Dean Kowalski

Dean Kowalski is a contestant from Survivor: Island of the Idols.

Despite being on the outs on the original Lairo tribe, Dean managed to maneuver himself into a better position by building new relationships after the Tribe Switch, allowing him to make it to the merge. He used this time to make several under the radar alliances, particularly with Tommy Sheehan. With the end approaching, Dean began to play more aggressively, winning two individual Immunity Challenges, playing an Idol Nullifier to eliminate Janet Carbin, and beating Lauren Beck in a fire-making challenge. Dean's Final Tribal Council performance impressed the jury, though the majority felt that Tommy's social game was stronger, resulting in Dean finishing as the runner-up in an 8-2-0 vote.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Age: 28
Hometown: Westfield, New Jersey
Current residence: New York City
Occupation: Tech Sales
Hobbies: Basketball, crafts, and DJ-ing.
Pet peeves: People honking in dead-stop traffic, people from the back pushing up a couple rows upon airplane landing, and roommates leaving dirty dishes in the sink for a prolonged period of time.
Three words to describe you: Jovial, observant, and likeable.
What accomplishment are you most proud of? Achieving the highest success rate of all Miami Algebra 1 teachers for students passing the end of year exam.
Who or what is your inspiration in life? Shirley Manzanares. Shirley was one of my 9th grade Algebra 1 students in my first year teaching. Shirley was an A+ student and the most respectful and loving soul. What you didn't see was her two jobs to help pay for prom, her caring for her two younger siblings while her mom worked at night, and her dedication to community service. Shirley will be the first in her family to attend college.
What's one thing we wouldn't know from seeing a photo of you? I have recently grown to appreciate astronomy, physics, and our place in the universe.
Which Survivor contestant are you most like? Wendell for his quiet leadership.
What's your primary motivation for being on Survivor? I crave new challenges/experiences, and it's the most uniquely strategic game ever.
Why do you think you'll "survive" Survivor? Self-awareness is one of the most important leadership characteristics. My social intelligence will allow me to read when to go big and when to fall back. I strongly believe in my ability to get along with and be liked by a variety of different people. This will allow me to build strong, diverse alliances. Additionally, my athletic and puzzle abilities will make me a threat within challenges. My experience working in sales will fuel my persuasion within my alliances.^[2]

Survivor[]

Dean started on the Lairo tribe, which lost three of the first four Immunity Challenges. On Day 11, both he and his ally Chelsea Walker voted against Karishma Patel, but Chelsea was blindsided as the rest wanted to break up the perceived showmance between the two and felt that Chelsea was a bigger threat than Dean.

Despite being upset over the blindside, he was given a second chance as a Tribe Switch occurred the following day. During this, he formed a friendship with former Vokai Kellee Kim due to their mutual friend. He targeted Karishma a second time on Day 14 but his ally Tom Laidlaw was blindsided instead. On Day 19, Kellee notified Dean that he was the target, gave him her Hidden Immunity Idol and asked him to use the idol to get out Jamal Shipman or Jack Nichting. At Tribal Council, he played the idol, negating 5 votes cast against him, and his and former Vokai Noura Salman's votes sent Jack to the jury.

Dean reached the merge. At the merge vote, he turned against Kellee and contributed to her elimination. The following day, Jamal gave Dean a fake Legacy Advantage he crafted on the Island of the Idols, and Dean believed the advantage to be real. Over the next several Tribal Councils, Dean saw his former Lairo tribemates get voted out one by one. During this time he created and played his own fake Legacy Advantage in order to get the target off himself.

In the last five days, Dean played a more aggressive game. He earned the Idol Nullifier during his visit on the Island of the Idols, won individual immunity on Days 35 and 37, found an idol on Day 37 after getting the clues from former Vokai Tommy Sheehan, and used the Idol Nullifier to blindside former Vokai Janet Carbin on Day 37. On Day 38, Noura won the Final Immunity Challenge and notified Dean and former Vokai Lauren Beck that they would make fire. Dean practiced making fire, with Tommy assisting him. At Tribal Council, Dean defeated Lauren in the final four fire-making challenge to join Tommy and Noura in the Final Three.

At the Final Tribal Council, Dean explained the strategic moves he made and challenge wins, and tried to downplay Tommy's no challenge wins and lack of moves. His social game however was questioned. He even came under fire after saying he never made any promises to anyone, even though he did, which several jurors called him out for. Dean received votes from former Lairos Aaron Meredith and Elizabeth Beisel, but the rest voted for Tommy to become the Sole Survivor, whose social game they deemed to be stronger, causing Dean to lose the title by a vote of 8-2-0 and finish as runner-up over Noura.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Lairo	Tower of Equality	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
2		Rung O Star	Reward/Immunity	No	Won
3		Beam Me Up	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
4		Ow Pairs	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
5		Headlong Flight	Reward	No	Lost
5		Discography	Immunity	No	Lost
6		Heroes End	Reward	No	Lost
6		Cage Against the Machine	Immunity	No	Won
7		Box Car Blues	Reward¹	No	Lost
7		Faulty Towers	Immunity	No	Lost
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		Lost
11		Ballin' A Jack	Immunity		Lost
12		Unaired	Reward⁴		Invited
12		Dizzy Miss Lizzy	Immunity		Won
13		Born to Rung	Reward/Immunity		Won
13		You Shook Me	Immunity		Lost
Runner-Up, Day 39
Notes: ^1 An unaired Reward Challenge was held on Day 17. ^2 An unaired Reward Challenge was held on Day 23. ^3 Dean elected to sit out of the challenge to eat breakfast. ^4 An unaired Reward Challenge was held sometime between Days 33 and 34.

Episode	Dean's Votes	Voted Against Dean
1	Ronnie	-
2	Lairo Tribe Immune
3	Karishma	-
4	Karishma	-
5	Karishma	-
6	Lairo Tribe Immune
7	Jack	Jack, Jamal, Janet, Karishma, Kellee¹
8	Kellee	-
8	Jamal	-
9	Aaron	-
10	~~Karishma~~; Elizabeth²	-
11	Karishma	-
12	Elaine	Individual Immunity
13	Janet	Individual Immunity
Jury Votes for Dean	Aaron, Elizabeth
Runner-Up, Day 39

^1 In "I Was Born at Night, but Not Last Night", Dean used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating 5 votes against him.
^2 In "Bring On the Bacon", Karishma used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Dean's vote against her. Also, the vote ended with a 1-1-0 tie between Elizabeth and Janet, forcing a revote. Dean changed his vote to Elizabeth on the revote.

Post-Survivor[]

Dean appeared as a guest alongside Jay Starrett and Kelley Wentworth on the inaugural episode of IMDb's Survivor Live After Show, hosted by fellow Island of the Idols castaway Chelsea Walker, following the premiere of Winners at War.^[3]
Dean, along with nineteen other former Survivor contestants, competed in the first Survivor-themed mini-competition of Sequester on May 23, 2020. He was eliminated in the first round, finishing in 20th place.^[4]
Dean previously dated Kaôh Rōng and Winners at War contestant Michele Fitzgerald.^[5]

Trivia[]

Dean's 29th birthday was on Day 23 of Island of the Idols.
Dean is the highest ranking member of the original Lairo tribe.
Dean holds the record for voting for the same person at different Tribal Councils, voting for Karishma Patel at five Tribal Councils.
- Terry Dietz and Jane Bright also voted for Aras Baskauskas and Marty Piombo respectively at five different Tribal Councils, but one of Terry's votes for Aras was a jury vote, and one of Jane's votes for Marty was during a revote.