The 47th season of Survivor crowned its winner on Wednesday night. After 26 days of competition, the jury finally rewarded one person with $1 million!
WARNING: This article contains spoilers. If you don’t want to know who won Survivor, please read no further!
Survivor 47 Winner
Rachel LaMont, a 34 year-old interface designer from Michigan, was crowned the winner of the latest season of Survivor. She managed to beat out Sam Phalen and Sue Smey in the final three. Rachel’s win was decisive, as she garnered all of the jury votes except for one, which went to Sam.
“I think Rachel will go down as one of the best overall players to ever compete on Survivor,” host Jeff Probst told Entertainment Weekly after the finale. “She made the most of every opportunity, and when in trouble, always found a way out.”
“Her dominant challenge performance speaks for itself, and her final argument to the jury about why she deserved their vote was very well-crafted with just the right amount of confidence and humility,” he continued. “And in addition to all of those player qualities, she was also a really fun human. I enjoyed talking to her at challenges and Tribal Council.”
Rachel’s Victory
During her time on Survivor, Rachel won four individual immunity challenges, tied for the most wins for a woman in Survivor history. The other four women who have won that many individual immunity challenges are Jenna Morasca, Kelly Wiglesworth, Chrissy Hofbeck and Kim Spradlin-Wolfe.
Rachel was born in Bangkok, Thailand, and she moved to the U.S. when she was 7 years-old. She currently lives in Southfield, Michigan with her husband, and she works in graphic design.
“I basically make apps that you interact with look pretty,” Rachel told Parade Magazine. “So I design what they look like and the colors and all of that good stuff.”
Rachel had been an alternate that was flown to location for the previous Survivor season, but was not chosen to compete. Undeterred, Rachel continued to try out and was ultimately chosen for this season. Clearly, Rachel made the most of the opportunity and walked away a millionaire!
Survivor Is Still Evolving
Though Survivor has been on for 24 years, and there’s been 47 seasons, Probst believes the show is still fresh.
“I know I say this a lot, but new-era Survivor was designed to be a different game, and you’re seeing that in action with every new season,” Probst said. “You can’t play today’s new-era Survivor the way Survivor was played in the old era. It won’t work. You have to be willing to constantly adapt and take risks.”
“And the reward is that if you do that and you manage to get to the end, you have a shot at winning due to the jury recognition and respect you will garner,” he continued. “But if you simply try to hold on and not fail, it won’t matter if you get to the end, because no jury member will reward that kind of game.”
Watch Rachel’s win for yourself in the video below.
Survivor 48 is set to premiere in February. Be sure to tune in to see who the next million dollar winner will be!
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