Lisa Holmes

Lisa Holmes
Contestant Profile
Hometown	Christchurch
Occupation	School Librarian
Survivor Career
Version	New Zealand Australia
Tribe(s)	Khangkhaw Phsan
Finish	Winner
Challenge Wins	13
Votes Against	5
Days Lasted	39/39
Tribe(s)	World

Lisa Holmes (formerly Stanger) is the Sole Survivor of Survivor New Zealand: Thailand. She later competed on Survivor: Australia v The World.

As one of the superfans on Thailand, Lisa was able to integrate herself with the majority Khangkhaw alliance before taking matters into her own hands at the start of the merge. She went on to engineer most of the eliminations, including blindsiding both Brad Norris and Matt Hancock with idols in their pockets. Her aggressive gameplay contrasted starkly against Tess Fahey's loyalty and challenge dominance, resulting in a close vote where Lisa ultimately won 4-3-0.

Profile

Retrieved from TVNZ.co.nz
Name: Lisa
Hometown: Christchurch
Age: 38
Occupation: School Librarian
Lisa is hoping that her huge love of board games (which includes a weekly game night at her house) will come in handy when it comes to the puzzle challenges.
Described by friends as smart and organised, Lisa plans on playing a long strategic game on Survivor New Zealand to get her the title of Sole Survivor.
Having never been further afield than Australia, this trip to Thailand will bring a brutal new environment that Lisa has never experienced before.
What did you do to prepare for Survivor? Got the fittest I've ever been (don't get your hopes up), camped out overnight, researched, researched and researched!
What makes you the ideal teammate? I am good at puzzles, know a heap about Survivor and try to be respectful of others space and needs.
Thoughts on Alliance or Immunity Idol? The Survivor fan in me wants there to be all sorts of shifting alliances, advantages, twists and Immunity Idols. The person, who wants to win, wants the most simple a game as possible to cut down on variables. We'll see which one we get. I think I will be delighted either way because I am playing Survivor!
What's your strategy on the island? Be as honest as possible until the perfect time to be dishonest arises, and putting myself in a position with people who will want to stick with me until the end.
Why do you think you should win Survivor? I don't think anyone SHOULD win Survivor as there are so many factors in this game – the hardest game in the world. I hope I WILL win Survivor because everyone will see the value in my well-planned long-game strategy.

Survivor New Zealand

Thailand

Although Lisa was not included in the Silent Five alliance on Khangkhaw, she had good relationships with several of their members as shown during the switch. Lisa, Tara Thorowgood, Tess Fahey, and Brad Norris were able to maintain their numbers advantage, avoid Eve Clarke's idol, and eliminate Liam Hose. Despite appearing to be the physically weaker of the tribes post swap, they won the next two Immunity Challenges (although the first was due to Khangkhaw throwing the challenge to get rid of Josh Hickford) and only lost JT Muirhead due to an illness related quit.

Lisa entered the merge with an vote steal she won from the Outpost, and put it to good use in a split vote toward Chani powerhouses Arun Bola and Dave Lipanovic sending the former to the jury. However, she was not content to be Brad's sidekick, so she and Matt Hancock recruited Dave, Eve, Adam, and Tara to vote out Brad. The plan was successful and he did not play his idol. After continuing the Chani Pagonging, Matt became Lisa's next biggest threat. With Tara on board, she tried to turn Dave against Matt, not knowing that the two were friends outside of the game. Despite that, she was successful in not only getting Dave to vote Matt out and flush Matt's idol, but solidify a Final Three with him and Tara. It looked straightforward from there to take out Adam and Tess, a pair that was not known for their challenge prowess. However, Tess's back-to-back Immunity Challenge wins derailed Lisa's plans. Lisa tried to convince Tara to vote for Dave, but Tara had promised Dave at the final four reward not to write his name down. Lisa was worried because should Tara and Dave vote together against Lisa, she would nearly certainly go home. However, Tara asked Lisa and Dave to vote her out so that they could both have a spot in the Final Three. Lisa agreed and joined Dave and Tess at Final Tribal Council.

Lisa explained that she played a somewhat aggressive game because she knew those moves would be necessary to get to the end. Furthermore, she stayed true to her "alliance" with her family and cited them as her motivation for playing this game. Although the jury was more favorable to Lisa than Dave, they were put off by some of Lisa's moves. However, Tara, Matt, Eve, and Arun's votes were enough for her to win the title of Sole Survivor by a 4-3-0 vote.

Voting History

Episode	Lisa's Votes	Voted Against Lisa
1	Khangkhaw Tribe Immune
2	Khangkhaw Tribe Immune
3	Khangkhaw Tribe Immune
4	Dylan	-
5	Liam	-
6	Khangkhaw Tribe Immune
7	Khangkhaw Tribe Immune
8	Arun + Arun1	Dave, Eve
9	Brad	-
10	Renee	-
11	Eve	-
12	Matt	-
13	Adam	Adam, Tess
14	Tara	Tara
Jury Votes for Lisa	Arun, Eve, Matt, Tara
Sole Survivor, Day 39

^1 In "Episode 8", Lisa used a Vote Steal advantage on Arun, allowing her to cast an additional vote in Arun's place.

Survivor: Australia v The World

• Challenge History
• Voting History

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	World	TBD	Reward	No	TBD
		TBD	Immunity	No	TBD

Episode	Lisa's Votes	Voted Against Lisa
1	TBD	TBD

Post-Survivor

• Lisa, along with nineteen other former Survivor, Australian Survivor, Survivor South Africa, and Survivor New Zealand contestants, competed in the second Survivor-themed mini-competition of Sequester on June 20, 2020. She was eliminated in the fourteenth round, finishing in 6th place.

Trivia

Statistics of Lisa Holmes
Longevity
Seasons competed:	2
Days lasted:	39
Challenge Wins
Tribal wins:	12
Individual wins:	1
Total wins:	13
Tribal Council
Total votes received:	5

• Lisa is the first person in Survivor New Zealand to gain the right to steal a vote from another player.
• Lisa is the first woman to win Survivor New Zealand.
• Lisa is the only Survivor New Zealand contestant to play on multiple seasons.
• Lisa, Parvati Shallow, Rob Bentele, and Tony Vlachos are the second through fifth winners who later competed on an international version of Survivor, following Sandra Diaz-Twine.
• On January 31, 2025, Lisa's participation in Australia v The World was mentioned by four-time Survivor player and Micronesia winner Parvati Shallow in an interview prior to the season's official cast reveal.

References

Preceded by Nicaragua Avi Duckor-Jones

Sole Survivor Titleholder Thailand Lisa Stanger

Succeeded by Incumbent