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Kelly Shinn (also known as Purple Kelly) is a contestant from Survivor: Nicaragua.

Despite being in the majority alliance for 28 days, Kelly received little content and few confessionals. However, her controversial double-quit with NaOnka Mixon permanently changed the rules on the jury rights of people who leave the game voluntarily.

Ironically, Kelly's invisibility throughout the game inspired the term "purple edit", in which a contestant is deliberately given minimal screentime by the editors.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Name: Kelly Shinn (20)
Tribe: La Flor
Current Residence: Mesa, Ariz.
Occupation: Nursing Student at the University of Hawaii.
Personal Claim to Fame: Successfully completing my first two years of pre-med/nursing classes at the University of Hawaii. On a smaller scale, I also look at winning homecoming queen as one of my greatest accomplishments.
Inspiration in Life: My dad. He has a beautiful heart and is the hardest worker I know.
Hobbies: Surfing, wake boarding, go-kart racing.
Pet Peeves: Dirty fingernails.
3 Words to Describe You: Vivacious, confident, outspoken.
Survivor Contestant You Are Most Like: Elisabeth Hasselbeck because she played with smarts and integrity.
Reason for being on Survivor: It is the opportunity of a lifetime. People dream to do things as great as this.
Why you think you will be the Sole Survivor: I know how to play the "social popularity" game.[1]

Survivor[]

Kelly entered the season as a member of the La Flor tribe, which was comprised of castaways under thirty years old. To avoid confusion with fellow tribemate Kelly Bruno, Kelly Shinn was dubbed "Purple Kelly" (or "Kelly Purple"). When the tribe divided into two different alliances on Day 6, Kelly sided with Brenda Lowe's faction, voting for Shannon Elkins at La Flor's first Tribal Council. At the Tribe Switch on Day 12, Purple Kelly remained on La Flor. During this time, she appeared to do little else but vote alongside her allies; Brenda and Sash Lenahan.

Purple Kelly was among the contestants who made the merge on Day 19, becoming a member of the new Libertad tribe. Though she continued to aid her original alliance by voting out Alina Wilson and Marty Piombo at the first two merged Tribal Councils, Purple Kelly was deliberately excluded from Holly Hoffman's plan to eliminate Brenda on Day 27, being the only person to not vote against her.

On Day 28, a heavy rainstorm occurred, making camp-life miserable. Exhausted by the condition of the weather, Purple Kelly began to have doubts that she could continue on in the game. Thus, after losing that day's Reward Challenge, Purple Kelly announced that she wanted to quit the game, along with NaOnka Mixon. Jeff Probst denied their request until Tribal Council that night, giving the two women time to think over their decision.

Upon returning to camp, several players expressed to Purple Kelly how they didn't want to see anyone quit, most notably Holly, who told her that if she started she should finish. At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst again asked Kelly if she wanted to quit, to which she responded that she did, officially pulling herself from the game. She became the fifth member of the jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, she congratulated the finalists for succeeding where she could not. For her question, Purple Kelly asked Sash to explain how he outwitted the jury in sixty seconds. Sash said he made as many alliances as possible to move forward and tried to own up to his actions. Although she was surprised by the answer, Kelly said that she liked his honesty. She ultimately cast her jury vote for Fabio Birza, helping him win the title of Sole Survivor in a 5-4-0 vote.

Episode Tribe
Affiliation
Challenge Challenge Type Sit-Out? Result
1 La Flor Race to Shore Reward No Won
Getting Tanked Immunity No Won
2 Hay Mate Reward/Immunity No Lost
3 Get Barreled Reward/Immunity No Won
4 Seers and Doers Reward/Immunity Yes Won
5 Don't Let Your Balls Drop Reward No Lost
Spit It Out Immunity No Won
6 Kitty Litter1 Immunity Lost
Reward Yes Won
7 Jump Shot Reward No Lost
Cannon Ski-Ball Immunity No Lost
Tribes Merged, Day 19
8 Libertad Push Me, Pull You Immunity Lost
9 TLP O-Course Reward No Lost
Flashback Immunity Lost
10 Barrel Bridge Reward Won
Splash Back Immunity Lost
12 Gulliver's Travels Reward No Lost
Quit, Day 28
Notes:
^1 The tribes competed in separate individual Immunity Challenges where the winners from both tribes competed against each other for tribal reward.

Episode Kelly S.'s
Votes
Voted Against
Kelly S.
1 La Flor Tribe Immune
2 Shannon -
3 La Flor Tribe Immune
4 La Flor Tribe Immune
5 La Flor Tribe Immune
6 Kelly B.;
Kelly B.1
-
7 Jill -
8 Alina -
9 Marty -
10 Benry -
12 No Vote
Quit, Day 28
Voted for
Sole Survivor
Fabio

^1 In "Worst Case Scenario", the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Kelly B. and Marty, forcing a revote. Kelly S. did not change her vote on the revote.

Post-Survivor[]

  • In August 2014, Kelly won the award for Hottest Female in the Reality Awards category.
  • Kelly has since become a registered nurse and is working at a trauma center in San Diego.[2]

Trivia[]

  • Kelly is the youngest contestant to compete on Nicaragua.
  • Kelly is the first Survivor contestant who was born in the 1990s.
  • Kelly is the first woman under the age of 21 to compete on Survivor.
  • Kelly's nickname comes from the purple highlights in her hair. This was done to properly distinguish her from Kelly Bruno.
  • Kelly's first confessional was aired in the seventh episode of Nicaragua, the latest that any player has ever received their first confessional.
  • Kelly is the only contestant in Nicaragua who did not receive a vote against them.
  • Kelly is the highest-ranking woman of the original La Flor tribe.
  • Kelly and NaOnka Mixon are the first contestants to quit at the same Tribal Council.
    • At the Nicaragua Reunion Show, Jeff Probst revealed that after Kelly and NaOnka's simultaneous voluntary exits, the producers decided that, if a contestant quit the show, the producers would deliberate whether or not put the quitter on the jury. Jeff further revealed that the producers will reserve the right to withhold the quitter's consolation prize.
  • Kelly lost 12 lbs. during her time in Nicaragua.[3]

References[]

Survivor: Nicaragua Castaways
 Alina
La Flor
S21 alina t
 Benry
La Flor
S21 benry t
 Brenda
La Flor
S21 brenda t
 Chase
La Flor
S21 chase t
 Dan
Espada
S21 dan t
 Fabio
La Flor
S21 fabio t
 Holly
Espada
S21 holly t
 Jane
Espada
S21 jane t
 Jill
Espada
S21 jill t
 Jimmy J.
Espada
S21 jimmyj t
 Jimmy T.
Espada
S21 jimmyt t
 Kelly B.
La Flor
S21 kellyb t
 Kelly S.
La Flor
S21 kellys t
 Marty
Espada
S21 marty t
 NaOnka
La Flor
S21 naonka t
 Sash
La Flor
S21 sash t
 Shannon
La Flor
S21 shannon t
 Tyrone
Espada
S21 tyrone t
 Wendy
Espada
S21 wendy t
 Yve
Espada
S21 yve t
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