J.T. Thomas

'''James "J.T." Thomas, Jr.''' is the Sole Survivor of and later appeared in.

He is known for his southern charm and physical ability in challenges, particularly a key moment involving his breaking a tooth. He was well liked in his first season, proven by being the first of two castaways (the second being John Cochran) to play a "Perfect Game", not having a vote against him and getting all of the Jury votes during Tocantins. However, he succumbed to a fatal mistake during his return in Heroes vs. Villains, when he passed his Hidden Immunity Idol to a notorious Villain, being cited as the "Dumbest Move Ever."

Tocantins
A cattle manager raised in Samson, Alabama, J.T. operates a registered Angus Cattle Ranch. In addition to preparing the land and working the cattle, this southern charmer is responsible for all the paperwork and marketing associated with running the business.

This ambitious 24-year-old gets fired up when people insult his intelligence and says "I'm not a dumb hillbilly, so don’t think it!" However, this may be just the strategy that JT chooses to use and isn’t above playing the “dumb and innocent country boy role” in an effort to gain alliances with the women. JT attended Troy University and is the first in his family to earn a Bachelors Degree. His is in business administration.

A true family man, JT values his relationships and will work towards forming alliances that will take him very far in the game. This strong country boy is competitive and determined and will use manipulation in order to help him succeed and ultimately win SURVIVOR.

JT is dating and currently resides in Mobile, Ala. His birthdate is June 23.

Heroes vs. Villains
James “JT” Thomas Jr. (25)

Tribe: Heroes

Hometown: Samson, Ala.

Current Residence: Mobile, Ala.

Personal Claim To Fame: “Being the first in my family to go to college and earn a degree.”

Inspiration in Life: “My family.”

Previous Finishes: Tocantins: Winner

Favorite Past Moment: “Winning the final immunity challenge.”

Previous Survivor He Respects Most: “Myself- I am my own hero, because of what I accomplished and how it brought my family together.”

Previous Survivor He Respects Least: Jonny Fairplay

Why Did He Come Back?: “It’s the ultimate challenge, I couldn’t pass it up.”

Survivor: Tocantins
Assigned to the red Jalapao tribe, J.T. was popular and well-liked by all his tribe mates and his physical prowess in challenges made him very valuable to fellow tribe member Stephen Fishbach and as of Day 2 created a rock-solid alliance and with the help of Taj Johnson-George became the power-players, eliminating Sandy Burgin, Spencer Duhm, and Sydney Wheeler back to back in Jalapao's three straight Tribal Councils.

Despite his persona and the various ways he benefited the tribe, J.T. was on the losing end when it came to tribal numbers. When Jalapao merged with Timbira, Jalapao was down in numbers 4-6. It was Coach who approached him and Stephen to create a new alliance, known as the Warrior Alliance. Due to the medical evacuation of Joe Dowdle and Timbira slowly self-destructing, J.T. was able to play up his social game and play hard when it came to Individual Challenges, earning the respect of those voted out.

In the final few rounds of the game, J.T. began winning consecutive Individual Immunity Challenges sending strategies into a tailspin after he became a target. Despite all this, the original alliance he created with Stephen was honored when J.T. took him to the Final Two over Erinn Lobdell. In the end, he became the eighteenth Sole Survivor by a vote of 7-0, the series' second landslide unanimous vote.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
J.T. was assigned to the Heroes tribe, known for their honor and integrity. It was here that the farmer employed a far different strategy than his original season, creating conflicting deals with James Clement and Tom Westman. In the opening days of the competition, he was relatively comfortable within the tribe and nobody had begun to notice his intentions. Most of the tribe began to see him as their leader and tried to remain on his good side.

Just as it seemed that their rivals had the upper hand, after losing two consecutive Immunity Challenges, where Sugar Kiper and Stephenie LaGrossa were voted off the Heroes bounced back and won immunity. However, their luck ran out when they lost the next three Immunity Challenges, where Cirie Fields, Tom Westman and James Clement were voted off. The now five-some were a force to be reckoned with and decided together that, after finding the Hidden Immunity Idol clue after winning a Reward Challenge, they would find the Idol together and use it to enable them to become the Final Five. J.T. upon returning to camp went looking for it alone and was caught by Amanda Kimmel, forcing him to reveal his find to the rest of the tribe. Some time later on, the Heroes began noticing that the men from the Villains were being systematically voted out, alluding to an all-female alliance. J.T. led his Heroes to the belief that if they were to give the Idol to Russell and use it, they'll merge with a Villain on their side and still keep their Final Five deal.

J.T. wrote a note, wrapped it with the Hidden Immunity Idol and during the Immunity Challenge he handed it to Russell. When the tribes eventually merged, Russell stayed with the Villains and J.T. was blindsided after two Idols were played at the first merge Tribal Council.

At Final Tribal Council, J.T. gave his jury vote to Sandra who would win in a 6-3-0 vote.

Voting History
In Going Down in Flames, Parvati used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Jerri, negating J.T.'s vote against her.

Post-Survivor

 * In Summer of 2009, J.T., along with the other first eighteen Survivor winners, appeared on a TVGuide special 'Survivor Winners: Where Are They Now?'
 * At the Reunion Show, J.T. won the award for the Dumbest Move in Survivor History for giving up his Hidden Immunity Idol to Russell Hantz, the leader of the Villains tribe who was not in any danger like J.T. thought he was.
 * When asked about his winnings in a 2011 interview, J.T. replied: "I bought my sisters some new cars and some of my sisters' kids; I decided to help them out with their school tuition costs. I also gave my mother and father some money to help them out, and the majority of it, I invested. I wanted to help my family out and because I have a lot of nephews and nieces, I promised my family I'd pay for my nephews and nieces to go to college one day. I'm just trying to invest in their future and give back to my family."
 * On January 9, 2010, J.T. attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party along with all of his Heroes vs. Villains cast mates.
 * J.T. got married to his longtime girlfriend, Cameron, in April 12, 2015, with the ceremony being performed by Stephen Fishbach.

Trivia

 * J.T. became the second winner to receive all Jury votes in a season, following 's Earl Cole, he is also the first contestant to have played a "perfect game", having had no votes cast against him during Tribal Council and receiving every jury vote.
 * J.T. has been part of every individual reward in Tocantins. He had won three of four post-merger Reward Challenges, and he was picked by Stephen to join him on his reward.
 * Among all winners from seasons with Exile Island as a twist, J.T. is the only winner to never be exiled.
 * Prior to the merge, J.T. is the only Hero to vote with the majority at all 5 tribal councils the Tribe attended.
 * J.T. is the first winner to be a Jury member in a subsequent attempt.