Finale Stats

Each week Inside Survivor contributor Rob Brodeur will be collecting various Survivor related statistics and information based off the latest episode of Survivor: Winners At War.

Cast/Season

• This episode broke the record for most castaways still in the game at the season finale with 19/20 players remaining (five still in the game and 14 on the Edge of Extinction).
  • The previous record was during the Edge of Extinction finale.
  • This episode also had the most players eliminated with 16.
    • Thirteen were eliminated by losing the re-entry challenge.
    • Three were eliminated from the game by votes and a fire-making challenge.
• This was the first three-hour episode in Survivor history, and the first time there was no reunion episode.
• Sandra is the only player this season to not be either a member of the jury or member of final tribal council.
• Sandra has only won seasons that she competed in with Rupert.
• This is the only season where Sandra’s starting tribe won the first immunity challenge and she didn’t win the season.
• The Dakal tribe has the most total wins between them with 12.
  • Both Sandra and Tony, who won twice, started on Dakal with eight other winners.
• Winners at War is the first season set in Fiji that had one man and two women at final tribal council.
• This is the first time in five seasons where the winner didn’t come from Boston Rob’s starting tribe.
  • Marquesas – Vecepia and Rob were on Maraamu.
  • All-Stars – Amber and Rob were on Chapera.
  • Heroes vs. Villains – Sandra and Rob were on Villains.
  • Redemption Island – Rob was on Ometepe.
  • Winners at War – Tony was on Dakal, while Rob was on Sele.
    • This is also coincidentally the only season that Rob was on a jury.
• Every season that Sarah played in, the winner came from her starting tribe.
  • Cagayan and Winners at War – Tony and Sarah were on Aparri and Dakal.
  • Game Changers – Sarah was on Nuku.
• Fabio is the only winner who won a 20s season who has never been voted out.
  • Sandra: won season 20, was voted out in Game Changers and Winners at War.
  • Rob: won season 22, was voted out in Marquesas, Heroes vs. Villains, and Winners at War.
  • Sophie: won season 23, was voted out in Winners at War.
  • Kim: won season 24, was voted out in Winners at War.
  • Denise: won season 25, was voted out in Winners at War.
  • Cochran: won season 26, was voted out in South Pacific.
  • Tyson: won season 27, was voted out in Tocantins, Heroes vs. Villains, and Winners at War.
  • Tony: won season 28, was voted out in Game Changers.
  • Natalie: won season 29, was voted out in Winners at War.
• Amber is the second winner to get last place on their returning season. The first was Tina Wesson in All-Stars.
  • They both played their first season together on The Australian Outback.
• There are only ten winners in Survivor history who have never lost Survivor or been voted out. They are as follows:
  • Vecepia, Brian, Chris D, Earl, Todd, Bob, Natalie W, Fabio, Mike, and Tommy.
    • Chris U won, but he was also voted out in the season that he won.
    • Vecepia and Natalie are the only female winners who have never lost Survivor.
• The most recent three female winners were all in the final four. The placements of the other women in Winners at War are the exact order that they won Survivor.
  • Amber: 2nd out, won All-Stars (season 8).
  • Danni: 3rd out, won Guatemala (season 11).
  • Parvati: 7th out, won Micronesia (season 16).
  • Sandra: 8th out, won Heroes vs. Villains (season 20).
  • Sophie: 13th out, won South Pacific (season 23).
  • Kim: 14th out, won One World (season 24).
  • Denise: 17th out, won Philippines (season 25).
  • Natalie, Michele, Sarah: made it to the final four and are the three most recent female winners.
    • Natalie won San Juan del Sur (season 29).
    • Michele won Kaoh Rong (season 32).
    • Sarah won Game Changers (season 34).
• Winners at War placement averages:
  • Natalie: 1.5
  • Michele: 2
  • Ben: 3
  • Denise 3.5
  • Nick: 4
  • Kim: 5
  • Sarah: 5.3
  • Sophie: 5.5
  • Parvati: 6
  • Jeremy: 6.3
  • Adam: 6.5
  • Tony: 7
  • Wendell: 7
  • Yul: 7.5
  • Sandra: 8
  • Rob: 8.6
  • Tyson: 8.75
  • Amber: 9
  • Ethan: 10
  • Danni: 10

Edge of Extinction

• Natalie won the re-entry challenge.
  • Every player to win the re-entry challenge during an EOE season was voted out pre-merge (Rick, Chris, Tyson, Natalie).
• Natalie is the first woman to win an EOE re-entry challenge.
• Natalie holds the record for most time spent on the Edge of Extinction, with 33 days.
• Tyson is the only Edge returnee that was voted out of the game twice.
  • In Edge of Extinction, Rick was eliminated due to the fire-making challenge at final four, and Chris won the game.
  • In Winners at War, Natalie made it to the final tribal council.
• The re-entry challenge was the same one that Chris won to get back into the game in Edge of Extinction.
• Reem is the only first boot to be a member of the jury, as Natalie (the first boot in Winners at War) made it to final tribal council.
• In both seasons with the EOE, someone who was voted out pre-merge made it to final tribal council.
• Tyson is the only player to win an EOE re-entry challenge and not come into the game with a hidden immunity idol.

Tribal Council #1 (Denise voted out)

• Denise was voted out 4-0.
  • There was a 4-2 vote, but Ben and Natalie played idols for themselves that negated all votes. Tony also played an idol on himself which negated zero votes.
  • Michele was immune, so Sarah and Denise were the only possible votes.
    • Coincidentally, they’re both from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
    • This was the second time this season where Denise wasn’t able to vote.
      • Also, coincidentally, Sarah is the one that stole her vote in episode 10 thus making her ineligible to vote.
  • This was the third time that all votes were negated during a tribal council.
    • The first time was in the finale of Cambodia, the second time was in the finale of Game Changers.
      • All three times this happened it was at the final six.
• Denise is the first person to be the 14th member of a jury.
• The oldest woman this season (Denise) and the oldest man (Tony) made it to the finale.
  • Coincidentally, they were also the oldest members of their respective starting tribes.
• Both of Natalie’s idols from EOE negated four votes (Denise’s idol that was originally sent to Sandra from Natalie in episode 6, Natalie’s idol in episode 14).
• Both players that voted for Denise at the first tribal council (Natalie & Michele) made it to final tribal council.
  • All three players in the final three unsuccessfully tried to vote out Denise at some point in the game.
• Denise idoled out Sandra and was then eliminated at a tribal with multiple idol plays.

Tribal Council #2 (Ben voted out)

• Ben was voted out 3-2.
  • This was the first time this season where Tony didn’t vote either with the majority or be in on the plan to vote someone out.
  • The three remaining women voted for Ben, while the two remaining men voted for Michele.
• With Tony being immune this episode, he became the only player this season to never receive a vote against him.
• Ben is the first person to be the 15th jury member.
• Both players that were voted out in this episode (Ben and Denise) share some similarities.
  • They both won their first season when starting on a blue tribe in a three tribe season.
  • They both won their season against a man and a woman, where both runners-up received votes to win.
  • Their tribe lost the first immunity challenge in the season they won and their returning season.
  • They both have negated every single vote except for their own with a hidden immunity idol.
  • They both share a birthday (January 1st).
  • They both got matching “Endure & Let Go” tattoos after the season ended. Wendell designed the font for Denise’s tattoos.
• With Ben being eliminated, the final four consisted of two original Dakal and two original Sele.
• Ben matched the previous average placement record that belongs to Spencer Bledsoe.
  • Ben and Spencer’s average placement is 3.

Tribal Council #3 (Sarah Eliminated)

• Sarah lost the fire-making challenge against Tony in the final four fire-making twist.
  • She’s the ninth person to be eliminated from the game (outside of a quit, removal or medevac) without a vote taking place at all.
    • Wanda and Jonathan in Palau were the first and second (not chosen during the initial schoolyard pick for tribes), Bobby Jon in Palau was the third, Devon in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers was the fourth, Angela was the fifth in Ghost Island, Kara was the sixth in David vs. Goliath, Rick was seventh in Edge of Extinction, and Lauren Beck was the eighth in Island of the Idols
      • Lauren, Rick, Kara, Angela, Devon, and Bobby Jon were eliminated due to a fire-making challenge.
  • Ian Rosenberger in Palau, Brandon Hantz in Caramoan, and Jeff Varner in Game Changers were eliminated without a formal vote taking place but were still voted out.
• Only men have won the final four fire-making challenge twist.
  • Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers – Ben won.
  • Ghost Island – Wendell won.
  • David vs. Goliath – Mike won.
  • Edge of Extinction – Chris won.
  • Island of the Idols – Dean won.
  • Winners at War – Tony won.
    • Mike and Dean are the only players to win the final four firemaking challenge twist since its inception and not win the season.
• Everyone in the final four won Survivor before the final four fire-making challenge was put into place.
• Sarah is the 14th castaway to be eliminated without being voted out, removed, quitting, or being medically evacuated. The others are as follows:
  • Paschal English in Marquesas – rock draw.
  • Jonathan Libby & Wanda Shirk in Palau – not chosen for a tribe in episode 1.
  • Bobby Jon Drinkard in Palau – fire-making challenge with only two tribe members remaining.
  • Rupert Boneham in Blood vs. Water – swapped places with Laura B. after she was voted out.
  • Katie Collins in Blood vs. Water – rock draw.
  • Jessica Lewis in Millennials vs. Gen X – rock draw.
  • Cirie Fields in Game Changers – didn’t receive any votes but was the only person eligible to be eliminated due to idols and advantages being played.
  • Devon Pinto in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers – lost the final four fire-making challenge.
  • Angela Perkins in Ghost Island – lost the F4 firemaking challenge twist.
  • Kara Kay in David vs. Goliath – lost the final four fire-making challenge.
  • Rick Devens in Edge of Extinction – lost the final four fire-making challenge.
  • Lauren Beck in Island of the Idols – lost the final four fire-making challenge.
  • Sarah Lacina in Winners at War – lost the final four fire-making challenge.
• Sarah is the first person to be the 16th jury member.
• Sarah joins Lex van den Berghe and Kass McQuillen as the first and last jurors in two seasons.
  • Sarah is the first one of the three to be the first jury member, then be the last jury member on a subsequent season.
• Tony is the 12th person to win a fire-making challenge at the final four. The others are as follows:
  • Ian Rosenberger in Palau.
  • Danielle DiLorenzo in Panama.
  • Becky Lee in Cook Islands.
  • Bob Crowley in Gabon.
  • Carolyn Rivera in Worlds Apart.
  • Aubry Bracco in Kaoh Rong.
  • Ben Driebergen in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.
  • Wendell Holland in Ghost Island
  • Mike White in David vs. Goliath
  • Chris Underwood in Edge of Extinction
  • Dean Kowalski in Island of the Idols
    • Bob, Ben, Wendell, Chris, and Tony are the only winners to take part in a fire-making challenge at final four and win the title of Sole Survivor.
      • Bob is the only winner to be involved in a tie-vote at final four to win the fire making challenge as part of a tie-breaker.
        • Ian is the only man to win a fire-making challenge but not win the game, while no women that have won the fire-making challenge have won the game.
        • Ian is also the only person to win a final four fire-making challenge and not make it to final tribal council.

Jury

• This season had the most jury members with 16.
  • The previous record was Edge of Extinction with 13 jury members.
• Jeremy and Sarah have voted for the same person to win twice.
  • Jeremy voted for Natalie to win San Juan del Sur and Winners at War.
  • Sarah voted for Tony to win Cagayan and Winners at War.
    • They share this distinction with the following players:
      • Rupert voted for Sandra to win Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains.
• Tyson is the only Dakal member to not vote for Tony to win Survivor (other than Sandra who wasn’t on the jury).
  • He’s also the only Dakal member that voted for Natalie to win.
• Parvati is the fifth returning player to vote for the runner-up in both seasons they were on the jury. The others are as follows:
  • Jenna Lewis voted for Kelly in Borneo and Rob in All-Stars.
  • Kathy Vavrick O’Brien voted for Neleh in Marquesas and Rob in All-Stars.
  • James Clement voted for Courtney in China and Amanda in Micronesia.
  • Sierra Dawn-Thomas voted for Carolyn in Worlds Apart and Brad in Game Changers.
    • Both times Parvati voted on the jury, she voted for the runner-up and was 1 of 4 votes for them to win.
• Tyson voted for Natalie to win this season, and they both won a Blood vs. Water themed season.
• This was the first time Adam, Ben, Danni, Denise, Ethan, Kim, Nick, Rob, Sophie, Wendell, and Yul were on the jury.
• Parvati and Ethan are the only players this season to vote someone out and also vote for them to win.
  • Previous players to do this are Tijuana voting for Lill in Pearl Islands, Wardog and David voting for Chris in Edge of Extinction.
• There were no new three-time jury members this season.
  • • Andrea, Cirie, Rupert, Ozzy, and Joe are the only players to be on the jury three times.

Second Runner-Up (Michele)

• Michele is the only winner this season who has never been voted out of Survivor.
  • She’s also the only multiple-time player who has never been eliminated. Others have played multiple times and never been voted out, but were eliminated in another way.
    • Mike Skupin was medically evacuated from The Australian Outback and made it to the end of Philippines.
    • Jenna Morasca won The Amazon, then quit All-Stars.
    • Colton Cumbie was medically evacuated in One World and quit Blood vs. Water.
• Michele and Natalie are the fourth and fifth players to make it to the end in their first and second seasons. The others are as follows:
  • Sandra in Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains.
  • Russell in Samoa and Heroes vs. Villains.
  • Amanda in China and Micronesia.
• Michele went to 15/19 tribal councils this season, after only going to six in her original season.
• Michele, Natalie, and Tony are the sixth, seventh and eighth players to make it to final tribal council twice. The others are as follows:
  • Sandra, Rob, Parvati, Amanda, and Russell.
• Michele is the second winner to make it to final tribal council without previously being voted out.
  • The first was Sandra in Heroes vs. Villains.
    • Russell made it to final tribal council in both Samoa and Heroes vs. Villains without previously being voted out, but he never won.
• Michele is the 25th player to make it to final tribal council and receive 0 votes to win. The others are as follows:
  • Becky in Cook Islands.
  • Cassandra & Dreamz in Fiji.
  • Sugar in Gabon.
  • Stephen in Tocantins.
  • Mick in Samoa.
  • Russell in Heroes vs. Villains.
  • Sash in Nicaragua.
  • Natalie in Redemption Island.
  • Albert in South Pacific.
  • Chelsea in One World.
  • Dawn & Sherri in Caramoan.
  • Gervase in Blood vs. Water.
  • Spencer & Tasha in Cambodia.
  • Tai in Kaoh Rong.
  • Hannah & Ken in Millennials vs. Gen X.
  • Troyzan in Game Changers.
  • Laurel in Ghost Island.
  • Angelina in David vs. Goliath.
  • Julie in Edge of Extinction.
  • Noura in Island of the Idols.
• Natalie and Michele are the third and fourth winners to win Survivor then make it to final tribal council in their next season.
  • The others are Sandra (Pearl Islands & Heroes vs. Villains) and Parvati (Micronesia & Heroes vs. Villains).
• The final three was made up entirely of players from New Jersey.
  • This was the first time that the entire final three had players from the same state.
• Michele is the first winner who returned and had her first loss be as a finalist.
  • Parvati won Micronesia and was runner-up in Heroes vs. Villains, but she was previously voted out in Cook Islands.
  • Sandra won Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains, but her first loss came when she was voted out of Game Changers.
• Every time Michele received votes against her in both Kaoh Rong and Winners at War, she received two.
• Michele is the only winner to make it to final tribal council twice and get no votes the second time.
• Michele has the highest placement average for any returning player who hasn’t been voted out with 2.
  • She won Kaoh Rong and was second runner-up in Winners at War.

Runner-Up (Natalie)

• Natalie is the third person in Survivor history to be voted out, then make it to final tribal council. The others are as follows:
  • Lillian Morris in Pearl Islands.
  • Chirs Underwood in Edge of Extinction.
    • Lill and Natalie were both runners-up, while Chris won.
• Natalie survived zero tribal councils this season while not immune.
  • She was voted out at her first tribal council.
  • She was on the Edge of Extinction for 33 days.
  • She played an idol on herself at her first two tribals she attended when she returned from the EOE.
  • She won the final individual immunity challenge.
• The name “Natalie” has tied the record for most final tribal council appearances with four.
  • Natalie Anderson in San Juan del Sur & Winners at War.
  • Natalie Tenerelli in Redemption Island.
  • Natalie White in Samoa.
    • Natalie Cole is the only “Natalie” to not make it to finale episode in any season.
    • The record is also held by the name “Michael” with Michael “Mick” Trimming in Samoa, Mike Skupin in Philippines, Mike Holloway in Worlds Apart, and Mike White in David vs. Goliath.
• Natalie has the highest placement average for any returning player with 1.5.
  • She won San Juan del Sur and was runner-up in Winners at War.
• Natalie has played the least amount of days for anyone that made it to final tribal council, with 6 days.
  • Chris U previously held the record with 12.
• An Anderson has been both the first boot and member of final tribal council in both San Juan del Sur and Winners at War.
  • Nadiya was first boot and Natalie won San Juan del Sur.
  • Natalie was first boot and runner-up in Winners at War.
• Natalie and Parvati are the only players in Survivor history to win Survivor once and come in second place in a subsequent season.
• Natalie is the first person to be first boot in a season and make it to final tribal council.
• Natalie is the first woman since Chrissy Hofbeck in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers to receive jury votes.
• Natalie is the only person to make it to final tribal council while only voting for two people.
  • The only players she cast votes against this season are Denise and Ben.

Winner (Tony)

• Tony became the second two-time winner after Sandra.
  • Both a man and woman have won twice.
  • There have been two other two-time winners in international Survivor series, with Turabi “Turbo” Çamkıran who won two seasons of Survivor Turkey and Clémence Castel who won two seasons of Koh-Lanta.
• Sandra and Tony both won their first season during a final two and their second season during a final three.
• Both two-time winners, (Sandra & Tony), had a 9/12 (75%) vote success rate in their second winning season.
  • This means that the person they voted for was voted out.
• Tony cast the same correct number of votes (9) in both seasons he won.
• Tony won Survivor in a 12-4-0 vote.
  • He set a record for the most jury votes for a winner with 12.
    • He also holds the record for most jury votes in a final two with 8 votes in Cagayan.
    • He has the highest amount of jury votes total with 20.
      • Sandra previously held the record with 12 total jury votes.
• 23/40 winners have been on the starting tribe that won the first immunity challenge.
  • Both times Sandra and Tony won, their tribe won the first immunity challenge.
• Tony is the sixth man in a row to win Survivor.
  • There have only been three women winners in the past 15 seasons.
    • All three of those women coincidentally were in the final four of this season.
  • The six seasons in a row where men have won are also the six seasons since the final four fire-making twist was introduced.
• Tony is the third winner to make it to final tribal council on their third season.
  • The first was Parvati, and the second was Tyson.
• Tony is the sixth winner to win from a red starting tribe.
  • Amber, Chris, Todd, JT, and Sandra are the others.
  • Tony is the first winner from a red tribe since Sandra in Heroes vs. Villains.
• Tony is the second man to win an all-returning player season, after Jeremy won Cambodia.
• Tony is the fifth player to win an all-returning player season after Amber, Sandra, Jeremy, and Sarah.
  • Every one of them started Winners at War on Dakal except for Jeremy.
• Tony is the second player to win on their third Survivor season after Tyson won Blood vs. Water.
• All three seasons that Tony and Sarah played together, one of them won.
• Tony is the first winner to win an all-returning player season as his third season.
• Tony is the first man to win against two women in a final three since Cochran won Caramoan.
  • Tony is the first man to not win unanimously against two women since Bob won Gabon.
• Tony is the tenth winner to win without any votes against him in his winning season. The others are Tina, Ethan, Brian, Sandra (Pearl Islands), Tom, JT, Cochran, Natalie, and Nick.
• Tony is the lowest placing Survivor player to come back for a subsequent season, as he was voted out in 19th place in Game Changers.
• Tony is the fourth highest-earning American game show contestant. The top three are Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer (all from Jeopardy!).
  • Coincidentally, they were all on TV in the same night, as there was a Jeopardy “Greatest of all Time” episode on before the finale of Survivor.
• Cagayan has produced three wins and three runners-up.
  • Tony x2, Sarah – winners.
  • Woo, Spencer, and Tasha – runners-up.
• Cagayan has the most seasons that have been won by a cast member with three.
  • The previous record was two, and it was held by The Australian Outback, Marquesas, Pearl Islands, Cook Islands, Tocantins, South Pacific, and San Juan del Sur.
• Every Cagayan returnee has made it to the final three in at least one of their seasons.
  • • • Woo: runner-up in Cagayan.
      • Kass: third place in Cagayan.
      • Spencer & Tasha: runners-up in Cambodia.
      • Sarah: winner of Game Changers.
      • Tony: winner of Cagayan and Winners at War.
• Every all-returning player season since Cagayan has either been won by or had runners-up from Cagayan.
  • Cambodia: Spencer & Tasha were runners-up.
  • Game Changers: Sarah won.
  • Winners at War: Tony won.
• Woo is the only Cagayan returnee to only make it to the merge once.
• In nine seasons filmed in Fiji, eight of them have been won by men:
  • Fiji – Earl Cole.
  • Millennials vs. Gen X – Adam Klein.
  • Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers – Ben Driebergen.
  • Ghost Island – Wendell Holland.
  • David vs. Goliath – Nick Wilson.
  • Edge of Extinction – Chris Underwood.
  • Island of the Idols – Tommy Sheehan.
  • Winners at War – Tony Vlachos
    
    • Sarah Lacina in Game Changers is the only woman to win a season in Fiji.
      • Other than Sarah, the only women to receive any jury votes in a season filmed in Fiji is Chrissy in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers and Natalie Anderson in Winners at War.

Immunity Challenge #1 – “Slide On”

• Michele has won the challenge that ended with this puzzle in her previous season and did the same this season.
  • Both times when she won, she kicked the puzzle over.

Immunity Challenge #2 – “5 on 5”

• This was the fourth individual immunity challenge that Tony won this season, one away from the record.

Immunity Challenge #3 – “Simmotion”

• Nobody from post-swap Yara won individual immunity this season.
• Prior to Winners at War, every time this challenge was played during the regular game, the winner of the challenge won the season. Natalie is the first person to win this as an individual immunity challenge and not win the season.
  • JT won in Tocantins.
  • Jeremy won in Cambodia.
  • Wendell won (as a reward challenge with Domenick) in Ghost Island.
  • Nick won in David vs. Goliath.
    • Christine won this challenge as a duel in South Pacific.
• Of the final four, Michele was the only player to win the final immunity challenge in their previous season.
• Both players who came back from Edge at final fix won final immunity and had idols played by them or for them at their prior two tribal councils.

Hidden Immunity Idol/Advantage

• Ben has played the most idols of any player in Survivor history with four idols played.
  • The previous record was held by Tai Trang, who played three idols.
• Tony has played three idols in Survivor and negated 0 votes with them.

Confessionals

• Tony (Winners at War), Sandra (Pearl Islands), and Fabio (Nicaragua) are the only winners to have the first confessional in a season they won.
  • Tony is the only player to have the first confessional in two different seasons.
    • He had the first confessional in both Game Changers and Winners at War.
• This season has the most confessionals of any Survivor season with 565.
  • The previous record was held by Borneo.
• Nobody this season had more confessionals than they did in their winning season.
• Tony had the most confessionals this season with 74.
  • He also had the most confessionals this episode with 14.
• Wendell had the least confessionals with 13.
• Denise is the only active player in this episode that got 0 confessionals.
  • Everyone on the Edge of Extinction also got 0 confessionals in this episode.

Ratings

• The finale received 7.9 million viewers and 1.6 in the Adults 18-49 demo—the show’s best numbers for a finale since Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.

Episode Title

• Tony said the episode title “It All Boils Down to This” when he was practicing fire-making.

• News
• Stats
• Season 40
• Winners At War
• Season 40 Stats

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