Nate Gonzalez

Nathan "Nate" Gonzalez is a contestant from.

Profile
Nathan "Nate" Gonzalez was born in Staten Island, New York, to parents Manny and Jessy. He began playing the violin when he was eight years old. He graduated in 1998 from La Costa Canyon High School in San Diego and went on to attend Santa Barbara City College as a theater major. In 2001, he won the Lancaster Speech Tournament and he produced his first CD with his hip-hop group EZTHeI. He continues to play with numerous acoustic and rock bands while incorporating his hip-hop flavor.

Gonzalez is currently employed as a shoe salesman for a major department store and is a sales representative for a start-up urban clothing line based in New York. He previously worked as a waiter, club promoter and hip-hop artist. He hopes to pursue a career as a musician.

He enjoys playing basketball, and loves sushi and Chinese food.

Gonzalez currently resides in Playa del Rey, California. His birth date is July 26, 1980.

Survivor: Cook Islands
Nate started the game on the yellow Manihiki tribe. The tribe was made up of five African-Americans. Nate formed a strong bond with Sekou Bunch. The two took over the tribe, becoming unofficial leaders. Manihiki lost the first Immunity Challenge, sending them to Tribal Council. Sekou and Nate targeted Sundra Oakley because she was the weakest link. However, Sundra and Rebecca Borman targeted Sekou, for helping around the least at camp. Stephannie Favor became the swing vote between the two factions. At Tribal Council, Stephannie sided with the women, and Sekou was sent home.

Nate realised he was on the bottom of his tribe, so he decided to lay low and work hard at camp. Nate celebrated when Rebecca finally managed to make fire, meaning the tribe could boil water and cook food. Manihiki was trailing at the Immunity Challenge on Day 6 but managed to win when Aitutaki threw the challenge. During the tribe switch in Flirting and Frustration, Nate was chosen by J.P. Calderon to be on the Rarotonga tribe. Nate was joined by original Manihiki tribe mates Stephannie and Rebecca. Rarotonga won the first Immunity Challenge as new tribes.

In Ruling the Roost, Nate made an alliance with the men of his tribe, with his closest ally being J.P.. Rarotonga lost the Reward Challenge and, later, the Immunity Challenge. After the challenge, Stephanie told the tribe that she was the weakest link and would not be offended if she was voted off. Nate wwas set on voting off Stephannie. Rebecca, however, came up with a plan to blindside J.P., because he was becoming bossy. She rallied the whole tribe except Nate and J.P. to vote him off. At Tribal Council, Nate voted for Stephannie, but J.P. was blindsided by a 7-2 vote.

Nate was instrumental in winning the Reward Challenge in Don't Cry Over Spilled Octopus. Nate became annoyed at Cristina Coria because she was annoying the tribe by bossing them around. Nate was further annoyed when Aitutaki members Cao Boi Bui, Jessica Smith and Ozzy Lusth stumbled upon the Rarotonga camp. Things were made worse when they asked to take Rarotonga's spices which they had won at the Reward Challenge. Rarotonga lost the next Immunity Challenge, so the tribe collectively decided to vote out Cristina. Things changed when Stephannie and Nate went to collect water from the well. Along the way, Stephannie told Nate that she "wanted some mashed potatoes and gravy". This made Nate think Stephannie wanted to quit, so he swung the vote against Stephannie. At Tribal Council, she was voted off by a 7-1 vote.

In Plan Voodoo, Jeff Probst revealed to the tribes that both tribes would be visiting Tribal Council. Rarotonga lost the challenge for a feast while watching the other tribe's Tribal Council. Nate was set on voting for Cristina, despite Cristina begging him to give her another chance. At Tribal Council, Nate was visibly distraught by having to watch Aitutaki eat lamb shanks in front of him. Before the vote, Aitutaki was given the power to kidnap a member of Rarotonga. Aitutaki kidnapped Nate, which lead him to getting a plate of lamb shanks. Nate skipped the Tribal Council where Cristina was voted out.

While at Aitutaki, Nate stirred up trouble. He returned to Rarotonga after the next Reward Challenge, which Rarotonga lost. They managed to win the next Immunity Challenge. During Mutiny, Jeff gave the contestants the chance to Mutiny. Nate refused the offer to switch tribes. Rarotonga was joined by Aitutaki members Candice Woodcock and Jonathan Penner. Nate felt that the tribe should eliminate the newcomers saying that, if they could flip on their tribe once, they could do it again. Jonathan and Candice, however, formed a secret alliance with Adam Gentry and Parvati Shallow, because they were the original Rarotonga members. After losing the Immunity Challenge, The Raro Alliance wanted to vote out Brad Virata, saying that Jonathan and Candice couldn't flip back to Aitutaki come the merge because they wouldn't accept them, while Brad could. At Tribal Council, Nate voted for Brad, eliminating him.

In People That You Like Want to See You Suffer, Rarotonga lost both the Reward and Immunity Challenge. Jenny Guzon-Bae wanted to vote out Rebecca Borman because she was a liability in challenges. Nate was on-board with the plan, as was the rest of Rarotonga. At Tribal Council Rebecca was voted out. Parvati was then asked to open the bottle received after losing the Immunity Challenge. The note revealed that the tribe must vote off another member straight away. Nate thought the tribe would eliminate Jonathan; he was surprised when Jenny was blindsided.

The tribes merged on Day 25, with the Rarotonga tribe at a 5-4 numbers advantage. Nate was the third to drop out of the Immunity Challenge, which was eventually won by Ozzy Lusth. Nate and Ozzy quickly became good friends, both being hard workers and having similar personalities. At camp the ex-Rarotonga members targeted Yul Kwon for being the biggest strategic threat. The ex-Aitutaki members tried to convince Jonathan to flip back to their side, which he strongly considered. At Tribal Council, Jonathan sided with Aitutaki and Nate was blindsided, becoming the fourth member of the Jury. As a Juror, Nate cast his vote for Ozzy to win, because of their friendship.

Post-Survivor

 * On January 9, 2010, Nate attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party.

Trivia

 * Nate was the youngest member of the Manihiki tribe.
 * Nate only voted with the majority in unanimous votes.
 * Nate holds the record for becoming the highest ranking member of a certain gender of a tribe in the quickest time, doing so in three days. This was due to being one of two men on his tribe and the other one being voted out.
 * Nate is one of 3 members of Aitutonga, along with Parvati Shallow and Adam Gentry, to have never been a member of Aitutaki.
 * Nate is the half-brother of . Masekela was the presenter for , an entertainment program that formerly aired on the cable channel E!
 * Due to the early jury forming, Nate is the first player to finish 9th and not be the 1st member of the Jury. Instead, he was the 4th.
 * Despite also being of Hispanic background, Nate was placed on the all African-American Manihiki tribe.