Survivor Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Survivor Wiki

Robert "Bob" Crowley is the Sole Survivor of Survivor: Gabon.

The oldest winner at age 57, Bob is known for outlasting the rest of his alliance and for creating two convincingly realistic fake Hidden Immunity Idols. This, his numerous challenge wins, subtle gameplay, and fatherly relationship with Sugar Kiper helped take him to the end, and ultimately he became the Sole Survivor in a 4-3-0 vote.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Robert "Bob" Crowley (57)
Hometown: Portland, Maine
Occupation: Physics Teacher

Robert Crowley considers himself a hybrid of Indiana Jones and Robinson Crusoe. He loves the outdoors and is always ready for his next adventure.

Robert is a high school physics teacher in Gorham, Maine and holds both Associate and Bachelor degrees in forestry from the University of Maine - Orono and a Masters of Education degree from the University of Southern Maine. However, after the school bell rings, Robert becomes an entrepreneur. His wide range of jobs span from being a first mate on a research boat for the Smithsonian Institution in Canada to an entomologist for the USDA, to a skunk relocater, as well as President, Vice President and Chief Negotiator for his local Teacher's Union.

When not on an adventure, Robert interests include journal writing, story telling, photography, bone collecting, archeology and camping.

This tree climbing scientist, who describes himself as honest, adventurous, resourceful and witty, built his truly "green" summer cabin back when green was only referred to as the color. His "green" cabin was completely built with recycled material and requires a fraction of the energy of the average U.S. home. He's built numerous structures from recycled material including wharfs, saunas, a chicken house and a hunting cabin.

Robert's strategy is to be a provider and to fly under the radar on Survivor. He's out to prove that nice guys can make it to the end of the game.

Robert and his wife Peggy reside in Portland, Maine. They have two sons, David and John, one daughter, Page, and a high maintenance cat named William. Robert's birth date is February 25, 1951.[1]

Survivor[]

As the oldest man of the season, Bob was in-charge of starting the Schoolyard Pick to form the Kota tribe. Bob started the game in an alliance with tribemates Jacquie Berg, Marcus Lehman, Charlie Herschel, and Corinne Kaplan. The Kota tribe proved to be strong in challenges, winning the first three challenges. However, when Kota lost their first Immunity Challenge and were forced to face Tribal Council, Bob joined his alliance in voting out Paloma Soto-Castillo.

In the following episode, there was a Tribe Switch which ended up taking Jacquie to the opposing Fang tribe. When Jacquie was voted off, Randy Bailey was welcomed into Bob's alliance. The Kota tribe would still stand strong, and the tribe won the next two Immunity Challenges. Bob also helped vote out Dan Kay over the weaker Susie Smith in fear that Dan had the Hidden Immunity Idol. This ended up being the vital mistake to Bob's alliance as Susie would end up switching sides.

On Day 21, both tribes assumed that a merge would be coming up but instead, they were welcomed with another tribal swap. Bob and Marcus remained on Kota while Charlie, Randy, and Corinne moved to Fang. When Fang won the Immunity Challenge, Bob had to face Tribal Council where tribemates Ken Hoang, Crystal Cox, and Susie voted out Marcus.

After Marcus was voted out, both tribes merged into the new Nobag tribe. As the Fang Alliance took control, Charlie was voted out at the next Tribal Council, and it quickly appeared that Bob's alliance would crumble. Bob was targeted next, but when he got sent to Exile Island, he created a fake Hidden Immunity Idol. He used to fake idol to secure his spot in the game and Randy, his own alliance member, was blindsided. After Randy's elimination, Bob created another Hidden Immunity Idol in an attempt to save himself and last alliance member, Corinne. Although it was futile and Corinne was eliminated, it caused Ken to betray his own alliance and vote against Matty Whitmore.

Bob's winning streak continued by winning his fifth challenge in a row. This was something his other tribemates did not expect. Later, Ken tried to propose a deal with Bob and said that if he had won immunity he would give it up to Ken since he had tricked him at the last Tribal Council. However, Sugar Kiper informed Bob that it was just a trick to blindside him and Bob went against the idea. In the following Tribal Councils, Crystal and Ken were both voted out respectively.

In the Final Immunity Challenge, Bob lost to Susie in a card building challenge. Bob seemed doomed again, but he was able to convince Sugar to go on his side and vote against Matty. Knowing that a tiebreaker challenge might occur, Bob also started practicing how to build a fire. At Tribal Council, a tie did occur, and as Bob had expected, a challenge would take place. Matty and Bob were forced to compete in a fire building challenge and once again, Bob won.

At the Final Tribal Council, Bob was confronted by Ken for not giving up his immunity, which Bob retaliated by saying that he kept immunity because Sugar told him about Ken's plan to blindside him. Crowley was also confronted by Randy for using the fake Hidden Immunity Idol against him. Corinne asked Bob to show a nasty side of him and make her believe why Bob did not like Sugar and he tried showing a nasty side by disliking Sugar, but when he started saying something positive about Sugar, Corinne interrupted and told him she did not want to hear compliments from Bob. In the end, the jury voted down alliance lines, and Bob received the votes of his Onion Alliance Members, Charlie, Corinne, Marcus, and Randy; by a vote of 4-3-0, he beat Susie and Sugar to become the 17th Sole Survivor, and the oldest winner to date. In addition, at the Reunion Show, Bob also won the "Sprint Player of the Season" award, winning the fan vote over Sugar and Matty.

Episode Tribe
Affiliation
Challenge Challenge Type Sit-Out? Result
1 Kota One for All Immunity1 Lost
Reward No Won
Temptation Valley Reward/Immunity No Won
Lemme Go Rock 'N' Roll Reward/Immunity No Won
2 Kicking and Screaming Reward No Lost
Lake Launch Immunity No Lost
3 Big Oar Deal Immunity No Won
4 Fruit Flies Reward No Won
Cliff Bowling Immunity No Won
5 Snake in the Grass Reward No Won
Jungle Relay Immunity No Won
6 Elephant Eggs Reward No Won
Log Jam Immunity1 Lost
7 Keep It Up Immunity No Lost
8 Super Golf Reward No Lost
Tribes Merged, Day 27
8 Nobag Fired Up Immunity Lost
9 Survivor Auction
Domino Effect Immunity Lost
10 Now or Never Reward Won
Bombs Away Immunity Won
12 Swamp Monkeys Reward Won
Mask Match Immunity Won
13 A-Mazing Gabon Immunity Won
House of Cards Immunity Lost
Sole Survivor, Day 39
Notes:
^1 This challenge was played for individual immunity at each tribe's next Tribal Council.

Episode Bob's
Votes
Voted Against
Bob
1 Kota Tribe Immune
Kota Tribe Immune
2 Paloma -
3 Kota Tribe Immune
4 Kota Tribe Immune
5 Kota Tribe Immune
6 Dan -
7 Ken -
8 Crystal -
9 Susie -
11 Matty Individual Immunity
12 Crystal Individual Immunity
13 Ken Individual Immunity
Matty Matty, Susie1
Jury Votes
for Bob
Charlie, Corinne,
Marcus, Randy
Sole Survivor, Day 39

^1 In "Say Goodbye to Gabon", the vote ended with a 2-2 tie between Bob and Matty, forcing a fire-making tiebreaker. Bob won the tiebreaker and remained in the game.

Post-Survivor[]

  • In 2009, Crowley published his autobiography, Making Waves: The Stories of Maine's Bob Crowley. The producers of Survivor, however, forbade Crowley from mentioning the show in his book.
  • In Summer of 2009, Bob, along with the other first eighteen Survivor winners, appeared on a TVGuide special "Survivor Millionaires: Where Are They Now?"[2]
  • On January 9, 2010, Bob attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party along with all of his Gabon cast mates.[3]
  • Bob opened a winter camp in Durham, Maine,[4] where, every year, is performed the Durham Warriors Survival Challenge, a one weekend Survivor-based charity fundraiser event.[5]

Trivia[]

  • Survivor: Vanuatu contestant Julie Berry attended Bob's high school in Gorham, Maine and took his class as a student.[6]
  • On Rob Has a Podcast, Bob revealed that he was actually an alternate for Gabon, and replaced eventual Nicaragua castaway Jimmy Johnson when the latter failed his medical exam.
  • Bob is the oldest member of the original Kota tribe and the oldest man to compete on Gabon.
  • Bob introduced the bowtie as a way of wearing a buff. So far, he is the only one to sport this style.
  • Bob and Matty Whitmore are the only castaways on Gabon who made it to the merge without switching tribes.
  • When Randy played Bob's fake Hidden Immunity Idol, Jeff Probst threw it into the fire (as is usual practice), much to the dislike of the viewers. However, once the Tribal Council was over, Jeff pulled it out so he could give it back to Bob at the Reunion Show.
  • Bob is the second of three Sole Survivors to be involved in a tie vote at some point in the game. The first was Richard Hatch and the third was Natalie White.
  • Bob is the first contestant to win the fire-making challenge at the final four and later win the season.
  • Bob is the first contestant in their fifties to win the title of Sole Survivor. He would be followed by Mike Gabler in Survivor 43.
  • Bob is currently the oldest Survivor winner. Bob was 57 years, 5 months, and 7 days old at the Final Tribal Council of Gabon and 57 years, 9 months and 20 days old when he was declared the Sole Survivor.
  • Bob is the only winner to be born in the 1950s.
  • Bob is the first Sole Survivor to also win the Fan Favorite Award. He would be followed by J.T. Thomas, Rob Mariano, and Kim Spradlin.
    • Bob is the only one of the group who didn't return for another season.

References[]

Preceded by
Micronesia
S16 parvati t
Parvati Shallow
Sole Survivor Titleholder
Gabon
S17 bob t
Bob Crowley
Succeeded by
Tocantins
S18 jt t
J.T. Thomas
Survivor: Gabon Castaways
 Ace
Kota
S17 ace t
 Bob
Kota
S17 bob t
 Charlie
Kota
S17 charlie t
 Corinne
Kota
S17 corinne t
 Crystal
Fang
S17 crystal t
 Dan
Fang
S17 dan t
 GC
Fang
S17 gc t
 Gillian
Fang
S17 gillian t
 Jacquie
Kota
S17 jacquie t
 Kelly
Kota
S17 kelly t
 Ken
Fang
S17 ken t
 Marcus
Kota
S17 marcus t
 Matty
Fang
S17 matty t
 Michelle
Fang
S17 michelle t
 Paloma
Kota
S17 paloma t
 Randy
Fang
S17 randy t
 Sugar
Kota
S17 sugar t
 Susie
Fang
S17 susie t
Advertisement