Eva Erickson is a contestant from Survivor 48.
The first openly autistic person to play on Survivor, Eva was unafraid of the game's physical toll, but was frequently forced to confront socially challenging moments and times of emotional turmoil. Nevertheless, she found solace with Joe Hunter as her ally and father figure in the game. The pair successfully instilled a culture built on honor and integrity and were well-insulated by their Strong Five alliance, allowing them to make it to the Final Three together. Although she was commended for her tenacity, Eva could not separate her game from Joe's, and this, combined with her lack of strategic initiative, left her as the runner-up to Kyle Fraser in a 5-2-1 vote.
Profile
Retrieved from Parade.com
Age: 24
Hometown: Eagan, MN
Current Residence: Providence, RI
Occupation: PhD Candidate
3 Words to Describe You: Energetic, Driven, Competitive
Why do you want to be part of Survivor? For myself I love the competition and the huge challenge this game presents. But on a bigger picture scale I want to go on Survivor to show the world a version of Autism they don't often portray in mainstream media. I am Autistic but my autism experience is unique and will give people hope that even if they are on the spectrum they can still accept who they are and be successful.
What's one life experience you feel has prepared you for the game? I was the first and only girl to play men's hockey at Georgia Tech and am currently the captain of the men's club hockey team at Brown University. I am used to competing against men twice my size who think they are better than me. I am prepared to bring my fierce competitive nature to my game of Survivor.
Which previous player do you identify with the most? Who do you think you will play most like? Denise or Lindsey, female players that were super strong and absolute beasts in challenges!
What will you value in an alliance partner? Loyalty. I am a very loyal person and I intend to form strong alliances that I can trust. I don't intend to play a game of blindsiding those who trust me. I want to find a #1 to stick with through and through.
Favorite Hobbies: Hockey, Water sports, rollerblading
Pet Peeves: Lazy people, wet socks
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? I can't pick one, I am simply proud of how hard I have worked in all facets of my life and how that has culminated to huge goals being reached in my PHD, reffing career, and hockey career. I am so proud of all my hard work paying off!
What is something we would never know from looking at you? I have autism, I was diagnosed very young and my family was told I would never live independently. I have succeeded in life far beyond anyone's imagination of my life having achieved big goals in hockey, my officiating career, my doctoral studies and in forming so many friends who love me for who I am.
Who is your biggest inspiration and why? My Family, my dad's work ethic, my mom's kindness, and my sister's perseverance. I strive to have all their qualities in my life.
Why will you be the Sole Survivor? I'm gritty as hell. I will work harder than anyone else in this game. I also am smart and smart enough to hide my intelligence. This is a game of minimizing perceived threat level so by emphasizing my physical abilities while downplaying my intelligence I will fly under the radar to success.[2]
Survivor
Eva embraced the challenges having autism would bring to her Survivor journey, proving to be industrious in camp life with her impressive firewood collecting. She first disclosed her autism to Joe Hunter to have someone to help her in the event she needed reassurance. Joe immediately confirmed his loyalty to her, and the two would remain tight even as Joe was brought into the California Girls alliance with Shauhin Davari and Thomas Krottinger. Joe recruited Eva into that alliance to confirm a majority. Eva's primary target on Lagi was Star Toomey, but she made that clear to Star when mentioning how important Joe and Shauhin were physically and Bianca Roses and Thomas were on puzzles for immunity challenges. No strategic plans were enacted as Lagi won out during the pre swap phase.
The swap kept Eva and Star on Lagi, while they received David Kinne and Charity Nelms from Civa and Mary Zheng from Vula. Eva remained wary of Star while connecting with a fellow strong physical player in David. Following Day 11's Immunity Challenge, Eva was overwhelmed emotionally to the point where Joe went out of his way to comfort her. With their duo now public, Eva took that opportunity to reveal her autism to the remaining players. Back at camp, Eva decoded Star's Beware Advantage and Star let Eva keep the Hidden Immunity Idol. With strong relationships from both iterations of Lagi entering the Merge, Eva seemed to be in a good position.
The only dissenting voice against Eva was Charity, who tried to point out that Eva is a big threat on the basis of her idol, partnership with Joe, and strong social standing. It would be that social backing that easily led to Charity's vote out. From that point on, the Strong Five consisting of Eva, Joe, David, Shauhin, and Kyle Fraser held a lot of power. Any players vocal against the alliance such as Chrissy Sarnowsky would be swiftly voted out. However, dissent between David and Kyle resulted in Eva having to pick a side and blindside a close ally in David.
David's blindside appeared to open the door for Kamilla Karthigesu, Mitch Guerra, Mary, and Star to form a counter-alliance against Eva's alliance. Ultimately, the outsiders could not maintain trust in each other and Eva finally succeeded in voting out Star. Following that vote, Eva was randomly chosen to go on a Journey where her task involved stacking tiles on a spinning table. Not needing the Knowledge is Power Advantage, she chose only to stack enough tiles to keep her vote as she did not feel comfortable putting her allies at risk to potentially gain another advantage.
Eva's path to the end game with Joe remained on-track up until the final four, at which point Kyle won immunity and chose to put Eva against Kamilla in the Firemaking Challenge. While Eva was a strong fire-maker, she began to panic when approaching victory. Joe verbalized support for her in an effort to motivate his closest ally. Eva ultimately handled the pressure and confirmed her spot at the Final Tribal Council.
Eva's argument at Final Tribal Council was that she played an open and honest game, was a team player for her alliance, and that she gave it her all in all aspects of Survivor. Many of the jurors praised Eva's efforts, while others could not distinguish between Eva and Joe's similar games. In a key point of the discussion, Eva tried to claim credit for Shauhin's blindside, but Kyle was able to express his role more effectively after Kamilla interrupted Eva for Kyle’s perspective. Although Eva did not win the title of Sole Survivor, jury votes from Star and Mary earned her 2nd place.
| Episode | Tribe Affiliation |
Challenge | Challenge Type | Sit-Out? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lagi | Uphill Battle | Reward | No | Won |
| Slide Hustle | Reward/Immunity | No | 1st | ||
| 2 | Looks That Keel | Reward/Immunity | No | 2nd | |
| 3 | Blind Melon | Reward/Immunity | Yes | 1st | |
| 4 | Stage 48 | Reward/Immunity | No | 1st | |
| 5 | Enter Sandbag | Reward | No | 1st | |
| 48 Jump Street | Immunity | No | 2nd | ||
| Tribes Disbanded, Day 12 | |||||
| 6 | None | Feel the Earn | Reward/Immunity1 | No | Lost |
| Tribes Merged, Night 13 | |||||
| 7 | Niu Nai | Wrist Assured | Reward/Immunity | Lost | |
| 8 | Pairy Feral | Reward2 | 2nd | ||
| Immunity2 | Won | ||||
| 9 | Crocodile Rock | Reward/Immunity | Invited3 | ||
| 10 | Union of the Snake | Reward | Invited | ||
| A Bit Tipsy | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 11 | Driving Wheel | Reward/Immunity | Invited4 | ||
| 12 | Invertigo | Reward | Lost | ||
| Snake Pit | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 13 | Sir Mix a Lot | Reward/Immunity | Invited4 | ||
| Simmotion | Immunity | Lost | |||
| Runner-Up, Day 26 | |||||
| Notes: ^1 The castaways first competed as two teams for reward. Only the members of the winning team would have the right to compete for individual immunity.
^2 The castaways first competed as five teams for reward. Only the members of the two winning teams would have the right to compete for individual immunity. ^3 Joe shared his reward with Eva. ^4 Kamilla shared her reward with Eva. | |||||
| Episode | Eva's Votes |
Voted Against Eva |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lagi Tribe Immune | |
| 2 | Lagi Tribe Immune | |
| 3 | Lagi Tribe Immune | |
| 4 | Lagi Tribe Immune | |
| 5 | Lagi Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Saiounia | - |
| 7 | Saiounia | - |
| 8 | Chrissy | Individual Immunity |
| 9 | David | - |
| 10 | Star | - |
| 11 | Mary | - |
| 12 | Shauhin | - |
| 13 | Mitch | -1 |
| Jury Votes for Eva |
Mary, Star | |
| Runner-Up, Day 26 | ||
^1 In "Only One of Yous Can Win", Eva used a Hidden Immunity Idol, but did not negate any votes against her.
Post-Survivor
- Eva was on the Brown University campus during the 2025 shooting.[3]
Trivia
- Eva is the first openly autistic contestant to compete on Survivor.
- Eva is the youngest contestant to compete on Survivor 48.
- Eva is currently the youngest Survivor finalist by date of birth.
- Eva is the highest-placing member of Lagi and the highest-placing woman on Survivor 48.
- Eva is the first woman since Natalie Anderson in San Juan del Sur to make it to Final Tribal Council without receiving any elimination votes.
- Eva is the only player from the final four of Survivor 48 to not return for In the Hands of the Fans.
References
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