Sophie Clarke

Sophie Clarke is the winner of Survivor: South Pacific.

Profile
Retrieved from CBS.com

Name (Age): Sophie Clarke (22) Tribe designation: Upolu, Te Tuna Current residence: Willsboro, N.Y. Occupation: Medical Student Personal claim to fame: I won Prom Princess at my small rural high school where my graduation class was 28 students. Inspiration in life: I am skeptical of lionization of any one person. I do admire, however, Albert Schweitzer. He came from a well-off family and yet chose something much less grand with his life than he could have. True humanitarian. True passion. True dedication. Hobbies: Cooking, scrabble and reading. Pet peeves: Smart women who pretend to be dumb, particularly if they wear a lot of eye makeup, and people who walk slowly in cold weather. 3 words to describe you: Purposeful, resilient and shrewd. SURVIVOR contestant you are most like: I relate to Russell’s determination to win at any cost, Stephen’s intelligence, Stephenie’s competitiveness and Susan’s trueness to character. Reason for being on SURVIVOR: To win money! I have been bragging to friends for way too long about how easy “Survivor” is and how good I would be. I would like to have the freedom in Med. School to choose my specialty based on passion and not money and the potential to more quickly pay my debts. Why you think you’ll “survive” SURVIVOR: I am strong and athletic (play soccer, softball and basketball) and I am an extremely good skier. I am “Outdoor Emergency Care” certified and can thus deal with unexpected and extreme situations with a calm approach. I am a leader and always ready and eager to step up! Why you think you will be the sole SURVIVOR: I am tough, smart and driven. People will trust and like me even though they should not. I will piss people off, yet be convincing and heartfelt enough at the end to make them give me the money. I will mess with their minds and beat their bodies! I think it might actually be easy.

Survivor: South Pacific
In the pre-game interviews, Clarke stated that she knew she was blunt, and sometimes condescending, which became her in-game storyline.

Sophie, like several members of the Upolu tribe, was skeptical about the addition of Coach Wade to their tribe. This skepticism was furthered when Coach lost the first Reward Challenge over fellow veteran Ozzy Lusth. Upon reaching camp, Sophie introduced herself as a Russian and Economics major who "graduated four days ago." Knowing his "Dragon Slayer" baggage would be hard to release, Coach opened a conversation while stargazing at their first night, with the conversation concluded with the recruitment of Clarke to his five-person alliance, which also consisted of Rick Nelson, Albert Destrade, and Brandon Hantz. Coach fortified his alliance of five by adding a sixth member, Edna Ma. While Brandon kept his secret of being a relative of the infamous Russell Hantz from his tribemates, Sophie was observant enough to suspect he might be hiding something. Sophie was also seen as strong competitor, being called "insane" by Jeff Probst during the first Immunity Challenge, in which Upolu narrowly won.

At the second Immunity Challenge on day five, Upolu lost, sending them to Tribal Council. Being in the majority alliance, Sophie was safe, but she received a vote coming from Stacey Powell. Sophie's alliance eliminated Coach's biggest threat, Christine Shields Markoski. Days later, alliance partner Albert found the hidden clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol, but could not find the Idol itself. With Sophie and Coach's help, the three found the Idol, which was secretly kept by Coach, even from Rick and Brandon. The Upolu majority alliance successfully eliminated Stacey and Mikayla Wingle at their next Tribal Councils, entering the merge with the entire alliance intact.

When the tribes merged on day nineteen, Sophie stuck to the Upolu alliance, and, along with Savaii member John Cochran, eliminated the five other Savaii members: Keith Tollefson, Ozzy Lusth, Jim Rice, Dawn Meehan, and Whitney Duncan. During the process of this "pagonging," Sophie was able to win two consecutive Immunity Challenges.

After the ex-Savaii members were voted out, the original Upolu alliance of five, decided to stick together and, thus, eliminated Cochran and Edna. The next round of the game saw the alliance turn against each other. Sophie was able to make Coach and Rick turn against fellow alliance member Brandon because of his antics and his unpredictability. However, when Brandon won Immunity, they had to switch their target to Albert. Their plans changed again at Tribal Council when Brandon gave the Immunity Necklace to Albert. In the end, Coach sided with Rick and Sophie and she narrowly escaped elimination in a 3-2 vote.

At the final Redemption Island Duel on day thirty-six, Ozzy defeated Brandon at Redemption Island and came back in the game with an apparent target on his back. At the following Immunity Challenge, which required balancing wooden blocks, Sophie made an unattractive gesture—outright asking Albert to help her get her blocks, which was intercepted by Jeff. Her move failed, however, when Ozzy won Immunity. With Ozzy immune and Coach having his Hidden Immunity Idol, Sophie was on the hot seat at Tribal Council, being told by Ozzy that she was a "pretentious, spoiled brat" after her gesture at the Immunity Challenge, reducing the medical student to tears and anxiety, stating that her bluntness was natural to her. But with his quieter game play, Rick was voted out in a 3-2 vote.

At the final Immunity Challenge on day thirty-eight, a closely-contested battle between Ozzy and Sophie commenced. But at the puzzle-building part, Ozzy struggled, giving leeway to Sophie, who eventually won the challenge. As the last remaining Savaii member, Ozzy was voted out, leaving Sophie, Albert, and Coach as the final three.

At the Final Tribal Council, while castigated by the Jury for coming off as acerbic to others, Sophie used her frankness to her advantage by calling Coach "a little girl" and exposed all the lies he created. She also stated that she would change her perceived rudeness, after Ozzy brought the topic up days ago. In the end, Sophie was rewarded the title of 23rd Sole Survivor and the one million dollar prize, beating Coach and Albert in a 6-3-0 vote. Sophie received the votes from Jim, Keith, Dawn, Whitney, Brandon, and Ozzy.

Voting History
In Double Agent, the vote ended with a 6-6 tie between Rick and Keith, forcing a revote. Sophie did not change her vote at the revote.

Post-Survivor
After her win, Sophie decided to use her money to pay for her education, stating she "has lots of loans." She also stated to be "sunnier" after all meeting all the criticisms about her blunt personality.

Clarke returned to her hometown of Willsboro, where she discussed her Survivor experience at the Willsboro Central School. She continues to pursue her medical career, studying to become a OB-GYN.

Trivia

 * It was revealed that Sophie knows how to speak Russian and is also an Economics major.
 * Sophie was the first member of the Upolu tribe to win individual immunity.
 * Sophie was the first winner to receive her $1,000,000 paycheck at the live reunion show.
 * Sophie is the second Sole Survivor to be a new cast member and win over a returning player in the final Jury Vote. (The first was Danni Boatwright, who had beaten former Survivor: Palau contestant Stephenie LaGrossa in the Final 2 of Survivor: Guatemala.)
 * Sophie is the third consecutive female winner from a season shot in Samoa, following Natalie White from Survivor: Samoa and Sandra Diaz-Twine, from Survivor: Heroes vs Villains.
 * She won the most individual Immunity Challenges in Survivor: South Pacific, with a total of three.
 * Sophie was the only female player from Survivor: South Pacific to never participate in a Redemption Island duel.
 * Her father is journalist Thurston Clarke.
 * Jeff stated in an interview that helping another contestant in an individual challenge is strictly prohibited, for the spirit of fair play, as revealed during Sophie's incident at the Day 37 Immunity Challenge.
 * Sophie was the only person in Survivor: South Pacific to win consecutive non-duel challenges during any stage of the game.