Each week Inside Survivor contributor Rob Brodeur will be collecting various Survivor related statistics and information based off the latest episode of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.
Season
- This is the fourth season to film in Fiji.
- It’s the third season in a row to film in Fiji.
- Every season to film in Fiji has had a woman as the first boot.
- Fiji – Jessica DeBen
- Millennials vs. Gen X – Rachel Ako
- Game Changers – Ciera Eastin
- Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers – Katrina Radke
- Season 36 (airing Spring 2018) was also filmed in Fiji.
- This is the first season to end with the number 5 that wasn’t filmed in Asia.
- Thailand – Season 5
- China – Season 15
- Philippines – Season 25
- This is also the first season to end with the number 5 in which a woman was the first boot.
- Thailand – John Raymond.
- China – Chicken Morris
- Philippines – Zane Knight
- This is also the first season to end with the number 5 in which a woman was the first boot.
Cast
- The average age of this cast is 30.5.
- The only seasons to have a younger average age are Pearl Islands (30.375) and China (30.06).
- Alan Ball is the sixth NFL player to play Survivor, following Gary Hogeboom, Jimmy Johnson, Steve Wright, Grant Mattos, and Brad Culpepper.
- Desi Williams is a former Miss Virginia 2013, and competed in the both the Miss America pageant in 2014 and Miss USA pageant in 2016.
- Other former Miss America/Miss USA pageant contestants to compete on Survivor include Kim Mullen & Janu Tornell (Palau), Danni Boatwright (Guatemala), Amanda Kimmel (China, FvF, HvV) Candace Smith (Tocantins), Ashley Underwood (Redemption Island), Elyse Umemoto (South Pacific), Katie Hanson & Angie Layton (Philippines), Hope Driskell (Caramoan), Jaclyn Schultz (San Juan Del Sur)
- Katrina Radke is the second former Olympic athlete to play Survivor, following Crystal Cox.
- Roark Luskin has appeared previously on the “Survivor with All the Fixin’s” podcast hosted by former contestants, Corinne Kaplan and Max Dawson.
- Mike Zahalsky named his son after Ethan Zohn.
- Patrick Bolton and Ali Elliot went to college at Auburn University and were neighbors, but this was apparently unknown to the producers.
- Something similar happened with Brett Clouser and Laura Morett in Samoa as they went to the same church which was also apparently unknown to the producers.
Tribal Council
- Katrina was voted out 5-1.
- She is the 22nd woman to be voted out first.
- Katrina was the oldest person this season.
- She is the fourth person to be the oldest player in the season and voted out first. The others are Jim Lynch in Guatemala , Sekou Bunch in Cook Islands, and Chicken Morris in China.
- She’s the only female to be the oldest in her season and first boot.
- This is the 14th season in which the first tribal council was a unanimous vote.
- The other seasons in which this occurred are as follows: The Australian Outback, Pearl Islands, Guatemala, Panama, Micronesia, Gabon, Tocantins, Heroes vs. Villains, Nicaragua, South Pacific, Philippines, Blood vs. Water (Marissa’s vote out), & Game Changers.
- The only ones in which a male was voted out were Guatemala, Micronesia, and Philippines. There have been no seasons in which a male was voted out first unanimously in a season with only new players.
- This is the second season with three starting tribes that had a unanimous first vote.
Tribes
- This is the fourth season with red, yellow, and blue starting tribes.
- In the three previous seasons (Philippines, Worlds Apart, Kaoh Rong) with this starting tribe color configuration, a blue tribe (Matsing), yellow tribe (Masaya), and red tribe (Totang) have lost the first immunity challenge.
- Levu “Heroes”
- Levu is the Fijian word for “big” or “great”.
- Levu beach was used as Nuku beach in Game Changers.
- Josh Wigler mentioned this in his RHAP pre-season interviews.
- Average age: 35.3
- Youngest member: Ashley Nolan, 26
- Oldest member: Katrina Radke, 46 (oldest female and oldest castaway this season)
- Levu is the 21st blue tribe in Survivor history.
- Levu is the second blue colored “Heroes” tribe.
- Soko “Healers”
- Soko is the Fijian word for “beam” or “to sail”.
- Soko beach was used as Mana beach in Game Changers.
- Aubry Bracco mentioned on Twitter that Mana beach is now Soko beach.
- Average age: 30.6
- Youngest member: Cole Medders, 24
- Oldest member: Mike Zahalsky, 43 (oldest male castaway this season)
- Soko is the 21st yellow tribe in Survivor history.
- Yawa “Hustlers”
- Yawa is the Fijian word for “distant” or “far”.
- Average age: 25.6
- Youngest member: Devon Pinto and Ryan Ulrich, 23
- Oldest member: Lauren Rimmer, 35
- Yawa is the 17th red tribe in Survivor history.
- Mana was mistakenly thought to be a red tribe at the beginning of Game Changers, so last season’s fact about Mana being the 17th red tribe is now incorrect.
Confessionals
- Chrissy had the first confessional this season.
- Ryan had the most confessionals this episode with 6.
- Simone and Cole had the least amount of confessionals with 0.
- Katrina is tied with Diane Ogden from Africa for least amount of confessionals for a first boot with one.
Hidden Immunity Idol
- Ryan found the 78th hidden immunity idol in Survivor history (it was also considered a “secret advantage”).
- This is including idols such as the merge feast idol found in Gabon and thrown into the ocean, the idol that Parvati found on Exile in Micronesia but didn’t take, and others.
- Chrissy is the first woman to have a super idol.
- Other super idol holders are as follows: Terry Dietz in Panama, Yul Kwon in Cook Islands, and Tony Vlachos in Cagayan.
- The super idol was present in Kaoh Rong, but it had to be created by two people combining a regular idol (which never happened).
- A super idol has never been played.
- Other super idol holders are as follows: Terry Dietz in Panama, Yul Kwon in Cook Islands, and Tony Vlachos in Cagayan.
Immunity Challenge “Tracks of My Tears”
- This is a new immunity challenge.
- The “pull a cart up a ramp and ride it” portion was previously seen in Guatemala.
- The challenge name comes from a song by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.
- Both times there was a “Heroes” tribe they lost the first immunity challenge.
- They then went on to unanimously vote out a blonde woman.
- Sugar in Heroes vs. Villains.
- Katrina in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.
- They then went on to unanimously vote out a blonde woman.
Ratings
- The season premiere received 8.33 million viewers and 1.8/7 in the Adults 18-49 Rating/Share. This is higher than last season’s Game Changers premiere (7.64m – 1.7/6) but lower than last fall’s Millennials vs. Gen X premiere (9.46m – 2.3/8).
Episode Title
- The episode title “I’m Not Crazy, I’m Confident” was said by Alan Ball at tribal council.
Written by
Jimmy Johnson was an NFL coach, not a player.
Speaking of alleged former NFL players on Survivor, I still haven’t figured out the Ted Rogers Jr. situation. His CBS bio says he appeared in a preseason exhibition for the Dallas Cowboys in 1994, but I can’t find any evidence he actually played in the game in question. Even if he did, he doesn’t qualify for the criteria you gave, for the same reason Tyler Fredrickson doesn’t – he never played in a “real” game.