Ben Driebergen

Ben Driebergen
Contestant Profile
Born	January 1, 1983 (1983-01-01)
Hometown	Boise, Idaho
Occupation	Marine; Real Estate/Stay-at-home Dad
Survivor Career
Version	United States
Tribe(s)	Levu ► Yawa Solewa
Finish	Winner
Alliance(s)	The Round Table Final Four Alliance
Challenge Wins	10
Votes Against	11
Days Lasted	39
Tribe(s)	Sele ► Yara Koru
Finish:	5/20
Alliance(s)	Cops-R-Us (affiliated)
Challenge Wins	7
Votes Against	7
Days Lasted	37

Benjamin Russell "Ben" Driebergen is the Sole Survivor of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. He later competed on Survivor: Winners at War.

Starting off as a key member of the original Levu tribe, Ben found himself in the minority following a Tribe Switch. However, thanks to a string of challenge victories, Ben was able to make the merge where he found himself as the swing vote for the first Tribal Council, and took charge of the Solewa majority alliance. This time was short lived as Ben's short temper and controlling demeanor turned all of his allies against him. With the odds against him, Ben managed to survive and reach the Final Tribal Council by finding and playing three Hidden Immunity Idols in a row and beating Devon Pinto in an unprecedented final four fire-making challenge. His idol plays and status as an underdog, combined with the jury's general dismissal of Chrissy Hofbeck's and Ryan Ulrich's gameplay, rewarded Ben the title of Sole Survivor in a 5-2-1 vote.

Ben returned for Winners at War as a self-described "controversial" winner. Despite getting off to a rough start and earning the distrust of many of his tribemates, Ben's position improved as the days went by as other targets emerged. He became rivals with several of his castmates, including Adam Klein, Rob Mariano, and Jeremy Collins. At the final five, he became a target after Tony Vlachos won immunity. Accepting his fate, he gave his ally Sarah Lacina his blessing to vote him out, which led to his elimination in fifth place.

Profile

Retrieved from CBS.com

Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers Winners at War Age: 34 Hometown: Boise, Id. Current Residence: Boise, Id. Occupation: Marine Hobbies: Circle track car racing, building and shooting guns, and camping with my family. Pet peeves: Whining. Three words to describe you: Hilarious, strong-willed, and motivated. What's your personal claim to fame? Being a good dad and husband. Who or what is your inspiration in life? Michael Blake Wafford because he gave his life for our country. We were together in Iraq and we were a team. If you could have three things on the island, what would they be and why? My cowboy hat, my boots, and my running shoes. Which Survivor contestant are you most like? I'm a mix of Russell Hantz, Boston Rob, and Joe Anglim. I'm a little conniving and manipulative like Russell, have the determination and confidence of Boston Rob, and the athletic ability of Joe. What's your reason for being on Survivor? Winning a million dollars and being on an island and living with nothing. Why do you think you'll "survive" Survivor? Because I have survived and overcome so many situations and met so many different people with different personalities. My social game is on point and my leadership and survival skills have been tried, tested, and proven. Hometown: Boise, Idaho Current residence: Boise, Idaho Previous season: Winner of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers (Season 35) Occupation: Real estate/stay-at-home dad Hobbies: Racing cars, camping, getting my fingernails painted by my daughter, going on adventure hikes with my son, occasionally making my wife laugh in between all my crazy shenanigans! Pet peeves: Whining, lying, and turkey poop! Three words to describe you: Ben Russell Driebergen. When did you first watch Survivor? The very first episode! Do you still watch Survivor? As a great man once said at Tribal: "Is the Pope a Catholic?" - Ryan Ulrich. Who is your inspiration in life? My wife, my kids, my family, ribeyes, and Ryan Ulrich. What does Survivor mean to you and your family? Honestly, it's probably like a bunch of Survivor families Wednesday nights. We wake up Wednesday morning and first thing we say is Happy Survivor Wednesday! My son wears his buff to school. Sweet Kelly and I get to watch Survivor while the kiddos are popping in for challenges. It's a day that's built around excitement and anticipation. Our family loves it! What is one way playing Survivor changed your life? More family time. As Survivor approaches Season 40 and celebrates 20 years on television, what does it mean to be a part of the legacy? I'm humbled and grateful to be a part of a passion for everyone who has worked on Survivor and been a part of Survivor for the last 20 years. It's truly a team effort! I am just a little gear in an amazing machine that we all know and love as Survivor! How will you play differently than you did in your past season? More humbled and patient. That being said, when it's time to hit the gas pedal, if you ain't first, you're last!

Survivor

Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers

Ben was placed on Levu. Ashley Nolan and JP Hilsabeck immediately wanted to work with Ben due to his strength and perceived trustworthiness. Ben initially was close to Alan Ball , but that relationship worsened after Alan Ball went off on JP and Ashley. When Levu lost the very first Immunity Challenge, Ben joined the rest of the tribe in voting out Katrina Radke. Following her elimination, Ben became closer to Chrissy Hofbeck after the latter identified Ben as the best possible ally in this tribe. However, any further action with his fellow Levus was put on hold as a Tribe Switch occurred that put him on the Yawa with three Sokos (Mike Zahalsky, Cole Medders, and Jessica Johnston) and one Yawa Lauren Rimmer. Ben and Lauren became close as the only non Healers on the new Yawa tribe. Cole rubbed Ben the wrong way with his eating habits, and both Ben and Lauren tried to turn Mike against Cole. However, Yawa won the next three Immunity Challenges.

At the merge, Ben was a swing vote between Soko Alliance and the remaining Heroes and Hustlers, the latter two groups which banded together. Lauren initially wanted to work with the Healers, but Ben's relationship with Chrissy and his rivalry with Cole caused him to prefer the Heroes and Hustlers. This led to the pagonging of the original Sokos until the final 9. During that process, Lauren told Ben about her Extra Vote advantage, Ryan Ulrich told Ben about his Hidden Immunity Idol , and Joe Mena tried to use Ben's marine status against him. Ben started to gain a target on his back as the leader of the majority alliance, referred to as "King Arthur" which would dub his alliance The Round Table . On Day 25, Lauren won a reward and included Ben, Ashley, and Devon Pinto to discuss making a move against JP, Chrissy, or Ryan Ulrich. This plan was also fueled by Devon's lack of trust in Ryan after he told both Devon and Ben about his Hidden Immunity Idol. During the reward, Ben found a second merged idol (the first being in Ryan's possession). Back at camp, Devon nominated Ben to act as a spy by voting for Mike in order to gain information from the new minority after the vote. The plan worked as his alliance and Joe and Mike blindsided JP, and Ryan and Chrissy had no idea Ben was involved.

For the next few days, Ben pretended to be betrayed by Ashley, Lauren, and Devon, much to Joe's amusement. After Chrissy won the next Immunity Challenge, Ben suggested to his alliance that they take out Joe because he was no longer needed. However, Ben's status as a strong player began to worry his allies. Ashley and Lauren considered voting Ben out before Joe, but Devon was unsure. Ultimately, they blindsided Joe and flushed Ryan's idol, relegating Mike to the minority along with Ryan and Chrissy. Returning from Tribal Council, Chrissy found out that Ben was playing double agent and called him out on it which caused the two to argue. On Day 31 Ben met his wife Kelly at the loved ones. Chrissy won the Reward Challenge and took enjoyment in preventing Ben from spending time with his wife. Things continue to heat up on Day 33 as Lauren, Devon, and Ashley were caught by Ben planning to vote him out. Ben tried to target Lauren, who had found the re-hidden idol as well as her extra advantage. Panicking for numbers, Lauren gave Mike half of her idol as a sign of trust. At Tribal Council, Mike threw Lauren's idol in the fire which allowed Ben to successfully eliminate his target in Lauren, despite needing his own idol to negate everyone else's votes against him.

At that point, Ben became the undisputed target. All the other contestants made it explicitly clear, though Ben continued to try to find other avenues. Unable to convince the tribe or win immunity, Ben resorted to finding idols and then taking out his chosen targets. On Day 36, Ben found his second idol moments before going to Tribal Council and played it before the votes were cast, and Ashley was sent home. On Day 37, Ben played his third idol (which he found hours after the previous Tribal Council) normally and forced a tie between Devon (his target) and Mike (who received Devon's vote). Mike was voted out in the revote. With no more idols in the game, Ben thought he needed to win immunity to ensure he made it to the end. He came close on multiple occasions in what was a back and forth Final Immunity Challenge, but was unable to capitalize and Chrissy won the challenge. However, a twist changed the Tribal Council from a standard vote to a forced fire-making challenge. Chrissy saved Ryan and forced Devon and Ben to participate in the tiebreaker, in which Ben succeeded.

At the Final Tribal Council, Ben's argument to the jury was that he was constantly playing hard in all facets of the game, especially in finding Hidden Immunity Idols. He was applauded for finding idols, but panned (particularly by Joe) for his weak social game, which Ben explained was the most difficult part of the game for him due to his PTSD from his marine tenure. In spite of this, Ben's astounding idol finding run and his ability to beat the odds and make it to the end were preferred over Chrissy's dominance in Immunity Challenges and Ryan's subtle gameplay, and he was awarded the title of Sole Survivor in a 5-2-1 vote. 

Voting History

Ben's Voting History
Episode	Ben's Votes	Voted Against Ben
1	Katrina	-
2	Levu Tribe Immune
3	Levu Tribe Immune
4	Yawa Tribe Immune
5	Yawa Tribe Immune
6	Yawa Tribe Immune
7	Jessica	-
8	Desi; Desi1	Joe; -
9	Cole	Cole
10	Mike	-
	Joe	-
11	Lauren	Ashley, Chrissy, Devon Lauren, Mike, Ryan2
12	Ashley	-3
13	Devon; Devon4	Chrissy, Mike, Ryan; -4
Jury Votes for Ben	Cole, Desi, JP, Joe, Lauren
Sole Survivor, Day 39

^1 In "Playing with the Devil", the vote ended with a 4-4 tie between Desi and Joe, forcing a revote. Ben did not change his vote on the revote.
^2In "Not Going to Roll Over and Die", Ben used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating 6 votes against him.
^3In "The Survivor Devil", Ben used a Hidden Immunity Idol, but did not negate any votes against him.
^4In "Million Dollar Night", Ben used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating 3 votes against him. Also, the vote ended with a 1-1-0 tie between Devon and Mike, forcing a revote. Ben did not change his vote on the revote..

Winners at War

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Voting History

Ben's Voting History
Episode	Ben's Votes	Voted Against Ben
1	Natalie	-
	Sele Tribe Immune
2	Danni	-
3	Ethan	-
4	Sele Tribe Immune
5	Rob	-
6	Yara Tribe Immune
7	Yara Tribe Immune
8	Wendell	-
9	Adam	-
10	Tyson	-
11	Jeremy	-
12	Kim	-
13	Jeremy	Jeremy, Michele
	Nick	-
14	Natalie; Denise1	Michele, Natalie; -1
	Michele	Michele, Natalie, Sarah
Voted Out, Day 37
Voted for Sole Survivor	Tony

^1 In "It All Boils Down to This", Ben used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating 2 votes against him. Also, Natalie used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Ben's vote against her. Because Ben and Natalie both used Hidden Immunity Idols and negated all the votes cast at Tribal Council, a vote restart was held between the two non-immune players, Denise and Sarah. Ben voted for Denise on the restart.

Post-Survivor

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Trivia

Statistics of Ben Driebergen
Longevity
Seasons competed:	2
Days lasted:	76
Challenge Wins
Tribal wins:	14
Individual wins:	3
Total wins:	17
Tribal Council
Total votes received:	18
Exile Island
Times sent to Exile Island:	N/A
Redemption Island
Duels won:	N/A
Days spent on Redemption Island:	N/A

• Ben is the third castaway from Idaho, the first two being Sherri Biethman and Taylor Stocker.
• Ben is the oldest male member of the original Levu tribe.  
• Ben is the first person to negate every single vote but his own with a Hidden Immunity Idol. He would be followed by Denise Stapley on Winners at War.
  • Ben holds the record for the highest percentage of votes negated with the Hidden Immunity Idol at roughly 85.71%.
• Ben is the first castaway to play an idol at three consecutive Tribal Councils.
• Ben is the first person to play an idol before the votes were cast under the current rules.
• Ben has the shortest time between playing an idol and finding another one, finding his third idol the in the same night he played the second idol.
• Ben holds the record for the most votes cast against a Sole Survivor, receiving 11 votes in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.
  • Of all Sole Survivors, Ben played the most "imperfect" game, receiving 11 votes against him and losing 3 jury votes, totaling up to 14 votes lost.
• Ben is the first castaway to win a fire-making challenge as a result of the format change at the final four.
  • Ben is the second winner of a fire-making challenge to become the Sole Survivor of a season, following Bob Crowley. They would be followed by Wendell Holland, Chris Underwood, and Tony Vlachos.
• Ben is the first Sole Survivor to share a birthday with a previous Sole Survivor. Both he and Denise Stapley were born on January 1.
• Ben lost 10.6 lbs. during his time on Winners at War.

References

Preceded by Game Changers Sarah Lacina

Sole Survivor Titleholder Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers Ben Driebergen

Succeeded by Ghost Island Wendell Holland