Man Who Claimed He Dated 'Compulsive Liar' Sherri Papini Now a Cast Member on Survivor 48

A man who says he dated Sherri Papini, describing her in a 2022 interview as a "compulsive liar," is now on the cast of Survivor 48.

Shauhin Davari, 38, was announced as one of the contestants on the show set to premiere next month, Entertainment Weekly reported. 

Davari, a debate professor from East Bay, Calif., told Inside Edition in 2022 that he previously dated Papini. In 2016, Papini became a household name after she disappeared for 22 days during a jog in Redding, Calif. She was found on the street with bruises on her face and had been "branded," her husband Keith Papini said at the time.

Papini claimed she had been kidnapped by two Hispanic women.

However, a years-long investigation found that she had faked her own kidnapping and was hiding in an ex-boyfriend's house; that man later told police that she had asked him to hit her. When he refused, she bruised herself.

While this revelation shocked many, including her own husband, Davari was not surprised, he told Inside Edition after her 2022 arrest.

“I was like, there’s no way. She’s fine. I promise you she’s fine. There’s just no chance that she got kidnapped,” he said.

He claimed Papini was a “compulsive liar” — and he had his suspicions when he first heard about her kidnapping that later turned out to be a hoax. 

"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 claimed.

At the time, Davari said he was speaking out to dispel rumors that he was the ex-boyfriend and Papini had colluded with him.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Now, on the set of Survivor 48, Davari is sharing that his whole life has been “weirdly prep” for the show. 

“Running a speech and debate team requires working with all different people. Motivating them toward a common goal, while working socially to put your team in position to succeed,” he said, per EW.

He also said one of his pet peeves is being interrupted: “I love the sound of my voice.”

He listed his inspirations as his students, his mother and brother.

Survivor 48 is set to premiere on Feb. 26, on CBS.