Kelly Shinn

Kelly Shinn (also known as Purple Kelly) is a contestant from Survivor: Nicaragua.

Despite lasting 28 days, viewers saw little of Shinn, who held no real story arc during her time in the game. However, her controversial quit along with NaOnka Mixon permanently changed the rules on the jury rights of people who leave the game prematurely.

Profile

Name: Kelly Shinn (20)
Tribe: La Flor, Libertad
Current Residence: Mesa, Arizona
Occupation: Nursing Student at the University of Hawaii.
Personal Claim to Fame: Successfully completing my first two years of pre-med/nursing classes at the University of Hawaii. On a smaller scale, I also look at winning homecoming queen as one of my greatest accomplishments.
Inspiration in Life: My dad. He has a beautiful heart and is the hardest worker I know.
Hobbies: Surfing, wake boarding, go-kart racing.
Pet Peeves: Dirty fingernails.
3 Words to Describe You: Vivacious, confident, outspoken.
SURVIVOR Contestant You Are Most Like: Elisabeth Hasselbeck because she played with smarts and integrity.
Reason for being on SURVIVOR: It is the opportunity of a lifetime. People dream to do things as great as this.
Why you think you will be the sole SURVIVOR: I know how to play the "social popularity"game.

Survivor: Nicaragua

Kelly entered the season as a member of the La Flor tribe, which was comprised of castaways under thirty years old. To avoid confusion with fellow tribemate Kelly Bruno, Kelly Shinn was dubbed "Purple Kelly" (or "Kelly Purple"). When the tribe divided into two different alliances on Day 6, Kelly sided with Brenda Lowe's faction, voting for Shannon Elkins at La Flor's first Tribal Council. At the Tribe Switch, Purple Kelly remained on La Flor. During this time, she continued to do little else but vote as instructed by Brenda and Sash Lenahan.

Purple Kelly made the Merge on Day 19, becoming a member of the new Libertad tribe. Though she continued to aid her alliance in voting out Alina Wilson and Marty Piombo, Purple Kelly was deliberately excluded in Holly Hoffman's plan to eliminate Brenda on Day 27, being the only person to not vote against her.

On Day 28, a heavy rainstorm occurred, making camp-life miserable. Exhausted by the condition of the weather, Purple Kelly began to have doubts that she could continue the game. Thus, after losing that day's Reward Challenge, Purple Kelly announced that she wanted to quit the game, along with NaOnka Mixon. Stunned, Jeff Probst denied their request until Tribal Council that night, giving her time to think over her decision. Upon returning to camp, many players expressed to Kelly how they didn't want anyone to quit, especially Holly, who told her that if she started she should finish. At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst again asked Kelly if she wanted to quit, to which she responded that she did, officially pulling herself from the game. Since Purple Kelly decided to quit after NaOnka, she technically got 8th place. She also became the 5th member of the Jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, she congratulated the finalists for succeeding where she could not. For Sash, Purple Kelly wanted him to explain how he outwitted the Jury in sixty seconds. Sash said he made as many alliances as possible to move forward and tried to own up to his actions. Although she liked the honesty, Purple Kelly was not satisfied with his answer. She ultimately voted for Fabio Birza to win, essential for making him the Sole Survivor.

Voting History

Kelly S.'s Voting History
Episode	Kelly S.'s Votes	Voted Against Kelly S.
1	La Flor Tribe Immune
2	Shannon	-
3	La Flor Tribe Immune
4	La Flor Tribe Immune
5	La Flor Tribe Immune
6	Kelly B.; Kelly B.¹	-
7	Jill	-
8	Alina	-
9	Marty	-
10	Benry	-
12	No Vote
Quit, Day 28
Voted For Sole Survivor	Fabio

^1 In Worst Case Scenario, the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Kelly B. and Marty, forcing a revote. Kelly S. did not change her vote at the revote.

Post-Survivor

In August 2014, Purple Kelly won the award for Hottest Female in the Reality Awards category.

Trivia

Kelly's nickname comes from the purple highlights in her hair. This was done to distinguish her from Kelly Bruno.
Purple Kelly and NaOnka Mixon are the first contestants to quit at the same Tribal Council.
- Kelly is the youngest contestant to quit Survivor.
- At the Survivor: Nicaragua Reunion Show, Jeff Probst revealed that after Purple Kelly and NaOnka's simultaneous voluntary exits, the producers decided that, if a contestant quit the show, the producers would deliberate whether or not put the quitter on the Jury. Jeff further revealed that the producers will reserve the right to withhold the quitter's consolation prize.
- If Purple Kelly and NaOnka had not been permitted to be on the Jury and the same vote had occurred, Chase Rice would have won the season.
Kelly is the only contestant in Survivor: Nicaragua to not receive a a vote against them.
In one Tribal Council, she couldn't get the cap off the pen to write her vote with.
Kelly's first confessional was only in Episode 7. This is the latest first confessional in the history of the show.
Kelly is the highest ranking original La Flor female.
Kelly is the youngest contestant to compete on Survivor: Nicaragua.
- She is the first contestant born in the 1990s.
Aside from Kelly Wiglesworth, Shinn is the only contestant named K e ll y to not have been voted out; Kelly Wiglesworth made it to final tribal council.