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Jessica Michele "Sugar" Kiper[1] is a contestant from Survivor: Gabon and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.

In Gabon, Sugar came to be in the unlikely position of being a powerful force in the game after being sent to Exile Island several times and finding the Hidden Immunity Idol on her first time there. Due to being away from her tribe multiple times and facing multiple tribe switches, the competing alliances fought to get her vote following the merge. She chose to side with the Fang Alliance before turning on its leaders, eventually making it to the Final Three with Bob Crowley and Susie Smith. At the Final Tribal Council, however, she found herself on the receiving end of harsh criticism from the jury, most notably from Corinne Kaplan. She received no votes, finishing as the second runner-up.

Sugar's second shot in Heroes vs. Villains was short-lived as she was called out for her poor work ethic and an inability to fit in with her tribemates. Her apparent social awkwardness led to her becoming the first person voted out.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Jessica "Sugar" Kiper (29)
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Occupation: Pin-Up Model

Jessica Kiper prides herself on being flirty and fun. When she is not acting, this 29 year old works as a waitress named "Sugar" at '50s diners and enjoys singing and making music. Friends describe this single, free-spirit as crazy, funny and cool. Currently, this blonde pin-up model lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. with her dog, "Major P. Pants," but has spent time living in various places throughout the country including Florida, Rhode Island, Louisiana, and San Francisco and Los Angeles, California.

Jessica can be a bit of a goofball and her laugh is contagious. Although at first glance she may not look tough, despite being adorned with several tattoos, Kiper has been through a lot in her life, including the recent death of her father, whom she called her hero. Despite the struggles she's faced, Kiper has always come out on top. She is ready to bring her spunk, positive attitude and bubbly personality into the game of Survivor and hopes to grow as a person after the experience and win enough money to "get off people's couches."

Jessica was born on February 22, 1979.[2]

Jessica "Sugar" Kiper (30)

Tribe: Heroes
Hometown: Baton Rouge, La.
Current Residence: Los Angeles, Calif.
Personal Claim To Fame: "Becoming a retro pin-up model."
Inspiration in Life: "My dad."
Previous Finishes: Gabon: 2nd Runner Up
Favorite Past Moment: "Blindsiding Randy."
Previous Survivor She Respects Most: Bruce Kanegai (Panama)
Previous Survivor She Respects Least: Corinne Kaplan (Gabon)

Why Did She Come Back? : "For the Survivor lovin' viewers."[3]

Survivor[]

Gabon[]

At the Schoolyard Pick on Day 1, Sugar was chosen by Ace Gordon to be on the Kota tribe, stating that it was not appropriate for a photographer to not have a model. When it was her turn to pick, Sugar chose Marcus Lehman. Kota won the first three challenges. However, the opposing tribe, Fang, made a comeback and won the next Reward Challenge. Fang chose to send Sugar to Exile Island where she was given the choice of searching for the Hidden Immunity Idol or living in a luxurious hut. She chose to look for the idol, which she eventually found. When Kota lost their first Immunity Challenge on Day 9, Sugar agreed that Paloma Soto-Castillo was the weakest due to her dismal performance at the last Reward Challenge and joined the majority voted her out.

On Day 10, after ranking tribe members in order of importance, a tribe switch by Schoolyard Pick occurred. Sugar was the person unpicked and was automatically exiled and would reside at Exile Island until the losing tribe's Tribal Council. Having found the idol already, she chose the hut. After the Immunity Challenge was over and being informed that Fang lost, Sugar looked forward to heading to the Fang camp, knowing that Ace and Jacquie Berg had both been switched to Fang. Much to her surprise, Jacquie was voted out over Kelly Czarnecki. The Fang tribe generally lost challenges, and Sugar was frequently exiled. Sugar felt guilty that she was eating the many foods of the hut (which she dubbed the "Sugar Shack"). At the next two Tribal Councils, Sugar was targeted by the Fang Alliance for her close relationship with Ace but was spared because GC Brown wanted to leave and Kelly was irritating the Fang Alliance.

On Day 21, host Jeff Probst announced that both tribes would be voting someone out that night at a Double Tribal Council and that the challenge was for individual immunity. Sugar made it to the final round with Ace and Marcus but was the first person out. Despite that, Marcus chose her to be the recipient of a second individual immunity. After Ken Hoang lied to her, saying that Ace was using her because of her idol, Sugar conspired with Ken and Crystal Cox to blindside Ace. The plan worked and Ace was blindsided at Tribal Council. The following day, the tribes enjoyed what was thought to be a merge feast. However, it was revealed to be a setup for a second tribe switch. Sugar stayed on Fang with Matty Whitmore and was reunited with her original Kota tribemates Charlie Herschel and Corinne Kaplan, and introduced to Randy Bailey. Although now finding herself in the minority with Matty, Fang won the next Immunity Challenge.

On Day 27, Jeff announced that the tribes had merged and that the merged tribe would stay at the Fang camp. The Onion Alliance tried to get Sugar on their side, but she stayed loyal to the Fang Alliance and joined in voting out Charlie over Crystal. Bob Crowley then told her he had the idol, but being the real holder of the idol, Sugar knew this to be a lie. At the Survivor Auction, Randy bought cookies for the tribe and offered Sugar his cookie. She took it and gave it to Matty, much to Randy's annoyance. Sugar agreed with the Fang Alliance to vote out Randy for making camp life more unbearable. Bob told Sugar that his idol was fake and she suggested to give it to Randy; Bob was reluctant at first, but eventually did give him the fake idol. At Tribal Council that night, Sugar laughed out loud when the idol was revealed to be a fraud and Randy was voted out.

At the following Tribal Council, Sugar voted out Corinne, whom she had issues with, but Ken voted against Matty as a fail-safe if Corinne had an idol. With Matty being angered by Ken's vote, Crystal starting yelling at Matty to keep his loyalty. Sugar witnessed this and viewed Crystal and Ken as bad people and helped in voting out the duo. Having made it to the final four with Bob, Matty, and Susie Smith, Sugar was set on going to the Final Tribal Council with Bob and Matty. However, her plans would would go up in smoke when Susie won the Final Immunity Challenge. Forced to choose between Bob and Matty, Bob convinced Sugar to vote against Matty to force a tiebreaker, and, being close with both men, Sugar decided to give Bob a fair chance. Bob won the tiebreaker and Matty was eliminated.

At the Final Tribal Council, Sugar gave notoriously poor answers to the jury, such as "You don't have to vote for me," and "You're a jerk." Sugar gave Corinne the middle finger after the latter called the former an "unemployed uneducated leech on society" and claimed that it was insincere when she cried about her deceased father due to how often it happened. Ken and Crystal were angry at Sugar for betraying them near the end of the game. Sugar received none of the jury votes and finished as the second runner-up.

Episode Tribe
Affiliation
Challenge Challenge Type Sit-Out? Result
1 Kota One for All Immunity1 No Lost
Reward Won
Temptation Valley Reward/Immunity No Won
Lemme Go Rock 'N' Roll Reward/Immunity No Won
2 Kicking and Screaming Reward No Lost
Lake Launch Immunity No Lost
Exiled, Day 10
3 None2 Big Oar Deal Immunity Exiled
Joined Fang, Day 13
4 Fang Fruit Flies Reward No Lost
Cliff Bowling Immunity No Lost
5 Snake in the Grass Reward No Lost
Jungle Relay Immunity No Lost
6 Elephant Eggs Reward No Lost
Log Jam Immunity1 No Lost3
7 Keep It Up Immunity No Won
8 Super Golf Reward No Won
Tribes Merged, Day 27
8 Nobag Fired Up Immunity Lost
9 Survivor Auction
Domino Effect Immunity Lost
10 Now or Never Reward Lost
Bombs Away Immunity Lost
12 Swamp Monkeys Reward Lost
Mask Match Immunity Lost
13 A-Mazing Gabon Immunity Lost
House of Cards Immunity Lost
Second Runner-Up, Day 39
Notes:
^1 This challenge was played for individual immunity at each tribe's next Tribal Council.
^2 Left unpicked at the tribe switch, Sugar was exiled without a tribe until after the next Immunity Challenge, when she joined the losing tribe.
^3 Marcus was instructed to give an Immunity Necklace to one member of Fang. He chose Sugar.

Episode Sugar's
Votes
Voted Against
Sugar
1 Kota Tribe Immune
Kota Tribe Immune
2 Paloma -
3 On Exile Island1
4 GC -
5 Kelly -
6 Ace Individual Immunity
7 Fang Tribe Immune
8 Charlie -
9 Randy -
11 Corinne -
12 Crystal -
13 Ken -
Matty -
Jury Votes
for Sugar
-
Second Runner-Up, Day 39

^1 In "It Was Like Christmas Morning!", Sugar was not selected by a tribe at the tribe-switch and was sent to Exile Island, granting her immunity from Tribal Council.

Heroes vs. Villains[]

Sugar was assigned to the Heroes tribe due to her wanting to keep the "good people" around in her first season. During a very physical Reward Challenge following the marooning on Day 1, Villains member Sandra Diaz-Twine attempted to fluster Sugar by undoing her bra. However, Sugar decided to let the bra go and rush to her tribe's finish mat topless and flipping the bird on Sandra, winning a point for her tribe, helping the Heroes win the challenge.

At camp, however, Sugar was seen to be less helpful than the other members of her tribe. She seemed more interested in flirting and cuddling with the guys, notably Colby Donaldson, visibly annoying him and following him around everywhere when he attempted to get away from her. At the first Immunity Challenge, Sugar was placed on the puzzle station. Despite an early lead, the Heroes faltered on the puzzle portion of the challenge, costing them immunity. Immediately after the loss, Sugar was seen in tears. Back at camp, Sugar, being one of the puzzle builders, was one of the people blamed for the loss. Despite still not helping her tribe at all, some other tribe members considered keeping her around and voting out a player who would be more dangerous deeper in the game, such as Cirie Fields or Stephenie LaGrossa. When it came to the vote, the entire tribe, motivated by Sugar's personality quirks and potential liability in future challenges, unanimously sent her home.

Episode Tribe
Affiliation
Challenge Challenge Type Sit-Out? Result
1 Heroes Battle Dig Reward No Won
Lock, Load and Light Immunity No Lost
Voted Out, Day 3

Episode Sugar's
Votes
Voted Against
Sugar
1 Amanda Amanda, Candice, Cirie,
Colby, J.T., James,
Rupert, Stephenie, Tom
Voted Out, Day 3

Post-Survivor[]

Sugar Wedding

Sugar with her new husband, Nicholas.

  • On January 9, 2010, Sugar attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party along with all of her Gabon and Heroes vs. Villains cast mates.
  • Sugar voiced the video game character Candy Edwards in the 2011 video game L.A. Noire.[4]
  • Sugar was a cast member on the fifth season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which aired on VH1 on June 26, 2011. She claimed that she went on a downward spiral after Heroes vs. Villains had aired. There, Sugar revealed that she attempted suicide as a result of being voted out. She also claimed to have been evacuated from Samoa to Australia by the producers, who feared that she would hurt herself by over-dosing.[5]
  • On January 12, 2014, Sugar was arrested after crashing into the back of a parked car. She was released eight hours later.[6]
  • Sugar was pregnant with her first child and due to give birth in November 2015.[7] She gave birth to her daughter, Penelope Jean Critelli on November 17, 2015.[8]
  • Sugar married Nicholas Critelli in February 2016.[9]

Trivia[]

  • Sugar got her nickname when she was 18 while working at a San Francisco-based 50's diner named "It's Tops", where she worked as a waitress.[10] The nickname was coined by a fellow waitress. She noted that she was "sweeter" back then.
  • Sugar holds the record for the most Exile Island visits, with five during Gabon.
  • Sugar is the only finalist to not receive any votes at all during a season; she received no votes against her nor any jury votes at Final Tribal Council in Gabon.
  • Sugar is one of two people to come in third place in their first season and 20th in their second. The other is Jon Dalton.
  • Sugar is the only woman on the Heroes tribe who has only played twice, and one of two members overall, along with Tom Westman.

References[]

Survivor: Gabon Castaways
 Ace
Kota
S17 ace t
 Bob
Kota
S17 bob t
 Charlie
Kota
S17 charlie t
 Corinne
Kota
S17 corinne t
 Crystal
Fang
S17 crystal t
 Dan
Fang
S17 dan t
 GC
Fang
S17 gc t
 Gillian
Fang
S17 gillian t
 Jacquie
Kota
S17 jacquie t
 Kelly
Kota
S17 kelly t
 Ken
Fang
S17 ken t
 Marcus
Kota
S17 marcus t
 Matty
Fang
S17 matty t
 Michelle
Fang
S17 michelle t
 Paloma
Kota
S17 paloma t
 Randy
Fang
S17 randy t
 Sugar
Kota
S17 sugar t
 Susie
Fang
S17 susie t
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Castaways
 Amanda
Heroes
S20 amanda t
 Candice
Heroes
S20 candice t
 Cirie
Heroes
S20 cirie t
 Coach
Villains
S20 coach t
 Colby
Heroes
S20 colby t
 Courtney
Villains
S20 courtney t
 Danielle
Villains
S20 danielle t
 J.T.
Heroes
S20 jt t
 James
Heroes
S20 james t
 Jerri
Villains
S20 jerri t
 Parvati
Villains
S20 parvati t
 Randy
Villains
S20 randy t
 Rob
Villains
S20 rob t
 Rupert
Heroes
S20 rupert t
 Russell
Villains
S20 russell t
 Sandra
Villains
S20 sandra t
 Stephenie
Heroes
S20 stephenie t
 Sugar
Heroes
S20 sugar t
 Tom
Heroes
S20 tom t
 Tyson
Villains
S20 tyson t
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