Did you know that she was raised in a hippie commune?
BY YASMIN VINCE, IMAGE VIA INSTAGRAM (@PSHALLOW)
They say laughter is the key to love. If that’s true, whoever dates Mae Martin has cracked the code. The British-Canadian comedian has been making us kick our feet with laughter for years via their stand-up comedy, sketch shows and incredibly poignant semi-autobiographical TV shows. The Feel Good writer and star even completed the feat of all feats by winning series 15 of the hit Channel 4 comedy game show Taskmaster.
So who is the person lucky enough to date Martin? On New Year’s Eve 2023, that person was revealed to be American television personality Parvati Shallow. The pair publicly announced their relationship via Shallow’s Instagram with pictures of them kissing in a photobooth and a caption that read: “We’re here. We’re queer. Happy New Year.”
Here is everything you need to know about Parvati Shallow…
She was raised in a hippie commune
In her exit interview with IGN TV following her first Survivor season, Shallow revealed that her first name, Parvati, was the result of an unusual upbringing.
“It’s Hindu,” she explained. “I was raised in a commune in Florida and it was a hippie community.” She added that all her friends from her childhood had Indian names as a result of the commune’s religion.
She’s competed on four seasons of Survivor
Shallow first appeared on TV in 2006 as a contestant on Survivor: Cook Islands, the 13th season of the American reality show. She placed sixth and earned the moniker Black Widow for her strategically flirty gameplay.
While her craftiness was the reason she was eventually voted off, it was also the reason she was invited back to the show two years later. Shallow not only took part in Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs Favourites but won the $1 million cash prize. She did this by uniting her fellow female contestants into the Black Widow Brigade Alliance.
She appeared on two more seasons of the show and later went on to appear in another reality competition show, The Traitors, in 2023. As a traitor on the show, Shallow had to be incredibly strategic and the Black Widow nickname returned. In 2010, she was one of the first five people to be inducted into the Survivor Hall Of Fame.
She donated some of her Survivor winnings to a boxing charity
Shallow has been boxing competitively since 2004. After winning $1 million on Survivor, she donated $50,000 to Knockout For Girls, a charity that funds boxing lessons for underprivileged girls.
With the rest of the money, she travelled to Peru. Outside of her TV appearances, she teaches yoga and works as a life coach. One of her classes is called How Villains Are Made, which focuses on personal empowerment. To add another feather to her cap, she also co-wrote a children’s book named Om The Otter.
She’s divorced and has a daughter
In 2017, Shallow married fellow Survivor alum, John Fincher, who she had been dating for three years. A year later, they had a daughter named Ama.
However, in August 2021, Shallow filed for divorce. During the proceedings, she obtained a temporary domestic violence restraining order against Fincher. According to US Weekly, she also asked that he attend anger management classes, but only the restraining order was required by the judge.
She came out via Instagram
Shallow’s New Year’s post about her relationship with Mae Martin also served as her own public announcement that she was queer.
Since then, she has regularly posted about her love for her partner. This included a selfie of Shallow kissing Martin’s cheek for Trans Day of Visibility, with the caption: “I am so proud to love this person.”
To celebrate six months together, Shallow posted another group of photo booth pictures with the words: “Still here. Still queer.”
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