The Sole Survivor is the title held by the winner of the reality TV show, Survivor, determined by a plurality of votes from the jury, who decides which of the finalists best embodies the show's three word slogan: "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast."
Criteria
Though there is no one absolute strategy of winning the title, as it is subjective, but to be a Sole Survivor, a contestant must survive all 39 days of competition (42 in The Australian Outback, 39.5 in Blood vs. Water and San Juan del Sur) and gain the respect of most recently eliminated contestants, a group known as the jury.
At the Final Tribal Council, the finalists are to be subjected to the jury, who would either ask questions or make a statement to help them come up with a decision as to which of the finalists is most deserving of the title of Sole Survivor and the one million dollar prize.
All Sole Survivors are known to embody the show's three-word premise:
- Outwit: The strategic element; the ability to eliminate competition whether directly or indirectly, knowing what moves to make, not to make, and the timing of doing such moves. The fulfillment of this element is commonly attributed by making alliances.
- Outplay: The social element; it is how a contestant carries out the "outwit" element, eliminating competition but keeping their respect such that they still give their jury votes in the end. As such, it is the job of the finalist to still sway the jury to his favor.
- Outlast: The physical element; the ability to withstand the harsh realities of being a contestant for 39 days, such as harsh weather, tests of willpower, and in a certain extent, challenges. The fulfillment of this element is making it to the Final Tribal Council and facing the jury.
It should be noted that in the game of Survivor respect does not always translate into likability. In any case, a Sole Survivor has one way or another, fulfilled all three elements of Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. In Survivor: One World, the principle "perception is not always reality" is introduced by eventual winner Kim Spradlin, stating that in order to win the game, a player must match his or her "perception", or what he or she thinks is happening, with "reality", or what is actually happening.
The finalists succumb to certain pitfalls such as poor work ethic, bad challenge performances, coming off as abrasive to fellow competitors, and lack of self-awareness. As such, it is the job of the finalist to still sway the jury to their favor.
Prizes
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 taxable at the U.S. rate of 35% leaving the winner $600,000.
List of Sole Survivors
Gallery
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Trivia
- Sandra Diaz-Twine is the first, and currently only Survivor winner (and female) to win twice, winning in Survivor: Pearl Islands and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.
- Earl Cole is the first Sole Survivor to garner all jury votes. 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 and John Cochran would be the next Sole Survivor to accomplish this feat when he gained all 8 jury votes in Survivor: Caramoan. The latest Sole Survivor to accomplish this feat is Jeremy Collins when he gained all 10 jury votes in Survivor: Cambodia and also holds the record for the most jury votes received out of any Sole Survivor with 10.
- With Jeremy Collins' unanimous win in Cambodia, all jury configurations (7-person, 8-person, 9-person and 10-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 both genders, J.T. had defeated a finalist of the same gender and Cochran had defeated finalists of the opposite gender.
- Bob Crowley is the first Sole Survivor to also win the Fan Favorite Award. Later, Sole Survivors J.T., Rob Mariano, and Kim Spradlin would also win the Fan Favorite Award.
- There have been 18 men and 12 women to have become the Sole Survivor, with one woman winning twice.
- In terms of seasons, 18 have been won by men while 13 have been won by women.
- In seasons with a Final Two and a 7-person jury, only men have won in a 5-2 vote (Ethan, Chris, and Aras).
- Coincidentally, each of them defeated a female finalist.
- Tony Vlachos is currently the Sole Survivor with the most jury votes received in a Final Two, with 8 Jury votes received.
- In seasons with a Final Three and a 9-person jury, only men have won in a 5-4-0 vote (Yul and Fabio), only women have won in a 6-3-0 vote (Sandra and Sophie) and only women have won in a 7-2-0 vote (Natalie and Kim).
- 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.
- Denise Stapley is currently the only Sole Survivor to attend every Tribal Council in a season.
- 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 Hatch and Todd Herzog).
- Danni Boatwright is the first new player to defeat a returning player in the final.
- She would be followed by Sophie Clarke and Denise Stapley
- Coincidentally, each of them were females.
- To date, none of them have played a second time.
- Tom Westman and Mike Holloway are tied with the most individual immunity wins out of any winner with 5.
- Jenna Morasca and Kim are tied with the most individual immunity wins out of all the female winners with 4.
- 8 winners have won without ever having a single vote cast against them: Tina Wesson, Ethan Zohn, Brian Heidik, Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands), Tom Westman, J.T. Thomas, John Cochran, and Natalie Anderson.
- J.T. and Cochran went on to play a "perfect game" and won unanimously.
- 7 winners have won without ever having won an individual Immunity Challenge: Tina Wesson, Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains), Yul Kwon, Earl Cole, Todd Herzog, Natalie White, and Tony Vlachos.
- Sandra accomplished this twice, making it an eight-time occurrence.
- Aras Baskauskas has the most votes cast against any winner in a single season with 9.
- Natalie White has the most votes cast against any female winner in a single season with 8 (However, this includes the 3 votes she received in the revote in The Day of Reckoning).
- The most common decision for Sole Survivor by the jury is a 4-3 vote, occurring a total of 6 times. This includes Survivor: Gabon where Bob won in a 4-3-0 vote.
- Tina Wesson is the only winner to return twice after being crowned Sole Survivor on his or her first attempt.
- Seven winners have won the game as returnees: Amber Brkich, Parvati Shallow, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Rob Mariano, John Cochran, Tyson Apostol, and Jeremy Collins.
- Tyson is the first, and only, contestant to win on their third season.
- Rob is the first, and only, contestant to win on their fourth season.
- 12 Sole Survivors who had competed more than once had experienced being voted out, either prior to or after the season that each of them had won: Richard, Tina, Ethan, Amber, Tom, Aras, Parvati, JT, Rob, Cochran, Tyson, and Jeremy.
- Bob Crowley is the oldest male winner and oldest winner ever who was 57 at the time of his win.
- Denise Stapley is the oldest female winner who was 41 at the time of her win.
- However, Tina Wesson and Vecepia Towery are older then Denise by birth date.
- With Natalie Anderson's win, she and Natalie White are the first two Sole Survivors to share a name.
- In both Fans vs. Favorites seasons, favorites won.
- In both Blood vs. Water seasons, winners won in their third attempt on reality shows. Tyson competed in Survivor thrice, while Natalie participated in The Amazing Race two times with her sister before winning alone in her first try on Survivor.
- Mike Holloway is the only Sole Survivor to use a Hidden Immunity Idol to negate a majority of votes cast against him.
See also
References