Michaela Bradshaw is a contestant from Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X and Survivor: Game Changers.
In Millennials vs. Gen X, Michaela was known for being a strong physical competitor and for her sassy and often harsh personality. Despite some interpersonal conflicts, her honesty made her a widely trusted member of the Millennial tribe until the swap. After the swap, however, her prowess in challenges, as well as her demonstrated intelligence, caused her allies Jay Starrett and Will Wahl to feel threatened. These factors, combined with her knowledge of Jay's Hidden Immunity Idol, induced Jay and Will to organize a blindside of Michaela the night before the merge. Her ouster is remembered as one of the most emotionally charged moments of the season.
In Game Changers, Michaela's prior performance had not been seen by her competitors, and her unique status as a stranger to the other returning contestants, in conjunction with her sometimes caustic demeanor, caused her to struggle socially. She did manage to forge a bond with Sandra Diaz-Twine, before being relegated to the minority before the merge. Michaela then gained a new mentor and ally in Cirie Fields, and their tight bond allowed Michaela to further herself in the game. Nonetheless, Michaela constantly walked on thin ice due to certain tribemates' outward dislike of her. Ultimately, her alliance with Cirie proved to be the driving factor in her blindside at the final seven at the hands of Sarah Lacina.
Profile
Retrieved from CBS.com
Name: Michaela Bradshaw Pet peeves: When incompetent people try to instruct me, when people do things inefficiently or wrong, when I lose, and when other people make me lose. What does it mean to be a Millennial? To be a Millennial is to resonate with the idea that I can design my own life. It's the notion that I should have the desires of my heart, not because I am "entitled" to them, but because God granted me the ability to attain them. Being a Millennial means I am bold enough to state a want and stubborn enough to work for it, despite obstacles and the opinions of others. It means that my journey is only a failure if I stop moving forward. Personal claim to fame: Paying off my student loan debt is the crowning achievement of my twenties thus far. As a low-income student at a pricey suburban university, I worked two to three jobs during the majority of my college career, had very little fun, and made every decision based on money. When I graduated and began working as an admission counselor, I kept my expenses low by eating PB&J for lunch, denying myself cable and internet, sticking to my flip phone, and driving my 1992 Honda Accord. After years of being teased for my frugal ways, I got the last laugh when I paid off $31,000 in loans at the age of 23. Inspiration in life: My godfather is my hero. He was about 60 years old when I was born. He had no children of his own and was the ultimate father figure in my life. For 20 years, he has read the Bible every day. When I was younger, he took care of me, showed me what to value in a man, and raised me to tell the truth, trust in God, be confident in myself, do my best, and not fear mistakes. His influence led me to be a magna cum laude college graduate. The person I am is because of him. If you could have three things on the island, what would they be and why? A mirror because I'll feel better if I can look better and I'll have no idea how I look if I can't see myself. A book because it will give me something to listen to besides myself and keep my mind sharp. Being alone and thinking too much drives people crazy. Finally, chocolate because sometimes a taste of something sweet can boost my mood. Survivor contestant you're most like: I'd play like a combination of Tasha Fox (Cagayan, Cambodia), Kelley Wentworth, (San Juan del Sur Cambodia), and Natalie Anderson (San Juan del Sur). Tasha was in the right alliances and never had her loyalty questioned. I love that Wentworth was crafty, played hard, took risks, and was an asset in challenges. Natalie represents my inner beast; she was athletic, spunky, played a social game, made big moves, and actually won. Reason for being on Survivor: My motivation is the $1 million. My goal is to leave an inheritance to my children's children. Winning Survivor would be a start. Why do you think you'll "survive" Survivor? I will be the Sole Survivor because I will adapt to everything the game throws at me. My experience in sales has made me nearly immune to rejection, so things not going my way won't take my head out of the game. Physically, I'm in great shape. Also, I'm a fairly rational thinker, so I will separate what I do in real life from what I need to do to win this game.[2] Age: 25 Hometown: Fort Worth, TX |
Survivor
Millennials vs. Gen X
Michaela started the game on the Vanua tribe consisting of millennials. On Night 5, she caught Figgy Figueroa and Taylor Stocker kissing in the shelter and outed them the next day. Michaela made her dislike of Figgy very clear, and the two got into an argument. After Vanua lost the Immunity Challenge on Day 7, Michaela aligned with Adam Klein, Hannah Shapiro, Mari Takahashi, Will Wahl, and Zeke Smith in targeting Figgy. However, fearing that his Triforce alliance would lose the numbers, Jay Starrett got Michaela and Figgy to make amends. At Tribal Council, Michaela and Will joined the majority in blindsiding Mari.
When the tribe switch occurred on Day 12, Michaela, along with Hannah, Jay, and Will were switched to the Ikabula tribe, where they were joined by original Takali members Bret LaBelle and Sunday Burquest. On Ikabula, Michaela managed to start the tribe's fire, and later caught Jay and Will finding a Hidden Immunity Idol, though she promised not to rat them out. After Ikabula won the Immunity Challenge on Day 18, Michaela openly coached the Vanua tribe to a second-place finish, reasoning that she wanted to keep the millennials together.
After Ikabula finally lost on Day 20, Michaela told her old Vanua tribemates that they should split their votes between Bret and Sunday in case one of them had an idol and vote out Bret on the revote. However, Jay and Will were scared of Michaela's athleticism, intelligence, and the fact that she knew about their idol. At Tribal Council, Jay and Will sided with Bret and Sunday and blindsided Michaela. Shocked, she screamed and asked Jay if he voted against her, which he confirmed. When leaving Tribal Council, she angrily hit a tree on her way out. Despite being angry with Jay, she did not reveal that he had the idol.
Voting History
| Michaela's Voting History | ||
|---|---|---|
| Episode | Michaela's Votes |
Voted Against Michaela |
| 1 | Vanua Tribe Immune | |
| 2 | Mari | - |
| 3 | Vanua Tribe Immune | |
| 4 | Vanua Tribe Immune | |
| 5 | Ikabula Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Ikabula Tribe Immune | |
| 7 | Bret | Bret, Jay, Sunday, Will |
| Voted Out, Day 20 | ||
Game Changers
Michaela started on the game on the Mana tribe. After Mana lost the first Immunity Challenge, Ciera Eastin was targeted by most of the tribe for openly scheming against Tony Vlachos and Caleb Reynolds. However, after Tony told Michaela that she was the decoy target, Michaela became uneasy, causing the majority to consider voting her out for her volatility. At Tribal Council, Ciera was voted out in a unanimous 9-1 vote, with Ciera voting against Michaela. After Mana lost immunity again on Day 6, the tribe's former winners, Tony and Sandra Diaz-Twine openly targeted each other. Though Michaela was hesitant to get rid of Tony, saying she wanted to keep the tribe strong, she joined the majority in voting him out.
As a result of the tribe switch on Day 7, Michaela, along with Sandra, Aubry Bracco, Jeff Varner, and Malcolm Freberg were switched to the Nuku tribe where they were joined by original Nuku member J.T. Thomas. The original Mana alliance on Nuku faced a heavy blow on Night 11 as Malcolm was blindsided during the Joint Tribal Council with the new Mana tribe. After the next Reward Challenge, J.T. and Michaela squabbled over the latter's consumption of the sugar they had previously won. In order to keep the two fighting, Sandra ate the rest of the sugar, causing J.T. to accuse Michaela of the act. After Nuku lost immunity, Michaela and Sandra decided to try to blindside J.T., while Michaela was targeted by Aubry and J.T., leaving Jeff as the swing vote. While she received votes from Aubry and J.T., Jeff sided with her and Sandra, blindsiding J.T.. After J.T. left, Sandra admitted that she ate the sugar, much to Michaela's amusement.
The next day, another tribe switch occurred. Michaela and Aubry were switched back to Mana, where she and Hali Ford were targeted by Brad Culpepper, though the tribe won the remaining Immunity Challenges before merging. When the tribes merged into the Maku Maku tribe on Day 20, Michaela was targeted by most of the others for her personality. Michaela then formed a bond with Cirie Fields, telling Cirie that she wanted both of them to be the first pair of African-American women to make it to the end. Cirie then began mentoring her and gave her advice on how to play the game. Cirie ultimately saved her from elimination by telling the majority to make Hali the main target. At the first post-merge Tribal Council, Michaela received four votes, but Hali was successfully voted out.
During the Reward Challenge on Day 25, Michaela was not picked to join either team and was thus relegated to watching the challenge from the sit-out bench. Stewing, she failed to notice a scroll labeled with "Secret Advantage" placed at the foot of the bench. Sarah Lacina spotted the advantage, later revealed to be a Vote Steal, after the challenge and managed to claim it for herself.
On Day 29, Michaela found herself disliking the idea of voting out any members of her majority Tavua Alliance, fearing it would allow the remnants of the minority Power Six alliance the chance to get back in the game. She and Sarah were the deciding votes and ended up going with the plan to send alliance member Zeke Smith to the jury. After not being selected to go on the loved ones reward, Michaela became fed up with the way her allies neglected her and started a secret alliance with members of the minority alliance, Sierra Dawn Thomas, Tai Trang, and Troyzan Robertson, promising to align with Brad to target Andrea Boehlke. Either way, she still ended up voting with the majority at the next Tribal Council on Day 32 against Sierra, sending her to the jury.
The following day, Michaela, exhausted and hungry, then asked Brad to catch fish for the tribe, but he took it the wrong way and called her a "diva". On Day 35, Cirie revealed to her a plan she had to use Sarah's Vote Steal advantage, which Sarah had given to Cirie right before departing for Tribal Council as a sign of trust, to save Sarah and blindside Tai, but when the grand plan was foiled by the rules of the advantage, Sarah secretly targeted her for being too close to Cirie. After Sarah stole Tai's vote, she convinced Brad and Troyzan to help blindside Michaela in a 4-2-1 vote.
At the Final Tribal Council, Michaela accused Brad of only getting to know the people he wanted to know, and said she did not understand why certain jurors took things personally. She praised Sarah's social and strategic gameplay and ended up voting for her to win, which she did in a 7-3-0 vote over Brad and Troyzan.
Voting History
| Michaela's Voting History | ||
|---|---|---|
| Episode | Michaela's Votes |
Voted Against Michaela |
| 1 | Ciera | Ciera |
| Tony | - | |
| 2 | Nuku Tribe Immune | |
| 3 | - | |
| 4 | J.T. | Aubry, J.T. |
| 5 | Mana Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Mana Tribe Immune | |
| 7 | Zeke | Andrea, Cirie, Sarah, Zeke |
| Zeke | - | |
| 8 | Debbie | - |
| 9 | Zeke | - |
| 10 | Sierra | - |
| 11 | Andrea | - |
| Tai | Brad, Sarah (x2), Troyzan | |
| Voted Out, Day 35 | ||
| Voted For Sole Survivor |
Sarah | |
^1 In The Tables Have Turned, Tai used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Sierra, negating Michaela's vote against her.
Post-Survivor
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Trivia
- Michaela is the only castaway to have been voted out of the Ikabula tribe.
- Michaela is one of four castaways to compete on two seasons before their first season aired. The others are Russell Hantz, Malcolm Freberg, and Zeke Smith.
- Michaela is the youngest castaway to compete on Game Changers.
- In Game Changers, Michaela and fellow Mana tribemate Aubry Bracco were the seventh and eighth castaways to share a tribe with every castaway on a season. The first six were Rob Mariano, Sean Rector, and Vecepia Towery in Marquesas, Denise Stapley in Philippines, and Kelly Wiglesworth and Spencer Bledsoe in Cambodia.
- Michaela lost 19 lbs. during her time on Game Changers.[4]
- Michaela was the 7th person voted out in Millennials vs. Gen X, placing 14th. She was then the 14th person voted out in Game Changers, placing 7th.
References
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