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Susan "Sue" Hawk is a contestant from Survivor: Borneo and Survivor: All-Stars.

In Borneo, Susan was part of the dominant Tagi Alliance, which allowed her to make it to the final four. However, after a tie at Tribal Council between her and Richard Hatch, her close friend Kelly Wiglesworth changed her vote to her during the revote, eliminating her from the game. As a juror at the Final Tribal Council, Susan lashed out at both Kelly and Richard with her infamously impassioned "rats and snakes" speech.

In All-Stars, Susan made enemies within the Chapera tribe, especially with Tom Buchanan, due to her abrasive personality. However, she hit her breaking point when she felt that she was sexually violated by fellow Borneo castaway Richard Hatch during a challenge. Emotionally distraught by the incident, she lashed out and quit the game two days later.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Susan attended Waukesha South Campus High School. Currently employed as a truck driver, she previously owned and operated a hunting and fishing camp in N.W. Ontario, Canada. Prior to that, she worked as a horse trainer and a waitress/bartender.

Susan's three favorite hobbies are hunting, swimming and fishing. She enjoys hunting birds with her dogs, Ellie and Stinky. She describes herself as motivated, resourceful, and flexible. Her favorite television shows are "The Drew Carey Show" and "Whose Line is It Anyway?" Her favorite feature film is "Papillion" (starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman) and she prefers to listen to 60's and 70's rock and roll music.

A perfect day for Susan begins at 2:00 AM to walk the dogs. She would be at work by 5:00 AM delivering concrete, and be home by 6:00 PM for a quick run in the woods with husband, Tim, and of course Ellie and Stinky, who would be looking for pheasants. Returning home, they would eat dinner and retreat to the hot tub for a romantic evening.

Susan currently resides in Palmyra, Wisconsin. She is a member of the Wisconsin Road Team, an organization of truck drivers that travel throughout the state to teach student drivers how to share the road safely with big trucks. Her birth date is August 17, 1961.[1]

After finishing fourth on Survivor: Borneo, Susan Hawk and her husband, Tim, moved from Palmyra, Wisconsin, to Las Vegas, where she opened a juice bar called "Juices Wild." She has also been employed as a correspondent for the TV Guide Channel and has written numerous articles for their magazine.

Born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Susan attended Waukesha South Campus High School. She was previously employed as a truck driver and, before that, owned and operated a hunting and fishing camp in Ontario. She has also worked as a horse trainer and a waitress/bartender.

Susan's three favorite hobbies are hunting, swimming and fishing. She enjoys hunting birds with her three dogs. She describes herself as motivated, resourceful and flexible. Her favorite television shows are "The Drew Carey Show" and "Whose Line is It Anyway?" Her favorite feature film is "Seabiscuit," and she prefers to listen to 60s and 70s rock and roll music.

A perfect day for Susan begins at 2:00 am, when she walks the dogs. She would be at work by 5:00 am delivering concrete and home by 6:00 pm for a quick run in the woods with Tim and their dogs, who would be looking for pheasants. Returning home, they would eat dinner and retreat to the hot tub for a romantic evening.

Susan's birth date is August 17, 1961.[2]

Survivor[]

Borneo[]

I plead to the jury tonight to think a little bit about the island that we have been on. This island is pretty much full of only two things: snakes and rats. And in the end of Mother Nature, we have Richard The Snake, who knowingly went after prey; and Kelly, who turned into the rat that ran around like the rats do on this island, trying to run from the snake. I feel we owe it to the island spirits that we have learned to come to know, to let it be in the end the way Mother Nature intended it to be...for the snake to eat the rat.

—Susan's infamous "snakes and rats" speech

Susan seemed to get far in the game by using her secret alliance with Richard Hatch, Kelly Wiglesworth, and Rudy Boesch during a time when other cast members did not yet use alliances, and several even considered allied voting to be "cheating." Susan liked being viewed as a stupid redneck during the game and kept her intelligence hidden in order to throw off her opponents.

As the fourth-place finisher, she became a member of the jury. At the Final Tribal Council she launched into her infamous "snakes and rats" speech about the Final Two, Richard and Kelly. In her speech, she said there are only two things on the entire island: rats and snakes. Richard was a snake scouring the jungle for prey and Kelly a rat, who just aimlessly wanders around the jungle trying to avoid the snake. Susan told the jury members that they should obey the laws of nature by letting the snake eat the rat. She also told Kelly that if she ever saw her in a desert, dying of thirst, she would not stop to give her a sip of water and that she'd like to see the vultures get her and devour her. This resulted in angering Colleen Haskell and Gervase Peterson, who voted for Kelly. Nevertheless, Richard still won 4-3.

The "rats and snakes" moment is arguably the most remembered moment in Survivor history, as the season one finale was the highest rated episode of Survivor to date and it was the first time in Survivor that anyone had ever expressed such bitterness and anger. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list.

Episode Tribe
Affiliation
Challenge Challenge Type Sit-Out? Result
1 Tagi Quest for Fire Reward/Immunity No Lost
2 Water Torture Reward Unknown Lost1
Buggin' Out Immunity No Won
3 Treasure Chest Reward No Won
Rescue Mission Immunity No Lost
4 SOS Signal Reward No Won
Buried Treasure Immunity No Won
5 Choose Your Weapon Reward No Lost
Shipwrecked Immunity No Lost
6 Abandoned Barracks Reward No Lost
The Obstacle Course Immunity No Won
Tribes Merged, Day 20
7 Rattana Snake Island Relay Immunity Lost
8 Survivor Archery Reward Lost
End of the Line Immunity Lost
9 Out on a Limb Reward Lost
Squared Off Immunity Lost
10 Bamboozled Reward Lost
Fast Fire Immunity Lost
11 Survivor Quiz Show Reward Lost
Unaired Reward Invited2
Walk the Plank Immunity Lost
12 Mud Pack Reward Lost
Witch Hunt Immunity Lost
13 Fallen Comrades Immunity Lost
Voted Out, Day 37
Notes:
^1 An unaired Reward Challenge was held on Day 4.
^2 According to the season's DVD release, an unaired second Reward Challenge was held on Day 32. The winner, Colleen, shared her reward with the rest of the tribe.

Episode Susan's
Votes
Voted Against
Susan
1 Sonja -
2 Tagi Tribe Immune
3 Stacey -
4 Tagi Tribe Immune
5 Dirk Dirk
6 Tagi Tribe Immune
7 Gretchen Gervase
8 Greg -
9 Jenna -
10 Gervase -
11 Colleen -
12 Sean Sean
13 Richard;
Ineligible
Richard, Rudy;
Kelly, Rudy1
Voted Out, Day 37
Voted for
Sole Survivor
Richard
Notes:
^1 In "The Final Four", the vote ended with a 2-2 tie between Susan and Richard, forcing a revote. Kelly changed her vote to Susan on the revote, eliminating her from the game.

All-Stars[]

Susan was one of 18 previous castaways who returned for Survivor: All-Stars. Being a member of the dominant Chapera tribe, Susan enjoyed a long winning streak, although she was targeted by her tribemates for being opinionated and lonesome. Despite this, she managed to survive Chapera's first Tribal Council on Day 12. After a game-changing twist, where a rival tribe Saboga lost a particular Reward Challenge, their members were transferred to Chapera and to the other opposing tribe Mogo Mogo. Chapera chose Rupert Boneham and Susan's fellow Borneo castmate Jenna Lewis to join the tribe, much to Susan's delight.

Susan's confidence was completely shattered during the following Immunity Challenge, where they were to traverse a series of balance beams. Her Borneo tribemate Richard Hatch (a member of Mogo Mogo) rubbed up against her while naked during the challenge, leaving her totally distraught, despite her tribe winning the challenge. In the subsequent episode, Susan seemed to become more and more angered, embarrassed, and upset over the incident. At the next Reward Challenge, Survivor host Jeff Probst made a passing reference to the incident, which prompted Susan to respond with a furious speech, accusing Probst of making light of something that Susan viewed as harassment. Due to the nature of the show, Susan's competitors were unsure how much of her emotion was real and how much was part of the game. Despite the fact that Richard had been eliminated in the prior episode, Susan claimed that "her mind left the game 24 hours ago" and decided to remove herself from the stress of the game in order to be with her husband again.

Episode Tribe
Affiliation
Challenge Challenge Type Sit-Out? Result
1 Chapera Quest for Fire Immunity No 1st
2 Stairway to the Stars Reward No Lost
Float Your Boat Immunity No 1st
3 Better Homes and Island Living Reward No 1st
4 Match Maker Reward No 1st
Blind Cube Crisis Immunity No Lost
5 Shipwrecked Raft Rescue Reward No 2nd
Pilfering Pirates Immunity No Won
Quit, Day 17

Episode Susan's
Votes
Voted Against
Susan
1 Chapera Tribe Immune
2 Chapera Tribe Immune
3 No Tribal Council
4 Rob C. -
5 Chapera Tribe Immune
6 No Tribal Council
Quit, Day 17

Post-Survivor[]

Trivia[]

  • Susan and Dirk Been are the first contestants to reside in Wisconsin.
    • Susan is also the first contestant to reside in Nevada, being a resident of that state by the time she competed on All-Stars. This makes Susan one of three first contestants to represent two different states (the others are Colby Donaldson and Jenna Lewis who had moved to California from Texas and New Hampshire, respectively).
  • Susan's luxury item in Borneo was a pair of tweezers.
  • Susan is the first contestant ever to cast a vote at Tribal Council. She voted against Sonja Christopher.
  • Susan was known for her poor spelling when casting votes (i.e. "Souna", "Derk", "Grechen", "Jeanne", and "Gervis").
  • Susan is the first contestant to be voted out after a revote caused by a tie.
  • Susan's "rats and snakes" speech became widely memorable as the first time any juror had expressed bitterness and anger towards the finalists. Since Borneo, many jurors have done the same and berated the finalists.
  • Susan is the third person to quit the game, following Osten Taylor and Jenna Morasca.
    • Susan's quit in All-Stars marked the first time that two castaways left a season without being voted out.
  • According to Lex van den Berghe, Susan reconsidered her decision to quit and wanted back into the game, which Production considered letting her do so, but her tribe unanimously said no when they were asked if they would be okay with allowing her to do so.[9]

References[]

Survivor: Borneo Castaways
 B.B.
Pagong
S1 bb t
 Colleen
Pagong
S1 colleen t
 Dirk
Tagi
S1 dirk t
 Gervase
Pagong
S1 gervase t
 Greg
Pagong
S1 greg t
 Gretchen
Pagong
S1 gretchen t
 Jenna
Pagong
S1 jenna t
 Joel
Pagong
S1 joel t
 Kelly
Tagi
S1 kelly t
 Ramona
Pagong
S1 ramona t
 Richard
Tagi
S1 richard t
 Rudy
Tagi
S1 rudy t
 Sean
Tagi
S1 sean t
 Sonja
Tagi
S1 sonja t
 Stacey
Tagi
S1 stacey t
 Susan
Tagi
S1 susan t
Survivor: All-Stars Castaways
 Alicia
Chapera
S8 alicia t
 Amber
Chapera
S8 amber t
 Colby
Mogo Mogo
S8 colby t
 Ethan
Saboga
S8 ethan t
 Jenna L.
Saboga
S8 jennal t
 Jenna M.
Mogo Mogo
S8 jennam t
 Jerri
Saboga
S8 jerri t
 Kathy
Mogo Mogo
S8 kathy t
 Lex
Mogo Mogo
S8 lex t
 Richard
Mogo Mogo
S8 richard t
 Rob C.
Chapera
S8 robc t
 Rob M.
Chapera
S8 robm t
 Rudy
Saboga
S8 rudy t
 Rupert
Saboga
S8 rupert t
 Shii Ann
Mogo Mogo
S8 shiiann t
 Susan
Chapera
S8 susan t
 Tina
Saboga
S8 tina t
 Tom
Chapera
S8 tom t
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