Gillian Larson

Gillian Larson is a contestant from.

Profile
Retired after working as a registered nurse for 41 years, Gillian Larson has never satisfied her appetite for adventure and travel despite her wide array of experiences throughout her 61 years. She has traveled through 46 countries and all but a few U.S. states, much of it backpacking. This adventurous "granny" can climb and rappel 4,000 foot mountains and swim with the Great Whites. Not only is she versatile, but she is competitive by nature and feels as though she is an perfect fit for the game of SURVIVOR, having applied 15 times, always believing she would one day be selected.

Married 37 years to her husband, Ron, Gillian has three married daughters and four grandchildren. Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, she was awarded several academic and athletic honors. Gillian met her husband in Germany and moved to the United States. The couple has relocated 18 times and currently resides in Temecula, Calif. since 2001. Her proudest achievement is her awesome family.

When she isn't scuba diving or hiking through the mountains, Gillian enjoys travel, writing, photography, gardening, spending time with her family and her electic group of friends who range from 2 to 92.

For her 60th birthday, she got a purple butterfly tattoo on her left hip. A very good swimmer, this SURVIVOR-addict feels that she has what is takes to be the oldest winner yet.

After SURVIVOR, Larson's new goal is to be a motivational speaker, focusing on "believe in yourself and you can achieve anything".

Gillian's birthday is February 24, 1947.

Survivor: Gabon
Due to being one of the two eldest competitors (the other being Bob Crowley), Gillian was assigned to pick the members of the Fang tribe. After her team was assembled, Jeff Probst gave both tribes the first Immunity Challenge. Gillian struggled to keep up during the challenge, and ultimately had to be helped by the other members of her tribe, causing Fang to lose the first challenge. Before going to Tribal Council, Gillian was targeted for her age and weakness in the challenge. However, Michelle Chase was ultimately eliminated for her negative attitude.

On the morning of Day 5, G.C. Brown woke up early and began to work around camp. All of his noise awoke Gillian, who got into an argument with G.C., which ultimately resulted in him resigning from his position as leader of the tribe. Following Fang's next loss, Gillian attempted to make an alliance with Susie Smith to vote out Ken Hoang, whom Gillian thought of as useless. However at Tribal Council, Gillian's performances in challenges were viewed as too much of a burden and she was unanimously voted out 7-1.

Post-Survivor

 * After, Gillian founded Reality Rally, an event where fans can talk, race, and just have fun with their favorite reality stars, including many SURVIVORS. The 2nd Annunal Reality Rally took place on April 13–15, 2012. It raises money to support Michelle's Place, a breast cancer resource center in Temecula, California. www.realityrally.com. She also does speaking engagements foucused on being the best person you can be, tying it into her Survivor experience. www.gillianlarson.com
 * On January 9, 2010, Gillian attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party along with all of her Gabon cast mates.

Trivia

 * Gillian was the oldest contestant on.
 * Gillian is the first oldest contestant to be female since Scout Cloud Lee of .
 * Gillian is one of only two women to play Survivor while being over 60 years old (the other is Sonja Christopher from ).
 * Gillian became the twenty-third contestant of Survivor to have never won a challenge.
 * Gillian auditioned for the show for eight years before being cast to compete on Gabon.
 * Born in South Africa, Gillian is the first South African to compete on the US Survivor.
 * Gillian was short-listed for an early season of The Amazing Race, but she held out to appear on Survivor.
 * Gillian is the third person to receive votes from all her original tribemates, but not be the first member of the tribe to be voted out. The first was Shii Ann Huang, the second was Ashley Massaro, and the fourth was J'Tia Taylor.
 * Gillian is the first contestant to have a Survivor Oz interview.