A confessional is a directing tool used to tell the story of Survivor. In a confessional, one player narrates a situation, tells their perspective, or gives secret insight to their own gameplay that only the audience can see. Initially defined as the contestants' speeches when they cast their votes at Tribal Council, it has expanded over to their day-to-day journal of events in the game and final words following their elimination.
Confessionals feature a lower third (also known as a chyron) displayed on the screen that lists the contestant's name, a characteristic (such as hometown, occupation, original season, or relative) and their tribe's name. The font color generally matches that of the tribe (i.e. blue for Matsing, red for Kalabaw).
Most Confessionals by Season
Gallery
Trivia
- The font used for confessionals is "Cutamond Basic".
- Russell Hantz has had the most confessionals in one season (Samoa), with 108.
- Sarah Lacina has had the least amount of confessionals in a season out of anyone who had the most amount of confessionals in a season (Game Changers), with 45.
- Brenda Lowe went 8 consecutive episodes without any confessionals in Caramoan. As of now, this is the longest streak of episodes without any confessionals.
- Rob Mariano has had the most confessionals on Survivor, with 209 between his four seasons.
- Stephenie LaGrossa has had the most confessionals out of all female contestants with 122 between her three seasons.
- Helen Glover, Chris Daugherty, Earl Cole, Todd Herzog, NaOnka Mixon, Kim Spradlin, Jon Misch, Mike Holloway, and David Wright are the only one-time contestants to have the most confessionals in a given season.
- Of these contestants, only Helen, NaOnka, Jon, and David did not eventually win their season.
- Kim Spradlin and Sarah Lacina are the only females to be crowned Sole Survivor with the most confessionals in their respective winning seasons.
- Rudy Boesch is the first person to make a confessional.
- Kelly Wiglesworth is the first female to make a confessional.