Jason Siska

Jason Wilder Siska^[1] is a contestant from Survivor: Micronesia.

Jason is best known for finding a fake Hidden Immunity Idol crafted by Ozzy Lusth on Exile Island and genuinely believing it to be the real one. He did find a real idol days later, but found himself blindsided, sending him home with the idol in his pocket.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Jason Siska is currently a student teacher at Prairie Middle School in Barrington, Illinois, and also coaches gymnastics for middle and elementary school boys. He previously worked as a nude model for the Illinois State University Art Department, a carpenter/construction worker and after-school supervisor for Glenn Elementary School. He studied history and Spanish for four years at Illinois State University.

Born and raised in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, Siska moved to the "gold coast" of Chicago for five years before moving to the Barrington area for eight years. He then moved to Normal, Illinois for college.

Siska's hobbies include frisbee, rock-climbing, soccer and sailing. He describes himself as spontaneous, liberal and inquisitive. He is most proud of traveling alone for a summer in Central America and volunteering his services in Costa Rica and then backpacking through Columbia and the Lost City. He believes his abilities to rock-climb, fish, hunt, camp, cook, fire-tend, swim, boat and being a great masseuse will help him go far on Survivor. He is also a certified PADI scuba diver.

Siska is currently single and lives in Fox River Grove, Illinois, with his Himalayan cats, Baby and Little Girl, along with his corn snake, Copper. His birth date is March 4, 1985.^[2]

Survivor[]

Jason, being a fan of Survivor, was placed on the Airai tribe. He was thrilled that he would be competing against the most popular castaways from seasons past. Jason was dismayed when Kathy Sleckman found the idol that gives its holder immunity at their tribe's first Tribal Council, viewing her as the first to go. Airai won the first Immunity Challenge, keeping the group safe. During the time, Jason became a part of the majority alliance which excluded the older members. Jason like the other fans applauded the favorites when they voted out Johnny Fairplay. Malakal won a joint reward-Immunity Challenge, sending the fans to Tribal Council. Jason decided to vote out Chet Welch based on how horribly he performed at the challenge. Much to his shock, Mary Sartain was voted out instead. The Favorites proved to be the stronger tribe but the Fans won the next Immunity Challenge. Unfortunately, the favorites resumed their dominance and won the next challenges. Jason was set on voting off Chet, but Tracy Hughes-Wolf told Joel Anderson that Mikey Bortone wanted him out. Jason pleaded with the tribe to keep it strong, noting that they lost four out of the six challenges. Jason's plea was futile as Mikey B. was voted out.

A Tribe Switch occurred on Day 13. Jonathan Penner selected Jason to stay on Airai. He chose Parvati Shallow, whose name he mispronounced. The new Airai was dominant in challenges and won four consecutively. Despite not going to Tribal Council, the tribe lost Jonathan due to a knee infection and Kathy because she quit due to the harshness of the conditions. Jason was sent to exile back-to-back and he found what he thought was a Hidden Immunity Idol during that time. He also befriended fellow outsider, Eliza Orlins. Airai won the next Immunity Challenge.

On Day 22, the tribes merged and moved to the Malakal camp. Jason was immediate target for his athleticism and being on the outs. However, he outlasted Ozzy Lusth for immunity and gave his supposed Idol to Eliza. Much to her shock, she realized it was a fake and Eliza came to Jason and called it a fake and when Jason told her he was positive it was real, she told him "It's a f***ing stick". Jason hoped it was real and still voted for Ozzy. Eliza played it just to confirm that Ozzy had the real one which Ozzy admitted he did, and she was voted out. At the Immunity Challenge, it came down to him and Parvati. When Jeff offered food for the whole tribe, Jason offer to step down on the condition that no one write his name down at Tribal Council. Everyone agreed and Jason stepped down, giving Parvati immunity. The Favorites alliance, however, went back on their word and decided to vote out Jason. Cirie Fields, however, felt this was the best time to blindside Ozzy. Cirie's plan came to fruition and Jason was spared.

At the Survivor Auction, Natalie Bolton bought an advantage allowing her to exile someone and take all of their money. Jason told her he didn't want to go back to Exile, but Natalie sent him anyway, much to his despair. She complained that he was overreacting and said he could find an Immunity Idol, with Jeff humorously noting that this time, it may be a real one. Indeed, that's exactly what happened when Jason found the idol on Exile Island. Although unable to win immunity, Jason thought that James Clement was the next to go for his strength and determination. After being lulled into this false sense of security by fellow fan Natalie, Jason chose not to play his newfound idol. This would cause his demise, as Jason was blindsided in a 4-3-1 vote.

As a juror, Jason gave his vote to Parvati which was pivotal in crowning her Sole Survivor.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Airai	First to Shore	Immunity¹	No	Lost
1		Reinventing the Wheel	Reward/Immunity	No	Won
2		Smash and Grab	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
3		Beach Bash	Reward	No	Lost
3		Nut Bucket	Immunity	No	Won
4		Diver Down	Reward	No	Lost
4		Crosswalk	Immunity	No	Lost
5		Cat and Mouse	Reward	No	Won
5		A Stone's Throw	Immunity	No	Won
6		Build It Up, Break It Down	Reward	No	Won
6		United We Stand	Immunity	No	Won
7		Money Roll	Reward	No	Lost
7		What-er Drag	Immunity	No	Won
8		The Gauntlet	Reward/Immunity	No	Won
Tribes Merged, Day 22
9	Dabu	Last Gasp	Immunity		Won
10		Bai Bai	Reward		Won
10		When It Rains, It Pours	Immunity		Lost
11		Survivor Auction
11		Pool Party	Immunity		Lost
Voted Out, Day 30
Notes: ^1 This challenge was played for individual immunity at each tribe's first Tribal Council.

Episode	Jason's Votes	Voted Against Jason
1	Airai Tribe Immune
2	Chet	-
3	Airai Tribe Immune
4	Chet; Chet¹	Joel; -
5	Airai Tribe Immune
6	Airai Tribe Immune
7	Airai Tribe Immune
8	Airai Tribe Immune
9	Ozzy	Individual Immunity
10	Ozzy	Amanda, Erik, James, Ozzy
11	James	Amanda, Cirie, Erik, Parvati
Voted Out, Day 30
Voted for Sole Survivor	Parvati

^1 In "That's Baked, Barbecued and Fried!", the vote ended with a 4-4 tie between Chet and Mikey B., forcing a revote. Jason did not change his vote on the revote.

Post-Survivor[]

In December 2015, Jason became engaged to Jill Hale.^[3] They were married in August 2016. The two currently live in St. John on the U.S. Virgin Islands.^[4]
Jason's son, Finn Wilder Siska, was born on October 19, 2018.^[5]

Trivia[]

Jason auditioned for Survivor at an open casting call near Chicago.^[6]
Jason is the third player to be blindsided while in the possession of a Hidden Immunity Idol, following James Clement and Ozzy Lusth.
Jason is the older brother of Adam Siska, the former bassist of The Academy Is... and current bassist for Say Anything.
Jason is the only male on the Micronesia jury to vote for Parvati Shallow.
Jason is the first castaway to be originally from the U.S. Virgin Islands.