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	12
Votes Against	5
Days Lasted	39/39
Tribe(s)	World Moorditj
Finish:	6/14
Alliance(s)	Black Widow Brigade Internationals Alliance
Challenge Wins	2
Votes Against	6
Days Lasted	13/16

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.

As the sole representative of Survivor New Zealand on Australia v The World, Lisa aligned with the non-American faction of the World tribe, formed a secondary all-female alliance, and aligned loyally with her Survivor idol Cirie Fields. This allowed her to be in a comfortable position going through the merge. On Day 11, Lisa fatefully informed the Aussies about the non-Americans' conspiracy to blindside Parvati Shallow, causing her own closest allies to be voted out instead at that night's Double Elimination. Outnumbered and exposed as untrustworthy, Lisa was voted off the next Tribal Council unanimously.

Profile

• Survivor NZ: Thailand
• Australia v The World

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.

Retrieved from 10.com.au

Lisa – New Zealand

Winner of Survivor New Zealand, Lisa is a librarian from New Zealand who defied the odds in her season in 1028.

A Survivor superfan, Lisa is not one to overlook as she knows the game inside out and isn't afraid to play hard.

She jokes, "I played New Zealand Survivor in Thailand and I'm the once and reigning champion but that's because it got cancelled after my year.

"In my season, a lot of the people were playing Candyland and I was playing Checkers. Now a lot of people are going to be playing Chess and I've got to see if I can up my game."

A mum and librarian, Lisa is thrilled to be on the World team and play with some of her heroes saying, "My all-time favourite player is Cirie. It's always been Cirie. I would either die from the fan-ness of it or she would beat me, and I would love it either way."

Lisa is a self-confessed ‘really good Survivor player' and has watched every season of US Survivor since it began and playing the game with her idols is a dream come true.

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.

• Challenge History
• Voting History

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge-Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	None	Race to Shore	Reward		Lost
	Khangkhaw	By Any Means Necessary	Reward	No	Won
		Stairway to Heaven	Immunity	No	Won
2		Smash and Grab	Reward	Yes	Won
		Water Torture	Immunity	No	Won
3		Idol Hands	Reward	No	Lost
		Dive Masters	Immunity	No	Won
4		Sumo in Mud	Reward	Yes	Won
		Chain Reaction	Immunity	No	Lost
5		Dizziness as Usual	Reward	No	Won
		Buoy Oh Buoy	Immunity	No	Lost
6		Game of Bridge	Reward	No	Lost
		Discy Business	Immunity	No	Won
7		Kicking and Screaming	Reward	No	Won
		Flips, Flops, & Flags	Immunity	No	Won
8		Coco Connection	Reward	No	Won
Tribes Merged, Day 22
8	Phsan	House of Cards	Immunity		Lost
9		5x5	Reward		Lost
		This Much	Immunity		Lost
10		Challenge Pitch	Reward		Won
		Paddle Out	Immunity		Lost
11		Over-Extended	Reward		Lost
		Rope-a-Dope	Immunity		Lost
12		Survivor Auction
		Offer It Up	Immunity		Lost
13		Domino Effect	Reward		Lost
		Get a Grip	Immunity		Lost
14		One Track Mind	Reward		Lost
		Vampire Bats	Immunity		Lost
Sole Survivor, Day 39

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

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• Challenge History
• Voting History

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	World	Slip, Slide & Score	Reward	No	N/A 1
		A Crate Idea	Immunity	No	Lost
2		Gatecrasher	Immunity	No	Won
3		Shower Caddies	Immunity	No	Won
4		Legs Eleven	Immunity	Yes2	Lost
		Fire Starter	Immunity	Yes	Lost
Tribes Merged, Day 8
5	Moorditj	Survivor Auction
		Last Gasp	Immunity		Lost
6		This Much	Reward/Immunity		Lost
7		House of Cards	Immunity		Lost
		A Bit Tipsy	Immunity		Lost
8		High Rollers	Immunity		Lost
Voted Out, Day 13
Notes: ^1 This Reward Challenge was played in seven rounds, with the winner of each round taking a different reward item. ^2 Lisa sat out of the challenge for medical reasons.

Episode	Lisa's Votes	Voted Against Lisa
1	Rob	-
2	World Tribe Immune
3	World Tribe Immune
4	Tony	-
5	Janine	-
6	Kirby	Kirby
7	Luke	-1
	Janine	-
8	Janine	Cirie, Janine, Luke, Parvati, Shonee
Voted Out, Day 13
Voted for Sole Survivor	Parvati

^1 In "Tastes Like Victory", Kass used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Lisa, but did not negate any votes against her.

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:	52
Challenge Wins
Tribal wins:	13
Individual wins:	1
Total wins:	14
Tribal Council
Total votes received:	11

• 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 is the first Survivor New Zealand contestant to play on an international version of Survivor.
• 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.
• Lisa was the only previous winner in Australia v The World to be on the jury as Rob Bentele, David Genat, and Tony Vlachos were all voted out pre-jury, while Parvati Shallow made it to the Final Tribal Council.

References

Preceded by Nicaragua Avi Duckor-Jones

Sole Survivor Titleholder Thailand Lisa Stanger

Succeeded by Incumbent