Courtney Yates

Courtney Yates is a contestant from. She later returned for.

She is primarily known for her much smaller frame compared to the other female competitors, but her quick wit compensates easily for it.

China
Courtney Yates grew up in Boston, the only sister with three brothers, two older, one younger, all much bigger. She attended Suffolk University, studying at both the main Boston/Beacon Hill campus and the University's West African campus, located in Dakar, Senegal. She paid her way through college working nights as a passenger service agent for a major airline at Boston's Logan International Airport, spent time as a receptionist at a high-end hair salon, and has even worked as a "historical interpreter" (a tour guide in costume) at historic homes in Salem, Massachusetts. She graduated in May 2003, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Yates is currently a waitress in a popular restaurant in New York City's Union Square, where she enjoys the fast pace and the freedom her job affords her.

Yates' main hobbies include reading and learning new things. She loves history and enjoys keeping ongoing lists of things to look up whenever she comes across something new or interesting. Yates has a large and varied collection of friends with whom she loves going out, eating, drinking and, of course, gossiping, a long-practiced skill she hopes will serve her well on SURVIVOR: CHINA. Originally from Boston, her sport of choice is baseball, and despite now living just a few stops from Yankee Stadium, she remains a loyal member of Red Sox Nation.

Yates is best described as honest (sometimes interpreted as cruel), sarcastic (often interpreted as bitchy) and physically small. She is aware that people find her slight frame curious, and at times controversial, but she warns people against judging her on looks alone. She proclaims that her body weight (or lack thereof) is purely genetic, as both her parents are tall and thin as well. She claims to be tough as nails, both mentally and physically, and is ready for the challenge of SURVIVOR.

Yates currently resides in New York City with her rescued, semi-reformed alley cat, Catullus (named for the poet)

Heroes vs Villains
Tribe: Villains

Hometown: Boston, Mass.

Current Residence: New York, N.Y.

Personal Claim To Fame: “Punctuality.”

Inspiration in Life: “The laughter of children.”

Previous Finishes: China: Runner-up

Favorite Past Moment: “Seeing my Dad bust out from behind the bushes at the family reward.”

Previous Survivor She Respects Most: Yau-Man Chan (Fiji, Micronesia)

Previous Survivor She Respects Least: “All the strong people, because they are so smug.”

Why Did She Come Back?: “Couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”

Survivor: China
Courtney was placed on the Fei Long tribe at the start of the season. Throughout the season, Courtney would often make sassy, yet humorous comments about her fellow competitors. At camp, Courtney formed a deep conflict with fellow tribe member Jean-Robert. She also became a member of the alliance led by Todd, consisting of Amanda, Denise, and "Frosti". She enjoyed safety throughout the pre-merge stage of the game, only having to visit two tribal councils, in which she went against the alliance and voted for her enemy, Jean-Robert.

After the tribes merged in episode 7 she finally voted with her alliance and eliminated ex-Zhan Hu member Jaime Huffman. In episode 8 she won immunity and her wish was granted as Jean-Robert was blindsided by his alliance. In the following episode, she grew close with Frosti. However, this would eventually cause his elimination, as Courtney's alliance feared that she would later betray them, and side with him later on in the game.

She assisted the alliance in eliminating James, Erik, Peih-Gee and Denise in subsequent episodes, making it to the Final Tribal Council with fellow alliance members Todd Herzog and Amanda Kimmel. At the Finale, Courtney was shown as the most honest of the three, but was criticized by some of the members of the jury (particularly Jean-Robert) for being too dependent on Todd and Amanda. In the end, Courtney placed second receiving votes from James and Denise.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Courtney returned as a member of the Villains tribe this season. She didn't do much for the first few episodes but was recruited into Rob's alliance. At camp, she became close friends with fellow contestant Sandra, as they would often sit out of challenges together. When the Villains tribe was divided into two alliances, Courtney sided with Rob's group, (Rob, Sandra, Courtney, and Tyson; to a lesser extent the swing votes Jerri and Coach) as opposed to Russell's group, (Russel, Parvati, and Danielle). Despite having a advantage in numbers, when Tyson voted for Parvati in conflict with the alliance's split vote strategy, he was eliminated due to Russell's idol. Rob soon followed due to Jerri and Coach's failure to vote with the group. However, Courtney and Sandra managed to trick Russel into eliminating Coach, in retaliation for not voting with them at the last Tribal Council, and for causing the elimination of Rob. While on their losing streak in challenges (having lost 5 out of 6 challenges since Day 15), Courtney was unable to shake her miserable reputation when it came to challenges, which made her a target. Knowing either her, or her friend Sandra, would be eliminated if the Villains lost, Courtney attempted to get Parvati to spare her, saying that she could help get Amanda to flip to the Villains, but was unsuccessful. Courtney refused to turn on her friend and decided to randomly vote against Jerri. At Tribal council that night, Courtney was unanimously voted out by her entire tribe, becoming the second jury member. At the finale, Courtney voted for her best friend, Sandra, to win, and Sandra successfully did by a 6-3-0.

Post-Survivor
Courtney dated Tocantins contestant Stephen Fishbach and is close with former tribemate Todd Herzog.

Trivia

 * Courtney is the only Villain to vote for Sandra Diaz-Twine to win Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.
 * After arriving at Ponderosa after her elimination in Heroes vs. Villains, she formed a musical band with Coach and J.T.. They called themselves "The Dragonz."
 * Both tribes Courtney started on had the same color, red. Also, on both her seasons, the merged tribe's color was black.
 * Courtney is the lightest castaway to play the game of Survivor. Her starting weight at the beginning of China was 93 lbs.
 * Courtney was the first female on the Villains tribe to be eliminated and the only female to not make the merge.
 * Courtney is the first person to receive a vote from Russell Hantz and not be voted out at the same tribal council in Expectations. Ralph Kiser was second.
 * Jeff Probst stated that Courtney was offered a spot in Survivor: Micronesia but declined.
 * Courtney is currently the only representative from China to play the game 2 times.
 * Amanda and James played 3 times each.
 * She is also the only China representative to not appear on Micronesia even though she was offered a spot.
 * While a member of the merged tribe on China, Courtney voted for the person who went home, in contrast to pre-merge where she voted for someone who didn't go home.
 * Out of two female castaways with the first name, Courtney Yates placed the highest by making it to the Final Two of Survivor China replacing Courtney Marit who finished 6th in Survivor: Exile Island. Kourtney Moon is not included due to her name being spelt with a 'K'.