The person who has earned the highest number of votes from the Jury.
The Sole Survivor is the title held by the winner the reality TV show, Survivor. Being a Sole Survivor requires the having the highest number of votes from the Jury.
Though there is no one absolute strategy of winning the title, as it is subjective, but to be a Sole Survivor, a contestant must achieve these two things:
Reach the final day of the competition.
Have the highest number of votes from the Jury among the remaining finalists.
All Sole Survivors are known to have mastered (wittingly or otherwise) the social aspect of the game. That is, having to be liked by most of the Jury members because of their social ability, since Survivor is mostly a game of social interaction than a physical competition. Most winners tend to bring opponent(s) to the Final Tribal Council who are more unlikely to garner votes because of their abrasiveness, or sometimes, terrible body of work (poor work ethic, bad challenge performances, frequent squabbles with tribemates).
Reaching the Final Tribal Council, the final few will have to compete for the Jury's votes. The finalist who garnered the most votes would attain the title of Sole Survivor. This situation has been proven tricky over the years, as most finalists succumb to any of the following situations:
Lack of self-awareness - a common error of most finalists; not knowing how they came across to their comrades. This is used by their fellow finalists to their advantage to swerve the jury votes to their favor. This error is correlated with:
Being deemed for have an aggressive game play, If not performed properly, it usually hurts the players they vote out and send to the jury, potentially altering their thinking process, and might vote for the other finalists just for the sole reason that they did not like the player's mismanagement of them. Though playing aggressive can benefit a contestant, handling their eliminations is proven to be a two-edged sword.
Being largely unlikable, finding himself/herself be ignored for their rash treatment of the other contestants.
Having a demeanor that is off-putting to the jury members, both when they were still in the game and what was observable in proceeding Tribal Councils when they started sitting as jurors. This makes jurors think twice in voting such finalists, regardless of merit.[1]
"Flying under-the-radar" or "riding on coattails" would be admonished for "not doing anything" or for simply being at the right place at the right time.
Answering poorly (or not answering at all) to the Jury's questions.
Acting very apologetic, rather than accounting for his/her actions.
Feeling entitled to winning the game.
Does not get credit for doing anything, and especially if he/she throws others under the bus.
Answering back in a combative manner.
Regardless of the situation, the finalist must answer at their best to the the Jury's questions. If jurors finds a contestant answering insincerely, most likely they would not get their votes.
The Sole Survivor receives a check of $1,000,000, to be received after the season finale. Earlier winners additionally received a car that is usually similar to the one given at the Reward Challenge where a car was also given, though this has been abandoned since Survivor: Cook Islands. The winner, and all contestants present in the live Reunion Show will also receive an extra $10,000 appearance fee, which immediately follows the finale broadcast. Furthermore, the Sole Survivor is still eligible for winning the Fan Favorite Award. All cash prizes are not tax-free.
Earl Cole is the first Sole Survivor to garner all Jury votes and has the most Jury votes to date in a season with 9. J.T. Thomas would also later repeat this feat, but gained 7 votes as his season featured a Final Two instead of a Final Three. John Cochran is the latest Sole Survivor to accomplish this feat when he gained all 8 Jury votes in Survivor: Caramoan.
With Cochran's unanimous win in Caramoan, all Jury configurations (7-person, 8-person and 9-person Juries) have unanimously voted for the Sole Survivors to win.
J.T. is the first Sole Survivor to get all of the Jury votes and win the Fan Favorite Award.
J.T. is also the first Sole Survivor to play a "Perfect Game", not receiving any votes against him and receiving every Jury vote.
Cochran is the second Sole Survivor to play a "Perfect Game". He, however didn't win the Fan Favorite Award.
Earl had defeated finalists of bothgenders, J.T. had defeated a finalist of the same gender and Cochran had defeated finalists of the oppositegender.
There have been 14 men and 11 women to have become the Sole Survivor, with one woman winning twice.
In terms of seasons, 14 have been won by men while 12 have been won by women.
In seasons with a Final Three and a 9-person Jury, there are two male winners who won in a 5-4-0 vote, two female winners who won in a 6-3-0 vote, two female winners who won in a 7-2-0 vote, a male winner who won in an 8-1-0 vote and a male winner who won in a 9-0-0 vote.
Richard Hatch is the only Sole Survivor to be revealed on location rather than in the U.S.
Natalie White and Kim are tied for the most Jury votes received by any female winner, with 7. Coincidentally, the votes were 7-2-0.
Bob is the oldest Sole Survivor, while Fabio Birza is the youngest when crowned. However, Sophie Clarke is the youngest by date of birth.
Yul Kwon and Kim are the only winners to have found the Hidden Immunity Idol and keep it until Day 39. However, Kim is the only winner to find the idol without a clue.
There have been two LGBT winners (Richard and Todd Herzog).
Tom Westman has the most Individual Immunity wins out of any winner with 5.
Jenna Morasca & Kim are tied with the most Individual Immunity wins out of all the female winners with 4.
Thomas and Cochran went on to play a "perfect game" and won unanimously.
6 winners have won without ever having won an individual immunity challenge: Tina Wesson, Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands), Yul Kwon, Earl Cole, Todd Herzog, Natalie White, and Sandra Diaz-Twine (Heroes vs. Villains)
Sandra accomplished this twice, making it a seven-time occurence.
Aras Baskauskas has the most votes cast against any winner with 9.
Natalie has the most votes cast against any female winner with 8.
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