Amanda Kimmel

Amanda Lee Kimmel is a contestant from, , and.

In China, she was known for being part of the Fei Long Alliance, her close alliance with Todd Herzog and Courtney Yates, as well as orchestrating James Clement's blindside. She made it to the end along with Todd and Courtney, but her lackluster performance during the Final Tribal Council resulted in her losing to Todd in a 4-2-1 vote, only receiving one vote to win and becoming the second runner-up.

In Micronesia, she formed a relationship with Ozzy Lusth and joined the Malakal Couples Alliance early on, but became a member of the Black Widow Brigade after the merge. Despite Ozzy's blindside at the final nine, Amanda managed to make it to the end of the game, making her the first player in Survivor history to make it to Day 39 on two separate occasions. However, another lackluster performance caused her to finish second to her ally Parvati Shallow in a close 5-3 vote.

In Heroes vs. Villains, she was the second-in-command of the Heroes Alliance and known for a cat-fight for the Hidden Immunity Idol clue with Danielle DiLorenzo. Following the alliance's leader, J.T. Thomas', elimination, Amanda and her remaining allies were left on the bottom. She was ultimately voted out at the following Tribal Council, marking the first time she was voted out in her Survivor career. She placed 9th.

Profile
Retrieved from CBS.com

China
Amanda formed an early alliance with fellow Fei Long tribemates Todd Herzog, Aaron Reisberger, and Courtney Yates. During the early days of the game Amanda, like most of the women on the tribe, grew to dislike Jean-Robert Bellande due to his perceived creepiness. After losing their first Immunity Challenge Amanda originally planned on voting for Jean-Robert. However due to Leslie Nease being kidnapped by Zhan Hu and admitting she was closer to them than she was to her original tribe, Amanda decided she was too much of a threat to keep, and Leslie was eliminated in a 6-2 vote.

After the Tribe Switch on Day 13, Fei Long lost its two strongest members, Aaron and James Clement, and Amanda lost one of her closest allies. Despite this they gained tribe members Frosti Zernow and Sherea Lloyd. When the new Zhan Hu tribe threw a challenge to vote out a former Fei Long member, Aaron was voted out. Amanda and Todd, who had grown closer since the switch, planned to Kidnap James and give him the Hidden Immunity Idol so he could throw the challenge and vote out a member of Zhan Hu. Despite this, Denise Martin was unable to win the challenge for Fei Long, sending them to Tribal Council once again. Despite Courtney's pleas to vote out Jean-Robert, Amanda voted out Sherea as she felt it would be the smartest move going into the merge.

After reaching the merge, James rejoined the Fei Long Alliance and together they voted out Zhan Hu member Jaime Dugan. Amanda considered James to be one of the biggest threats remaining as he had both of the Hidden Immunity Idols and was the biggest physical threat. At the Reward Challenge Amanda's team won a trip to a Chinese village and a meal. During the reward Jean-Robert became aware of the existence of the Hidden Immunity Idol and Amanda had to act surprised in order to not let him know she already knew where both the Idols were. Amanda planned on voting out Peih-Gee Law next in order to keep her alliance strong, and became suspicious of Todd when he suggested voting out James and then quickly switching the plan to voting out Jean-Robert. Despite her suspicions, Amanda stuck with her alliance and voted out Jean-Robert next.

Amanda won the Reward Challenge again and won an overnight cruise with Courtney, Erik Huffman, and Frosti. During the reward Amanda grew closer to Erik, stating that she would like to see him stick around as long as possible. Upon returning from the reward Amanda downplayed how good it was in order to not draw jealousy from the other tribe members. At the Immunity Challenge, the contestants were given the choice to sit out of the challenge and enjoy a feast of burgers and fries or compete in the challenge. Amanda decided that immunity was more important than food so she competed in the challenge, however she was quickly eliminated when she couldn't remember the correct order of the memory sequence. At Tribal Council, the vote came down to Frosti and Erik. Amanda eventually decided to vote for Frosti as he was a bigger threat and had grown close to Courtney.

Amanda once again noticed how much of a threat James was becoming as he still possessed both Hidden Immunity Idols. She convinced her alliance that now was the time to vote him out because if they didn't vote him out now he was guaranteed a spot in the final four and could easily win from there. She also told Peih-Gee to act as if she was going home, without telling her who was actually going home, in order to lessen James' suspicion about being blindsided. At Tribal Council, Amanda's plan came into fruition and James was blindsided with both idols in his pocket. The next Reward Challenge was the Loved Ones Challenge and Amanda was extremely excited to see her sister, Katrina. During the challenge Amanda and her sister, who were both blindfolded, communicated using bird calls. Despite their unorthodox strategy they lost the challenge to Denise and her husband. Denise picked Amanda to join her on the reward, so she got to spend a night with her sister. Amanda also came close to winning the Immunity Challenge, but lost it to Peih-Gee. Since Peih-Gee had immunity, Amanda and her alliance were forced to vote out the only outsider left, Erik.

Amanda won the next Immunity Challenge and continued growing suspicious of Todd, worried that he would flip on anyone to get ahead. She also noticed how good of a game he was playing. Due to this she considered Peih-Gee's plan to vote him out. However, at Tribal Council, she deemed Peih-Gee to be the bigger threat and voted her out over Todd. Now having reached the final four her alliance was forced to turn on itself. Amanda won a very important Reward Challenge and chose to share it with Todd. During the Reward, Amanda confessed here suspicions to Todd and told him she didn't trust him. Todd reaffirmed his loyalty to her and promised that they would go the end together. Despite this she was still weary of Todd and promised Denise that she would have her back. At the Final Immunity Challenge Amanda took a unique to the challenge, stacking her dishes upside down. This strategy payed off as the challenge eventually came down to Amanda versus Denise. Denise attempted to strike a deal with Amanda, however she bluntly turned her down. Amanda's strategy in the challenge and the previous reward payed off as she outlasted Denise and won her second Immunity Challenge in a row. Amanda was conflicted as she had promised both Denise and Todd that she would not vote for them. At Tribal Council Denise called Amanda out on her promise, which she quickly denied. Todd smirked at this and stated that it was sly of Amanda to do that, which angered Amanda. Amanda eventually decided to vote out Denise as she believed that Denise could easily win over the jury.

After Tribal Council, Amanda was still angry at Todd for his actions at Tribal Council. Todd apologized, yet Amanda did not believe him. Amanda enjoyed the breakfast on Day 39 and was extremely proud of how far she had come. At the Final Tribal Council, Amanda admitted how hard it was for her to stay honest to everyone. She answered the jurors questions poorly and apologized numerous times for the moves she had made. This disastrous performance ended up losing her the game as she finished in third place, receiving only Erik's vote.

Micronesia
Amanda returned as one of the ten favorites who would compete against a tribe of die-hard Survivor fans. Amanda quickly formed an alliance with Ozzy Lusth, telling him that he is her favorite player of all time which sparked their relationship. When Parvati Shallow and James Clement sparked their own relationship, they rallied in Amanda and Ozzy to make an alliance, and soon recruited Jon Dalton as a fifth member. Losing the first Immunity Challenge, Malakal was sent to Tribal Council first, where Dalton shocked everyone by requesting that they vote him out so that he could be with his expectant girlfriend. In return, Amanda and the rest of the Favorites unanimously sent the villain home.

Amanda's "couples alliance" became a looming force, concerning Jonathan Penner and Cirie Fields, who awoke in the middle of the night catching Amanda and Ozzy having a steamy moment. Jonathan offered Cirie a place in an alliance with Yau-Man Chan, Ami Cusack, and Eliza Orlins. Any strategies were put on hold, however, as the tribe of Favorites secured victory in the second Immunity Challenge.

After a failed attempt to swing Eliza to the alliance of couples, Amanda and Parvati took Cirie on a fishing trip, where the two proposed about going to the end as the final three, but only if she joined the couples alliance. They assured Cirie that they would be unable to beat Ozzy or James in the endgame, making the plan mutually beneficial. Cirie agreed, but they would have to help her eliminate her biggest threat, Yau-Man. After Malakal lost the third Immunity Challenge, Amanda's alliance followed Cirie's lead, sending Yau-Man home over their initial target Eliza.

Amanda would be safe for the next cycle, as Malakal won the fourth Immunity Challenge. Amanda's ally Ozzy revealed that he successfully obtained the Hidden Immunity Idol, bringing forth a higher degree of power to the alliance. However, the celebration was short-lived, as the alliance was split in half during a tribe switch, which sent Parvati and James to the rival Airai tribe, while Amanda and Ozzy stayed as Malakal members.

After losing the fifth Immunity Challenge, Cirie told Amanda that one of the newcomers, the massive Joel Anderson, was a bigger physical threat if gets deeper in the game. Convinced, Amanda, the remaining Favorites, and Chet Welch and Tracy Hughes-Wolf, who were outsiders from the original Airai tribe from the beginning, eliminated a visibly stunned Joel. By voting out their strongest member, Malakal suffered a lengthy losing streak, losing all subsequent Immunity Challenges. Amanda and the original Malakal members banded together and eliminated the Chet and Tracy for weakness and threat status respectively. The last fan in Malakal, Erik Reichenbach, revealed that Ami was secretly plotting with the Fans and against the Favorites. Though she tried to explain her side of the story, Ami's treachery was ultimately caught, and she was disposed. With Ami's elimination, Malakal was reduced to four.

When the tribes merged on Day 22, the couples alliance regrouped, but Parvati shocked Amanda that the former would include her in plot to disband the couples alliance and potentially dominate the game under a new alliance—the "Black Widow Brigade," consisting of Parvati, Amanda, and Cirie, and Fans Alexis Jones and Natalie Bolton, the two women from Airai whom Parvati swore Amanda's name with. Initially chagrining over Parvati's plotting using her name without consent, and a growing dislike of Alexis (who was becoming increasingly chummy with Ozzy), Amanda eventually went with the plan. At Dabu's first Tribal Council, Eliza fatalistically used an apparently fake Hidden Immunity Idol she received from fellow non-allied Jason Siska, she outright theorized that Ozzy must have planted it after he found the real one during his time on, in which Ozzy confessed he did have it. With no allies, Eliza, the only female that was outside of the brewing all-girl alliance, was voted out, becoming the first member of the jury. After the next Reward Challenge, Amanda would join Ozzy, Erik, and Jason to a trip to the island of Yap for a feast.

At the next Immunity Challenge, which required endurance, Jason and Parvati were the last two standing. But being an obvious odd man out, Jason tried to increase his odds by telling Parvati that he would step down and give her immunity, but she and everyone must promise not to vote him out. Eventually, everyone including Parvati halfheartedly agreed, winning herself immunity. Amanda and the other girls crossed their fingers, half-giggling while James and Ozzy were bewildered as well. Back at camp, Amanda, Ozzy, Erik, and James talked about reneging their promise; while unknown to them, Parvati and Cirie were starting to put the all-women alliance in motion by working through the former's deal with Jason, using the promise as a platform for Ozzy's elimination and to flush out the idol in the process. Knowing Amanda's loyalty to Ozzy, she was left out from the plot. Still oblivious with the plan, Amanda cast her vote for Jason, thinking that he would go home but was shocked when it was Ozzy who was sent home with the idol in his back pocket.

After the vote, Amanda and James consoled each other for being left out in the open. But unlike James, who quietly accepted the predicament, a furious Amanda went to Parvati and Cirie to ask them why she was not informed of the plan beforehand, but the two assured her that the all-girl alliance (and their secret final three deal) was still intact. During a Survivor Auction, Amanda won herself a serving of milk and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, while her ally, Natalie, strategically sent Jason to Exile Island after Jeff Probst revealed the existence of a second Hidden Immunity Idol. While Jason indeed found the idol, the girls at the Dabu camp started plotting against Jason by making Natalie tell Jason he was safe so he would opt not to use the idol. The plan worked with Jason confidently not using his idol, but found himself blindsided instead.

At the next Reward Challenge, Alexis won and chose to send Amanda to Exile Island after the latter had asked to be sent there. She found all the clues and the final clue told her that another Hidden Immunity Idol was buried back at camp, under the tribe flag. After James' medical evacuation on Day 31, Erik was the last man and alliance outsider standing. But to the girls' dismay, Erik won the next Immunity Challenge, forcing the women to turn on each other. Before Tribal Council, Amanda showed her bag, stating that she did not had the idol. Later, she begged Cirie to not vote for her, with Cirie stating that she would not take the risk of drawing rocks. Amanda approached Erik next, telling that Erik has yet to return the favor when he was kept over Ami, but was again fruitless. Amanda's last hope, Parvati, agreed to help, by keeping the others from going to the beach where Amanda was digging for the idol, under the premise that Amanda was having a bathroom break. At Tribal Council, the tribe agreed that Amanda was the biggest threat in terms of likability, with Parvati openly stating that she would vote with Amanda. Surprisingly, Amanda fooled everyone by pulling the Hidden Immunity Idol, effectively canceling all votes against her. Amanda excitingly said that she did not had the idol then since the idol was back at camp, so she did not lie, much to the delight of the jury members. With only two votes against her, Alexis was eliminated.

Amanda, Parvati, and Cirie reaffirmed their final three deal by agreeing to eliminate the remaining Fans, Erik and Natalie. They manipulated Erik (who won the Reward Challenge) by sending Parvati to Exile Island so neither of the fans would not have the chance to find the last Hidden Immunity Idol. Erik chose Amanda to join at the reward, to pay back his debt. Later, Erik won the next Immunity Challenge, forcing the women to eliminate one of their own again. As a solution, Cirie told Natalie to convince Erik to give up his necklace to her, and in return, she and Cirie would help him vote Amanda out. At Tribal Council, Amanda taunted Erik by fictitiously castigating him for his deception, which was followed by Natalie and Parvati, forcing him to give his Immunity Necklace to Natalie in hopes of redemption. The plan worked, and Erik was voted out. While she was a part of the Black Widow Brigade, Natalie, the last fan standing, soon followed.

Cirie, Parvati, and Amanda all celebrated, thinking that they were in the final three and even decided to release their last chicken Gloria as a form of celebration, but they were soon devastated that only two of them will be in contention to be the Sole Survivor, and another Immunity Challenge would commence. Amanda won the Final Immunity Challenge, and was tasked to make what she thought was the "most difficult decision of her life." At Tribal Council, a sobbing Amanda admitted that her decision was difficult, as there were good and bad reasons to keep either Parvati or Cirie. Ultimately, she sent jury threat Cirie to complete the jury, bringing Parvati with her to the final two.

At the Final Tribal Council, Amanda was castigated by the female jurors for being seemingly melodramatic during the previous Tribal Councils, while the men blasted Parvati for her numerous deceptions. While Ozzy was mostly furious of Parvati's betrayal, he admitted that he was most angry for the fact that he could have spent more time with Amanda, and expressed his love for her.

Three of the men voted for Amanda, but it was Parvati who took the title of Sole Survivor by securing all four of the females' jury votes and Jason's vote, thus landing Amanda the title of runner-up once again.

Voting History
In I'm Gonna Fix Her!, Amanda used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating 4 votes against her.

Heroes vs. Villains
Amanda was a member of a majority alliance on the Heroes tribe consisting of herself, Cirie Fields, James Clement, Rupert Boneham, and J.T. Thomas, putting Heroes Colby Donaldson, Tom Westman, Sugar Kiper, Candice Woodcock, and Stephenie LaGrossa on the outside (Although Colby, Tom, and Stephenie were in an alliance whereas Sugar and Candice were in the middle). However Colby, Tom, and Stephenie were spared after the Heroes lost the first Immunity Challenge when the tribe mutually agreed that the much weaker and more annoying Sugar should leave, and was unanimously voted out 9-1.

At their next Immunity Challenge loss, Stephenie was immediately blamed for the loss by James, who viewed her as a bit of an omen due to her losing streak in. The alliance of Tom, Colby, and Stephenie tried to pull Candice and Cirie into their voting bloc against Amanda. However, after a heated Tribal Council, the two women voted out Stephenie, further putting Colby and Tom on the outs.

The Heroes enjoyed an Immunity win in the third round, but after another loss, the alliance of Colby and Tom were once again targeted. Tom had found a Hidden Immunity Idol after the loss, so Amanda and the majority agreed to split their votes between Colby and Tom, so that if Tom played the Idol, Colby would go. Unknowingly, J.T. flipped and helped to take out Cirie.

Amanda's alliance maintained their majority, voting out Tom at the next Tribal Council. During the Heroes' Tribal Council at the Double Tribal Council, the tribe mutually voted out James due to a knee injury sustained at a previous challenge.

The Heroes would win the next three Immunity Challenges and make the merge. The Heroes targeted Jerri Manthey, but Amanda told Parvati Shallow that the Heroes were targeting her, although Parvati didn't believe it (Parvati had told Amanda about her Hidden Immunity Idol in exchange to know the Heroes target). Parvati shocked everyone by playing idols on both Jerri and Sandra Diaz-Twine, causing all of the Heroes' votes to be nullified and causing J.T. to be unanimously voted out.

Colby, Danielle DiLorenzo, and Amanda won a Reward Challenge the next round and got to watch Treasure Island in the former home of. Danielle found a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol in the popcorn bowl, but was caught by Amanda while trying to hide it. Amanda grabbed the clue out of her hand causing a fight between the two women over who should have the clue. Colby intervened and stated that Danielle should keep the clue since she found it, resulting in Amanda being annoyed with Colby for not sticking up for her. At Tribal Council, Amanda was voted out 6-3 when Candice flipped over to the Villains to help get rid of her after being persuaded by Russell Hantz.

At the Final Tribal Council, Amanda voted for Sandra Diaz-Twine who would end up winning a second time.

Voting History
In Tonight, We Make Our Move, Tom used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Amanda's vote against him. In Going Down in Flames, Parvati used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Jerri, negating Amanda's vote against her.

Post-Survivor

 * In 2009, Amanda and fellow Survivor contestant Parvati Shallow appeared in the movie  as themselves.
 * During an interview for, Ozzy Lusth confirmed that he and Amanda had ended their relationship.
 * On January 9, 2010, Amanda attended Survivor ' s 10-year anniversary party along with all of her cast mates.
 * Amanda appeared in a 2012 commercial with for .
 * Amanda was inducted into the Survivor Hall of Fame in 2012.
 * On August 1, 2015, Amanda Kimmel married her fiancé, Matt Cooper.
 * In 2016, Amanda gave birth to her son named Liam

Trivia

 * Amanda is the first contestant from the state of Montana.
 * Amanda and Todd Herzog voted for the same people on  and were part of the majority in each of their votes.
 * Amanda is the first finalist to receive a jury vote and finish in third place. She was followed by Missy Payne in and Ryan Ulrich in.
 * Amanda lost 25 lbs. during her time on China.
 * Amanda is one of eleven players to appear on two back-to-back seasons (the others are Rupert Boneham, Bobby Jon Drinkard, Stephenie LaGrossa, James Clement, Russell Hantz, Malcolm Freberg, Joe Anglim, Shirin Oskooi, Zeke Smith, and Michaela Bradshaw).
 * Amanda was the youngest castaway on the original Malakal tribe and the youngest female contestant on.
 * Amanda is the first woman to use a Hidden Immunity Idol and the second contestant overall to successfully play it in its modern format, following Yau-Man Chan on .
 * Together with Cirie Fields, Amanda is the first contestant to make the final four twice.
 * On both China and Micronesia, Amanda won the last two Immunity Challenges.
 * Amanda is the first of five castaways to make the Final Tribal Council twice. She was followed by Sandra Diaz-Twine, Parvati Shallow, Russell Hantz, and Rob Mariano.
 * Amanda is the first castaway to only receive uncounted votes over the course a season, negating the only votes against her with with a Hidden Immunity Idol in Micronesia. She was followed by Mike Holloway, Jeremy Collins on, Sarah Lacina on , and Ryan Ulrich.
 * Amanda has played all her three seasons with James Clement and has outlasted him on all of them.
 * In their profiles for , both Amanda and James have referred to each other as the previous Survivor castaway that they respected the most.
 * Amanda was the youngest castaway on Heroes vs. Villains.
 * Amanda is the first returning player to accumulate 100 days over their Survivor career. She was followed by Parvati Shallow, Rupert Boneham, Rob Mariano, Ozzy Lusth, Cirie Fields, and Andrea Boehlke.
 * Amanda is one of four Survivor contestants (the others being Sandra Diaz-Twine, Parvati Shallow, and Russell Hantz) to play at least 3 times and only be voted out once.
 * Amanda lasted 108 days overall as a castaway without being voted out, counting her first day in, until she was voted out on Day 30 of . This is a record for the most consecutive days of Survivor for any castaway.
 * Amanda lost 12 lbs. during her time on Heroes vs. Villains.
 * Russell Hantz referred to Amanda as "Boston Rob in a woman's body".