Denise Marie McCormick Stapley is the Sole Survivor of Survivor: Philippines. She would later compete in Survivor: Winners at War.
Placed on the ill-fated Matsing tribe, Denise suffered the worst losing streak imaginable: losing every Immunity Challenge prior to the merge and visiting every single Tribal Council of her season. However, her brilliant social game allowed her to survive every one and reach the Final Tribal Council. Her ability to smoothly integrate herself into a series of disparate and often fraught social circles, as well as her role in sound strategic moves such as the eliminations of Jonathan Penner and Malcolm Freberg, ultimately won her the title of Sole Survivor in a 6-1-1 vote.
Profile
Retrieved from CBS.com
Name (Age): Denise Stapley (41)
Hometown: Marion, Iowa |
Survivor
Philippines
Denise started on the Matsing tribe. She started out in a good position as her occupation as a sex therapist helped her social game, as she connected with Zane and Malcolm, her and the latter of which formed the Matsing Alliance. When Matsing lost the first Immunity Challenge on Day 3, the tribe initially wanted to vote out Russell for poorly choosing the roles for everyone in the challenge and also barking out orders. However, Zane asked the tribe to vote him out for costing the challenge, but it was actually a ruse to gain sympathy on those who liked him and wanted him around. At Tribal Council, Denise joined the rest of the tribe in blindsiding Zane unanimously as his plan backfired. Early the next morning, Roxy approached Denise about Angie and Malcolm cuddling overnight, believing them to be a power couple and wanting to vote Angie out to break up the pair. But unbeknownst to her, Malcolm was Denise's ally. Denise later became annoyed by Roxy for her laziness around camp and religious beliefs minutes before going into the Day 6 Immunity Challenge. Matsing lost immunity again by a small margin. Roxy and Russell attempted to swing Denise to split up Angie and Malcolm while still unaware that Denise was Malcolm's ally. At Tribal Council, Denise joined the rest of the tribe in voting out Roxy unanimously. When Matsing lost their third challenge in a row on Day 8, Denise and Malcolm were split between voting Angie or Russell due to their weak performances in the challenge. At Tribal Council, they decided to send Angie home for being a liability in challenges. Denise and Malcolm became suspicious that Russell already had the Hidden Immunity Idol and considered blindsiding him at the next Tribal Council. When Matsing lost their final challenge on Day 10, Denise and Malcolm agreed to vote for Russell as they tried to make him feel comfortable heading into Tribal Council just in case he had the idol. At Tribal Council, everyone was concerned that they were going home, but in the end, Russell was sent home.
Before the Reward Challenge, Denise and Malcolm thought there was a chance of a tribe absorption, so they looked for the idol and Malcolm found it first. Even though they were in an alliance, the idol was in Malcolm's possession. At the Reward Challenge, Denise was separated from Malcolm and she was absorbed into the Kalabaw tribe. Kalabaw lost the Reward Challenge, but faced another setback when they lost Dana after she was too sick to continue. When Kalabaw lost the next Immunity Challenge on Day 13, Denise joined the men's Kalabaw Alliance and discussed voting out Katie or Dawson for their weak challenge performances. At Tribal Council, Denise joined the Kalabaw Alliance and Katie in voting out Dawson. Kalabaw won the next Reward Challenge after Jonathan made a deal with the rival Tandang tribe that Kalabaw would give up their remaining rice supply in exchange for the reward. When Kalabaw lost the last Immunity Challenge before the merge, Denise joined the rest of the tribe in voting out Katie unanimously for her weak challenge performances and being the only outsider left. Returning from Tribal Council, Denise was in distress as she has been to every Tribal Council, believing that she was cursed.
Denise made the merge on Day 17, as a member of the Dangrayne tribe where she and Carter won the first individual Immunity Challenge on Day 19. Denise then joined the split vote plan between Jonathan and RC to flush out Jonathan's idol. At Tribal Council, the split vote plan came into fruition when Jonathan played his idol, making RC the first juror. But she, Malcolm, and the Kalabaw Alliance were then left in the dark when Jeff was blindsided by the Tandang Alliance at the next Tribal Council.
When the foursome of Denise, Malcolm, Jonathan, and Carter won the next Reward Challenge, they agreed to break up the Tandang Alliance by getting Michael and Lisa to flip since they were on the bottom of the alliance. After Michael won immunity on Day 25, Denise suggested to her alliance that they vote for Artis as a safe vote against Abi-Maria playing her idol that she revealed along with Malcolm's on Day 22, as she believed Abi-Maria would be too selfish to play her idol for Artis. At Tribal Council, although Lisa stayed loyal to Tandang, Michael flipped and blindsided Artis. Michael and Lisa then joined the Kalabaw Alliance. However, their flipping started a rivalry between Abi-Maria and Denise. Denise, Malcolm, Michael, and Lisa then made a final four alliance. The Kalabaw Alliance then decided to split the vote between Abi-Maria and her ally Pete in case Abi-Maria played her idol, but Michael considered flipping on the plan and blindside Malcolm when Abi-Maria and Pete tried to sway him, Lisa, and the former Kalabaw's. At Tribal Council, Michael stuck to the plan as Abi-Maria played her idol and Pete became the fourth juror. When Abi-Maria surprised everyone by winning immunity on Day 30 after she bought an advantage at the Survivor Auction, the final four alliance decided to target Jonathan, but he was trying to sway votes against Denise in case Malcolm played his idol by getting Michael to flip. At Tribal Council, Michael once again stayed loyal as Jonathan was sent to the jury. Denise then joined the rest of the tribe in voting out the last original Kalabaw member Carter. She was then spared when Abi-Maria was voted out as Michael and Lisa wanted to keep Denise around to have a chance at beating Malcolm in the Final Immunity Challenge.
At the final four, Malcolm won an advantage for the Final Immunity Challenge that included a sealed note he must open at the Immunity Challenge. After the Reward Challenge, knowing that Michael and Lisa weren't going to vote against each other, Denise asked Malcolm if he was willing to commit with her to forcing a tie vote between herself and Lisa at the next Tribal Council, but he hesitated to committing to the deal due to how dangerous Denise's social game was going into the Final Tribal Council. This made Denise suspicious of Malcolm's loyalty and forced her to strike a Final Three deal with Michael and Lisa to vote out Malcolm if he were to lose the Final Immunity Challenge, but Denise was concerned about Michael due to him flip-flopping on his decisions and was also unknown to the fact that Michael and Lisa made the same deal with Malcolm during their previous reward. Malcolm wasted away his advantage as he did indeed lose the Final Immunity Challenge, putting Denise's plan into action. Back at camp, Denise and Malcolm made their pitch to Michael and Lisa to keep them in the game. At Tribal Council, Michael and Lisa chose to keep Denise and voted Malcolm out as the eighth and final jury member, with Malcolm bitterly congratulating Denise on the way out.
At the Final Tribal Council, Denise made her opening statement saying that she used her social game to adapt in three different tribes and also create sub alliances, but had to turn on them to further herself in the game. She also stated that she has survived every Tribal Council of the season because of her social game, as she had outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted everyone by doing so. While she came under fire for being an appeasing sex therapist by Malcolm and betraying alliances, Michael's lack of social awareness and Lisa's inconsistent loyalties along with Denise's social game earned her the title of Sole Survivor in a 6-1-1 vote, only losing RC and Carter's votes as they voted Lisa and Michael respectively.
Voting History
| Denise's Voting History | ||
|---|---|---|
| Episode | Denise's Votes |
Voted Against Denise |
| 1 | Zane | - |
| 2 | Roxy | - |
| 3 | Angie | - |
| 4 | Russell | - |
| 5 | Dawson | Dawson |
| 6 | Katie | - |
| 7 | Individual Immunity | |
| 8 | Pete | - |
| 9 | Artis | - |
| 10 | - | |
| 11 | Jonathan | Abi-Maria, Carter, Jonathan |
| 12 | Carter | - |
| 13 | Abi-Maria | Abi-Maria |
| 14 | Malcolm | Malcolm |
| Jury Votes for Denise |
Abi-Maria, Artis, Jeff, Jonathan, Malcolm, Pete | |
| Sole Survivor, Day 39 | ||
^1 In Not the Only Actor on This Island, Jonathan used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Denise's vote against him.
^2 In Whiners Are Wieners, Abi-Maria used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Denise's vote against her.
Winners at War
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Voting History
| Denise's Voting History | ||
|---|---|---|
| Episode | Denise's Votes |
Voted Against Denise |
| 1 | Natalie | Michele, Natalie |
| Sele Tribe Immune | ||
| 2 | Danni | - |
| 3 | Ethan | - |
| 4 | Sele Tribe Immune | |
| 5 | Dakal Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Sandra | Sandra, Tony |
| 7 | Dakal Tribe Immune | |
| 8 | Wendell | Individual Immunity |
| 9 | Nick | - |
| 10 | Ineligible2 | |
| 11 | Jeremy | - |
| 12 | Jeremy | Individual Immunity |
| 13 | - | |
| Nick | Michele, Nick | |
| 14 | Ineligible |
-; Ben, Michele, Natalie, Tony |
| Voted Out, Day 36 | ||
| Voted for Sole Survivor |
Tony | |
^1 In Quick on the Draw, Denise used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating 4 votes against her.
^2In The Full Circle, Sarah used a Vote Steal advantage on Denise, preventing her from voting at Tribal Council. Also, Kim used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Denise, negating 2 votes against her.
^3 In The Penultimate Step of the War, Michele used a 50/50 coin advantage and landed on "Safe", negating Denise's vote against her.
Post-Survivor
- On March 30, 2013, Denise won an EVOLVE Award from American Atheists for representing agnostics and atheists on reality television shows.[3]
Trivia
- Denise is the only member of Matsing to not receive a vote before the tribe's dissolution.
- Denise is the only contestant to reach an official merge without being immune at any point before it and without winning a re-entry challenge of some kind.
- Stephenie LaGrossa reached the individual stage of Survivor: Palau, but Palau did not have an official merge. Mookie Lee reached the individual stage/merge of Survivor: Fiji, but the Ravu tribe was awarded tribal immunity for the fourth Tribal Council despite losing the Immunity Challenge.
- Denise is the only person to attend every Tribal Council as a contestant over the course of a season. She attended all 15 Tribal Councils of Survivor: Philippines, including the Final Tribal Council.
- Denise is also the only contestant to witness all eliminations in a single season. In addition to the 15 Tribal Councils, she was also present for Dana Lambert's quit.
- However, Denise is not the only record holder for the most Tribal Councils attended in a season. Mick Trimming, Natalie White, Russell Hantz (in Samoa), Spencer Bledsoe (in Cambodia), Ken McNickle, Lauren O'Connell, Rick Devens, and Michele Fitzgerald (in Winners at War) also attended 15 Tribal Councils.
- Denise successfully voted out all of her original Matsing tribemates during Philippines.
- She is the second of three players to vote out every other player on their starting tribe, after John Cochran in South Pacific, and followed by Cydney Gillon in Kaôh Rōng.
- Because one of Cochran's tribemates, Ozzy Lusth, returned to the game via Redemption Island, Denise is the first to contribute to the permanent elimination of all her original tribemates by voting them out, and second (following Stephenie in Palau) to contribute to the permanent elimination of all her original tribemates in some manner.
- Unlike Cochran and Cydney, Denise did not need any revotes to accomplish this feat; Cochran switched his vote to Keith Tollefson after initially voting for Rick Nelson, and Cydney switched her vote to Darnell Hamilton after initially voting for Alecia Holden.
- Denise is the third first-time player to win against a returning player, following Danni Boatwright and Sophie Clarke.
- Coincidentally, all three of them are women and received six votes to win.
- Denise is the third-oldest winner (behind Bob Crowley and Tony Vlachos) and oldest female winner when crowned Sole Survivor, at 41 years, 11 months, and 15 days old.
- Denise is the shortest Sole Survivor, at 5 feet tall.
- Denise is the oldest castaway on Survivor: Winners at War.
- In both of her seasons, Denise started on a blue tribe, was then swapped/dissolved into a red tribe, and then merged onto a black tribe.
- Denise is the first contestant to buy an item with a Fire Token from somebody still in the main game.
- Denise is the second person to negate a unanimous vote with a Hidden Immunity Idol, after Ben Driebergen in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.
- Denise won the first individual Immunity Challenge in both seasons she competed on.
- Each time Denise has won Individual Immunity, the challenge has had two winners: one man and one woman.
- Denise is the first person to become the 14th member of the jury.
- Denise lost 6 lbs. during her time on Winners at War.[4]
References
| Preceded by One World  Kim Spradlin |
Sole Survivor Titleholder Philippines  Denise Stapley |
Succeeded by Caramoan  John Cochran |
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