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Daniel "Dan" Spilo is a contestant from Survivor: Island of the Idols.

Dan worked himself into the majority on the Vokai tribe, becoming a pivotal member of the ruling Vokai Alliance, which allowed him to make it all the way to the final six. However, Dan's game was also marred by several accusations of inappropriate touching, most notably by Kellee Kim, for which he was given a warning by producers. After another incident involving inappropriate touching, this time with a member of production, producers made the call to eject Dan from the game, making him the first Survivor contestant to be ejected.[2]

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Age: 48
Hometown: New York City
Current residence: Los Angeles
Occupation: Talent Manager
Hobbies: Adventure travel, movies, and fitness.
Pet peeves: Trouble dealing with stubborn people but I respect EQ as much as IQ, ignorance, and close-mindedness.
Three words to describe you: Hardworking, articulate, and charming.
What accomplishment are you most proud of? Raising two loving, considerate boys, and working hard to keep a marriage fun, loving, and passionate for 20 years.
Who or what is your inspiration in life? I don't have a hero, per se—Jane Goodall and people like her who have a selfless devotion to something in the way she did. The way she illuminated the life of chimpanzees, and never let anything get in her way, is heroic to me.
What's one thing we wouldn't know from seeing a photo of you? That I am a big softy. As my first client always reminds me, I cried at Finding Nemo.
Which Survivor contestant are you most like? Crowley and Kwon because of background, Westman and Boston Rob for social gameplay, and Cochran because he's freaking cool and weird.
Why do you think you'll "survive" Survivor? I think I have the basic, if not superior, physicality to be useful to the Tribe. More importantly, I have an incredible ability to know what people need and to make them feel good, and to make myself critical in their success.[3]

Survivor[]

Starting the game on the Vokai tribe, Dan was quick to form a majority alliance in order to assure that he would not be the first to go. The Vokai Alliance soon extended to every member of the tribe except for Jason Linden and Noura Salman due to the former's supposed Hidden Immunity Idol searching and a personality clash with the latter. On Day 2, Dan was called out for his excessive physical contact by both Kellee Kim and Molly Byman. Dan appeared apologetic, but did not change his ways. From a strategic perspective, Dan also gained a reputation as a schemer, which made Jamal Shipman distrust him. The transparency of Dan's all-around negative behavior made him overlooked in the pre-merge as bigger threats Molly and Jason were blindsided at his only Tribal Council visits.

After the tribes merged into the Lumuwaku tribe on Day 20, conversations involving Kellee and Missy Byrd showed that Dan's touchy behavior had made Kellee, Molly, Elizabeth Beisel, and Lauren Beck all uncomfortable over the course of the game, with Janet Carbin also aware of the situation to some degree. Though Kellee hoped that Janet's presence would keep Dan under control, his behavior persisted and Kellee grew increasingly frustrated. Production gave the entire tribe a general warning and Dan a personal warning in response. Dan then became the target because of his inappropriate behavior, but Elizabeth and Missy worked hard to keep the post-switch Vokai contingent (consisting of themselves, Dan, Lauren, Aaron Meredith, Elaine Stott, and Tommy Sheehan) strong since they believed that Kellee was deceiving them. Dan had the numbers in his favor and survived an 8-5 vote which sent Kellee to the jury. Following Tribal Council, Janet told Dan why he was targeted and he reacted defensively, in confusion, and apologetically. Still, this situation escalated when Janet learned that Elizabeth and Missy had exaggerated the offense they had taken towards Dan. At the following Tribal Council on Day 24, the conversation was largely surrounding Dan which started to annoy him. Host Jeff Probst put his foot down, explaining that he would not let this topic go, leading to Dan arguing against any allegations towards him, claiming to be a loving person. Despite this, Dan was not targeted that night, and Jamal was instead sent to the jury.

For the rest of the game, Dan enjoyed the protection of the original Vokai Alliance, while continuing to be a pivotal player in taking out Aaron and the Lairo Women's Alliance. On Day 30, Dan cast a throwaway vote for Elizabeth while the rest of his alliance voted against Karishma Patel, preventing his ally Janet (the two having reconciled their earlier differences) from being eliminated after Karishma played a Hidden Immunity Idol, allowing his alliance to eliminate Elizabeth in the following revote. The following day, Dan got to go on reward with his son Ryan during the family visit, along with Janet, Lauren, Tommy, and their respective loved ones, where he affirmed his loyalty to that group. The Vokai Alliance continued to pick off original Lairo members Karishma and Elaine over the next few days, before Dan was ejected from the game on Day 36 following another incident of misconduct not involving a contestant, meaning he would not serve as a member of the jury. This event was the first official ejection in Survivor history.

Episode Tribe
Affiliation
Challenge Challenge Type Sit-Out? Result
1 Vokai Tower of Equality Reward/Immunity No Won
2 Rung O Star Reward/Immunity No Lost
3 Beam Me Up Reward/Immunity No Won
4 Ow Pairs Reward/Immunity No Won
5 Headlong Flight Reward No Won
Discography Immunity No Won
6 Heroes End Reward No Won
Cage Against the Machine Immunity No Lost
7 Box Car Blues Reward1 No Won
Faulty Towers Immunity No Won
Tribes Merged, Day 20
8 Lumuwaku Pegs Over Easy Immunity Lost
Raise the Roof Reward2 Won
I Hold On Immunity Lost
9 We Will Go Round Reward/Immunity Lost
10 Crocodile Rock Immunity Yes3 Lost
11 Full Tilt Affair Reward Invited
Ballin' A Jack Immunity Lost
12 Unaired Reward4 Lost
Dizzy Miss Lizzy Immunity Lost
Ejected, Day 36
Notes:
^1 An unaired Reward Challenge was held on Day 17.
^2 An unaired Reward Challenge was held on Day 23.
^3 Dan elected to sit out of the challenge to eat breakfast.
^4 An unaired Reward Challenge was held sometime between Days 33 and 34.

Episode Dan's
Votes
Voted Against
Dan
1 Vokai Tribe Immune
2 Molly -
3 Vokai Tribe Immune
4 Vokai Tribe Immune
5 Vokai Tribe Immune
6 Elaine -
7 Vokai Tribe Immune
8 Kellee Jamal, Janet,
Karishma, Kellee, Noura
Jamal -
9 Aaron -
10 Elizabeth;
Elizabeth1
-
11 Noura -
12 Noura -
Ejected, Day 362

^1 In "Bring On the Bacon", the vote ended with a 1-1-0 tie between Elizabeth and Janet, forcing a revote. Dan did not change his vote at the revote.
^2 In "Just Go for It", Dan was ejected from the game as a result of repeated inappropriate touching.

Post-Survivor[]

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Trivia[]

  • Dan is the oldest man on the original Vokai tribe.
  • Dan had applied for David vs. Goliath and was cast for Edge of Extinction, but was unable to compete on the latter season as he had broken his foot days before filming.[4]
  • Dan is the first Survivor contestant to be ejected from the game.
    • As a result, he is the first contestant to be eliminated during the jury stage, but not become a juror.
    • He is the second contestant to be eliminated during the jury stage and not be a part of the final jury, following Neal Gottlieb, who was originally part of the jury in Kaôh Rōng, but was removed on Day 38 due to the Juror Removal vote.

References[]

Survivor: Island of the Idols Castaways
 Aaron
Lairo
S39 aaron t
 Chelsea
Lairo
S39 chelsea t
 Dan
Vokai
S39 dan t
 Dean
Lairo
S39 dean t
 Elaine
Lairo
S39 elaine t
 Elizabeth
Lairo
S39 elizabeth t
 Jack
Vokai
S39 jack t
 Jamal
Vokai
S39 jamal t
 Janet
Vokai
S39 janet t
 Jason
Vokai
S39 jason t
 Karishma
Lairo
S39 karishma t
 Kellee
Vokai
S39 kellee t
 Lauren
Vokai
S39 lauren t
 Missy
Lairo
S39 missy t
 Molly
Vokai
S39 molly t
 Noura
Vokai
S39 noura t
 Ronnie
Lairo
S39 ronnie t
 Tom
Lairo
S39 tom t
 Tommy
Vokai
S39 tommy t
 Vince
Lairo
S39 vince t
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