List of Survivor (American TV series) winners

Survivor is an American reality television show, based on the Swedish program, Expedition Robinson. Contestants are referred to as "castaways" and they compete against one another to become the "Sole Survivor" and win one million U.S. dollars. First airing in 2000, there currently have been a total of 44 seasons aired; the program itself has been filmed on five continents.

Contestants usually apply to be on the show, but the series has been known to recruit contestants for various seasons. For Survivor: Fiji, the producers had hoped to have a more racially diverse cast, and hoped that a more diverse group would apply after the success of the racially segregated Survivor: Cook Islands. When this did not happen, the producers turned to recruiting and in the end, only one contestant had actually submitted an application to be on the show. For the most part, contestants are virtually unknown prior to their Survivor appearance, but occasionally some well-known people are cast.

A total of 662 participants (castaways) have competed so far (as of Survivor 44) and across 44 seasons, the show has seen 42 people win the game as Sandra Diaz-Twine and Tony Vlachos have won it twice.

List of winners

All information is accurate as of the time the season was filmed, and thus may vary in cases of two-time winners.

	Name	Age	Hometown	Profession	Season	Date won
1	Richard Hatch	39	Newport, Rhode Island	Corporate trainer	Borneo	August 23, 2000
2	Tina Wesson	39	Knoxville, Tennessee	Personal nurse	The Australian Outback	December 3, 2000
3	Ethan Zohn	27	New York City, New York	Professional soccer player	Africa	August 18, 2001
4	Vecepia Towery	36	Hayward, California	Office manager	Marquesas	December 20, 2001
5	Brian Heidik	34	Quartz Hill, California	Used car salesman	Thailand	July 18, 2002
6	Jenna Morasca	21	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Swimsuit model	The Amazon	December 15, 2002
7	Sandra Diaz-Twine	29	Fort Lewis, Washington	Office assistant	Pearl Islands	July 31, 2003
8	Amber Brkich	25	Beaver, Pennsylvania	Administrative assistant	All-Stars	December 11, 2003
9	Chris Daugherty	33	South Vienna, Ohio	Highway construction worker	Vanuatu	August 5, 2004
10	Tom Westman	41	Sayville, New York	Firefighter	Palau	December 9, 2004
11	Danni Boatwright	30	Tonganoxie, Kansas	Sports radio host	Guatemala	August 4, 2005
12	Aras Baskauskas	24	Santa Monica, California	Yoga instructor	Panama	December 8, 2005
13	Yul Kwon	31	San Mateo, California	Management consultant	Cook Islands	August 3, 2006
14	Earl Cole	35	Santa Monica, California	Advertising executive	Fiji	December 7, 2006
15	Todd Herzog	22	Pleasant Grove, Utah	Flight attendant	China	August 2, 2007
16	Parvati Shallow	25	Los Angeles, California	Charity organizer	Micronesia	December 6, 2007
17	Bob Crowley	57	Portland, Maine	Physics teacher	Gabon	July 31, 2008
18	J.T. Thomas	24	Samson, Alabama	Cattle rancher	Tocantins	December 10, 2008
19	Natalie White	26	Van Buren, Arkansas	Pharmaceutical saleswoman	Samoa	July 19, 2009
20	Sandra Diaz-Twine	35	Fayetteville, North Carolina	Office assistant	Heroes vs. Villains	September 16, 2009
21	Fabio Birza	21	Venice, California	Student	Nicaragua	July 22, 2010
22	Rob Mariano	34	Pensacola, Florida	Construction worker	Redemption Island	September 23, 2010
23	Sophie Clarke	22	Willsboro, New York	Medical student	South Pacific	July 7, 2011
24	Kim Spradlin	29	San Antonio, Texas	Bridal shop owner	One World	September 8, 2011
25	Denise Stapley	41	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	Sex therapist	Philippines	April 25, 2012
26	John Cochran	25	Washington DC	Harvard law student	Caramoan	June 28, 2012
27	Tyson Apostol	34	Heber City, Utah	Former pro cyclist/Shop manager	Blood vs. Water	June 27, 2013
28	Tony Vlachos	39	Jersey City, New Jersey	Police officer	Cagayan	August 18, 2013
29	Natalie Anderson	28	Edgewater, New Jersey	Crossfit coach/Physical therapy student	San Juan del Sur	July 10, 2014
30	Mike Holloway	38	North Richland Hills, Texas	Oil driller	Worlds Apart	September 11, 2014
31	Jeremy Collins	37	Foxborough, Massachusetts	Firefighter	Cambodia	July 8, 2015
32	Michele Fitzgerald	24	Freehold, New Jersey	Bartender	Kaôh Rōng	May 7, 2015
33	Adam Klein	25	San Francisco, California	Homeless shelter manager	Millennials vs. Gen X	May 12, 2016
34	Sarah Lacina	32	Marion, Iowa	Police officer	Game Changers	July 14, 2016
35	Ben Driebergen	34	Boise, Idaho	Marine	Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers	May 11, 2017
36	Wendell Holland	33	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Furniture company owner	Ghost Island	July 13, 2017
37	Nick Wilson	27	Williamsburg, Kentucky	Public defender	David vs. Goliath	May 6, 2018
38	Chris Underwood	25	Greenville, South Carolina	District sales manager	Edge of Extinction	July 7, 2018
39	Tommy Sheehan	26	Long Beach, New York	4th grade teacher	Island of the Idols	April 28, 2019
40	Tony Vlachos	45	Allendale, New Jersey	Police officer	Winners at War	June 29, 2019
41	Erika Casupanan	32	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Communications manager	Season 41	May 10, 2021
42	Maryanne Oketch	24	Ajax, Ontario, Canada	Seminary student	Season 42	June 10, 2021
43	Mike Gabler	52	Meridian, Idaho	Heart valve specialist	Season 43	May 27, 2022

Seasons 1-8 (2000–2004)

Richard Hatch, Survivor: Borneo

Main articles: Survivor: Borneo and Richard Hatch (Survivor contestant)

Hatch was a corporate trainer and consultant for his own business, Tri-Whale Training, when he first competed on Survivor. In Borneo (2000), he came out as gay onscreen, notoriously went nude on numerous occasions, and used resources to catch edible sea creatures underwater. Moreover, he defended, formed, and led an alliance with his remaining Tagi tribe members who seemed unable to win individually. Strategically, after the two tribes were merged into one, to ensure the all-Tagi competition, the Tagi alliance voted out every remaining member of the original Pagong tribe.

As four players remained, Hatch, Rudy Boesch, and Sue Hawk plotted to vote Kelly Wiglesworth out, but the idea was abandoned when Wiglesworth won an Individual Immunity challenge called "Fallen Comrades", a trivia quiz mini-game about eliminated contestants. At a Tribal Council, Hatch and Hawk received two votes each. In a tiebreaker, Hatch and Hawk were disallowed to vote; Boesch and Wiglesworth voted Hawk out and kept Hatch for the time being.

As one of three remaining players, Hatch strategically dropped out of the season's final Immunity challenge, leaving Boesch and Wiglesworth to compete each other. Wiglesworth beat Boesch in the challenge, (as the only player eligible to vote) voted Boesch out, and kept Hatch, hoping to beat him in the finals. Fourth-placed Sue Hawk infamously called Kelly a "rat" and Richard a "snake" in the final Council. Hawk further said that, in Mother Nature, snake would eat a rat.

Against the runner-up Wiglesworth, Hatch earned the "Sole Survivor" title and won $1 million and a Pontiac Aztek SUV by the 4–3 jury vote of the final Tribal Council. Three jury members of the Tagi tribe origins voted for Hatch. The other three jury members of the Pagong tribe origins voted for Kelly. Hatch earned a Pagong member Greg Buis's vote, totaling to four votes, because Hatch's number was closer to Buis's than Wiglesworth's was. Television critic Joel Reese of the Daily Herald credited Buis's "pick-a-number" strategy for Hatch's win more than Hatch's gameplay itself.

Tina Wesson, Survivor: The Australian Outback

Main articles: Survivor: The Australian Outback and Tina Wesson

Wesson's first appearance on Survivor was in the show's second season, Survivor: The Australian Outback. As part of the Ogakor tribe, Wesson was not targeted in the beginning of the game, seeming to mesh well with all the contestants and was not seen as a physical liability. Although Wesson caused the Ogakor tribe to lose the second immunity challenge, her alliance with Amber Brkich, Colby Donaldson, Jerri Manthey and Mitchell Olson voted out Kel Gleason and Maralyn "Mad Dog" Hershey. The next time they lost immunity, Wesson managed to convince Donaldson and Keith Famie to force a tie between Olson (who was aligned with Brkich and Manthey) and Famie, whereby Mitchell would be voted off due to having a prior vote cast against him. Wesson and the four remaining Ogakors all made the merge.

With six contestants left, the main faction of the now Ogakor four joined Rodger Bingham and Elisabeth Filarski to vote out Manthey's old ally Brkich. Donaldson and Famie eliminated Bingham and then Filarski at the next two tribal councils. In the final immunity challenge, Donaldson continued his winning streak and ultimately chose to sit next to Wesson at the final Tribal Council instead of the more hated Famie. Wesson became the first female Sole Survivor in a 4–3 vote, in which she gained the votes of Famie, Filarski, Manthey, and Alicia Calloway. At the time, Wesson was aged 40; thus she held the title of oldest female Survivor winner for 11 years (23 seasons, ten female winners) until Denise Stapley, aged 41, won Survivor: Philippines in 2012.

Ethan Zohn, Survivor: Africa

Main articles: Survivor: Africa and Ethan Zohn

As part of the Boran tribe, Zohn did not become an immediate target in the game; he was seen as a strong player who could potentially help to win many tribal immunities. When his tribe lost two back-to-back immunity challenges, he joined the majority to vote off Diane Ogden and Jessie Camacho in episodes one and two. Over the next few days, Ethan would form a long-term alliance with Lex Van den Berghe and Tom Buchanan from his Boran tribe.

But a twist in episode five saw both of Zohn's alliance members and Kelly Goldstein switch from Boran to the Samburu tribe, leaving Ethan alone with fellow Boran members Kim Johnson and Clarence Black. Two of the new Boran members from the Samburu tribe, Teresa Cooper and Frank Garrison, had an old misunderstanding with another former Samburu member, Silas Gaither. So, by consensus, after Zohn's tribe lost the immunity challenge Gaither was voted out. Both of Zohn's alliance members Buchanan and Van den Berghe remained safe on the Samburu tribe, carrying all three into the merge.

Zohn's alliance soon began to control the game, with other members Johnson and Goldsmith. They immediately targeted Black due to his physical strength, among other events that had occurred earlier in the game, and he was voted out. But Van den Berghe had received another vote at tribal council, a vote he believed had come from Goldsmith, but which actually came from Cooper. This led Van den Berghe on a witch-hunt against Goldsmith which almost led to the demise of Zohn's alliance when Goldsmith possessed the power with the other four ex-Samburu members, Cooper, Garrison, Kim Powers and Brandon Quinton. But at the last minute, Quinton switched his vote, saving Van den Berghe, and voting out Goldsmith. But this move came back to haunt Quinton when Zohn's alliance saw him as untrustworthy and voted him out at the next tribal council.

Zohn, Van den Berghe, Buchanan, and Johnson regained control of the game, outing previous Samburu members Garrison, Powers and Cooper in the next three tribal councils, carrying them into the final four. At the next immunity challenge, Johnson, the next target to be voted out, won immunity, leading to the alliance having to resort to voting one of their own out, despite the fact that the challenge contained some controversy. At any rate, Zohn joined Van den Berghe and Johnson in voting out Buchanan, carrying them into the Final Three.

At the final three immunity challenge, older tribe member Johnson outlasted the two young, fit men to win immunity in an endurance challenge. With Johnson holding the power to choose who she would sit next to in the Final Two, she chose Zohn.

In the end, Zohn beat out Johnson in a 5–2 vote to become the Sole Survivor, gaining the votes of Goldsmith, Garrison, Cooper, Buchanan, and Van den Berghe.

Vecepia Towery, Survivor: Marquesas

Main articles: Survivor: Marquesas and Vecepia Towery

In 2001, Towery decided to apply for the reality TV competition show Survivor. Despite searching the Internet and contacting CBS' New York headquarters directly, she was unable to find information on how to apply, and quickly gave up her quest. About a month later, claiming to have received a sign from God, she resumed her search and found the application information that she needed at CBS' own website. Shortly thereafter, she was cast on Survivor: Marquesas, the series' fourth season.

Originally part of the Maraamu tribe, Towery was not a target at the beginning of the game. When her tribe lost the first immunity challenge, she did not join the rest of her tribe to vote out Peter Harkey, but—together with Sean Rector—voted for Sarah Jones, believing that she was not pulling her weight. When Maraamu lost immunity once again in Episode Two, she joined Rector, Rob Mariano and Jones to vote out the tribe's motherly figure, Patricia Jackson, due to her bossy attitude. When the tribe lost immunity once again in Episode Three, the new alliance of four targeted the tribe's strongest member, Hunter Ellis, and he was voted out.

In Episode Four, a tribal shuffle resulted in Towery moving from the Maraamu tribe to the Rotu tribe, along with Mariano and Rector. But Jones was left on Maraamu alone and was voted out shortly after. An immunity win in Episode Six ensured Mariano, Rector, and Towery safety going into the merge.

When the two tribes merged into one, Soliantu, the old-Rotu members targeted the alliance of Towery, Rector and Mariano. Seemingly doomed, Mariano was the first targeted due to his excessive scheming; even Towery voted for him at tribal council as a way to distance herself from her old alliance. At the Final Nine, Towery and Rector convinced Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien to side with them against the Rotu Four, but they also needed the votes of Paschal English and Neleh Dennis to ensure a majority. Both English and Dennis were against the idea, but an immunity challenge which revealed the pecking order of the game, and which showed the arrogance of the Rotu alliance, allowed them to see they were playing for fifth or sixth place. As a result, Dennis and English sided with Towery, Rector and Vavrick-O'Brien, and voted out John Carroll, the Rotu alliance leader.

With the new five-way alliance holding the power, it systematically voted out the members of the broken alliance one after the other, beginning with Zoe Zanidakis, then Tammy Leitner, and finally Robert DeCanio. At the Final Five, Towery and Rector let Vavrick-O'Brien know she was clearly a swing vote as the bond between Dennis and English was too strong to be broken. Despite denying a two-way alliance between themselves, Rector and Towery stayed together and voted against Dennis. But Vavrick-O'Brien sided with Dennis and English, and Rector was voted out, leaving Towery without any allies.

Obviously the next target, Towery knew she needed to win immunity and did exactly that, guaranteeing herself a spot in the Final Three. Immediately Vavrick-O'Brien, realizing she could be voted out, made a Final Two alliance with Towery. They voted against Dennis who, along with English, voted against Vavrick-O'Brien, resulting in a very tight deadlock. Having two minutes to decide, the four could not reach a decision and a tie-breaker was put in place. Because Towery had immunity, the remaining three castaways drew rocks in order to determine who was voted out. English, even though he had never received any votes against him, drew the purple rock and was eliminated. This was a very controversial move by the Survivor producers and was even admitted to being a mistake. From that point on, the drawing of rocks has never been used in a Final Four situation, with the producers opting to use a fire-building challenge instead.

Once in the Final Three, Vavrick-O'Brien and Towery's alliance seemed sure to hold out, but when the former fell in the endurance immunity challenge, the latter made a deal to give immunity to Dennis in exchange for taking Towery to the Final Two. Dennis agreed and Vavrick-O'Brien was voted out. Once in the Final Two, both Towery and Dennis faced accusations of hypocrisy by the jury, and Towery explained that she was playing a very strategic game. In the end, Towery beat out Dennis in a 4–3 vote to become the Sole Survivor, gaining the votes of Carroll, Leitner, DeCanio, and Rector.

Towery was the first African American contestant to win Survivor, succeeded by Earl Cole of Survivor: Fiji, Jeremy Collins of Survivor: Cambodia, Wendell Holland of Survivor: Ghost Island and Maryanne Oketch of Survivor 42.

Brian Heidik, Survivor: Thailand

Brian Heidik in 2009

Main article: Survivor: Thailand

In 2002, Heidik competed on the fifth season of the American version of Survivor, entitled Survivor: Thailand. As part of the Chuay Gahn tribe, Heidik was not immediately targeted due to his physical strength and his ability to provide food for the tribe. Early on in the game, he was considered a trustworthy individual, despite being reputed by all as a used car salesman. However, his status as trustworthy would soon change dramatically. When Heidik's tribe lost the first and second immunity challenges, he joined the majority to vote out John Raymond and Tanya Vance. After the "Grindgate" incident between Ted Rogers, Jr., and Ghandia Johnson, Heidik was worried that the rift between the two would divide the tribe. So he enlisted the help of Helen Glover to side with himself, Rogers and Clay Jordan to vote out Johnson, which they did successfully in Episode Four. By doing so, he created a Final Two alliance with Glover, despite already having one with Rogers. Chuay Gahn then enjoyed two immunity wins.

When there were only ten castaways left in the game, the two tribes began living on the same beach, believing they had merged into one tribe. However, Jeff Probst soon informed them that this was not the case. Chuay Gahn continued their winning streak for two more episodes, dwindling the former Sook Jai members to only three. When the tribes finally merged at eight members, Heidik was a strong force in keeping the Chuay Gahn alliance strong and ousting the remaining former Sook Jai members at back-to-back Tribal Councils. They were very successful, voting out Ken Stafford, Penny Ramsey and Jake Billingsley. At this point Heidik had three Final Two alliances, each with Glover, Rogers and Jordan.

At the Final Five, the remaining castaways (all members of Chuay Gahn) were forced to turn on each other. Glover and Rogers had a plan to align with Jan Gentry and vote out Jordan, whom they believed did not deserve a spot in the Final Two. When Heidik heard the two had been talking, he wrongly believed this was against himself, with neither Glover nor Rogers having this idea in mind. After winning individual immunity, Heidik, together with Gentry, Glover, and Jordan, voted out Rogers despite their Final Two alliance. At the Final Four, Heidik enjoyed another immunity win and informed Glover that Gentry would be voted out. However, he used Gentry to vote out Glover, believing that she was unbeatable in the Final Two and had conspired against him.

At the Final Three, Heidik felt comfortable with his game and immunity wins, despite backstabbing two of his former tribemates. He managed to win the final immunity, and chose to vote out Gentry, taking Jordan into the Final Two. Gentry was the only former Chuay Gahn Final Five member with whom Heidik did not have a Final Two alliance. Believing Jordan was more hated, Heidik thought he had made the right decision. However, Heidik faced a tough Jury and in particular a very angry Glover.

In the end, Heidik beat out Jordan in a 4–3 vote to become the Sole Survivor. He managed to gain the votes of Billingsley, Rogers, Glover, and Gentry. Heidik was benefited by a usual occurrence on Survivor when two of his votes came from a vote against Jordan, particularly Glover and Rogers, whom Heidik himself betrayed in the game, but still voted for him over Jordan. Rogers mentioned that he was voting for Heidik, because he was "the lesser of two evils". Heidik officially received his million dollar check on December 20, 2002.

Jenna Morasca, Survivor: The Amazon

Main articles: Survivor: The Amazon and Jenna Morasca

Jenna Morasca at the Big Apple Convention in 2009

In 2003, Jenna Morasca was cast on Survivor: The Amazon, a season which divided the two tribes by gender.

During one immunity challenge on Survivor: The Amazon, Morasca and fellow contestant Heidi Strobel stripped off their clothes for peanut butter and chocolate. After making the merge, Morasca was relatively safe at the start as the majority of the tribe chose to vote off outcasts Roger Sexton and Dave Johnson. With eight players remaining, the new alliance of Morasca, Strobel, Alex Bell and Rob Cesternino targeted Deena Bennett, and she was voted out. At the Final Seven, Cesternino betrayed his alliance by voting out Bell. At the Final Six, Morasca and Strobel scrambled to stay in the game, trying to break up the alliance of Cesternino, Matthew von Ertfelda and Butch Lockley. When Christy Smith would not commit to either side, Cesternino convinced Morasca and Strobel to help vote out Smith, who was later voted off. At the Final Five, Strobel was voted out, but Morasca won the next immunity, allowing her to advance to the Final Three. Morasca, Cesternino and von Ertfelda voted out Lockley. Morasca won the key final immunity challenge which gave her the sole power to eliminate either Cesternino or von Ertfelda and eventually eliminated Cesternino. Morasca beat von Ertfelda in a 6–1 vote to become the Sole Survivor. Morasca was the youngest contestant to ever win Survivor until Jud "Fabio" Birza won Survivor: Nicaragua in 2010, though Morasca remains the youngest female contestant to win Survivor.

Sandra Diaz-Twine, Survivor: Pearl Islands

Main articles: Survivor: Pearl Islands and Sandra Diaz-Twine

Diaz-Twine seemed like an early target for her lack of physical strength and inability to swim, but her knowledge of the Spanish language and her resourcefulness, which helped their tribe Drake gather much needed resources from local traders at the start of the game, put her in good standing with the majority of her tribe. She eventually formed an alliance with Rupert Boneham, Christa Hastie, Trish Dunn, and Jonny Fairplay. Diaz-Twine was the first person to sit out of a challenge and the first to raid on Morgan's camp as part of the reward, where she not only took their tarp, but sabotaged their shelter. When Drake lost the fourth and fifth immunity challenges, the alliance voted out the minority alliance's Burton Roberts and Michelle Tesauro. When Drake lost the sixth immunity challenge, the originally-targeted Shawn Cohen was saved when Diaz-Twine turned the alliance against Dunn for instigating an attempted blindside of Boneham.

With the Drake and Morgan tribes even at five members each, they were shocked when the six contestants who had been previously voted out came back into the game as a third tribe, in a turn of events called the "Outcast Twist." When the tribe of Outcasts competed against the Drake and Morgan tribes and subsequently won the immunity challenge, two of the Outcasts were allowed to return to the game. At the same time, both Drake and Morgan were forced to vote out a tribe member. In a game-changing move, Diaz-Twine, Boneham, and Hastie, unsure about whether to send home Cohen, the last minority alliance member left, or Fairplay, who betrayed them previously together with Dunn, asked them to publicly campaign for their spot. The alliance eventually eliminated Cohen, and received Roberts as a replacement from The Outcasts.

As the tribes merged into Balboa at 5–5, the Drake tribe, with the help of outcast Roberts, was able to sway Morgan outcast Lillian "Lil" Morris to vote with them, controlling the game and subsequently voting out Morgan leaders Andrew Savage and Ryan Opray. However, the game took a major shift when old Drake members Fairplay and Roberts aligned themselves with Morris, and recruited the remaining Morgan members Tijuana "Ti" Bradley and Darrah Johnson. This new alliance successfully targeted Boneham and he was blindsided.

At the Final Seven, it seemed that Diaz-Twine and Hastie were doomed by this newly created alliance, but Diaz-Twine swayed Bradley and Johnson by spying on Roberts and Fairplay to expose their intentions to eliminate the Morgan girls after getting rid of Diaz-Twine and Hastie. However, when Roberts and Fairplay learned of this impending mutiny, they regained the trust of Diaz-Twine and Hastie (with the help of Dalton's infamous "dead grandmother" lie) to successfully blindside Bradley. Soon after that, they were betrayed once again when Roberts and Dalton switched sides and Hastie was voted out next.

At the Final Five, Johnson was the next target of Roberts and Fairplay, but Morris started to have suspicions about her alliance (which would prove true eventually). Roberts made a potentially fatal error by inviting Dalton on his reward trip, leaving the three women, including an angered Morris, together back at camp, sparking a last minute scramble to break the bond between the two guys, eventually voting out Roberts for the second time in the game.

After Diaz-Twine made it to the Final Four, she was no longer a target, with Morris and Johnson targeting each other, each believing that no one could win against her in the Final Two. Diaz-Twine and Fairplay decided to side with Morris and vote out Johnson, propelling them into the Final Three. In the Final Three endurance immunity challenge, Morris won and chose to eliminate Fairplay, an error that led to Diaz-Twine's ultimate win.

In the end, after having previously stated that no one could ever win against Morris because she was too nice, Diaz-Twine defeated Morris, winning by a vote of 6–1 to become the Sole Survivor. During her final statements at Tribal Council, Diaz-Twine described her strategy as being the one people would come to if they needed one more vote to oust someone ("anyone, as long as it ain't me"). She gained the votes of Opray, Boneham, Hastie, Roberts, Johnson, and Fairplay. Only Bradley voted for Morris.

Amber Brkich, Survivor: All-Stars

Main articles: Survivor: All-Stars and Amber Mariano

Returning from Survivor: The Australian Outback Brkich was a member of the Chapera tribe, a group including Rob Mariano, Sue Hawk, and fellow The Australian Outback player Alicia Calaway. In the season's premiere episode, Mariano and Brkich agreed to form an alliance. They faced their first Tribal Council in the fourth episode, and their relationship was a matter of discussion; but ultimately, it was Rob Cesternino who was sent home. Due to a twist that dissolved one of the three tribes, Jenna Lewis and Rupert Boneham joined the Chapera tribe leading to Mariano and Brkich quickly fortifying a long-term alliance with the duo.

Mid-game, a tribal shuffle managed to swap every contestant to the opposite tribe with the exception of Brkich, who remained on the Chapera tribe with Lex van den Berghe, Shii Ann Huang, Jerri Manthey, and Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien. The tribe went on to lose the next challenge and upon leaving, Mariano informed van den Berghe that he would take care of him if he took care of Brkich. Van den Berghe, Huang, and Vavrick-O'Brien voted out Manthey in hopes that Mariano would keep his word.

After the merge, van den Berghe was voted out despite Mariano promising to take care of him. Mariano and Brkich also managed to maintain several "alliances," including their agreement with Boneham and Lewis, one with "Big Tom" Buchanan, and one with Calaway. Eventually, the pair ended up in the Final Four with Lewis and Boneham. Once there, Brkich won her first individual Immunity challenge, and she and Mariano convinced Lewis to vote out Boneham instead of forcing a tie. In the final three, Mariano won immunity and chose Brkich to continue with him to the Final Two. Facing the jury, they both met criticism for their gameplay. Ultimately, Brkich was victorious by becoming the Sole Survivor in a 4–3 vote, securing her the winner by receiving votes from van den Berghe, Calaway, Huang, and Buchanan while Mariano received votes from Vavrick-O'Brien, Boneham and Lewis. Before the vote was read, Mariano proposed to Brkich, which she accepted without hesitation.

Seasons 9-14 (2004–2007)

Chris Daugherty, Survivor: Vanuatu

Main article: Survivor: Vanuatu

In 2004, Daugherty competed on Survivor: Vanuatu, the ninth season of the American reality TV series Survivor. As part of the all-male Lopevi tribe, Daugherty endangered his position in the game in the first immunity challenge. Daugherty failed to cross the balance-beam in the challenge, which led to victory for the all-female Yasur tribe. The more athletic members of the Lopevi tribe campaigned for Daugherty to be the first to go, but he formed an alliance of unathletic men—sometimes referred to as the "Fat Five"—led by Lea "Sarge" Masters and also consisting of himself, Travis "Bubba" Sampson, Rory Freeman, and Chad Crittenden. This alliance controlled the numbers and targeted the younger players, voting out Brook Geraghty at the first Tribal Council. Lopevi then went on to win immunity in the second episode.

In episode three, both tribes were informed they would be going to Tribal Council. When John Kenney won individual immunity, the "Fat Five" alliance targeted John "J.P." Palyok and he was voted out. When Lopevi lost immunity in the next episode, the alliance once again got rid of another younger male, Brady Finta. In Episode Five, a tribal shuffle resulted in the "Fat Five" losing Sampson and Freeman to Yasur and gaining two women, Twila Tanner and Julie Berry. This new-Lopevi tribe won the next two immunity challenges. This, however, meant the loss of Sampson as the women of Yasur voted him out. When Lopevi lost immunity in Episode Seven, Daugherty, Masters, and Crittenden recruited Tanner and Berry to vote out the last younger male, Kenney (who, in his farewell speech, expressed his desire to see Daugherty win the game).

The two tribes would eventually merge into the Alinta tribe. Daugherty, Crittenden, and Masters reunited with old ally Freeman. This four-man alliance believed that Tanner and Berry would side with them. However, those two ladies joined their old Yasur allies Ami Cusack, Leann Slaby, Scout Cloud Lee and Eliza Orlins to vote off Freeman, when Masters won immunity. The six-female alliance then targeted Masters voting him out next, with even Daugherty casting a vote for him to let the women know he was a team player. The female alliance stuck together once again and voted out Crittenden over Daugherty.

At that point, it seemed like Daugherty's time in the game was over, as he was the only surviving male. However, his performance and determination in the immunity challenge caused Cusack and her alliance to keep him around one more episode while planning to vote out tribal annoyance Orlins. But Tanner and Lee, not happy with their positions in the game, hatched a new plan. Together they approached him about a new alliance. Daugherty, Tanner and Lee lured in Orlins, the next target, and this new alliance successfully eliminated Cusack's closest ally Slaby. The cross-tribal alliance targeted Slaby because Cusack would not surrender immunity.

Cusack, knowing her days were numbered, tried to convince Orlins and Daugherty to join her and Berry in an alliance against Tanner and Lee. While it seemed as though Orlins might defect, in the end she stayed strong and the four voted out Cusack. Daugherty then struck a deal with Berry and Orlins to vote with them against Tanner. However, at Tribal Council, he sided with Tanner and Lee once again to vote Berry out instead, because she was too well liked by the female-dominated jury and because she had previously betrayed him at the merge by voting out Freeman.

In the "final four" finale, Daugherty again convinced Orlins that he was in an alliance with her, despite his obvious alliance with Tanner and Lee. He decided she was a flip-flopper and too much of a risk, and voted her out. Then he won the final immunity, securing him a place in the Final Two. Comments by Lee at the challenge led him to believe that Tanner would not have been true to him and their Final Two pact, had she won. He confronted Lee about the issue, and she said she didn't have a Final Two alliance with Tanner, in the hopes that he would spare Lee instead of Tanner. At Tribal Council, Daugherty voted out Lee, choosing Tanner to join him in the Final Two.

In the end, Daugherty beat out Tanner in a 5–2 vote to become the Sole Survivor. He gained the votes of Masters, Crittenden, Slaby, Berry and Orlins and only lost the votes of Lee and Cusack. Many of his votes came from female jury members who were able to look past his gender and recognize his strong gameplay against the unpopular and controversial Tanner, whom he was well-aware had made many enemies in the game.

Tom Westman, Survivor: Palau

Main articles: Survivor: Palau and Tom Westman

At the beginning of the game, Westman was not immediately targeted. It was revealed later in the show that when the game began with all 20 castaways on the same island, Westman was in an early alliance with Ian Rosenberger, Katie Gallagher and Stephenie LaGrossa. However, when it came time to pick tribes, LaGrossa ended up on Ulong, whereas Westman, Rosenberger, and Gallagher all ended up on Koror. This three-way alliance stayed strong on Koror. Originally planning to hide behind the younger males of his tribe, Westman soon became known for leadership skills. Koror won every single tribal immunity challenge; but in Episode Five, both tribes faced Tribal Council regardless of the challenge outcome, and Westman joined the rest of his tribe to vote out Willard Smith.

As Ulong's numbers dwindled until only LaGrossa remained, she joined Koror in Episode Nine in an unofficial merge. Together with LaGrossa, Westman's alliance controlled the game and voted out Coby Archa. At the Final Eight, Westman's allies Gregg Carey and Jennifer Lyon decided to vote out LaGrossa, despite Westman's campaigning for her. But Janu Tornell unexpectedly quit the game at Tribal Council after LaGrossa broke down once. At the next Tribal Council, LaGrossa tried to organize an alliance of women against Westman, but Caryn Groedel would not commit and informed him of the plan, leading to LaGrossa being unanimously voted out.

At the Final Three, heavy arguments took place, especially between Rosenberger and Westman. Rosenberger felt as if he had betrayed his friends, and protested that he did not come to play the role of the villain. In the endurance immunity challenge, after close to 12 hours, Rosenberger agreed to step down and be voted off in a sign of repentance for betraying Westman and Gallagher. Westman accepted and Rosenberger was voted out. This immunity win was Westman's fifth out of only seven individual immunity challenges, matching the record for individual immunity wins set by Colby Donaldson (Survivor: The Australian Outback), and since matched only by Terry Deitz (Survivor: Panama), Ozzy Lusth (Survivor: Cook Islands), Mike Holloway (Survivor: Worlds Apart), and Brad Culpepper (Survivor: Game Changers).

In the end, Westman defeated Gallagher in a 6–1 vote to become the Sole Survivor. He managed to gain the votes of everyone on the jury except Archa.

Danni Boatwright, Survivor: Guatemala

Main articles: Survivor: Guatemala and Danni Boatwright

Danni Boatwright in 2006

In 2005, Boatwright competed in Survivor: Guatemala, the 11th season of reality television show Survivor. She was initially placed on the Nakúm tribe. On Day 9, a tribe switch landed her on the Yaxha tribe. At the post-merge Survivor Auction, she bought herself an advantage at the next immunity challenge. After the challenge, she made connections with Rafe Judkins and Lydia Morales, even forming a Final Two deal with Judkins. At the Final Four immunity challenge, Boatwright failed to win immunity, losing to Judkins. However, she convinced him that it was in his best interest to keep her over the much physically weaker Morales. Judkins agreed and Morales was unanimously voted out. Boatwright then won the final immunity challenge and, after Judkins released her from their earlier Final Two agreement, she chose Stephenie LaGrossa to bring to the final Tribal Council because she viewed LaGrossa as easier to beat and as equally deserving as Judkins. At the final Tribal Council, the jury was very angry with LaGrossa for her devious gameplay. Boatwright won the title of Sole Survivor in a 6–1 vote, only losing Judkins's vote.

Aras Baskauskas, Survivor: Panama

Main articles: Survivor: Panama and Aras Baskauskas

In Survivor: Panama — Exile Island, Baskauskas was originally part of the Viveros tribe of younger men, until a tribal swap early on had him become a member of the Casaya tribe, where he formed an early alliance with Shane Powers, Courtney Marit and Danielle DiLorenzo. When the tribes merged, the former Casaya tribe members (himself, Powers, Marit, DiLorenzo, Bruce Kenagai, and Cirie Fields) had a number advantage against the four former La Mina tribe members. The former Casaya members proceeded to vote out the entire former La Mina tribe, excluding Terry Deitz, who won nearly all of the immunity challenges. When the alliance had nowhere left to turn but on each other, Baskauskas and Powers targeted DiLorenzo, but she, Marit, and Deitz wanted to vote out Baskauskas. Not happy with any of these options, Fields brewed a plan of her own, and together with Baskauskas and DiLorenzo, voted out Marit, followed by Powers. At the final four challenge, Baskauskas won immunity. Dietz, due to the widely known fact that he possessed the hidden immunity idol, was also safe. This created a 2–2 tie between DiLorenzo and Fields, who competed in a fire-building challenge to determine their fate. DiLorenzo won the challenge and Fields was eliminated.

At the final immunity challenge, DiLorenzo out-balanced the two men to win immunity, giving her the power to choose her opponent for the Final Two. DiLorenzo eventually chose to eliminate Dietz, making him the final member of the jury and propelling Baskauskas into the Final Two. On Day 39, while he and DiLorenzo walked on the rocks by the ocean, Baskauskas slipped on a wet rock and fell, sending shards of glass into his hand and back. His wounds required stitches by the medical crew, but no medical evacuation. In the end, Baskauskas beat out DiLorenzo to become the Sole Survivor in a 5–2 vote, gaining the votes of Austin Carty, Sally Schumann, Marit, Fields and Deitz.

Yul Kwon, Survivor: Cook Islands

Main articles: Survivor: Cook Islands and Yul Kwon

Yul Kwon at the Survivor: Cook Islands reunion.

In 2006, Kwon was recruited to participate in the thirteenth season of Survivor, which took place in the Cook Islands. This season was notable for the producers' decision to divide the contestants into tribes by their ethnicity, a decision that generated substantial controversy. When asked why he agreed to go on the show, he cited his desire to provide a positive role model for his community, and the lack of representation by Asian Americans on television.

Originally on the Asian American Puka Puka tribe, Kwon led his tribe to dominate in the first two tribal immunity challenges, while winning rewards on both occasions. On Puka Puka, Kwon developed a long-lasting alliance and friendship with fellow Korean-American attorney Rebekah "Becky" Lee. In Episode 2, Kwon was banished to Exile Island by the Hispanic Aitutaki tribe, after Aitutaki intentionally lost the second immunity challenge. On Exile Island, Kwon was able to decipher the clues and find the hidden immunity idol, which would be very instrumental to his survival later in the game.

In Episode Three, the four ethnically divided tribes integrated into two tribes, and both Kwon and Lee became members of the new Aitutaki tribe. Kwon and Lee immediately developed a four-person alliance with Jonathan Penner and Candice Woodcock of the old white Rarotonga tribe. When Aitutaki lost the next immunity challenge and the opposing new Rarotonga tribe sent Candice to Exile Island, Yul's alliance became outnumbered and Lee became a target. However, Kwon and Penner were able to convince Anh-Tuan "Cao Boi" Bui and Jessica "Flicka" Smith from their old respective tribes to side with them and voted out Cecilia Mansilla. After that, the new Aitutaki tribe enjoyed back-to-back immunity challenge wins in episodes 4 and 5.

In Episode Six, both tribes were informed they would have to vote someone out of their tribe, regardless of the challenge results. Despite being from the same original tribe, Kwon and his alliance voted out Cao Boi, seeing him as a loose cannon that could not to be trusted. It was around this point that Kwon, Lee, Penner and Woodcock recruited Sundra Oakley to their now 5-person alliance. In Episode 7, this new alliance targeted Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth due to his strength in challenges. But when the Aitutaki tribe lost immunity, they voted out Flicka, admitting they needed Ozzy for future challenges. Both tribes were now tied at 6 members each.

In Episode Eight, all remaining survivors were given the chance to "mutiny" and defect to the opposite tribe. Woodcock, who saw this as an opportunity to get back to her old Rarotonga tribemates and friends, Adam Gentry and Parvati Shallow, mutinied to the Rarotonga tribe, and Penner would subsequently follow Woodcock. The mutiny left Kwon, Lee, Oakley and Lusth as a tribe of four against a tribe of eight, and were dubbed as the "Aitu 4" as such. Despite these odds, the new Aitu 4 were able to dominate in the challenges and win four challenges in a row, sending Rarotonga to tribal council where they voted out Brad Virata, Rebecca Borman and (in a twist where they had to vote out two members in one tribal council) Jenny Guzon-Bae. These three survivors became members of the jury.

At the Final Nine, the two tribes (Aitutaki and Rarotonga) merged into Aitutonga. The Aitu 4 were still outnumbered by the five Rarotonga members. However, Kwon devised a plan to use the Hidden Immunity Idol to blackmail former ally and mutineer Penner. By using his Hidden Immunity Idol to threaten to eliminate Penner at Tribal Council, Penner decided to defect from Rarotonga and join the Aitu 4 to save himself. The Aitu 4 and Penner surprised Rarotonga at Tribal Council and voted out Nathan "Nate" Gonzalez. In the Survivor Auction at the Final 8, Kwon revealed to the remaining Rarotonga members and the host Jeff Probst that he held the Hidden Immunity Idol. The Aitu 4 and Penner continued to control the game and voted out their former ally and mutineer Woodcock.

At the Final Seven, Kwon, then dubbed the "Ringleader", "Puppet Master" and "Godfather", was constantly being pressured by the remaining Rarotonga members to vote out the traitor Penner. Knowing that their days in the game were numbered, Gentry and Shallow both threatened to vote against Kwon in the jury if Kwon refused to vote out Penner before them. Kwon made a deal with Gentry that if Penner was voted out ahead of him and Shallow, he would gain Gentry's vote in the jury, and Penner was voted out. In the next two Tribal Councils, Shallow and Gentry were voted out respectively, propelling the Aitu 4 into the final 4.

Once in the Final Four, Lee, Lusth, Oakley, and Kwon were shocked to hear that instead of a standard Final Two, the final tribal council would consist of three members. At the immunity challenge, Lusth continued to dominate, winning his spot in the Final Three. Kwon, still protected by the hidden immunity idol, was also safe. Both Lusth and Kwon agreed that the fairest decision would be a tie-breaker challenge between Lee and Oakley. Kwon offered his idol to Lee, but she declined. In the tie-breaker, neither Lee nor Oakley could start a fire with flint within a one-hour limit. Moving to matches, both still had trouble, and Oakley ran out of matches. Lee went on to win the challenge, moving her into the Final Three with Lusth and Kwon.

In the Final Tribal Council, Kwon was credited for his strategic prowess and his ability in the social aspect of the game, whereas Lusth was credited for his domination in the physical aspect of the game. In the end, Kwon beat out Ozzy Lusth and Becky Lee in a 5-4-0 vote to become the Sole Survivor, gaining the votes of Brad Virata, Candice Woodcock, Jonathan Penner, Adam Gentry, and Sundra Oakley.

Earl Cole, Survivor: Fiji

Main articles: Survivor: Fiji and Earl Cole

Earl Cole at the Survivor: Fiji reunion.

Cole was originally recruited for The Amazing Race with his girlfriend; however, after she dropped out, he was transferred to Survivor three days before filming, having only seen a single episode of the show. Upon arriving in Fiji, he identified Yau-Man Chan as a person similar to himself with the best combination of intelligence and integrity and formed an alliance with Chan that lasted until the Final Four. Cole became the strategic leader of the core Ravu Alliance, where he targeted weak links Jessica deBen and Sylvia Kwan (he was not there for the Tribal Council where Erica Durousseau was voted out). His tribe was granted a reprieve, when the rival Moto tribe chose to go to Tribal Council. His alliance returned to Tribal Council in the next episode where Rita Verreos was voted off. In a tribal swap, he, Chan, and Michelle Yi were moved to Moto with Stacy Kimball, Kenward "Boo" Bernis, and Cassandra Franklin. He lost Yi at the merge, when she was at Tribal Council without her alliance. At the Final Nine, Cole was able to recruit the original Moto outsiders, Franklin and Andria "Dreamz" Herd, and New Moto outsiders, Kimball and Bernis. The Alliance of Six picked off the Horsemen: Edgardo Rivera, Mookie Lee, and finally Alex Angarita. A coup started by Herd to evict Chan failed, and Kimball was voted out (via Immunity Idol). Chan won Immunity on Day 37, and Bernis was voted off. Cole and Chan cooperated over the course of the game to discover two hidden immunity idols from information that they discovered on several independent visits to Exile Island. Cole visited Exile Island more than anyone that season (four times). When Herd reneged on a deal with Chan for immunity at the penultimate Tribal Council, Chan was eliminated; Cole allowed Chan to be voted out, recognizing that Chan would be very hard to beat at the Final Tribal Council. At the Final Tribal Council, Cole became the jury's unanimous vote to become the 14th Sole Survivor. He made it through the entire season having never won an individual immunity and having had only one Tribal Council vote cast against him. He became the first unanimous winner of Survivor, with a vote of 9–0–0.

Seasons 15-20 (2007–2010)

Todd Herzog, Survivor: China

Todd Herzog at the Slim-Fast Fashion Show in 2008

Main articles: Survivor: China and Todd Herzog

On Survivor: China, the 15th season of the reality TV show Survivor, Herzog was placed on the Fei Long Tribe. The tribe overcame its opponent, Zhan Hu, by winning immunity early on. During the first few days, Herzog made an alliance that lasted the whole game with Amanda Kimmel and Aaron Reisberger until the tribe swap. When the tribe faced tribal council, Leslie Nease was voted out. Prior to her elimination, Nease had given Herzog a clue to the hidden immunity idol, which she had received from Jaime Dugan. In the subsequent reward challenge, the two tribes learned that each would send two members to the other. Fei Long received Michael "Frosti" Zernow and Sherea Lloyd. However the swap deprived Herzog and Kimmel of their alliance member Reisberger and James Clement. The Zhan Hu tribe then threw the following immunity challenge, thus eliminating Reisberger.

Herzog and Kimmel had found the immunity idol and Zernow, Denise Martin, and Courtney Yates were informed of the discovery. When Fei Long won the reward challenge and kidnapped Clement, Herzog gave Clement the immunity idol and told him to throw the immunity challenge, in an attempt to eliminate Dugan. However, the plan backfired when Martin was unable to swallow a chicken fetus in the immunity challenge. Zhan Hu won immunity and Fei Long was sent to Tribal Council where Lloyd was eliminated. Clement found the second immunity idol at the Zhan-Hu camp later, before the two tribes merged. The original Fei Long members, both old and new, planned to vote out the new arrivals: Peih-Gee Law, Jaime Dugan, and Erik Huffman. They voted as a bloc, and Dugan was sent to the jury.

Herzog deviated from the plan to eliminate Law and got his alliance to vote out strategic threat, Jean-Robert Bellande. Law was targeted in the next vote, but her immunity win forced Herzog and his alliance to eliminate physical competitor Zernow. With seven survivors remaining, Kimmel was able to get Clement and his two immunity idols eliminated from the game. In the final six, the four Fei Long members vowed to stay together and voted out Huffman (since Law had immunity), and then eventually Law. With four remaining, Martin was eliminated and became the final juror.

At the final Tribal Council, Herzog was confronted for his actions by several members of the jury. While Kimmel was criticized for apologizing too much and not giving direct answers and Yates for riding on coattails, he was seen as the most deceiving and manipulative of the three. Bellande, in particular, interrogated Herzog on why he betrayed their alliance, to which Herzog admitted his fear of being eliminated by him. Although he had lied, the jury felt that he was the most honest about it and was playing the game since Day One, unlike Yates. In a 4–2–1 vote, he defeated allies Yates and Kimmel to win the million dollars and title of "Sole Survivor."

Subsequent to winning Survivor: China, Herzog was on the cover of December 2007's issue of Instinct, advertised as the "Million Dollar Man". According to the interview, when Herzog was 15, the first season of Survivor had just begun to air. He stated, "I knew immediately that I wanted to do the show! It was so different than anything I had seen at the time."

Parvati Shallow, Survivor: Micronesia

Main articles: Survivor: Micronesia and Parvati Shallow

File:Survivor+Micronesia+Finale+Reunion+Show+sX1sL4qHizkx.jpg

Parvati Shallow at the Survivor: Micronesia reunion

Returning from Survivor: Cook Islands, Shallow returned as a "Favorite" and part of the Malakal tribe. She formed a close bond with James Clement and the two formed an alliance with another couple consisting of Amanda Kimmel and Ozzy Lusth. After their tribe lost the first Immunity Challenge, they tried swinging Jonny Fairplay over to their side to gain a majority over the alliance of Yau-Man Chan, Ami Cusack, Eliza Orlins, and Jonathan Penner. However, Fairplay was voted out instead as per his wishes, since he was aching to return home to his pregnant girlfriend. Shallow then made a pact with Cirie Fields to go all the way to the Final Three with Kimmel. After losing the third Immunity Challenge, Shallow was targeted by the opposing alliance, but her own alliance (now with Fields) succeeded in voting off strategic threat Chan.

At the tribal switch, Shallow and Clement were separated from their alliance as they moved to Airai. However, she remained safe as her tribe won the remaining tribal Immunity Challenges. On day 20, she made a deal with Natalie Bolton for an alliance with Clement and Alexis Jones, plus a Final Four deal with Jones and Kimmel; Bolton accepted both deals.

At the merge, Shallow found herself in a good position as she was allied with six (Jones, Kimmel, Fields, Bolton, Lusth, Clement) of the nine people left. During the tenth Immunity Challenge, Shallow convinced Jason Siska to step down from the challenge so that she could win Immunity, which worked (under the condition that the tribe would not vote off Siska). However, her "Couples Alliance" decided to go back on their word and they targeted Siska. However, Fields saw this as an opportunity to blindside physical threat Lusth instead, and she needed Shallow's help for it to work. Shallow agreed to this and recruited her Airai female allies Bolton and Jones to the plan, and Lusth was voted off 5–4. Afterward, Shallow found herself in a failed attempt to patch things up with Clement and Kimmel (who kept her distrust to herself). The five remaining women then formed an alliance to vote off the men, starting with Siska. However, when Clement was evacuated and Erik Reichenbach won Immunity, they were forced to vote off one of their own. Kimmel was the intended target, a plan of which Shallow did not want any part. So she helped Kimmel find the Hidden Immunity Idol (which was buried under the tribal flag) and together, they voted off possible jury threat Jones.

Shallow made it all the way to the Final Three with Fields and Kimmel (as promised). However, she was heartbroken to learn that only two of them would face the jury. She was eliminated first at the Final Immunity Challenge but was chosen to be in the Final Two by Kimmel as Kimmel felt that Fields would be extremely tough to beat at the Final Tribal Council. At the Final Tribal Council, Shallow convinced the jury to vote for her because of her aggressive game play compared to her previous season. Despite being accused of being a mean person by Orlins and a backstabber by Lusth, the jury decided to award Shallow the title of Sole Survivor with a close vote of 5–3, getting votes from Orlins, Siska, Jones, Bolton, and Fields.

Bob Crowley, Survivor: Gabon

Main article: Survivor: Gabon

Bob Crowley at the Survivor: Gabon reunion

On Survivor: Gabon, Crowley was originally placed into the Kota Tribe. Crowley had originally been in an alliance with fellow tribemates Jacquie Berg, Marcus Lehman, Charlie Herschel, and Corinne Kaplan. This alliance is known to many Survivor fans as the "Onion Alliance." The Kota Tribe proved to be strong by winning the first three challenges. In Episode 3, Kota lost the immunity challenge and were forced to face Tribal Council, where Paloma Solo-Castillo was voted out.

In the following episode, there was a tribal swap which ended up taking fellow alliance member Berg to the opposing Fang tribe. When Berg was voted off, Randy Bailey was welcomed into their newly made alliance. The Kota tribe would still stand strong, and the tribe won the next two immunity challenges. In Episode 7, both tribes faced a twist where each tribe would have to enter Tribal Council. The "Onion Alliance" voted out Dan Kay over the weaker Susie Smith in fear that Kay had the Hidden Immunity Idol. This ended up being the vital mistake to Crowley's alliance as Smith would end up switching sides.

In Episode Eight, both tribes assumed that a merge would be coming up but instead they were welcomed with another tribal swap. Crowley and Lehman remained on Kota while Herschel, Bailey, and Kaplan moved to Fang. When Fang won the immunity challenge, Crowley and Lehman went to face Tribal Council where tribemates Smith, Ken Hoang, and Crystal Cox voted out Lehman.

After Lehman was voted out, both tribes merged into the new Nobag Tribe ("Nobag" is Gabon spelled backwards). Herschel ended up getting voted out at the next Tribal Council and it soon appeared that Crowley's alliance would crumble. In the following episode, Crowley was targeted next, but when he got sent to Exile Island, he created a fake Hidden Immunity Idol. He used the fake idol to secure his spot in the game and Bailey, his own alliance member, was blindsided. After Bailey's elimination, Crowley created another Hidden Immunity Idol in an attempt to save himself and Kaplan, his last alliance member. Although it was futile and Kaplan was eliminated, it caused Hoang to betray his own alliance and vote against Matty Whitmore.

Crowley's winning streak continued by winning his fifth challenge in a row. This was something his other tribemates did not expect. In Episode 12, Hoang tried to propose a deal with Crowley and said that if he had won immunity he would give it up to Hoang since he had tricked him at the last Tribal Council. However Jessica "Sugar" Kiper had informed Crowley that it was just a trick to blindside him and Crowley went against the idea. In the following Tribal Councils, Cox and Hoang were both voted out.

In the final immunity challenge, Crowley lost to Smith in a card building challenge. Crowley seemed doomed again but he was able to convince Kiper to go on his side and vote against Whitmore. Knowing that a tie breaker challenge might occur, Crowley also started practising how to build a fire. At Tribal Council, a tie did occur, and as Crowley had expected, a challenge would take place. Whitmore and Crowley were forced to compete in a fire building challenge and once again, Crowley won.

At the Final Tribal Council, Crowley was confronted by Hoang for not giving up his immunity. Crowley was also confronted by Bailey for using the fake Hidden Immunity Idol against him. In the end, the jury voted Crowley as the Sole Survivor in a vote of 4-3-0. Crowley earned the votes of Lehman, Herschel, Bailey, and Kaplan. In addition, Crowley also won the 'Sprint Player of the Season' award, earning the fan's vote over Kiper and Whitmore.

J.T. Thomas, Survivor: Tocantins

Main articles: Survivor: Tocantins and J.T. Thomas (Survivor contestant)

On May 17, 2009, it was revealed that he had been voted the winner of Survivor: Tocantins, having received all seven jury votes (cast by Brendan Synnott, Tyson Apostol, Sierra Reed, Debbie Beebe, Benjamin "Coach" Wade, Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George, and Erinn Lobdell), beating out corporate consultant and friend Stephen Fishbach. In addition to his million-dollar win, Thomas also won the $100,000 prize for Sprint Player of the Season, beating out fellow fan favorites Johnson-George and Reed. Thomas was the sixth person to win Survivor's million-dollar prize without ever having any votes cast against him at Tribal Council—preceded by Tina Wesson (The Australian Outback), Ethan Zohn (Africa), Brian Heidik (Thailand), Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands), and Tom Westman (Palau). He was also the second person to win the million-dollar prize as a result of a unanimous vote—preceded by Earl Cole (Fiji), and the second consecutive person to win both the million dollars and the $100,000, preceded by Bob Crowley (Gabon).

Thomas is the first player ever to win Sole Survivor by a unanimous vote while never receiving any votes against him during the entire game. The only other two Survivor castaways to accomplish this feat are John Cochran in Survivor: Caramoan and Jeremy Collins in Survivor: Cambodia. However, neither Cochran nor Collins won the $100,000 prize for Sprint Player of the Season (it had been discontinued by the time Collins won Sole Survivor), and Collins received votes against him which were nullified by a hidden immunity idol.

Thomas also performed with distinction in the challenges. During the reward challenge in Episode Four, Thomas carried 220 pounds before dropping out, tying the record previously set by Pearl Islands contestant Rupert Boneham, who had also carried 220 pounds before dropping out. At the immunity challenge that followed, Thomas came close to single-handedly winning immunity for Jalapao—by catching four out of the five balls needed to win, although Timbira won the challenge in the end. (In the process, Thomas knocked out a tooth—which Jeff Probst saved and later gave to Thomas's mother at the reunion special.) Thomas also won more post-merge reward and immunity challenges than anyone else in his season, with three reward challenges (the first two and the last one) and three immunity challenges (the last three consecutive ones).

Because Thomas won the game unanimously, without having had a single vote cast against him, was awarded the $100,000 player-of-the-season prize, and won more individual challenges than anyone else by a considerable margin, he has been said to have played the first "perfect game" in Survivor history.

Natalie White, Survivor: Samoa

Main article: Survivor: Samoa

White was cast on the television series Survivor: Samoa, the 19th season of the American version of Survivor. She was initially placed in the Foa Foa tribe, which lost five out of the six immunity challenges prior to the merge. She survived all those rounds without her name ever being written down for elimination. After the merge, she orchestrated the elimination of Erik Cardona by swaying Laura Morett, Kelly Sharbaugh, and Monica Padilla to convince the rest of Galu to vote for Cardona in a blindside. At Tribal Council, White's plan came into fruition and Cardona became the first member of the jury. The day after Tribal Council, White came across a rat at camp. She subsequently clubbed the rat to death and presented it to her fellow tribe members for consumption, shocking them all.

On the tenth episode, there was a 5–5 tie between White and Morett. Shannon "Shambo" Waters flipped to Foa Foa to vote against Morett, while the five remaining Galu members voted against White, expecting a deadlocked tie and purple rock tiebreaker. On the revote, John Fincher of Galu flipped his vote from White to Morett, ensuring Morett's elimination and avoiding the possibility of drawing a purple rock.

In the Survivor Auction, White won a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and a shower. She later bonded with Brett Clouser, over things that they both enjoyed, such as Christian books and excerpts. She went on to choose Clouser first to be on her team at the reward challenge. Although Russell Hantz was suspicious that something was forming between them, White assured him that everything was proceeding as originally planned.

At the Final Five, White was told by Hantz that if Clouser were to win the next immunity challenge, she would be the next one leaving. Hantz wanted to get Clouser out before the Final Three, and needed all of the strongest men to beat him. Clouser went on to win the next immunity challenge, but Hantz's mind changed, as he felt he needed White to go with him to the Final Three. Jaison Robinson was voted off in that Tribal Council. In the final immunity challenge, White placed third out of four. Hantz went on to win that immunity challenge, leading up to Clouser's elimination.

At the Final Tribal Council, White was criticized by Hantz and the jury for being a coattail rider and not doing much except to follow Hantz. White responded that she could not have made the moves that Hantz did because that would lead to her being voted out. She said that her best move that would keep her in the game was to align with Hantz, so that he could take all the damage and she would leave in everybody's good graces. Cardona finished the Final Tribal Council by stating that fellow finalist Mick Trimming had not lived up to his leader position, and that Hantz was arrogant. He stated that White might call herself the least deserving of the title "Sole Survivor," but that "maybe the person who thinks she is the least deserving is probably the most." Cardona went on to say that he would be voting for her, and he hoped that she would get four more votes to win.

On December 20, 2009, during the live finale, it was announced that White had won the title of Sole Survivor.[3] She won by a vote of 7–2–0, defeating runner-up Hantz and third-place Trimming.[1] Hantz, after realizing that he had lost, announced live on the air that he would offer her US$10,000 for the title of "Sole Survivor," but said that she could keep the $1 million prize. He then increased his offer to $100,000. White declined both offers.

Sandra Diaz-Twine, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains

Main articles: Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains and Sandra Diaz-Twine

After declining a spot on Survivor: All-Stars due to recovering from parasites that she got while being filmed for Pearl Islands, and then being cut at the last minute from Survivor: Micronesia, Diaz-Twine accepted a spot on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. She was one of four previous winners chosen; the other three were Tom Westman of Survivor: Palau, Parvati Shallow of Survivor: Micronesia, and James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. of Survivor: Tocantins. At the start, Diaz-Twine was placed on the Villains tribe, and in the first episode, when host Jeff Probst asked who believed they were on the wrong tribe, she was quick to raise her hand. During the first reward challenge, she deliberately tore Hero Jessica "Sugar" Kiper's top off, which, according to Heroes member Cirie Fields, solidified why Diaz-Twine was chosen as a Villain.

In Episode Three, when the Villains faced their first Tribal Council, Diaz-Twine stuck with her strategy from Pearl Islands of "anyone, as long as it ain't me." She, along with the rest of the Villains tribe, unanimously voted out Randy Bailey from Survivor: Gabon. Despite previously appearing to be in a comfortable six-person alliance, by Episode Eight, she found herself on the outs of her tribe alongside Courtney Yates of Survivor: China. Despite the pair being considered the weakest on the tribe, Diaz-Twine convinced Russell Hantz that Benjamin "Coach" Wade was against him, and she and Yates survived elimination at Tribal Council. Yates, however, would be voted off in the subsequent Tribal Council.

After the merge, Diaz-Twine pleaded with the Heroes not to trust Hantz. However, they did not listen, and despite several attempts to oust him, she remained with the Villains after her plans to help the Heroes failed to materialize. She made it to the Final Three, along with Shallow and Hantz. On May 16, 2010, Diaz-Twine received six jury votes from Yates, Heroes tribe members Thomas, Amanda Kimmel, Candice Woodcock, Boneham and Colby Donaldson to Shallow's three and Hantz's zero to win the game. She became the first contestant to win Survivor twice and proclaimed herself the "Queen of Survivor."

Seasons 21-26 (2010–2013)

Fabio Birza, Survivor: Nicaragua

Main articles: Survivor: Nicaragua and Jud Birza

As the second youngest player on Survivor: Nicaragua, he was placed on the "younger" La Flor tribe. He became the tribe's resident goofball, sending his tribemates to endless laughter at every opportunity often by accidentally hurting himself, making jokes, or reinforcing his own stereotype as a blonde surfer. Birza's tribe mates started calling him Fabio, despite Birza's real name being Jud. Yet he kept the nickname afterwards. The one exception to his humor was NaOnka Mixon, whom Birza had a conflict with after Mixon took Birza's spare pair of socks. This led to a tirade from Mixon during their first Tribal Council, outright stating that she hated him and his antics. Birza privately admitted that although it was his real personality, he planned to use it as a strategy, both by making himself socially popular among the castaways, while also fooling them into thinking that he was not intelligent enough to be a strategic threat, thus giving them more incentive to keep him around.

Early on, Birza was an alliance outsider. He initially sided with Shannon Elkins, Alina Wilson, Kelly Bruno, and Ben "Benry" Henry. Elkins wanted Brenda Lowe eliminated because of her perceived deviousness, but due to Elkins's aggressiveness at their first Tribal Council, two of their allies (Henry and Bruno) eventually voted against Elkins. Afterwards, Birza's remaining alliance partners were in line for elimination, though he remained indispensable because of his strength in challenges. Strategically, he was perceived as somewhat clueless. The negative perception was reflected in his voting history, where his votes barely eliminated other players.

After a Day 12 tribe swap, Birza, along with Lowe, Bruno, Matthew "Sash" Lenahan, and "Purple Kelly" Shinn, remained on the La Flor tribe. There, he became friends with the new members Jane Bright, Marty Piombo, and Jill Behm. At the Day 15 Double Tribal Council twist, Behm (the next intended target) won individual immunity. Lenahan and Lowe shifted their plan to a split vote between Piombo, who had a Hidden Immunity Idol, and Bruno, who was a Jury threat because of her athleticism despite her prosthetic leg. Birza nearly endangered the plan by gaining the trust of Piombo, who fabricated a story of him being a chess grandmaster. However, Birza stuck to the plan and voted out Bruno, although Piombo's story was his incentive for voting her off. Three days later, Birza and 11 others would comprise the merged Libertad tribe.

Birza would then either join several (albeit failed) alliances, or cast his votes against random people, and would continue to act clueless about voting dynamics. After Wilson's elimination (where Birza won Immunity), there was an all-male rebellion led by Piombo, which was eventually thwarted after Lenahan and Chase Rice sided with the women. Though Birza was deemed socially clueless for the most part, he was kept for a longer time. However, when the remaining castaways realized that this strategy would work because he did not hurt anybody's feelings (particularly those of the Jury members), winning Immunity Challenges became Birza's last resort. He went on to win the last three consecutive Immunity Challenges, keeping himself safe from the vote, while the formed alliances turned on each other. After winning the Day 38 Immunity Challenge, Birza, along with Lenahan and Rice, made it to the Final Tribal Council. While Rice and Lenahan were lambasted for being indecisive and "spineless" respectively, Birza was seen as strategically clueless, though he rebutted that he nevertheless back-stabbed no one and winning several challenges proved him worthy of winning. In the end, it was Birza who won the five votes of Dan Lembo, Henry, Mixon, Shinn, and Piombo. Rice was the runner-up with four votes, while Lenahan received zero. Thus, Birza became the Sole Survivor and won the $1 million prize by a 5-4-0 margin, which was the closest margin of victory on Survivor since Bob Crowley's victory in Survivor: Gabon. Birza also eclipsed Survivor: The Amazon's Jenna Morasca's record of youngest person to ever win Survivor.

Rob Mariano, Survivor: Redemption Island

Main articles: Survivor: Redemption Island and Rob Mariano

Having previously competed on Survivor: Marquesas, Survivor: All-Stars, and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, on January 13, 2011, Mariano was announced to compete in his fourth season, Survivor: Redemption Island in a continuation of his feud in Heroes vs Villains with Russell Hantz. Mariano, through his hard work ethic and likeability from his new tribe, became the de facto leader. As a result of this, he formed a majority alliance with Andrea Boehlke, Grant Mattos, Natalie Tenerelli, Matt Elrod, and Ashley Underwood. As the game progressed, Mariano successfully eliminated opponents with relative ease and formed an alliance with outsider Phillip Sheppard due to his abrasive and unpredictable nature. Using his past experiences and ability to read his fellow players, Mariano controlled every vote he was involved in and was able to reach the final tribal council where he was praised for his dominant game over finalists Sheppard and Tenerelli who attributed their success to Mariano. On May 15, 2011, Mariano was revealed to have won the season in an 8-1-0 vote. Whilst viewers and fans were critical of his win, Jeff Probst characterized Mariano's game as the "most perfect game of Survivor ever".

Sophie Clarke, Survivor: South Pacific

Main articles: Survivor: South Pacific and Sophie Clarke

Clarke was one of 18 contestants on Survivor: South Pacific, the 23rd season of Survivor. On the first night, she formed a final five alliance that would dominate the game with fellow contestants Benjamin "Coach" Wade, Rick Nelson, Brandon Hantz, and Albert Destrade. Wade then recruited Edna Ma as the sixth member of their alliance. After the merge, the six player alliance eliminated all of the other players from the game.

Clarke won her first immunity challenge on Day 27 of the game. After that night's tribal council vote, another immunity challenge immediately took place, which she also won. At the game's final immunity challenge, Ozzy Lusth had a significant lead in the beginning, but after he got stuck on the puzzle, Clarke came from behind to win, and Lusth was subsequently voted out and became the last jury member.

With Clarke, Wade, and Destrade as the Final Three, she began to reflect on the game and how it changed her. She felt she outplayed, outlasted and outwitted everyone by winning the most immunity challenges and by keeping her first day alliance intact. In the end, the jury rewarded her in a 6–3–0 vote over Wade and Destrade. She received votes from Hantz, Lusth, Whitney Duncan, Dawn Meehan, Jim Rice, and Keith Tollefson.

Kim Spradlin, Survivor: One World

Main articles: Survivor: One World and Kim Spradlin

In spite of being one of the quieter contestants of Survivor: One World, Spradlin caught the attention of Alicia Rosa during the trek to the girl's camp because she posed as a strong player which forged her into Rosa's alliance along with Chelsea Meissner, Kat Edorsson, and Sabrina Thompson. Spradlin, and the rest of the Salani tribe then prospered, winning three consecutive challenges, and received free immunity when the Manono tribe decided to go to Tribal Council despite winning the Day 11 Immunity Challenge.

Following Spradlin's victories at the last two Immunity Challenges, she found herself in the Final Three with Meissner and Thompson. Spradlin's quiet and effective strategy earned the respect of seven of the nine Jury members, crowning her as the 24th Sole Survivor. She was awarded $1 million for winning the Survivor contest, and $100,000 more as the Sprint Player of the Season, which was awarded by viewer votes.

Denise Stapley, Survivor: Philippines

Main articles: Survivor: Philippines and Denise Stapley

Stapley competed on the 25th season of the reality TV series Survivor, Survivor: Philippines. Originally placed on the ill-fated "Matsing" tribe, she and Malcolm Freberg were the only two castaways remaining when the tribe lost the first four consecutive immunity challenges, voting off Zane Knight, Roxanne "Roxy" Morris, Angie Layton, and Russell Swan by unanimous votes each time. Afterwards, Freberg was sent to the "Tandang" tribe while Stapley was sent to the "Kalabaw" tribe. Kalabaw subsequently lost the next two consecutive challenges, and in the first of these two tribal councils, Stapley received one vote from Sarah Dawson, while everyone else voted out Dawson. When the merge came, Stapley was on the winning team in the first two consecutive team-oriented reward challenges, and otherwise won the first individual immunity challenge right after the merge. She and Freberg managed to ride out the conflict between the members of the two former tribes, since both were perceived as outsiders who had no conflict with anyone else. However, Stapley was almost eliminated at the final seven, when she received the three votes of Jonathan Penner, Abi-Maria Gomes, and Carter Williams. However, Stapley, Freberg, Lisa Whelchel, and Michael Skupin voted for Penner, eliminating him instead. In the final two consecutive tribal councils, Stapley found herself receiving the sole vote of the person who was eliminated, while everyone else voted for said person: Gomes at the final five and Freberg at the final four. Stapley ultimately made it to the final three, alongside Whelchel and Skupin, where all three were mostly grilled by the jury of eight. However, Stapley was occasionally praised for making it to the end as a perceived underdog, surviving the ill-fated Matsing tribe, and the numerous tribal councils she attended. When the time for voting came, Stapley received six votes (all except Williams, who voted for Skupin, and Roberta "RC" Saint-Amour, who voted for Whelchel), thus winning the title of "Sole Survivor" and the $1 million prize.

As a result of her win, Stapley became the oldest female winner in Survivor history at age 41. She also set a Survivor record for becoming the first (and currently only) person in the history of the show to attend every single Tribal Council in the entire season. In a 2015 interview, host Jeff Probst named Stapley as one of his top ten favorite Survivor winners ever, and one of his top four favorite female winners.

John Cochran, Survivor: Caramoan

Main articles: Survivor: Caramoan and John Cochran (Survivor contestant)

Returning from Survivor: South Pacific, Cochran returned for the 26th season, the second season to be subtitled "Fans vs. Favorites," and was placed on the "Favorites" tribe, Bikal. He was joined by fellow South Pacific contestants Brandon Hantz and Dawn Meehan. Cochran once again aligned with a majority of his tribemates, under the alliance name of "Stealth R Us," named so by the unofficial tribe leader Phillip Sheppard. Even after the tribal swap in Episode Six, Cochran still remained on the Bikal tribe, along with Sheppard, Meehan, fellow returning player Corinne Kaplan, and newcomers Julia Landauer, Matt Bischoff, and Michael Snow. The new Bikal tribe focused on eliminating all of the new players on the tribe, successfully voting out Bischoff and Landauer before the merge came. However, when Sheppard was eliminated due to a blindside by Malcolm Freberg, Reynold Toepfer, and Eddie Fox, Cochran became the default leader due to being viewed as Sheppard's right-hand man.

Over the course of the season, Cochran went on to win three individual immunity challenges, in Episodes 8, 11, and 14. He was also the only contestant in the season to win more than one individual immunity challenge. He would make a major move to plot the blindside of potential threat Brenda Lowe at the Final Six. Lowe had been plotting to blindside Cochran at either the Final Five or Final Four. After a crucial win at the Final Four immunity challenge to secure his place in the finals, and with Sherri Biethman the easiest finals opponent, he would debate bringing Fox or his closest ally Meehan. He decided on Meehan, realizing that Fox, despite floating through the game, had numerous good friends on the jury and was the bigger threat. When it came down to the jury presentations, Cochran received nearly unanimous praise for the way he played the game strategically without letting emotions interfere, and for always sticking to his promises.

Biethman was considered to have ridden coattails to the end, and Meehan was criticized for her emotional instability. Ultimately, Cochran won a unanimous 8–0–0 vote. He became only the third winner in Survivor history to win a unanimous vote, after Earl Cole in Survivor: Fiji and J. T. Thomas in Survivor: Tocantins. He was also only the second winner to win a unanimous vote while also never receiving a single vote against him in any Tribal Council, after Thomas.

Seasons 27-32 (2013–2016)

Tyson Apostol, Survivor: Blood vs. Water

Main articles: Survivor: Blood vs. Water and Tyson Apostol

Tyson Apostol at a petting zoo in 2014

After competing on Survivor: Tocantins and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Apostol returned for his third time on Survivor's 27th season, Blood vs. Water. This time, he and his longtime girlfriend, Rachel Foulger, were both cast as contestants. He was assigned to the Galang tribe, while she went to Tadhana. Foulger was the third person eliminated from the game after being the second contestant to be voted out in a Tribal Council.

Later on, a tribe switch put Apostol on a tribe with fellow former Galang members Gervase Peterson and Aras Baskauskas, as well as former Tadhana members Hayden Moss, Ciera Eastin, and Caleb Bankston. Using the clues to the hidden immunity idol's location, given to him verbally by Moss and Bankston, Apostol found the first idol by himself and kept it a secret. He also formed an alliance with Peterson, Moss, Eastin, and Bankston. At the merge, this alliance joined with Monica Culpepper and Eastin's mother, Laura Morett, to take out Baskauskas and his brother, Vytas, as well as Tina Wesson. From here, Apostol began looking further past this alliance of seven, orchestrating Morett's return to Redemption Island and voting out Bankston, who was conspiring to blindside him. In this Tribal Council, Apostol used his idol, even though no votes were cast against him and Bankston still received the majority of votes.

With the sudden revelation that he had had the idol all along, Apostol began facing rebellion within his alliance from Moss and Eastin, who continuously appealed to Culpepper to switch her vote and go with them to vote against Apostol and Peterson. However, Apostol maintained control of Peterson and Culpepper, and even found the idol a second time, utilizing the clue that Eastin was given. Apostol later won the final two immunity challenges, thus guaranteeing himself a spot in the final three.

He then decided to vote out former Survivor winner Wesson, who had just returned from Redemption Island, recognizing she was his only remaining threat for jury votes. Thus he went to the finals alongside the less-liked Peterson and Culpepper, who were both widely viewed by the jury as riding Apostol's coattails, letting him make all the decisions, and doing little to play their own games, with Culpepper especially being criticized for failing to make a big blindside move against Apostol and Peterson despite numerous opportunities to do so. Culpepper was also razzed for her lack of social bonds with any of the other players outside of her alliance, and she broke down crying during Final Tribal Council. Though Apostol was responsible for most of the jury members' eliminations, his method of playing the game was praised, and he was voted the $1 million winner, receiving seven of the eight jury votes (with Culpepper receiving the dissenting vote, from Vytas Baskauskas).

Tony Vlachos, Survivor: Cagayan

Main articles: Survivor: Cagayan and Tony Vlachos

Vlachos was cast on the 28th season of the reality television show Survivor, Survivor: Cagayan. The theme of the season was "Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty", with participants split into three tribes based on these features. Vlachos was cast on the Aparri "brawn" tribe. Before the first tribal swap, Aparri dominated the immunity challenges and did not go to tribal council. During this time, Vlachos formed an alliance, dubbed "Cops-R-Us", with fellow police officer Sarah Lacina. Despite this alliance, Vlachos lied to Lacina about his profession, claiming he was a construction worker. Vlachos also became close with Trish Hegarty and was wary of the popularity of former NBA All-Star Clifford Robinson. Vlachos was able to find the Aparri tribe's hidden immunity idol with help of the clue he found in the reward they received after winning a challenge. At the final tribal council, the jury ultimately chose him as the winner with a vote of 8–1, beating martial arts instructor Woo Hwang.

Natalie Anderson, Survivor: San Juan del Sur

Main articles: Survivor: San Juan del Sur and Natalie and Nadiya Anderson

After competing on seasons 21 and 24 of The Amazing Race, Anderson and her twin sister Nadiya appeared as contestants on Survivor: San Juan del Sur. The twins appeared on a season that used the Blood vs. Water theme, which pitted nine pairs of loved ones against each other. Natalie was placed on the Hunahpu tribe, while Nadiya was on the Coyopa tribe, as the season's theme was pairs of loved ones competing against each other on opposing tribes. Nadiya was the first contestant eliminated from the competition. Natalie remained in the game, making it into the merged Huyopa tribe, and won three reward challenges, one individual immunity, and was sent to Exile Island twice. Natalie ultimately made it into the Final Three and was voted by the jury in a 5–2–1 vote as the Sole Survivor, winning the season's $1,000,000 grand prize.

Mike Holloway, Survivor: Worlds Apart

Main article: Survivor: Worlds Apart

Mike Holloway at the 2017 Warrior Games in Dallas, Texas

In 2014, Holloway became one of 18 players selected for Survivor: Worlds Apart, the 30th season of Survivor. At the start of the game, Holloway was placed on the "Blue Collar” tribe, Escameca.

When the tribes were redistributed in the fifth episode, Holloway remained on the Escameca tribe, along with Foley, Lavoie, Thomas, former White Collars Tyler Fredrickson and Joaquin Souberbielle, and former No Collar Joe Anglim. For the final challenge before the merge, Holloway decided to help his tribe throw the challenge to help protect Remington, on the other tribe; Holloway aligned with Anglim, Foley, and Thomas to eliminate Souberbielle, in a blindside which angered Souberbielle's close friend Lavoie and would eventually turn him against Holloway.

Once the merge arrived, Holloway came up with the merged tribe's name, Merica. He then re-added Remington to his Blue Collar alliance, and also brought in former White Collars Fredrickson and Carolyn Rivera, and former No Collar Will Sims II. However, Lavoie had plans to avenge Souberbielle and began forming a sub-alliance with the intent of blindsiding Holloway in the future. Holloway later discovered this plot, and at the subsequent Survivor Auction, he held out from participating in order to have all of his money for a game advantage. Even though he had joined all of the castaways in agreeing to purchase letters from their loved ones, he sneakily reneged; but after earning the ire of his tribe-mates, he relented. Since he had bought his letter after all, he had to compete with Rivera and Foley in a lottery to earn the advantage, which Holloway lost. All this, coupled with his attempted outing of Lavoie for trying to back-stab him, resulted in Holloway's ouster from the majority alliance. He then aligned with former No Collar Jenn Brown and former White Collar Shirin Oskooi.

Ultimately, Holloway managed to avoid elimination by winning five of the last six immunity challenges; the one time he lost, he played the Hidden Immunity Idol which he had found, and successfully negated the votes cast against him, eliminating Fredrickson instead. After winning the final immunity challenge on Day 38, Holloway planned to take Rivera and Sims to the end with him, and forced a tied vote between Rivera and Lavoie, thus necessitating a fire-making challenge that Holloway prepared Rivera for earlier that day. His plan was successful, and Lavoie became the eighth and final member of the jury. Months later, on May 20, 2015, it was revealed that the jury of eight ultimately awarded Holloway the win with six votes; Lavoie voted for Sims, Thomas voted for Rivera, and the rest voted for Holloway.

Jeremy Collins, Survivor: Cambodia

Main articles: Survivor: Cambodia and Jeremy Collins

Returning from Survivor: San Juan del Sur, Collins was one of 20 past players selected by voters to be part of the show's 31st season and its Second Chance theme (no past winners were cast). Initially, he was part of the Bayon tribe. His wife was pregnant with their third child at the time, and he stated in confessional that he wanted to win for his wife, two daughters, and yet-to-be-born child. In the third episode, he found a clue to the hidden immunity idol, which he found hidden at the next immunity challenge, becoming the second person in the game to find an idol.

Despite two tribe swaps, Collins always remained on Bayon, and the tribes officially merged with 13 players remaining. In the ninth episode, he was able to find another hidden immunity idol and played it on his closest ally Stephen Fishbach in Episode Ten, thus sparing Fishbach from elimination that night. With eight players left in the game, the remaining players got to meet their loved ones. Collins reunited with a visibly pregnant Val, who told him that she was going to have a baby boy this time. However, Collins vowed not to tell anyone else the news, since he felt that it might put a target on his back. At the Final six tribal council, he played the other hidden immunity idol on himself, which saved him from elimination that night. At the Final four, Collins won the final immunity challenge, and at the next tribal council, Spencer Bledsoe threatened to support Kelley Wentworth and sway the jury to vote for her if Collins voted him out. Collins honored his alliance with Bledsoe and voted with the majority to make Wentworth the final member of the jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, Collins was praised by Fishbach for his loyalty and playing with honor and integrity. However, Andrew Savage criticized him for skipping arrogantly to the voting booth when he voted out Kimmi Kappenberg, who later chastised him for replacing her with Bledsoe in their alliance. In his final words to the jury, Collins finally revealed to everyone his joy over the knowledge that he was going to be having a son. On December 16, 2015, at the live Reunion, it was announced that Collins won the game with all ten jury votes. Collins was the fourth winner in Survivor history to have received every possible jury vote, following Earl Cole, J.T. Thomas, and John Cochran.

Michele Fitzgerald, Survivor: Kaôh Rōng

Main articles: Survivor: Kaôh Rōng and Michele Fitzgerald

In 2015, Fitzgerald was selected as one of 18 castaways to compete on Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, the 32nd season of Survivor. Though Kaôh Rōng was the 32nd season to air, it was the 31st filmed, having been shot before Survivor: Cambodia, which aired first; the two seasons were filmed back-to-back in the same location. As the theme of the season was Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, she was assigned to "Beauty" and thus placed on the Gondol tribe at the very start. On Day 12, the tribes were reshuffled, and she ended up moving to the Chan Loh tribe, along with fellow Beauty Nick Maiorano. By Day 17, the tribes had merged, and both she and Maiorano had to decide whether to align with the former Brains or the former Brawns. They chose to align with Cydney Gillon, Kyle Jason, and Scot Pollard (the Brawns).

On Day 19, the first post-merge Tribal Council was canceled when fellow castaway Neal Gottlieb was medically evacuated that afternoon. On Day 22, Fitzgerald and Maiorano each attended their first Tribal Council of the game. They had been able to avoid going to Tribal Council before the merge by always being on a tribe that won immunity. At her first Tribal Council, she joined the other women and Joe Del Campo in voting out Maiorano in a blindside. At the next vote, Debbie Wanner was voted out by all the other women, including Fitzgerald. On Day 27, Pollard was blindsided, even though Fitzgerald and Julia Sokolowski were unaware of the plan to blindside Pollard. When Fitzgerald and Gillon won the next reward, they brought Aubry Bracco with them so that they could reconcile and reaffirm their alliance.

At the Final Four Tribal Council, she tried to eliminate Bracco, who tied with Gillon on votes; Bracco would then defeat Gillon in the fire-making tiebreaker. The Final Three's last challenge would not be for immunity, as expected. Rather, it would be for a special reward — the right to vote one person off the jury. Fitzgerald won that challenge over fellow finalists Bracco and Trang, and she voted to send Gottlieb off the jury later that night. In his parting words, Gottlieb declared that Fitzgerald probably wasn't going to win.

At the Final Tribal Council, Fitzgerald was criticized for her perceived weakness at the start of the game but praised for getting stronger as the game progressed. In the end, Fitzgerald won the title of Sole Survivor with five votes, from Wanner, Pollard, Sokolowski, Jason, and Gillon; Bracco received two votes and Trang received zero.

As a result of her victory, Fitzgerald became the first Survivor winner to be born in the 1990s.

Seasons 33-40 (2016–2020)

Adam Klein, Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X

Main articles: Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X and Adam Klein (Survivor contestant)

While his mother was sick with cancer, Klein accepted his invitation for Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, the show's 33rd season. As part of the original Vanua tribe, composed entirely of millennials, the 25-year-old survived the first four eliminations to make the Tribal Split on day 13, which distributed the remaining castaways across three new tribes. On day 9, he had discovered a hidden immunity idol at the Millennials camp. He was moved to Takali, formerly the tribe consisting entirely of Generation X members. There, he provided the swing vote on Night 18 that broke up the alliance/romance of Taylor Stocker and Jessica "Figgy" Figueroa, by sending Figueroa out of the game.

Klein made it to the merge on day 21 and became part of the new Vinaka tribe. That same day, he found an advantage in the game which gave him the ability to steal another player's reward. He confided information about this advantage to Stocker, in an effort to win the latter's trust. In return, Stocker admitted that he had been secretly stashing food in a container underneath the sand. Klein and Stocker agreed to keep each other's secrets, while Klein urged Stocker to vote out Will Wahl at the next Tribal Council. But Stocker, still upset over the blindside of Figueroa, told Justin "Jay" Starrett, Klein's main rival, about the plan to target Wahl. Starrett then told Wahl, and the two of them, along with Stocker and Michelle Schubert, plotted to vote out Klein at the next Tribal. After Wahl won immunity on day 23, Klein and his allies, Hannah Shapiro and Zeke Smith decided to join the Gen X faction in voting out Schubert. That night, Klein received four votes, but the other nine went against Schubert. At the next Tribal Council on Night 25, Stocker revealed both his and Klein's secrets and insinuated that Klein had also eaten some of the stashed food. Klein refuted that claim while admitting to having a game advantage. Stocker, on the other hand, was eliminated on a 7–4–1 vote.

On day 31, the surviving castaways were paid a visit by their loved ones. Klein's brother Evan was one of them. Before the challenge, Klein told everyone the details of his advantage but promised not to use it to take another player away from a loved one. The challenge would be won by Starrett, who allowed Klein and his brother to join on the reward, despite the fact that Starrett was Klein's main rival in the game. During the reward, a BBQ lunch, Klein was informed by his brother of their mother's condition and learned that doctors had stopped all treatment after her body failed to respond positively to it. Later on, Klein spoke about his mother's condition to Starrett, then thanked Starrett for the lunch by giving him the reward advantage. In return, when Starrett finally used the advantage to steal a reward from David Wright on day 36, Starrett invited Klein and Wright to join in on that reward.

By day 38, with only four players remaining, Klein had once again become a target. But he teamed up with Shapiro in a plan to target Wright. In the process, Klein managed to convince Wright's ally Ken McNickle to vote against Wright, who was seen as a big threat to win the game. By the end of the night, Klein had survived to become one of the three finalists alongside Shapiro and McNickle. At the Final Tribal Council, when the jury grilled the finalists as to why they deserved to win, former Gen X tribe member Chris Hammons praised Klein for doing whatever it took to eliminate Wright at the Final Four when the others had failed—although McNickle would claim that it was his decision alone to vote out Wright. For the final question of the night, Wright asked all three finalists about growth and transformation in the game of Survivor. Klein, in his response, finally revealed to the entire jury his mother's condition, and how she had motivated him to win.

After Survivor wrapped production for the season, Klein immediately rushed home to be with his mother. He made it home just in time to see her before she died an hour after his arrival. On December 14, 2016, it was announced, at the live Survivor finale, that he had received all ten jury votes to win the $1 million and the title of Sole Survivor, making him only the fifth unanimous winner in Survivor history, joining Earl Cole, J. T. Thomas, John Cochran, and Jeremy Collins. After talking about his mother's death on the live reunion show, he pledged to donate $100,000 of his winnings to Stand Up to Cancer, a charitable program that aims to raise significant funds for translational cancer research through online and televised efforts.

Sarah Lacina, Survivor: Game Changers

Main articles: Survivor: Game Changers and Sarah Lacina

While his mother was sick with cancer, Klein accepted his invitation for Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, the show's 33rd season. As part of the original Vanua tribe, composed entirely of millennials, the 25-year-old survived the first four eliminations to make the Tribal Split on day 13, which distributed the remaining castaways across three new tribes. On day 9, he had discovered a hidden immunity idol at the Millennials camp. He was moved to Takali, formerly the tribe consisting entirely of Generation X members. There, he provided the swing vote on Night 18 that broke up the alliance/romance of Taylor Stocker and Jessica "Figgy" Figueroa, by sending Figueroa out of the game.

Klein made it to the merge on day 21 and became part of the new Vinaka tribe. That same day, he found an advantage in the game which gave him the ability to steal another player's reward. He confided information about this advantage to Stocker, in an effort to win the latter's trust. In return, Stocker admitted that he had been secretly stashing food in a container underneath the sand. Klein and Stocker agreed to keep each other's secrets, while Klein urged Stocker to vote out Will Wahl at the next Tribal Council. But Stocker, still upset over the blindside of Figueroa, told Justin "Jay" Starrett, Klein's main rival, about the plan to target Wahl. Starrett then told Wahl, and the two of them, along with Stocker and Michelle Schubert, plotted to vote out Klein at the next Tribal. After Wahl won immunity on day 23, Klein and his allies, Hannah Shapiro and Zeke Smith decided to join the Gen X faction in voting out Schubert. That night, Klein received four votes, but the other nine went against Schubert. At the next Tribal Council on Night 25, Stocker revealed both his and Klein's secrets and insinuated that Klein had also eaten some of the stashed food. Klein refuted that claim while admitting to having a game advantage. Stocker, on the other hand, was eliminated on a 7–4–1 vote.

On day 31, the surviving castaways were paid a visit by their loved ones. Klein's brother Evan was one of them. Before the challenge, Klein told everyone the details of his advantage but promised not to use it to take another player away from a loved one. The challenge would be won by Starrett, who allowed Klein and his brother to join on the reward, despite the fact that Starrett was Klein's main rival in the game. During the reward, a BBQ lunch, Klein was informed by his brother of their mother's condition and learned that doctors had stopped all treatment after her body failed to respond positively to it. Later on, Klein spoke about his mother's condition to Starrett, then thanked Starrett for the lunch by giving him the reward advantage. In return, when Starrett finally used the advantage to steal a reward from David Wright on day 36, Starrett invited Klein and Wright to join in on that reward.

By day 38, with only four players remaining, Klein had once again become a target. But he teamed up with Shapiro in a plan to target Wright. In the process, Klein managed to convince Wright's ally Ken McNickle to vote against Wright, who was seen as a big threat to win the game. By the end of the night, Klein had survived to become one of the three finalists alongside Shapiro and McNickle. At the Final Tribal Council, when the jury grilled the finalists as to why they deserved to win, former Gen X tribe member Chris Hammons praised Klein for doing whatever it took to eliminate Wright at the Final Four when the others had failed—although McNickle would claim that it was his decision alone to vote out Wright. For the final question of the night, Wright asked all three finalists about growth and transformation in the game of Survivor. Klein, in his response, finally revealed to the entire jury his mother's condition, and how she had motivated him to win.

After Survivor wrapped production for the season, Klein immediately rushed home to be with his mother. He made it home just in time to see her before she died an hour after his arrival. On December 14, 2016, it was announced, at the live Survivor finale, that he had received all ten jury votes to win the $1 million and the title of Sole Survivor, making him only the fifth unanimous winner in Survivor history, joining Earl Cole, J. T. Thomas, John Cochran, and Jeremy Collins. After talking about his mother's death on the live reunion show, he pledged to donate $100,000 of his winnings to Stand Up to Cancer, a charitable program that aims to raise significant funds for translational cancer research through online and televised efforts.

Ben Driebergen, Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers

Main articles: Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers and Ben Driebergen

In 2017, Driebergen participated in Survivor: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers, the 35th season of Survivor. He was initially placed on the Levu tribe, also known as the Heroes tribe. On Day One, he formed an alliance with Alan Ball, JP Hilsabeck, and Ashley Nolan. When Levu lost the first immunity challenge, Driebergen joined the rest of the Heroes in voting out Trina Radke. Following her elimination, he aligned with Chrissy Hofbeck. Following the tribe switch, he was switched to the Yawa tribe, where he was the only original Levu member, and in the minority. He also took a dislike to new tribemate Cole Medders due to the latter's eating habits.

Driebergen made it to the merge on Day 17. Going into the first post-merge Tribal Council, he and his ally Lauren Rimmer were the swing votes. Both he and Rimmer sided with the Yawa and Levu members at Tribal Council resulting in the elimination of Soko member Jessica Johnston. On Day 25, he and Rimmer, Nolan, and Devon Pinto, formed a Final Four alliance. The next day, Driebergen stumbled on a clue to a Hidden Immunity Idol and managed to find the idol. On Day 27, Pinto suggested that Driebergen play double agent by voting against Mike Zahalsky while his new alliance blindsided Hilsabeck, shocking Driebergen's former allies Hofbeck and Ryan Ulrich.

On Day 33, Driebergen suspected his alliance was plotting against him. At Tribal Council, everyone voted against him, but he played his idol negating the six votes cast against him, and his sole vote blindsided Rimmer. This was the first time in Survivor history that someone was able to negate all of the other votes at Tribal Council with a Hidden Immunity Idol. On Day 36, he found a clue to another idol, and found it moments before Tribal Council. He played the idol before the votes were cast which resulted in Nolan's unanimous elimination. The following morning he found a third idol, tying Russell Hantz in Samoa, Tony Vlachos in Cagayan, and Tai Trang in Game Changers for the record of most Hidden Immunity Idols found in a season, with three. At Tribal Council, he played the idol, which negated the three votes against him, while voting against Pinto, resulting in a 1–1 tie between Pinto and Zahalsky. In the revote, Zahalsky was voted out. On Day 38, Driebergen lost the final immunity challenge to Hofbeck. During Tribal Council, Hofbeck revealed that since she won immunity, she had to choose one person to bring to the Final Three with her, while the other two castaways were to go against each other in a fire-making challenge. She chose to save Ulrich, forcing Driebergen and Pinto to compete in the fire challenge. Driebergen easily won the challenge, joining Hofbeck and Ulrich in the Final Three.

Driebergen received mixed reception during the Final Tribal Council. He was applauded for finding multiple idols, and his strong strategic play, but was condemned particularly by Joe Mena for his weak social game. When Zahalsky and Mena encouraged Driebergen to explain why he believed he should win, he opened up to the jury about his post-traumatic stress disorder and how he has learned to live with it, stating that he hoped to show fellow veterans that while life after the military is difficult, there is more to look forward to in the future. Driebergen was ultimately awarded the title of sole Survivor with five of the eight jury votes. He earned everyone's vote except Nolan, Zahalsky, and Pinto; the former two voted for Hofbeck while the latter voted for Ulrich.

Wendell Holland, Survivor: Ghost Island

Main articles: Survivor: Ghost Island and Wendell Holland

In 2018, Holland participated in Survivor: Ghost Island, the 36th season of Survivor. He started on the Naviti tribe where he immediately formed a close alliance with Domenick Abbate. Following the first tribe switch with the rival Malolo tribe, he and Abbate remained on Naviti along with former tribemates Chris Noble, Morgan Ricke and Angela Perkins. The former Naviti members held the majority on the tribe but Noble was seen as a potential target due to earlier friction with Abbate. Following Naviti's next immunity challenge loss, however, Noble was sent to Ghost Island by the rival tribe, sparing him from that night's vote. Holland and Abbate attempted to target Perkins in order to weaken Noble's position, but this allowed for the former Malolo members on the new Naviti tribe to seize an opportunity. Ricke was blindsided at Tribal Council instead of Perkins, shocking Holland and Abbate.

Despite appearing to be on the bottom, Holland stayed in the game after Naviti won the next two challenges. Following the second tribe switch, he was sent to the newly formed Yanuya tribe, where he found Erik Reichenbach's immunity necklace from Micronesia, which was now a hidden immunity idol. Yanuya won the remaining challenges, allowing Holland to make it to the merge.

At the merge, Holland reconnected with Abbate and shortly thereafter, the two men formed a secret Final Four alliance with original Malolo members Donathan Hurley and Laurel Johnson. At the Final Eight, Holland was targeted by the female members from the original Naviti tribe, but managed to escape elimination. Holland's social acumen strengthened as the game went forward, despite Abbate being seen as the more overt dominant player of the duo. Holland carefully cultivated his bonds on the island, particularly with Johnson.

However, as the endgame neared, Hurley recognized that the opportunity to oust Abbate and Holland from power was quickly evaporating. He attempted to enlist Johnson in potentially removing one of them from the game, but Johnson's loyalty to the duo was unwavering. At the Final Five, Holland reciprocated Johnson's loyalty by using Reichenbach's necklace idol on her, while Hurley was unanimously voted out for his betrayal. Abbate, however, soon recognized that his staunch ally throughout the game was also his biggest threat to win. When Abbate won the final immunity challenge, he saved Johnson from elimination and instead forced Holland and Perkins to compete in a fire-making challenge. Holland defeated Perkins, earning himself the remaining spot at the Final Tribal Council.

During the Final Tribal Council, Holland was praised for his effortless social game, whereas Abbate was hailed as the more overt strategic force in the partnership. This created difficulty for the jury in extricating one's game from the other, and Holland and Abbate received five jury votes each, resulting in the first tied jury vote in Survivor history. The responsibility of breaking the tie fell to the remaining finalist, Johnson, who had received no votes for her passive gameplay. Johnson became the final jury member and cast the winning vote, leaving Holland and Abbate at her mercy. On May 23, 2018, Jeff Probst revealed that Johnson voted for Holland, thus making him the Sole Survivor.

Nick Wilson, Survivor: David vs. Goliath

Main articles: Survivor: David vs. Goliath and Nick Wilson (Survivor contestant)

File:REP NICK WILSON.jpg

Portrait of Kentucky House of Representatives member, Nick Wilson

As part of the original David tribe, Wilson began his game with a bit of a rocky start, being seen as someone who was lazy and sat around camp all day. In particular, he became targeted by tribemates Pat Cusack and Carl Boudreaux. However, Wilson was spared from the chopping block of the first tribal council when Cusack was medically evacuated following the season's first immunity challenge. Afterward, Wilson immediately shifted his focus and became an aggressive alliance-builder, crafting one-on-one allegiances with several players in the game. In the next Tribal Council, Wilson voted with Christian Hubicki (with whom he'd founded the Mason-Dixon Alliance), Elizabeth Olson (together, the Thoroughbreds), Gabby Pascuzzi and Lyrsa Torres to send Jessica Peet out of the game. Wilson also forged a friendship with Davie Rickenbacker during this time.

A tribe swap occurred on Day Ten, putting Wilson on the Jabeni tribe with Torres and three former Goliaths: Natalie Cole, Mike White and Angelina Keeley. During his time on Jabeni, Wilson aligned with White and Keeley, and together the three of them ousted Cole (a former Goliath) and Torres (a former David) at the next two Tribal Councils. This alliance would become a crucial fulcrum in the rest of the season.

The merge occurred with thirteen players, forming the Kalokalo tribe. From that point, Wilson became part of an alliance with Hubicki and Pascuzzi from the Davids, as well as White, Alec Merlino and Alison Raybould from the Goliaths. Olson became the first person unanimously voted from the merge. Afterwards, Wilson found a vote stealer advantage. At the next Tribal Council, he voted with the Davids to blindside Goliath John Hennigan with a hidden immunity idol play and minority vote split. The former Goliaths remained in control of the numbers with a 6–5 advantage, but Wilson used his advantage along with Boudreaux's idol nullifier to send Goliath Dan Rengering to the jury. At the next Tribal Council, Merlino was unanimously sent to the jury, giving the surviving David players the majority.

At this point, Wilson and most of the Davids sought to target Raybould, but tribal lines were crossed when Hubicki and Pascuzzi flipped on their original alliances to orchestrate Boudreaux's elimination, leaving Wilson out of the vote. Frustrated by their betrayal, Wilson sought revenge. He and Keeley won the Family Visit in the next reward challenge, and together they selected White and Davie Rickenbacker to accompany them. They forged a Final Four deal on the reward, with the idea that Hubicki would be the next target. However, Hubicki sensed the tide had turned on him and played an immunity idol, voiding the votes against him and causing Pascuzzi (who had been attempting to engineer Hubicki's elimination) to be sent to the jury. Hubicki's safety would prove short-lived, as he was soon eliminated at the following Tribal Council.

At the Final Six, Wilson won his first immunity challenge of the season. During this time, he strengthened his bonds with Keeley and White, agreeing to a Final Three deal. Wilson once more attempted to target Raybould, but Rickenbacker was eliminated instead, having been seen as a bigger threat by White and Keeley. Furious at Rickenbacker's boot at the hands of his own allies, Wilson was now the last David standing. However, he secured his safety within the game by winning the next immunity challenge, finally ousting Raybould from the game as a result. He then went on to win the final immunity challenge of the season, becoming the only player from the season to win multiple immunities as well as guaranteeing his spot in the Final Tribal Council. Wilson selected Keeley to sit alongside him at the Final Three, forcing Kay and White to compete for the final slot via the Fire-Making Challenge. White won, cementing the Jabeni Three's final pact as well as sending Kay to the jury. Since the introduction of the final four forced fire-making challenge, Wilson is the first castaway to win the Final Immunity Challenge, not compete in the fire-making tiebreaker, and go on to win the season.

During the Final Tribal Council, Wilson was praised for his social and strategic acumen as well as his immunity wins, but was criticized for his game peaking too early, whereas much of the game's final maneuvers were credited to White. However, Wilson highlighted on the bonds he'd made with the other players, citing his role as an underdog who represented the spirit of the season's theme. Wilson's impassioned speech, which neatly outlined his gameplay, swayed seven of the ten jurors to vote for him, giving him the title of Sole Survivor.

With his victory, Wilson became the ninth winner in Survivor history to win the game while receiving zero votes cast against them the entire game.

Chris Underwood, Survivor: Edge of Extinction

Main article: Survivor: Edge of Extinction

In 2018, Underwood participated in Survivor: Edge of Extinction, the 38th overall season of Survivor. At the start, he was placed on the Manu tribe, along with returning Survivor castaways Kelley Wentworth and David Wright. On Day Eight, Underwood was blindsided by his tribe, who voted him out by a 5–2 margin. As he left the Tribal Council area, he came to a fork in the road. There, he read a sign telling him that he could either continue his game by taking a boat to the Edge of Extinction—a desolate island even more brutal than the one from which he just came—or go the other direction, to Ponderosa, and end his game for good. He chose the Edge of Extinction.

Upon arrival at the Edge, he was greeted by fellow castaways Reem Daly and Keith Sowell, both of whom Underwood had a hand in voting out of the main game earlier. Daly welcomed him with an acid tongue, as payback for voting her out on Day Three. By Night 16, he had also been joined by three more castaways: Rick Devens and Wendy Diaz from his old Manu tribe, and returning player Aubry Bracco, originally from the Kama tribe. On Day 17, Underwood competed with the other voted-out castaways in a challenge that would allow the winner of it to return to the main game. Part of this challenge involved untying knots to get to the next leg, and before the challenge began, Underwood was hindered by Sowell, who played an advantage that required Underwood to untie more knots than everyone else during the course of the challenge. Devens would go on to win this challenge and return to the main competition, while the rest, including Underwood, returned to the Edge of Extinction.

On Night 19, Underwood, Daly, and Bracco were introduced to Tribal Council as the first three members of the jury. By Night 34, they would be joined on the Edge of Extinction by several other voted-off castaways who also were sent to the jury, until there were 11 players total populating the Edge of Extinction. On Day 35, another challenge took place, once again with the winner earning the right to return to the main game. This time, though, the losers would be eliminated for good, with no more chances of getting back into the main game whatsoever. Former Kama member and returning castaway Joe Anglim held the lead near the very end, but he repeatedly failed to complete the final leg of the challenge. This opened the door for Underwood, who completed the entire challenge first, thus sending him back into the main game after 27 nights on the Edge of Extinction.

Once back in the main competition, Underwood quickly made new allies in an attempt to keep the target off his back. He gave Devens one half of a two-piece immunity idol that he had received earlier in the day, as a reward for winning the challenge. Underwood also helped fellow castaway Julie Rosenberg win immunity on Day 36. He also successfully convinced Lauren O'Connell to play her hidden immunity idol on him later that night, despite the fact that he wasn't the main target at that night's Tribal Council. The next night, Devens won individual immunity and gave back the other half of Underwood's idol, allowing Underwood to play it to save himself. On Day 38, Underwood himself won immunity, but in a shocking move, gave the immunity necklace to Rosenberg so that he could try to eliminate Devens in a fire-making challenge that would determine who would join the other castaways, Gavin Whitson and Rosenberg, in the finals. Underwood would win this challenge, sending Devens out of the game again, and onto the jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, the jury questioned Underwood's worthiness of being in the finals, given that he was in the main game for only 13 days. In response, Underwood noted that because he was on the edge of Extinction for so long, he only had a few days to make big moves to show that he was deserving of the title of Sole Survivor. He went on to say that he did just that, by playing one idol correctly, flushing someone else's idol as well, and giving up immunity to compete in, and win, a fire-making battle, all in the span of just three days. Jury member Julia Carter also defended him, by pointing out that he had done more in his short time in the main game than the other finalists had done in 39 days. Underwood also stated that, in the game of Survivor, one cannot "screw around" with other people in the game nor "treat people like chess pieces;" rather, one must have real relationships with others in the game in order to get to the end and win.

On May 15, 2019, it was revealed that Underwood had won the title of Sole Survivor,[2] by a 9–4–0 vote. He had received votes from everyone on the jury except Aurora McCreary, Devens, O'Connell, and Wentworth.

Tommy Sheehan, Survivor: Island of the Idols

Main articles: Survivor: Island of the Idols and Tommy Sheehan (Survivor contestant)

In 2019, Sheehan participated in Survivor: Island of the Idols, the 39th overall season of Survivor. He began on the Vokai tribe where he formed bonds with many of his fellow tribemates—in particular, Jack Nichting and Lauren Beck. Throughout the game, his many friendships enabled him to receive key information about the game from several other castaways. On Night 32, Dean Kowalski tipped Sheehan off about a plan by Elaine Stott to blindside Sheehan. This led to last-second scrambling which ultimately took the target off his back. The next day, Janet Carbin found a hidden immunity idol and shared it with him. A few days later, Kowalski showed his own idol nullifier, acquired on the Island of the Idols, exclusively to Sheehan. Once the castaways had moved to the Island of the Idols for the final few days of the game, Sheehan returned the favor, by sharing a clue to another hidden idol with Kowalski.

On Day 38, Noura Salman won the final immunity challenge. In response, Sheehan convinced her of his inability to make fire, stating that if they wanted to eliminate Beck, the biggest threat left in the game, Salman would have to pit Beck and Kowalski against each other in the Final Four fire-making competition which would determine the third finalist. Salman did just that, allowing Sheehan to advance into the finals. Beck was defeated in the fire-making battle, allowing Kowalski to join Salman and Sheehan in the finals on Day 39.

At the Final Tribal Council, Sheehan stated that he made strong social bonds with many people in his tribe, enabling him to control the ebb and flow of the game. He was questioned by the jury over his lack of big moves as opposed to fellow finalist Kowalski. However, Sheehan and Salman criticised Kowalski for riding others’ coattails for much of the game. On December 18, 2019, it was revealed that Sheehan won the title of Sole Survivor, by an 8–2–0 vote, receiving votes from everyone on the jury except Aaron Meredith and Elizabeth Beisel. After the results were announced, Sheehan stated that, in spite of winning the $1 million, he would keep his job as a teacher.

Tony Vlachos, Survivor: Winners at War

Main articles: Survivor: Winners at War and Tony Vlachos

During the promotional trailer for the season during the reunion show for the 39th season, Survivor: Island of the Idols, Vlachos was confirmed to be a participant in the 40th season: Survivor: Winners at War. Vlachos started on the Dakal tribe. Vlachos adapted his style to approach the season with a gameplay distinct from his Cagayan strategy, which involved an alliance with fellow police officer Sarah Lacina, surveillance from a spy nest and orchestrating attacks upon lower-threat targets. At the final tribal council, he garnered 12 of the 16 jury votes to win the season.

Seasons 41-present (2021–present)

Ericka Casupanan, Survivor 41

Main articles: Survivor 41 and Ericka Casupanan

In 2020, Casupanan was cast on the 41st season of Survivor, a reality competition series that airs on Global. However, due to the COVID-19 crisis, production of that season was delayed until 2021. When production finally resumed, Casupanan and 17 other players were flown to Fiji to participate in Survivor 41.

At the start of the game, Casupanan was placed on the Luvu tribe. Initially on the outs with the rest of Luvu, she evaded immediate danger by virtue of Luvu winning immunity for the entirety of the premerge. Casupanan found her footing after the original tribes were dissolved, when on Day 12, she and fellow former Luvu member Naseer Muttalif were randomly chosen to sit out the immunity challenge. Following the completion of the challenge, the winning team chose to give Muttalif additional immunity and send Casupanan to Exile Island. While on Exile, series host Jeff Probst paid her a visit, presenting her with a brand new game twist. If she chose to do so, she could reverse the outcome of the previous challenge and give the losing team, and herself, immunity at the next Tribal Council. Her decision would be symbolized by an hourglass given to her by Probst: if she broke the hourglass, the winners of the previous challenge and Muttalif would lose immunity and have to compete against each other in an individual immunity challenge; if she left the hourglass alone, she and the losers of that challenge would compete against one another for individual immunity as originally planned.

On Day 14, after two days on Exile Island, Casupanan got to return to her fellow castaways, and upon her return, she announced that she had broken the hourglass, thus reversing the outcome of the previous immunity challenge. This guaranteed her a spot on the merged tribe, as she was now immune from the vote at the Night 14 Tribal Council. After former Luvu member Sydney Segal was voted off that night, the new merge tribe was formed. It was Casupanan who named it Viakana, which comes from the Fijian phrase for 'hungry'. There, she formed a close bond with another former Luvu member, Heather Aldret. The two women created a strong alliance and took control of numerous eliminations. Both of them were able to make it to the Final Four together.

On Day 25, Casupanan and Aldret lost to Xander Hastings in the final immunity challenge of the season. As a perk for winning this challenge, Hastings also got to choose one person to sit next to him at the Final Tribal Council on Day 26, meaning that the other two players left would be required to compete in a fire-making competition to determine the third and final finalist. Hastings chose Casupanan to bring into the finals, leaving Aldret to battle it out with Deshawn Radden in the fire-making contest. Radden defeated Aldret in a closely-contested battle, sending Aldret to the jury.

On Day 26, Casupanan presented her case to the members of the jury. Her respectable social and strategic gameplay and ability to avoid being targeted earned her the respect of the jury, and she won the title of Sole Survivor in a 7–1–0 vote. She earned the votes of everyone on the jury except Danny McCray, who voted for Radden to win.

On February 25, 2022, Casupanan was awarded the key to the city by Niagara Falls mayor Jim Diodati.

Maryanne Oketch, Survivor 42

Main articles: Survivor 42 and Maryanne Oketch

In 2021, Oketch was living in Ajax, Ontario when she got called to participate in the 42nd season of the reality competition series Survivor. The 42nd season of Survivor aired on Global and CBS from March–May 2022.

At the start of the game, Oketch was placed on the Taku tribe. On Day Two, she and two other castaways, Drea Wheeler and Jenny Kim, were each forced to make an individual decision to either risk or protect her next Tribal Council vote, similar to a game of chicken. Those that protected their votes would neither gain nor lose anything, while those that risked their votes would each gain an extra vote, unless all three players risked it, in which case every player would lose her vote at her next Tribal Council. Oketch and Wheeler each selected "risk" while Kim selected "protect," giving Oketch and Wheeler an extra vote each.

On Day Six, Oketch found one of three Beware Idols, which could only be given power through an activation phrase that had to be uttered at the same time as the other two Beware Idols' activation phrases. By Day 11, she and the other two finders of Beware Idols were finally able to activate their idols, as they had all been found. On Night 14, Oketch received two votes at Tribal Council, but Lydia Meredith was sent home with six votes, meaning that Oketch would make it to the merge.

Having received votes at the final pre-merge Tribal Council, Oketch began to feel insecure about her place on the merge tribe. On Day 17, Wheeler was the intended target for elimination at Tribal Council, but she announced that she had an idol which she would be playing for herself. This prompted Oketch to also play her own idol to protect herself that night. The next day, Oketch found another idol, which she managed to keep a secret from the remaining players for the duration of the game.

On Day 23, Jonathan Young was targeted for being a constant threat to win challenges, but Romeo Escobar was also targeted that night. Oketch, however, decided to team up with Escobar in blindsiding Omar Zaheer, and she used her extra vote to tip the results in her favor, eliminating Zaheer by a vote of 3–2–2. Two days later, Escobar won the final immunity challenge and decided to force Mike Turner and Young to compete in a fire-making challenge to determine who would be eliminated right before the Final Three. Escobar's decision effectively gave Oketch a bye into the Finals.

At the Final Tribal Council, Oketch told the jury about her gameplay, showing them the second immunity idol she had found and managed to keep a secret from the rest of the tribe. She also explained her strategy behind eliminating Zaheer at the Final Six, stating that everyone else left in the game at that point would have taken her to the end no matter who won the final immunity challenge. When the final vote took place, Oketch was crowned Sole Survivor by a vote of 7–1–0. She received the vote of everyone on the jury except Young, who voted for Turner to win.

Mike Gabler, Survivor 43

Main articles: Survivor 43 and Mike Gabler

Starting out as part of the Baka tribe, Gabler took notice of his social standing in the tribe. As the oldest player of the season, Gabler knew he would be at an immediate disadvantage, and so he worked tirelessly to forge social bonds with the other members of his tribe. Specifically, he made alliances with Owen Knight and Sami Layadi, and also made overtures towards Elie Scott, using heavy metal music as a mutual interest. During the first few days on Baka, Gabler also gained possession of a timed hidden immunity idol, earning it in a summit challenge by risking his vote successfully. However, when Baka lost the first immunity challenge, Gabler took the blame for the loss and publicly announced he would not be playing his idol and instead leaving his fate to the “shot in the dark.” He was immediately dissuaded from doing so by his tribemates, further highlighting the strong social connections Gabler had already built. Morriah Young was voted out at the first tribal council.

Humbled by this experience, Baka rallied and were more successful in the rest of the challenges in the pre-merge stage of the game. However, the threat of Gabler's idol (which expired after two tribal councils Gabler attended) loomed large in the minds of the other Baka members, specifically Scott and her closest ally Jeanine Zheng. Spurred by Scott, Zheng snooped through Gabler's bag to read the idol clue to confirm the wording on the idol's rules, in an attempt to potentially blindside Gabler by fooling him into thinking the idol was already expired. However, Layadi was looped in on this plan and immediately told Gabler of Scott's duplicity. Gabler realized that his erstwhile ally was potentially coming after him, and set about to make the first move.

Gabler's opportunity arose when the tribes dissolved into the “earn-the-merge” portion of the game. Half the players won immunity in a challenge while the remaining players were vulnerable. Gabler, who was among the immunity winners, took advantage of the other players’ reticence to pitch potential boots by throwing Scott's name into the mix, citing her deceit towards him as a motivating factor. Despite Scott attempting to keep the remaining Baka members together and protect herself, Gabler's plan succeeded and his former ally was voted out just before the tribes merged.

Now that the game had reached the individual stage, Gabler further capitalized on his momentum from the Scott blindside by winning the first immunity challenge. However, recognizing that his profile was starting to peak, Gabler eased back, allowing other players to rise in dominance and threat level around him. However, Gabler was anything but sedentary, and during this period he began making connections with the remaining jurors. He solidified his bonds with Knight and Layadi from his old tribe, but Gabler also built a strong rapport with each of the remaining players as well, most notably Cody Assenmacher and Jesse Lopez. This trio formed what became known as the “Ride or Die” alliance, which ended up dictating much of the gameplay at the back end of the game. This allowed Gabler to remain in the shadows while the louder, flashier players like Assenmacher and Lopez became bigger targets, but his involvement in the alliance carried more weight than simply being an extra vote.

However, Gabler knew that if he were to win, he could not go to the end with the “Ride or Die” alliance, but he could not pull the trigger himself without blowing his cover. His gameplay involved planting seeds in Lopez's mind, mentioning that Lopez's gameplay needed differentiating from Assenmacher's, who was seen as the social force driving the duo's decisions. Gabler also started laying the groundwork in a similar manner with Cassidy Clark against her ally Karla Cruz Godoy. Gabler's machinations, while subtle, eventually grew fruit, as Lopez blindsided Assenmacher with his own hidden immunity idol. Cruz Godoy was voted out subsequently.

At the final four, Lopez was the clear favourite to win the game, but he lost the final immunity challenge to Clark. Knowing that Lopez had a last opportunity to save himself by the fire-making challenge, Clark selected Gabler (partially at his urging) to make fire against Lopez. Gabler wound up making fire faster than any other player in the history of the show, sending Lopez out of the game and onto the jury. The final three players left in the game were Gabler, Clark and Knight, who all pled their cases in front of the jury. Gabler highlighted his strong social game at Final Tribal Council, emphasizing his strategy of hiding in plain sight, juggling multiple alliances without ever being targeted or having any blood on his hands. The jury was impressed with Gabler's strong social game and his simple but effective strategy, and granted him the title of Sole Survivor in a 7-1-0 vote.

Gabler is the second-oldest American winner of Survivor, after Bob Crowley, and is the only one in the American version of the show to be the oldest contestant of his winning season. He is also the eleventh winner to win the game while receiving zero votes cast against them the entire game.

See also

List of Survivor (American TV series) contestants

References

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