out interview that he is indeed gay and single.
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Even when facing no-so-positive reactions to the viral video, Plazibat remains unbothered — and even friendly.
"I figured out why Luciano Plazibat is irritating to me, and the sad truth is because the guy is actually happy, and it radiates from him. I'm just jealous and projecting," X user @trjkvcnkl wrote on Friday, May 30.
Plazibat reacted to that X post, writing: "Hahahahaha, Nikola, let's grab some coffee."
So, what's next for the Survivor Croatia winner? "Right now I'm taking some time off for the summer," he says. "I have some offers and plans for future projects in the fall, but nothing confirmed yet."
"But, whatever I do, I'll see to it that it's always something creative and entertaining for me and for others. Everyone needs a little bit of 'Abracadabra' right now," Plazibat says.
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Ne znam mogu li bit luđi od ovoga… GLEDAMO SE USKORO!! Na mom instagramu imate više o ovome! Ali zasada dijelim samo ovo!! SURVIVOR 2025 !!! IM BACK 🔥🕷️♥️😂💪🏼 #survivor2025 #survivor #survivorbalkan #survivorhrvatska #survivorserbia