Episode 1 Stats

Each week Inside Survivor contributor Rob Brodeur will be collecting various Survivor related statistics and information based off the latest episode of Survivor: David vs. Goliath.

Season

• This is the sixth season to film in Fiji.
  • It’s the fifth season in a row to film in Fiji.
    • This season beats the record for a location most used in consecutive seasons.
      • Philippines through Cagayan previously held the record, as Philippines, Caramoan, Blood vs. Water, and Cagayan were filmed consecutively in the Philippines.
        • However, Philippines and Caramoan were filmed in the Camarines Sur province of the Philippines, while Blood vs. Water and Cagayan were filmed in the Cagayan province of the Philippines.
        • Millennials vs. Gen X, Game Changers, Heroes vs Healers vs. Hustlers, Ghost Island, and David vs. Goliath were all filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji.
• Fiji continues to hold the record for the most used location for Survivor seasons.
  • Fiji, Millennials vs. Gen X, Game Changers, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, Ghost Island, and David vs. Goliath have all been filmed there.
• Every season that has 7 in the number has filmed on a different continent.
  • Season 7 – Pearl Islands filmed in Panama which is in North America.
  • Season 17 – Gabon filmed in Gabon which is in Africa.
  • Season 27 – Blood vs. Water filmed in the Philippines which is in Asia.
  • Season 37 – David vs. Goliath filmed in Fiji which is in Oceania.
• This is the fifth season with “vs.” in the title.
  • Heroes vs. Villains
  • Blood vs. Water
  • Millennials vs. Gen X
  • Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers
  • David vs. Goliath
• Other seasons with “vs.” as a subtitle include:
  • Micronesia and Caramoan (Fans vs. Favorites)
  • San Juan Del Sur (Blood vs. Water)
  • Cagayan & Kaoh Rong (Brain vs. Brawn vs. Beauty)
  • Micronesia is the only “vs.” season that occured before Heroes vs. Villains.

Cast

• The average age of this cast is 32.6.
• Natalie Cole (56) is the oldest woman and oldest castaway this season.
  • Natalie is the first 55+ female to play since Jane Bright in Nicaragua.
  • She’s also the first African American woman to play Survivor that has been over the age of 50.
• Mike White (47) is the oldest man this season.
  • Mike has previously been on The Amazing Race seasons 14 and 18 with his father, Mel. Mike was also the writer of School of Rock and played Ned Schneebly in the movie.
    • Mike is the third former The Amazing Race contestant to play Survivor after Natalie and Nadiya in San Juan Del Sur.
• Alec Merlino (24) is the youngest male castaway this season.
• Jessica Peet (19) is the youngest female and youngest castaway this season.
  • Jessica is also the youngest Survivor castaway by birth date.
    • Michael Yerger previously held this record. He was born on July 20th, 1998. Jessica’s birthday is October 22nd, 1998.
• John Hennigan is the second professional wrestler to play Survivor after Ashley Massaro from China.
  • John previously won WWE Tough Enough, a wrestling reality competition show where the winner received a contract with WWE.
• Other than Fiji, this is the only other season with three African American men on the cast.
• Angelina Keeley is friends with Adam Klein, who won Millennials vs. Gen X.
• Davie Rickenbacker was originally cast for season 38 but somebody withdrew pre-season after already being in Fiji so Davie was called to replace him.
• Lyrsa is the fourth person who was born in Puerto Rico that has played Survivor. The others are as follows:
  • Jessie Camacho – Africa
    • Jessie is the only one of the four who didn’t play in a season filmed in Fiji.
  • Edgardo Rivera – Fiji
  • Stephanie Gonzalez – Ghost Island
• 16/20 people on the cast have a first name that is in the first half of the alphabet (A-M)
  • Of the remaining four, three of the names start with an “N,” leaving only Pat.
    • This is the first season where nobody has a first name that starts with any letters between Q and Z.

Tribes

• This is the seventh two-tribe season to have a purple tribe vs. an orange tribe. The others are as follows:
  • Thailand – Sook Jai (purple) Chuay Gahn (orange)
  • Micronesia – Malakal (purple) Airai (orange)
  • Redemption Island – Zapatera (purple) Ometepe (orange)
  • Caramoan – Bikal (purple) Gota (orange)
  • Millennials vs. Gen X – Takali (purple) Vanua (orange)
  • Ghost Island – Naviti (purple) Malolo (orange)
    • Including merged tribes, this is the fourth season in Fiji to have a purple tribe and orange tribe.
      • Fiji – Bula Bula (purple merged tribe) Ravu (orange)
• Each season with a purple vs. orange tribe has had the winner alternate between an orange tribe and purple tribe.
  • Thailand – Brian Heidik – Chuay Gahn (orange)
  • Micronesia – Parvati Shallow – Malakal (purple)
  • Redemption Island – Boston Rob – Ometepe (orange)
  • Caramoan – John Cochran – Bikal (purple)
  • Millennials vs. Gen X – Adam Klein – Vanua (orange)
  • Ghost Island – Wendell Holland – Naviti (purple)
• The David tribe has an average age of 30.9.
• The Goliath tribe has an average age of 34.3.
• David is the 17th orange tribe.
  • It’s the 14th orange starting tribe.
• Goliath is the 13th purple tribe.
  • It’s the 10th purple starting tribe.
• 7/10 people on the Goliath tribe are from California.
  • Alison, Dan, and Jeremy are the only ones not from California.
  • Nobody on the David tribe is from California.
• The David and Goliath tribes are the fifth and sixth starting tribes that have names based in the English language, the others are as follows:
  • Drake and Morgan in Pearl Islands.
  • Heroes and Villains in Heroes vs. Villains.
• The David tribe is on the beach that was previously used for Malolo in Ghost Island, Yawa in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, Tavua in Game Changers, and Vanua in Millennials vs. Gen X.
• The Goliath tribe is on the beach previously used for Naviti in Ghost Island, Soko in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, Mana in Game Changers, and Takali in Millennials vs. Gen X.
• David is the second tribe to share a name with former castaways. The other tribe to share this distinction is the Morgan tribe from Pearl Islands.
• Every season with a castaway named Natalie has had either an orange or purple starting tribe (or both in the case of Micronesia, Redemption Island and David vs. Goliath).
  • Natalie Bolton – Micronesia had an orange tribe (Airai) and a purple tribe (Malakal)
  • Natalie White – Samoa had a purple tribe (Galu)
  • Natalie Tenerelli – Redemption Island had a purple tribe (Zapatera) and an orange tribe (Ometepe)
  • Natalie Anderson – San Juan Del Sur had an orange tribe (Coyopa)
  • Natalie Cole – David vs. Goliath has a purple tribe (Goliath) and orange tribe (David)
• This is the first season since Game Changers in which the tribe names don’t appear on the buffs.
  • The last season before that to not include tribe names on buffs was Heroes vs. Villains.
• This is the first time that back-to-back seasons have had the exact same starting tribe colors.
  • Ghost Island and David vs. Goliath both had purple & orange starting tribes.
    • Worlds Apart and Kaoh Rong filmed back to back and both had red, yellow, blue starting tribes, but Cambodia aired between the two.

Elimination

• Pat was medically evacuated after an accident on the boat coming back from a challenge.
  • He’s the first person to be medically evacuated due to an accident and not during a challenge or something happening at camp.
  • Pat is also the second person to be medically evacuated on Day 3, the other being Kourtney Moon in One World.
• Pat is the sixth castaway to never visit tribal council. The others are as follows:
  • Wanda Shirk and Jonathan Libby in Palau.
  • Gary Stritesky in Fiji.
  • Kourtney Moon in One World.
  • Dana Lambert in Philippines.
• This is the first season since Kaoh Rong to have a medical evacuation.
  • It’s the first season filmed in Fiji to have a medical evacuation occur.
• Pat is the 16th person to be evacuated, and the 15th person to be medically evacuated. The others are as follows:
  • Mike Skupin in the Australian Outback.
  • Bruce Kanegai in Panama.
  • Jonathan Penner & James Clement in Micronesia.
  • Joe Dowdle in Tocantins.
  • Mike Borassi and Russell Swan in Samoa.
  • Kourtney Moon & Colton Cumbie in One World.
  • Shamar Thomas and Erik Reichenbach in Caramoan.
  • Terry Deitz in Cambodia.
    • Terry left due to his son’s illness (Terry’s evacuation wasn’t considered a quit).
  • Caleb Reynolds, Neal Gottlieb, and Joe del Campo in Kaoh Rong
• This is only the second time in which nobody was voted out during a premiere episode.
  • The other was during One World.
• Pat is the first male to be eliminated first since Darnell Hamilton in Kaoh Rong.
  • He’s the 15th male to be first boot in a season.
    • Females have been first boot 23 times.
• Pat is the first male to ever be the first eliminated from a season filmed in Fiji.
  • Fiji – Jessica DeBen
  • Millennials vs. Gen X – Rachel Ako
  • Game Changers – Ciera Eastin
  • Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers – Katrina Radke
  • Ghost Island – Stephanie Gonzalez
• This is the second season with “vs.” in the title to have a male be the first eliminated from the game.
  • Heroes vs. Villains – Sugar Kiper
  • Blood vs. Water – Rupert Boneham
  • Millennials vs. Gen X – Rachel Ako
  • Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers – Katrina Radke
  • David vs. Goliath – Pat Cusack
• All females were voted out at tribal council. Both males that were the first eliminated weren’t voted out at tribal council.
• • Rupert lost a duel at Redemption Island after switching with his wife Laura (who was voted out during the first impressions twist).
  • Pat was medically evacuated.

• Patricia “Trish” Hegarty who got 5th place in Cagayan is the only person named either Patrick or Patricia who made it to the merge/jury.
  • Patricia Jackson – Marquesas – 15th Place.
  • Trish Dunn – Pearl Islands – 13th Place.
  • Patrick Bolton – Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers – 16th Place.
  • Pat Cusack – David vs. Goliath – 20th Place.
• Pat is the 10th person to be the first eliminated from a tribe but not be voted out. The others are as follows:
  • Jenna Morasca in All-Stars – First one eliminated from the Mogo Mogo tribe. She quit to be with her dying mom.
  • Gary Stritesky in Fiji – First one eliminated from the Moto tribe. He quit due to illness.
  • Joe Dowdle in Tocantins – First one eliminated from the Forza tribe. He was medevaced.
  • Kourtney Moon in One World – First one eliminated from the Salani tribe She was medevaced.
  • Dana Lambert in Philippines – First one eliminated from the Kalabaw tribe. She quit due to illness.
  • Rupert Boneham in Blood vs. Water – First one eliminated from the Galang tribe. He switched places with his wife Laura after she was voted out in the “first impressions” twist. He then lost the first Redemption Island duel and was the official first boot of the season.
  • Julie McGee in San Juan Del Sur – First one eliminated from the Huyopa tribe. She quit.
  • Caleb Reynolds in Kaoh Rong – First one eliminated from the Gondol tribe. He was medevaced.
  • Neal Gottlieb in Kaoh Rong – First one eliminated from the Dara tribe. He was medevaced.

Confessionals

• Everybody had a confessional in this episode.
• Nick had the most confessionals this episode with 7.
• Bi, Alec, Alison, Kara, and Natalia had the least amount of confessionals with 1 each.
  • Bi is the only person from the David tribe to have less than 2 confessionals.

Hidden Immunity Idol/Advantage

• Daniel is the 8th person to find a hidden immunity idol in the premiere episode of a season. The others are as follows:
  • Kristina Kell in Redemption Island
  • Sabrina Thompson in One World
  • Garrett Adelstein in Cagayan
  • Carolyn Rivera in Worlds Apart
  • Kelley Wentworth in Cambodia
  • Ryan Ulrich in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers
  • Domenick Abbate in Ghost Island

Reward Challenge – “Open”

• Just like last season, the orange tribe won the reward challenge, while the purple tribe lost. Also the purple tribe won the immunity challenge, while the orange tribe lost.
• This was the first season to have a full opening challenge occur on the “marooning” boat.

Immunity Challenge – “Matchbox 25”

• 8/14 orange starting tribes have lost the first immunity challenge.
• 6/10 purple starting tribes have won the first immunity challenge.
• The number puzzle portion of the challenge has similarly been used in Redemption Island and Blood vs. Water.
  • This is the first time the number puzzle was used in a tribal challenge.

Ratings

• The first episode received 7.83 million viewers and 1.7/7 in the Adults 18-49 Rating/Share. This is lower than last season’s Ghost Island premiere (8.19m) and last fall’s Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers premiere (8.33m).

Episode Title

• The episode title “Appearances Are Deceiving” was said by Christian in response to being chosen by the Goliath tribe as the weakest male on the David tribe.

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