Jesse Lopez

Jesse L. Lopez^[2] is a contestant from Survivor 43.

Quickly taking control of the Vesi tribe alongside Cody Assenmacher, Jesse and Cody entered the merge as powerful swing votes, orchestrating numerous blindsides including those of former tribemates Dwight Moore and Noelle Lambert. However, Jesse soon began to worry about being seen as a follower of Cody, prompting him to blindside Cody at the final six, which put a massive target on his back. Because of this, Jesse was selected to compete in the fire-making challenge, which he lost to Mike Gabler and finished in fourth place.

Profile[]

Retrieved from Parade.com

Age: 30
Hometown: Venice, Calif.
Current Residence: Durham, N.C.
Occupation: Political Science Ph.D.
Favorite Hobbies: Playing chess with my son. Dancing with my daughter. Binge-watching shows with my wife after the chess player and dancer fall asleep.
3 Words to Describe You: Aware, ambitious, unbreakable
Pet Peeve(s): Quitters, people who complain about things but aren't willing to change, and personalized license plates.
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? The family I've built with my wife. Every day I get to watch my kids actually be kids and grow at their own pace. That's something that I never had and always wanted. It doesn't matter what else I've done or end up doing; building a family with my wife takes the cake.
What is something we would never know from looking at you? I do research at Duke. You don't look at me and see a scholar. As Biggie says though, "I'm sicker than your average."
Who is your hero and why? My wife. She's been with me every step of the way and had to make the same sacrifices as me to get here. She juggles the weight of both kids, my stresses, as well as her own, and still manages to maintain her composure. She's got no fear and has always pushed me to do better. I could go on forever, but at the end of the day I just want to make her proud.
Which past Survivor will you play the game most like? I'm basically Spencer or Christian (David vs. Goliath) if they got jumped into a gang at 15. I'm definitely bringing an academic mindset to the game because I've spent more hours thinking about how people vote than Sandra and Boston Rob combined. At the same time, I wasn't raised in an ivory tower and have been around the block enough to know there is stuff textbooks can't teach you about real people and life.
Why do you believe you can be the Sole Survivor? I've researched voting behavior for years. I don't care if I'm out there with someone who never missed an episode of SURVIVOR, or someone who played 3 times already, they ain't gonna hold a candle to me strategically. But I'm also not an academic by nature and have gone from being a gang member to dealing with Harvard-level researchers on a daily basis—so I can adapt to any environment and build relationships with anyone.^[3]

Survivor[]

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Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out	Result
1	Vesi	Crate Wide Open	Reward	No	Won
1		Freedom of Choice	Immunity	No	2nd
2		Serpent Turf	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
3		Turtle Head	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
4		Walk Around	Reward	No	Won
4		Brain Stew	Immunity	No	1st
5		EOC	Reward/Immunity	No	1st
Tribes Disbanded, Day 12
6	None	No Quarter	Reward/Immunity	No	Won
Tribes Merged, Night 13
7	Gaia	Eve 6	Immunity		Lost
8		Over-Extended	Immunity	Yes¹	Lost
9		Crocodile Rock	Reward/Immunity		Shared²
10		Put a Ring on It	Reward		Invited
10		Teeter Tower	Immunity		Lost
11		Last Gasp	Immunity		Lost
12		Roll With It	Reward		Lost
12		Battle of Evermore	Immunity		Lost
13		Draw the Line	Reward/Immunity		Lost
13		Operation Balance Build	Immunity		Lost
Eliminated, Day 25
Notes: ^1 Jesse elected to sit out of the challenge to help his tribe win a supply of rice. ^2 The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Jesse did not win immunity, but was on the team that won the reward.

Episode	Jesse's Votes	Voted Against Jesse
1	Vesi Tribe Immune
2	Justine	-
3	Nneka	-
4	Vesi Tribe Immune
5	Vesi Tribe Immune
6	Ineligible¹	Individual Immunity
7	Dwight	-
8	Jeanine	-
9	Ryan	-
10	Noelle	-
11	Sami	-
12	Cody	-
13	Karla	~~Karla~~²
13	Lost Challenge³
Eliminated, Day 25
Voted for Sole Survivor	Gabler

^1 In "Stop with All the Niceness", Jesse wagered his vote at the summit for an advantage. He lost the wager, making him ineligible to vote at the next Tribal Council he attended.
^2 In "Snap Some Necks and Cash Some Checks", Jesse used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating 1 vote against him.
^3 Also in "Snap Some Necks and Cash Some Checks", Cassidy had the advantage of choosing one person to be in the Final Three with her. She chose Owen, subjecting Jesse and Gabler to a fire-making challenge. Jesse lost the challenge, eliminating him from the game.

Post-Survivor[]

For his time on the show, Jesse received a cash award of $100,000 from Australian musician Sia.^[4]
In 2023, Jesse's 10 year-old son, Gio, competed in MrBeast's Ages 1 - 100 Fight For $500,000 video. Jesse came to support and comfort his son, who was eliminated on the fourth day of the challenge.^[5]
On July 7, 2023, Jesse attended the wedding of fellow Survivor 43 castmate Morriah Young.^[6]
In 2024, Jesse's son Gio, now age 11, competed in a sequel MrBeast video, Ages 1 - 100 Decide Who Wins $250,000, though Jesse did not appear in this video himself. Gio was eliminated on the second day of the challenge.^[7]
In 2025, Gio, now age 12, competed in another MrBeast sequel. 100 People, 100 Circles, 1 $500,000 Winner. Gio made it to the final round, where he was greeted by Jesse for support. He ended up winning the final round and the $500,000 grand prize.^[8]

Trivia[]

Jesse successfully voted out all five of his Vesi tribemates.
- He is the fifth castaway to successfully vote out all of their original tribemates during a single season, after John Cochran in South Pacific, Denise Stapley in Philippines, Cydney Gillon in Kaôh Rōng, and Ricard Foyé in Survivor 41.
Jesse was originally cast for Survivor 41 before filming was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[9]^[10]
Jesse is the fourth person to be voted out with only one vote cast against him during an entire season, following Terry Deitz in Panama, Lauren Beck in Island of the Idols, and Sandra Diaz-Twine in Winners at War. They would be followed by Maddy Pomilla in Survivor 44.
- Like Lauren, due to being eliminated by the final four fire-making challenge, Jesse did not receive his only vote at the Tribal Council in which he was voted out.
- He is also the only one to negate his only vote with a Hidden Immunity Idol.
Jesse has a son named Gio, who is known notably for being in 3 MrBeast videos.
Jesse was considered for In the Hands of the Fans, but was ultimately cut.^[11]