Laura Morett

Laura Morett is a contestant from and.

In, Laura emerged as one of the strongest women in her tribe, as a result fellow tribe mate Shambo Waters constantly had personality conflicts with her, and was viewed as the main opposition to notorious villain Russell Hantz which ultimately led her to being targeted and eventually blindsided.

In, she became notable for being blindsided by Galang only to fight her way back to the game on Redemption Island. Later, she and her daughter Ciera Eastin became the last pair left in the game with Laura becoming the first and only contestant to be voted off by their Loved One. She also broke the previous record held by Phillip Sheppard for most votes received in a single season, with 19.

Profile
Retrieved from CBS.com

Samoa
Laura was placed on the Galu Tribe. Galu would generally dominate in challenges and Laura enjoyed the benefits of the tribe's success. On Day 12, however, Foa Foa would win immunity in large part due to Monica Padilla slowing the tribe down on the ropes. Despite that, Laura joined the tribe in eliminating Yasmin Giles for her lack of work ethic. Galu would win all remaining challenges but this would not come without its drawbacks. On Day 15, Russell Swan collapsed and was pulled from the game. After Russell's departure, alliances formed within Galu. Laura found herself aligned with Monica and Kelly Sharbaugh, while the men aligned themselves with Shambo Waters. Over this time the women minus Shambo formed a close bond, while Shambo developed a deep despise for Laura. The next day, Shambo sent Laura to observe Foa Foa, much to her anger. Laura summarized the reasoning for this being so Shambo could say she is in charge. While at Foa Foa, Laura bonded with Natalie White based on their similar interests. Russell Hantz also tried to get Laura on his side by showing her his Hidden Immunity Idol and making a Final Two deal with her, but she didn't trust him.

On Day 19, Laura had a major argument with Shambo. Later that day, the tribes merged and Laura immediately become the target of Russell for her strength, leadership, and conflict with Shambo. However, This plan was put on hold when Laura was able to win immunity. Meanwhile, Erik Cardona wanted to vote out Monica, with the belief that Laura would turn to him and he would be able to control her. Erik told the former Foa Foa's to vote Monica at Tribal Council, but none of them had the intention of doing so. Seeing the opportunity to further her former tribemates in the game, Natalie alerted the Galu women of his plot and Laura voted him out. They also unknowingly flushed Erik's Idol.

Laura won immunity again, further halting Russell's plans for her ousting. Because he used his Idol at the previous Tribal Council, Laura voted for Russell. However, Russell shocked the Galu's when he played another Idol and one of Laura's closest allies, Kelly, was eliminated. Laura found herself in danger when she failed to win immunity. Russell put his plans to eliminate Laura into motion, while The Galu alliance chose to vote against Natalie to avoid a possible Idol. Monica also told the Foa Foa Four to vote for John to avoid them targeting Laura. The four didn't believe her and the vote was tied 5-5, with Laura and Natalie being deadlocked. The revote seemed to indicate a second tie, but John Fincher, in order to avoid drawing rocks, changed his vote to Laura so his fate was not determined by chance.

At the Final Tribal Council, Laura asked Russell H. what he learned about her that enabled him to beat her. All Russell H. said that Laura was was the biggest threat and he had to vote her out. Unsatisfied with his answer, she voted for Natalie to be the Sole Survivor.

Voting History
In Tastes Like Chicken, Russell H. used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Laura's vote against him. In The Day of Reckoning, the vote ended with a 5-5 tie between Laura and Natalie, forcing a revote. John changed his vote to Laura on the revote, eliminating her from the game.

Blood vs. Water
Laura went into the season believing that she and her daughter, Ciera Eastin, were going to have a great experience together, but this turned out to be very wrong as on Day 1, Jeff split the tribes by returning players and their loved ones. Laura was upset she was not able to be at Ciera's side and protect her. During the First Impressions vote, Laura received three votes against her from Candice Cody, Rupert Boneham, and Tyson Apostol, who all voted for her because they claimed they had no knowledge of her gameplay. However, the tables were turned on Candice, who was voted out of the tribe for the same reason, saving Laura from heading to.

Over the next few days, Colton Cumbie started to stir up conflict within the tribe just for his own satisfaction. Like the rest of the women on Galang, Laura had tried to console Colton after he poured out his feelings on Night 1, but after Colton's drama threw the tribe off their game, she didn't have the same feelings. On Day 7, when Galang headed to Redemption Island to witness the duel between Candice, Marissa Peterson, and Rachel Foulger, Colton finally gave up on the game and announced he was quitting. When Jeff asked the tribes about Colton's decision, Laura said that Colton was quitting because strategy was not in Colton's favor. Colton was brought to tears and left the game on Day 7 without competing at Redemption Island. No one at Galang showed any emotion about Colton leaving, including Laura.

For the next few days, Galang would be safe as they won many Immunity Challenges, also thanks to Laura's excellent puzzle-solving skills which propelled the tribe. Galang's winning streak came to an end when they lost the Day 13 Immunity Challenge, which Laura sat out of. Laura assumed the entire tribe was voting for Laura Boneham, due to not being a returning player, and thought she was in a tight alliance with Aras Baskauskas. However, Aras was actually a part of the Galang majority alliance that consisted of himself, Tina Wesson, Gervase Peterson, Monica Culpepper, and Tyson Apostol. Tyson and Gervase pitched that Laura B. would be an easy vote and that Laura M. would be more of a threat down the road. The alliance agreed and pulled in outsiders Kat Edorsson and former target Laura B. to vote out Laura M. At Tribal Council, the plan came to life and Laura M. was sent to Redemption Island in a 7-1 vote.

In her first duel at Redemption Island, Laura came in first place and chose to give a Hidden Immunity Clue to Aras' brother, Vytas Baskauskas, who immediately burned it. Afterwards, she would win the next duel and the final duel to reenter the game at the merge.

Laura was originally interested with the idea of forming a "Pairs Alliance" with her daughter as well as Aras, Vytas, Tina, and Katie Collins. However, Aras had other plans in mind, wanting to send her back to Redemption Island. He told the rest of his alliance about his plan to split the votes between herself and her daughter. Tyson, who along with Gervase and Monica had defected, relayed that information back to Laura and offered her a spot in a new alliance he formed. In true karmic fashion, Aras was sent to Redemption Island in a 7-2-2 vote at Tribal Council.

Laura stayed true to her alliance during the next votes, voting off Vytas Baskauskas and Tina Wesson. Laura hit a roadblock in Big Bad Wolf. Being part of the only pair left in the game, Laura was in trouble, and because she was a bigger physical threat than her daughter, she was the most threatening. She took her daughter's advice to avoid talking strategy with anyone to avoid being targeted. Laura tried to stop Katie Collins from finding the Hidden Immunity Idol by hiding the sharp tools. Ciera pulled Laura aside to have a long talk about where they stood in the game. Ciera told Laura she was planning on voting Laura out to further herself in the game. Laura was disappointed about the fact that Ciera would vote for her but was extremely proud of Ciera's courage, strength and determination. After Laura failed to win Immunity she tried to convince her alliance to stick together and vote out alliance outsider, Katie, but at Tribal Council Laura's rallying failed and everybody, including Ciera, voted for her, once again sending her to Redemption Island.

After arriving on Redemption Island Laura had a hard time defining how she felt about Ciera voting for her, but none the less she promised to do her best at Redemption Island. Laura stuck true to her promise, coming first in the next Duel. Laura made a game changing move when she told her rival Tina how to complete her puzzle, which lead to Tina overtaking and eliminating Vytas. Laura continued her Redemption Island dominance by coming first in the next two duels, all the while helping Tina stay in the game as well. This resulted in the eliminations of Caleb Bankston and Tina's daughter Katie Collins.

Laura made it all the way to the final Redemption Island duel, which was between herself, Tina, and Hayden Moss. The duel required balance and concentration. Laura initally struggled in the duel, not being able to keep her vase still. After Hayden dropped out she begged Tina to let her win, but Tina politely declined. Tina remained solid and eventually Laura dropped her vase, eliminating her from the game. Before exiting Laura said that her Redemption Island dominance meant nothing because she was unable to pull off the final win. She thought her daughter, Ciera, would not be proud of her but Ciera reassured her that she was proud of Laura. Still disappointed, Laura left the game as the sixth jury member finishing in sixth place.

As a juror, Laura cast her vote for Tyson Apostol to win, which he did in a 7-1-0 vote.

Post-Survivor

 * On January 9, 2010, Laura attended Survivor ' s 10-year anniversary party.
 * In July 2015, in an interview Laura gave her thoughts about how her former castmate Monica Padilla would do in.
 * Laura, a Republican, ran for a seat in the Oregon House of Representatives in the fall of 2016.  However, Laura ultimately lost the election.

Trivia

 * Laura originally applied for The Amazing Race with Jodi Wincheski but was cut, and later was called to do Survivor instead.
 * Laura was the only female to win Individual Immunity in and the lowest placing Aiga member to win Individual Immunity.
 * Laura lost 13 lbs. during her time in Samoa.
 * Laura is the third castaway to place 10th on their first outing, and then place 6th their next time out. Shii Ann Huang was the first, while Brenda Lowe was the second.
 * All three of them were females that started one season on a purple tribe.
 * On both of her seasons:
 * She was voted out the second time she was eligible to be voted out, and received 10 votes up to that point.
 * She was the second woman voted out of the merged tribe.
 * Laura is the first non-Cody to place first in a duel on.
 * Laura is the first woman to return to the game from Redemption Island before the merge.
 * She is the first Redemption Island returnee to be not be voted out during the first Tribal Council the returnee is not immune, as Matt Elrod and Andrea Boehlke were voted off immediately after returning while Ozzy Lusth won the immunity both times he returned but was voted out the first time he was not immune after returning.
 * Laura and her daughter Ciera Eastin were the last pair left remaining in the game In Blood vs. Water. Ironically, both women were eliminated back to back after achieving this feat.
 * Laura is the first (and currently only) castaway to receive an elimination vote from a loved one.
 * Laura is the first castaway to be voted off on Day 26.
 * Laura holds the record for the most votes received in a single season with 19, breaking the previous record that was held by Phillip Sheppard and Ozzy Lusth, who tied with 17.
 * She also broke the record for most votes received by a female castaway. The previous record holder was Edna Ma who had 15.
 * Laura is tied with Jonathan Penner for the record for the most cumulative votes against her over multiple seasons with a total of 29.
 * However, Penner also negated five votes against him with a Hidden Immunity Idol while every vote cast against Laura counted.
 * Laura holds the record for most Redemption Island duels won by a female with six.
 * Laura is the second contestant to return to Redemption Island, but eventually lose a duel - resulting in their elimination, following Matthew Elrod.
 * Laura holds the record for the most days spent at by a female contestant, with 16 days.
 * She has spent the second-most days overall at Redemption Island, behind Matthew Elrod, who spent 28 days.
 * Laura is the only female contestant to place first in more than one duel against at least one male opponent.
 * Laura is the only contestant from Samoa to place higher on his or her returning season.
 * Laura is the first woman to lose the last Redemption Duel.