Pete Yurkowski

Peter "Pete" Yurkowski is a contestant from Survivor: Philippines.

One of the most notable villains of his season, Pete gained infamy after purposely planting a Hidden Immunity Idol clue in RC Saint-Amour's, bag, leading to a conflict between her and ally Abi-Maria Gomes. His Tandang Alliance crumbled after Lisa Whelchel and Michael Skupin grew dissatisfied with their treatment within the alliance and defected. He was ultimately voted out at the final 8.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Name (Age): Peter "Pete" Yurkowski (24)
Tribe Designation: Tandang
Current Residence: Holmdel, N.J.
Occupation: Engineering Graduate
Personal Claim to Fame: Graduating with an engineering degree and putting it on the back burner. Gotta' do what you love.
Hobbies: Going to bars and meeting girls, going to the gym and making beats.
Pet Peeves: Stupid people definitely sit at number one. But, here goes the list: ditsy girls, girls that wear tiaras to bars on their birthdays, meat heads, people that are happy all the time, people that beat around the bush, bad ideas, traffic circles, buildings that are structurally unsound and escalators – especially when they don't work.
3 Words to Describe You: Crazy, funny, manipulative and intelligent.
If You Could Have 3 Things on The Island What Would They Be and Why?
1) My stuffed pillow pet turtle named Hambone. He is coming because Hambone goes where I go. He will be an icon for the show. Plus, how can girls not melt when they find out that one of the things I brought was a stuffed animal.
2) A bottle of rum.
3) Ukrainian Flag… Grandpa would be proud.
Survivor Contestant You Are Most Like: Russell Hantz, because he manipulated everyone and was a boss the entire time. Puppet mastery is the name of the game.
Reason for Being on Survivor: I want to be the alpha male. This show is predominately about who is the leader of the pack and that's me. I've been busy with school and graduation but now that's all over. It's my time to dominate this game and win it. Plus, I want a million dollars.
Why You Think You'll "Survive" Survivor: I'm strong, I'm agile, I have excellent balance, I'm intelligent, I can empower you through the use of speech, I can strategize like Napoleon and I'm a leader.
Why You Think You Will Be the Sole Survivor: I take charge of situations and am willing to put my reputation on the line to manipulate and make it to the end. I am not on the island to make friends. I want to win. I have the athletic and intellectual means to conquer anything and anyone you throw at me.^[1]

Survivor[]

Pete was a part of the Tandang tribe, which learned that they would be joined by returning veteran Michael Skupin. Pete started off in an alliance with fellow tribemates Abi-Maria Gomes and RC Saint-Amour, deceiving them into thinking he was just another pretty face with no strategy. However, Pete showed this was not the case, as he formulated a plan to turn Abi and RC against each other with by revealing the Hidden Immunity Idol clue to the whole tribe which led to Abi accusing RC of having the idol. Afterwards, Pete and Abi left RC and formed an alliance with Artis Silvester and Lisa Whelchel. During this time, Pete, Abi, and Artis formed a three-person bond, and alienated RC and Skupin throughout the pre-merge game.

Pete made the merge with the rest of the undefeated Tandang tribe, and he and Abi got to work planning RC's elimination. They convinced the old Kalabaw tribe to split the vote between RC and Jonathan Penner, who was a major threat, and has an idol. Penner played his idol, with Pete and Abi's biggest enemy was sent out of the game in a 4-2-0 vote, with two votes against Pete as well. After RC's elimination, Pete's alliance stuck to their plan to get out Penner. However, Penner wins immunity, and everyone at the camp began to scramble for a new plan of who to vote out. Skupin seems an obvious choice, but Lisa informs Pete that Malcolm Freberg also has an idol. Pete confronts Malcolm, but believes that Malcolm doesn't have an idol after Malcolm denied that he has one. In the midst of the chaos, Pete proposes that they vote out former Kalabaw member Jeff Kent. The plan is accepted by Pete's alliance, and the entire remaining Tandang tribe voted against Jeff, while the former Kalabaw members with Malcolm voted against Pete, minus Penner who, in the confusion, did not know who to vote against, and voted against Abi instead. Because of this, a tie was averted, and Jeff was sent home in a 5-4-1 vote.

With another successful Tribal Council, Pete, Abi, and Artis were at the top of the food chain at this point. However, tension rose within his alliance as Abi began to berate Lisa, saying that Lisa is not loyal enough. At Tribal Council, Pete was afraid that Lisa would flip because of Abi, but Skupin ended up flipping instead, and Pete's biggest ally and best friend, Artis, was sent home. With the Tandang Alliance crumbling and Pete and Abi on the outside, Pete knew he is going home next because Abi had safety from her idol. Pete quickly came up with a plan to vote out Malcolm and flush both his and Abi's idols from the game. He told the plan to Mike & Lisa, hoping to regain their trust and keep Tandang together. The two were reluctant to accept despite Mike's initial uncertainty about following Penner's plan after his conversation with Pete, and Pete was sent home that night after Abi played her idol in a 3-2-0 vote.

At Final Tribal Council, as a member of the jury, Pete challenged Lisa's loyalty, ignored Skupin, and soft-balled a question to Denise about why she played the best game. He joined Abi-Maria, Artis, Jeff, Malcolm, and Penner, in voting for Denise to become Sole Survivor.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Tandang	Share the Wealth	Reward/Immunity	No	2nd
2		Manila Folders	Reward/Immunity	No	1st
3		Deep In Thought	Reward/Immunity	No	2nd
4		Swing Break	Reward/Immunity	No	1st
5		Idol Hands	Reward	No	Won
5		Thrash, Splash & Bash	Immunity	No	Won
6		Bog Roll	Reward	No	Lost¹
6		Philiping Out	Immunity	No	Won
Tribes Merged, Day 17
7	Dangrayne	Wrist Assured	Immunity		Lost
8		Catch of the Day	Reward		Lost
8		Snake in the Grass	Immunity		Lost
9		Muddy Waters	Reward		Lost
9		Paddle Out	Immunity		Lost
10		Snare the Drum	Reward		Won
10		Push Your Luck	Immunity		Lost
Voted Out, Day 27
Notes: ^1 Tandang forfeited the challenge in exchange for Kalabaw's rice.

Episode	Pete's Votes	Voted Against Pete
1	Tandang Tribe Immune
2	Tandang Tribe Immune
3	Tandang Tribe Immune
4	Tandang Tribe Immune
5	Tandang Tribe Immune
6	Tandang Tribe Immune
7	RC	Jonathan, RC
8	Jeff	Carter, Denise, Jeff, Malcolm
9	Jonathan	-
10	Malcolm	Carter, Jonathan, Malcolm
Voted Out, Day 27
Voted for Sole Survivor	Denise

Post-Survivor[]

Pete used to date former tribemate Abi-Maria Gomes.^[2]
Pete and Survivor: One World contestant Jay Byars competed in The Price Is Right Male Model Search.^[3] Pete was eliminated in the Final 15.
Pete previously dated Survivor: Kaôh Rōng winner and Winners at War contestant Michele Fitzgerald.^[4]^[5]

Trivia[]

Pete is the youngest member of Tandang and the youngest man to compete on Philippines.
Caramoan castaway Eddie Fox and Kaôh Rōng castaway Nick Maiorano were alternates for Pete.^[6]
Pete, along with the rest of the Tandang tribe, became the first contestants to reach the merge without visiting Tribal Council.
Pete lost 20 lbs. during his time in Philippines.^[7]