Yul Kwon won a million bucks on "Survivor: Cook Islands" back in 2006. And completely lost his taste for a particular food item.

"The one thing I still can't eat is coconuts," he said. "That's all we ate."

The depravation on "Survivor" is not faked. Kwon has shown no interest in returning to the show for any of the subsequent seasons because he has no interest in going through the trials and tribulations again.

He's grateful to "Survivor," not only for giving him a million bucks, but for opening up new possibilities. He was a correspondent for CNN's "Uncovering America" series, looking at issues affecting the Asian-American community. His 2009 marriage was televised on the TV Guide Network. And he's the host of the upcoming PBS series "America Revealed."

But he recalls his time on "Survivor" as "the dark days back on that island."

"Yeah, it sucked," Kwon said. "There's no food. It was tough.

"You lose about 20 or 30 pounds on the show. You come back and you just gorge yourself. I went to Costco every single day. I was eating all the free samples and just stocking up on food. And I gained all the weight back in about a month and then went overboard and gained another 30 pounds, which took me another year to work off."

KOREAN HOT DOGS: Kwon admits he's not much help in the kitchen, "but I've always really appreciated Korean food and the connection it brings to my culture."

He was born in New York to parents who immigrated from South Korea. His mother is a good cook, but she's been known to improvise.

"One of my favorite dishes growing up was something called Kim Pop, which is like the Korean version of sushi rolls," Kwon said. "But instead of using raw fish, my mom always used hot dog meat. So I grew up thinking hot dogs came from Korea.

"And the first time I saw a friend of mine eating a hot dog in a bun, I was like, 'What are you doing? That's not how you eat a hot dog. Can I have a bite?'"