The Sole Survivor is the title held by the winner of the American reality television series Survivor, as determined by a plurality of votes from the jury, whose task is to award the title to the castaway it believes to have most thoroughly embodied the game's three-word slogan: "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast."
Criteria[]
To be awarded the title of Sole Survivor, a contestant must reach the final day of the game and secure a plurality of the jury votes.
On the final evening, the Final Tribal Council takes place, where the finalists face questioning by the jury. The jury can ask any questions or make statements to inform their voting decision. The finalists in turn may answer the question or explain their actions during the game. Since there is no objective definition of 'best' in this context, the strategies that lead to victory and the jurors' reasons for voting have varied greatly throughout the series' history. However, jury members are generally expected to elect a winner who best embodies the show's three-word motto: "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast":
- Outwit: The social element, it involves achieving one's strategic goals without sacrificing social relationships or alienating other contestants. A strong candidate will have maintained the respect of the jury while effectively navigating the social dynamics of the game.
- Outplay: The strategic element, it encompasses outmaneuvering other contestants and eliminating them in ways that benefit one's long-term success. This includes forming and managing alliances, executing blindsides, and utilizing, or at least using the information surrounding Hidden Immunity Idols and other advantages. A strategic player demonstrates guile, deception, and strategic acumen.
- Outlast: The physical element, it involves enduring the game's physical hardships, such as harsh weather, grueling challenges, and deprivation of necessities and luxuries. The Sole Survivor not only endures these difficulties but does so with resilience and perseverance.
It is important to note that likability and respect are not always synonymous in the game of Survivor. Sometimes, a strategically dominant player may win despite being less likable, while at other times, a more sociable player may win due to their character quality, even if another finalist was more strategically active but socially inept. Ultimately, the jury's decision reflects their personal criteria for who best fulfilled "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast." The finalists must present compelling arguments highlighting their strengths and mitigating their weaknesses during the Final Tribal Council. The jury votes for the finalist they feel most comfortable losing to, regardless of their reasoning.
Prizes[]
The Sole Survivor receives a check of $1,000,000, to be received after the season finale. From Survivor: The Australian Outback to Survivor: Panama, the winners additionally received a car that is usually similar to the one given at the Reward Challenge where a car was also given, though this has been abandoned since Survivor: Cook Islands. The winner, and all contestants present at the live Reunion Show will also receive an extra $10,000 appearance fee, which immediately follows the finale broadcast. From Survivor: Panama to Survivor: Caramoan, the Sole Survivor was also eligible to win the Fan Favorite Award. All cash prizes are taxable at the U.S. rate of 35%, leaving the winner with $650,000.
Tony Vlachos, the winner of Survivor: Winners at War, received $2,000,000, billed as the biggest prize awarded in reality television history.
List of Sole Survivors[]
U.S.[]
International[]
- Main article: Sole Survivor/International
Survivor: Winners at War[]
- Main article: Survivor: Winners at War
To commemorate the series' 20th anniversary and 40th season, 20 of the 38 champions returned to compete in an all-winners season. Tony Vlachos emerged as the winner, becoming the series' second two-time winner, following Sandra Diaz-Twine, who also competed on this season.
Trivia[]
Winning and Perfect Games[]
- Sandra Diaz-Twine was the first Survivor contestant to win two seasons, having won both Survivor: Pearl Islands and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. She was later followed by Tony Vlachos, who won Survivor: Cagayan and Survivor: Winners at War.
- So far, 26 men and 18 women have become Sole Survivors. Because Sandra and Tony both won twice, 19 seasons have been won by women and 27 seasons have been won by men.
- Bob Crowley is the oldest Sole Survivor by age at the time crowned, being 57 years, 9 months, and 19 days old when announced as the winner. He is also the oldest by birth date.
- Denise Stapley is the oldest female winner, being 41 years, 11 months, and 15 days old when announced as the winner. However, by birth date, Tina Wesson and Vecepia Towery are older than Denise.
- Fabio Birza is the youngest Sole Survivor by age at the time crowned, being 21 years, 6 months, and 7 days old when announced as the winner. Maryanne Oketch is the youngest by birth date.
- Jenna Morasca is the youngest female winner, being 22 years, 2 months, and 26 days old when announced as the winner.
- Mike Gabler is the only Sole Survivor to be the oldest contestant in his winning season.
- Jenna Morasca and Aras Baskauskas are the only Sole Survivors to be the youngest contestant in their winning season.
- Earl Cole is the first Sole Survivor to win a jury vote unanimously, as he garnered all 9 jury votes in Survivor: Fiji.
- J.T. Thomas in Survivor: Tocantins (7-0), John Cochran in Survivor: Caramoan (8-0-0), Jeremy Collins in Survivor: Cambodia (10-0-0), and Adam Klein in Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X (10-0-0) have also won unanimously.
- J.T. and Cochran received no votes throughout the entire game, achieving a "perfect game". Jeremy received no counted votes, but did receive three votes that were voided by a Hidden Immunity Idol.
- Wendell Holland is the first Sole Survivor to win following a tie vote in the Final Tribal Council (5-5-0), in which the second runner-up cast the tie-breaking vote that awarded him the victory.
- Bob Crowley is the first Sole Survivor to also win the Fan Favorite Award.
- J.T. Thomas, Rob Mariano, and Kim Spradlin have also won Sole Survivor and the Fan Favorite Award in the same season.
- There have been six LGBT winners: Richard Hatch, Todd Herzog, Parvati Shallow, Erika Casupanan, Yam Yam Arocho, and Kenzie Petty.
- Erika came out after Survivor 41 aired.
- Parvati came out after Survivor: Micronesia aired.
- With Natalie Anderson's win, she and Natalie White are the first two Sole Survivors to share a name.
- Bob Crowley and Rob Mariano can also be considered the first to share a name as their given names are both "Robert", although they went by different diminutive names.
- They would later be followed by Chris Daugherty & Chris Underwood and Mike Holloway & Mike Gabler, though Mike Gabler was referred to by his last name throughout the season.
- Chris Underwood is the first Sole Survivor to be voted out, earn his way back into the game, and win the game.
- Erika Casupanan is the first Sole Survivor to reside in Canada and the first Canadian contestant overall to win the game.
- Yam Yam Arocho is the first Sole Survivor to reside in Puerto Rico and the first contestant to reside in a U.S. territory overall to win the game.
Tribal Council[]
- Richard Hatch, along with every Sole Survivor since Survivor 41 have been revealed on location rather than during the Reunion Show.
- Tony Vlachos is the Sole Survivor with the most jury votes received in both a Final Two and a Final Three, with 8 in Cagayan and 12 in Winners at War, respectively.
- He holds the record for the most jury votes received overall, with a total of 20 in his Survivor career.
- Sandra Diaz-Twine is the Sole Survivor with the most jury votes received for any female contestant, with a total of 12 in her Survivor career (6 each in Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains).
- Jeremy Collins and Adam Klein are tied for the most jury votes received by a winner in a season without the Edge of Extinction, with 10.
- Natalie White, Kim Spradlin, Sarah Lacina, Erika Casupanan, and Maryanne Oketch are tied for the most jury votes received by any female winner in a single season, all receiving 7 jury votes.
- Denise Stapley is currently the only Sole Survivor to attend every Tribal Council of their winning season, attending all 14 Tribal Councils in Philippines.
- Natalie White is the Sole Survivor who was eligible to be voted out the most times, attending 14 Tribal Councils without ever winning individual immunity.
- Michele Fitzgerald and Erika Casupanan are the only Sole Survivors to never attend a pre-merge Tribal Council.
- Eleven winners have won without ever having a single vote cast against them during their winning season: Tina Wesson, Ethan Zohn, Brian Heidik, Sandra Diaz-Twine (in Pearl Islands), Tom Westman, J.T. Thomas, John Cochran, Natalie Anderson, Nick Wilson, Tony Vlachos (in Winners at War), and Mike Gabler.
- Ben Driebergen has the most votes cast against any winner in a single season, with 11. This includes 9 votes that were negated by Hidden Immunity Idols.
- Aras Baskauskas has the most non-negated elimination votes cast against a winner in a single season, with 9.
- Natalie White has the most votes cast against any female winner in a single season, with 8. This includes 3 votes cast during a revote.
- All 5-2 jury votes in Final Two seasons have involved a man defeating a woman: Ethan Zohn defeated Kim Johnson, Chris Daugherty defeated Twila Tanner, and Aras Baskauskas defeated Danielle DiLorenzo.
- The most common decision for Sole Survivor by the jury is a tie between a 4-3 vote and a 7-1-0 vote, occurring a total of 5 times each. This count does not include the 4-3-0 Final Tribal Council of Survivor: Gabon.
- Nine winners voted against the person who was ultimately eliminated at every Tribal Council they voted in: Tina Wesson, Ethan Zohn, Brian Heidik, Amber Brkich, Yul Kwon, Todd Herzog, Parvati Shallow, Natalie White, and Tony Vlachos (in Cagayan).
Hidden Immunity Idol and Twists[]
- Yul Kwon is the first Sole Survivor to have found a Hidden Immunity Idol.
- Yul, Kim Spradlin, Maryanne Oketch, and Mike Gabler are the only Sole Survivors to find a Hidden Immunity Idol and keep it until it expired.
- Gabler's idol was a limited idol however, and expired after two tribal councils.
- Yul, Kim Spradlin, Maryanne Oketch, and Mike Gabler are the only Sole Survivors to find a Hidden Immunity Idol and keep it until it expired.
- Mike Holloway, Jeremy Collins, Ben Driebergen, and Chris Underwood are the only Sole Survivors to use a Hidden Immunity Idol successfully in their winning season. In addition, Sarah Lacina successfully used a Legacy Advantage to save herself.
- Ben Driebergen has found and played the most Hidden Immunity Idols in a winning season, playing three idols in consecutive Tribal Councils. Two of the three were played successfully; the third was played before votes were cast.
- Sarah Lacina and Nick Wilson are the only Sole Survivors to have used the Vote Steal.
- Maryanne Oketch is the only Sole Survivor to have used an Extra Vote.
- In both "Fans vs. Favorites" seasons, a Favorite won.
- In both Blood vs. Water seasons, winners won in their third attempt on reality shows. Tyson Apostol competed in Survivor thrice, while Natalie Anderson participated in The Amazing Race two times with her twin sister, Nadiya Anderson, before winning on her first try on Survivor.
- Aras Baskauskas and Tyson Apostol are the only Sole Survivors who have competed with both the Exile Island and Redemption Island twists in play.
- While Tyson was never sent to Exile Island nor Redemption Island, Aras was sent to Exile Island twice in his first season and was voted out and sent to Redemption Island before being eliminated in his second season.
- Yul Kwon, Parvati Shallow, Tyson Apostol, and Natalie Anderson are the only Sole Survivors who have competed with both Exile Island and the Edge of Extinction, with everyone but Tyson having been sent to both.
- Danni Boatwright is the first new player to defeat a returning player in a jury vote. She was followed by Sophie Clarke and Denise Stapley.
- Coincidentally, all three contestants to achieve this are women who played for a second time in Winners at War.
Challenge Wins[]
- Tom Westman won the most challenges in a single season, with 17. Natalie Anderson and Michele Fitzgerald are tied with the most challenge wins for a female winner, with 13.
- Tom Westman and Mike Holloway are tied with the most individual immunity wins out of any winner, with 5.
- Jenna Morasca and Kim Spradlin are tied with the most individual immunity wins for a female winner, with 4.
- Natalie White and Chris Underwood won the fewest challenges out of all Sole Survivors, with 3; in Natalie's case, none of them were from individual challenges.
- Eleven Sole Survivors have won without ever having won an individual Immunity Challenge: Tina Wesson, Sandra Diaz-Twine (both times), Yul Kwon, Earl Cole, Todd Herzog, Natalie White, Tony Vlachos (in Cagayan), Sarah Lacina, Ben Driebergen, Tommy Sheehan, and Maryanne Oketch.
Returning Winners[]
- Nine winners have won the game as returnees: Amber Brkich, Parvati Shallow, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Rob Mariano, John Cochran, Tyson Apostol, Jeremy Collins, Sarah Lacina, and Tony Vlachos.
- All were second-timers, except Tyson (third time), Tony (third time), and Rob (fourth time).
- Twenty-five Sole Survivors who have competed more than once have experienced being voted out, either prior to or after the season that each of them had won.
- Voted out once: Richard Hatch, Tom Westman, Danni Boatwright, Aras Baskauskas, Yul Kwon, Sophie Clarke, Kim Spradlin-Wolfe, Denise Stapley, John Cochran, Tony Vlachos, Natalie Anderson, Adam Klein, Ben Driebergen, Wendell Holland, and Nick Wilson.
- Voted out twice: Ethan Zohn, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Amber Mariano, Parvati Shallow, J.T. Thomas, Jeremy Collins, and Sarah Lacina.
- Voted out thrice: Tina Wesson* and Rob Mariano.
- Voted out four times: Tyson Apostol*
- Jenna Morasca and Michele Fitzgerald are the only Sole Survivors to play multiple times and never be voted out, as Jenna quit in Survivor: All-Stars and Michele made the Final Tribal Council in both her seasons.
- Aras Baskauskas and John Cochran are the only Sole Survivors to compete in multiple seasons which non of them are all-returning seasons.
- In All-Stars and Survivor: Game Changers, no returning Sole Survivors reached the merge nor became jury members.
- Sandra Diaz-Twine is the first and only winner to compete in an international version of Survivor. She competed in Australian Survivor: Blood v Water.
- Tina Wesson, Sandra Diaz-Twine, J.T. Thomas, Ethan Zohn, Parvati Shallow, and Tony Vlachos are the only winners to return twice after being crowned Sole Survivor.
- Tina Wesson is the first Sole Survivor to be voted out first on another season (All-Stars). She would be followed by Natalie Anderson (Winners at War).
- Going from her first win (Survivor: Pearl Islands), Sandra Diaz-Twine is the only winner to return three times after being crowned Sole Survivor. Four times if you include Blood v Water.
- J.T. Thomas is the first returning winner to become a jury member and the first to be eliminated after the merge.
- Out of the other returning Sole Survivors in Heroes vs. Villains, Sandra Diaz-Twine and Parvati Shallow made the merge, but they were finalists, while Tom Westman was eliminated before the merge.
- J.T., Aras, and Tina are the first three winners to become jury members in a subsequent season. They would be followed by the entire jury of Winners at War.
- Parvati Shallow is the first former winner who became a runner-up on their returning season. She would be followed by Natalie Anderson.
- Parvati is one of three winners to finish as a losing finalist in their subsequent season, alongside Michele Fitzgerald and Natalie Anderson.
See also[]
References[]