And the Winner of ‘Survivor: Kaoh Rong’ Is...
Warning: This recap for the season finale of Survivor: Kaoh Rong contains spoilers.
After a season with three medical evacuations, numerous blindsides, and a finale voting twist, 24-year-old Michele Fitzgerald became the person to outwit, outlast, and outplay for 39 days on Survivor: Kaoh Rong. She beat out fellow finalists Aubry Bracco, 29, and Tai Trang, 51.
As host Jeff Probst said after the vote was revealed, “It was a season of underdogs, and Michele came out on top.”
The finale was action-packed, and included that voting twist. Early in the episode, Fitzgerald won probably the most important challenge of the six she won, when she won immunity. She was on the chopping block, but it wound up being Cydney Gillon, 23, who was voted out after a tense tie that resulted in a fire-making challenge pitting her against Bracco.
When it came down to the final three, the players pondered whether only two of them would make it to the final tribal council. Then, Probst announced a twist: A final reward challenge would allow the winner to vote out one of the jury members. It was the first time in Survivor history that a jury member was excluded. Bracco chose to vote out one of Bracco’s staunchest allies, Neal Gottlieb.
In the final tribal council, Bracco talked up her strategic game, while Trang defended blindsiding former allies. Perhaps Gottlieb’s absence did make a difference, as several jury members claimed they were undecided and might have been swayed by his questioning.
Though Trang did not get any votes to win, he was a fan favorite for his savvy gameplay (finding a hidden idol, winning an advantage), his epic life story, and his love for Mark the Chicken. The singer Sia made a surprise appearance to proclaim herself a fan of Trang, and promised to donate $50,000 to an animal charity of his choice.
