Grant Mattos

Grant Mattos
Contestant Profile
Born	March 12, 1981 (1981-03-12)
Hometown	West Hollywood, California
Occupation	Ex-NFL Player
Survivor Career
Version	United States
Tribe(s)	Ometepe Murlonio
Finish	8/18
Alliance(s)	Stealth R Us
Challenge Wins	6
Votes Against	10
Days Lasted	36/39

Grant Logan Mattos is a contestant from Survivor: Redemption Island.

Best known for his close alliance with Rob Mariano, Grant was a member of the dominant Stealth R Us alliance which controlled most of the game, and his physical strength was key into keeping his tribe strong, and eventually allowing his alliance to gain the numbers advantage. However, after the intended target Ashley Underwood won immunity, Grant was subsequently betrayed by Rob and voted out for being deemed as the largest threat to the jury. He was ultimately eliminated in 8th place after coming in last in the final Redemption Island duel.

Profile

Retrieved from CBS.com

Name (Age): Grant Mattos (29)
Tribe: Ometepe
Current Residence: West Hollywood, Calif.
Occupation: Ex-NFL Payer
Personal Claim to Fame: Playing in the NFL.
Inspiration in Life: My wife. With her in my life, I can do anything.
Hobbies: Largemouth bass fishing, surfing and writing.
Pet Peeves: When someone uses the word "like" every other second.
3 Words to Describe You: Outgoing, positive and friendly.
Reason for being on Survivor: It's a huge mental and physical challenge. I want to get to know my true self better.
Why you think you'll "survive" Survivor: I am physically and mentally strong and consider myself to be a good leader.
Reason why you think you will be the Sole Survivor: I have been through a lot and can push myself mentally and physically.

Survivor

Grant quickly established himself as one of the strongest physical presences on the Ometepe tribe, and was often their key piece in the team's pre-merge challenge wins that allowed them to gain the numbers advantage at the merge. He also was in the majority alliance within the tribe with Rob Mariano, Natalie Tenerelli, Ashley Underwood, Andrea Boehlke, and Matt Elrod to begin the game. Matt would be blindsided by the alliance, however, due to his showmance with Andrea, and would be replaced by Phillip Sheppard.  Grant and Rob gained a particularly close bond early on, and consulted one another in strategic decisions throughout the game.

Immediately after the merge, Grant was the first targeted by the opposing Zapatera tribe as being seen as possibly the strongest physical threat on the Ometepe tribe, and also tribe leader Rob's main ally. Mike Chiesl would write a note to Matt (just now back from Redemption Island), promising him Final Three if he and Andrea flipped sides and voted out Grant. Matt refused to flip, and was conned by Grant and Rob into going along with a false plan to vote off Steve Wright instead, thus preventing a possible tie in votes between Grant and Matt. Grant thus narrowly escaped in the first vote after the merge where he received five votes to six for Matt (Steve receiving the other from Matt).

He would remain safe for quite awhile after this. The Ometepe six-person alliance picked off the former Zapatera tribe one at a time, with the Zapatera tribe members trying in vein to get Grant and the female Ometepes on board to vote off either Rob or Phillip. As the final Zapatera members fought to save themselves, Steve gave an ominous warning to Grant about what happens to Rob's friends when he no longer needs them, referencing his betrayal of Lex van den Berghe on Survivor: All-Stars. He also warned all Ometepe members about Rob wanting to take Phillip all the way to the finals. Grant remained unconcerned and trusting in his alliance with Rob. Once finally down to the Ometepe Six, things started out well for Grant as he did not seem to be a major target at first. He was part of the decision to vote off his friend Andrea, who he viewed as one of his toughest competitors of the alliance in a jury vote and in physical challenges towards the end. However, with only five people left, and seemingly in a secure spot to go right to the end and quite possibly win the game, he would be blindsided after primary target Ashley saved herself by winning immunity. The tribe thereafter scrambled and his closest ally Rob (along with Ashley who had argued the idea to Rob days earlier) would orchestrate the blindside, as he viewed Grant a major threat to get the jury votes to win the game, and believed his chances of winning would be much higher against Natalie, Phillip, or Ashley. Rob had Grant firmly convinced that Natalie was going home that night, and had considered voting her out as well to break up the potential girls alliance, but ultimately he and Phillip decided on voting out Grant instead. He had one final shot to return to the game, but came last in the final Redemption Island duel, eliminating him for good and finishing in 8th place.

At the Final Tribal Council, Grant would ask both Natalie and Rob about the nature of their alliance, pointing out he also had an alliance with Rob that he had felt was strong until being blindsided by Rob.  Natalie answered the alliance between Rob and Grant was probably similar to Rob's and her own, but that Grant was a major threat. Rob then told Grant he had been in an alliance with Natalie since Day 1 and that they felt they could trust each other, and that he also believes Grant would have won the game had he taken him to the end, and that is why he felt he had to vote him out. Grant would still would vote for Rob to win the game, as he felt he played the best game of the Final Three, and because Rob had explained his game far better than the other two finalists who mostly just credited Rob for their games.

At the Reunion Show, fellow alliance members Andrea Boehlke and Ashley Underwood have confirmed that Grant would have almost certainly won a jury vote against any combination of members of the Ometepe Six (Rob, Natalie, Phillip, Andrea, and Ashley) alliance had he reached the end.

• Challenge History
• Voting History

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Ometepe	Push It Uphill	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
2		Smash, Grab, Smash	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
3		Spin Cycle	Reward/Immunity	No	Won
4		Toolin' Around	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
5		Smoko	Reward/Immunity	No	Won
6		Beach Balls	Reward/Immunity	No	Won
7		Crash Course	Reward/Immunity	No	Won
Tribes Merged, Day 19
8	Murlonio	Roller Ball	Immunity		Lost
9		Meso Soup	Immunity		Won
		Gang Hang	Immunity	No	Lost
10		Mayan Pizza	Immunity		Lost
11		Log Jam	Reward/Immunity		Won
		Flashback	Immunity		Lost
12		Step on Up	Immunity		Lost
13		Bone to Pick	Reward/Immunity		Lost
Voted Out, Day 35
14	Murlonio	A Leg Up	Duel		Lost
Eliminated, Day 36

Episode	Grant's Votes	Voted Against Grant
1	Francesca	-
2	Matt	-
3	Ometepe Tribe Immune
4	Phillip	-
5	Ometepe Tribe Immune
6	Ometepe Tribe Immune
7	Ometepe Tribe Immune
8	Matt	David, Julie, Mike, Ralph, Steve
9	Mike	Individual Immunity
	David	-
10	Julie	-
11	Ralph	Individual Immunity
	Steve	Steve
12	Andrea	-
13	Natalie	Ashley, Natalie, Phillip, Rob
Voted Out, Day 35
14	On Redemption Island
Eliminated, Day 36
Voted for Sole Survivor	Rob

Post-Survivor

• Following Mattos's duration on Redemption Island, he married Canadian actress Christina Cox and they have one daughter, a girl named Flynn.
• Before and after Survivor until 2013, Grant was an instructor at City Yoga LA until partway through 2013.
• Grant was a head Yoga Instructor at Moga Yoga in Los Angeles through 2015.
• Grant relocated from Los Angeles to Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the end of April 2015.
• Grant relocated from Toronto to New York City sometime in the fall of 2015 and works at Moda Yoga NYC.
• According to an interview with fellow castaway Natalie Tenerelli in December 2015, Grant and Rob Mariano had a falling out due to the blindside, and have not been in contact since the Reunion.
• Grant moved again from New York City to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with his wife and daughter, in either late 2016 or early 2017. He works at Moshka Yoga Vancouver.
• Grant has a book called "The Fifth Down", which released on December 1, 2017.

Trivia

• Grant was friends with Micronesia castaway Natalie Bolton, who was a big part of him auditioning for Survivor.
• Grant is the fourth person in the history of the show who was affiliated with the NFL before doing Survivor, following Gary Hogeboom, Jimmy Johnson, and Steve Wright. He would later be followed by Brad Culpepper, Tyler Fredrickson, Alan Ball, Danny McCray, and Brandon Cottom.
  • Grant is one of the two former NFL players on Redemption Island, the other being Steve Wright.