Omar Zaheer

Omar Ahmad Zaheer^[1] is a contestant from Survivor 42.

Forming strong relationships with his original Taku tribemates, Omar took the reins as the brains behind the Taku Four. By positioning himself between the majority alliance and the outsiders after the merge, Omar dictated a significant amount of the post-merge through his clandestine tactics. Omar's streak of strategic success continued until he defused Drea Wheeler's Knowledge is Power advantage, which exposed him as a power player. This alerted Maryanne Oketch to take action and blindside him at the final six.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Age: 31
Hometown: Kitchener, Ontario
Current Residence: Whitby, Ontario
Occupation: Veterinarian
Favorite Hobbies: Training animals, Settlers of Catan, and watching TV
3 Words to Describe You: Silly, empathetic and shameless
Pet Peeves: People who complain about the cost of vet care, rudeness, feeding seeds to parrots, gym grunters, Joey from "Friends", the fact that mini wheats have gelatin, when people talk bad about pigeons, and institutional racism.
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? I'm most proud of setting my mind to become an exotic animal specialist from undergrad. It is more difficult to get into vet school than med school in Canada, and the avian/exotics residency has the lowest admission rate of any specialty (3-5%). I'm also proud of maintaining my Muslim values while living in the Western world – abstaining from alcohol, pork and premarital sex – no matter how hard it may be. I am also proud of the resilience I didn't know I had within me to deal with my father's death in 2017.
What is something we would never know from looking at you? People would never know the difficult childhood I had financially and emotionally. We had very little money, living off my mom's disability support; there were times where our lights were cut, we were evicted, and there was little money for food. Given that level of instability, people would be surprised to realize how far I've been able to come. I still love both my parents very much, but I can also recognize their shortcomings. Their love for us was never a question to me, but I can reconcile that they are imperfect people who did the best they could, even though they fell short in some important ways. Also, I'm afraid of condiments.
Who is your hero and why? Although my father had many shortcomings, he's definitely someone I consider a hero. He had a tremendous amount of love for his children and even through some of his poor choices, that always shined through. He is missed every single day. I also admire my older sister very much because she often acted as a parent towards my younger sister and I but had no one to look up to herself. She's always been there for us emotionally, financially, or with whatever we need. She has risen to be a top emergency psychiatrist in Toronto, and that work with mental health is so important.
Which past Survivor will you play the game most like? Rob Cesternino's strategic prowess – he really understood the power dynamics and when to shift the game, and also made people feel comfortable with humor. He was also able to articulate his game beautifully in confessional. Cirie Fields – her sit, wait, and strike strategy is savage. Tyson Apostol – his sass and strategic game. Kim Spradlin – her social skills were top notch, and she made an alliance with everyone, and wasn't afraid to make moves. Natalie Anderson for her laser focus.
Why do you believe you can be the Sole Survivor? "They must adapt, or they'll be voted out of the game". A statement that has not changed. You can look to nature and Darwin's theory of evolution and see how the fittest survive, but the fittest may not be the lion in every situation. My ability to adapt, connect with others, understanding strategy & how to manipulate numbers, and most importantly – social awareness of myself and others are the key ingredients to success. I am not going to leave everything to starve on an island to let someone else win. I am playing for me and my family, and no one will get in the way of that. I can't wait to do the show I love so much proud, by not only winning but being the first Indian and Muslim to do so. It would be a dream come true to see my nieces watch me win and serve as a role model – that will never leave my mind.^[2]

Survivor[]

Omar started the game in a comfortable position, forming strong relationships with everyone on Taku, especially Jonathan Young. This allowed him to be involved in every strategic decision, even ones with outsiders. After saving Maryanne Oketch from elimination, he was the only one to know about Maryanne finding a Hidden Immunity Idol. On Day 7, Omar went to a journey with Chanelle Howell, where she misled him into thinking she needed her vote. Because of this, he risked his vote and would lose it at the next Tribal Council he would attend, which would be the first post-merge Tribal Council.

When the tribes merged, Omar was a part of the losing team, not receiving immunity or food, in an odd merge twist. However, Rocksroy Bailey broke the Hourglass, giving Omar immunity for the following voting cycle. Earlier, when Drea Wheeler, Jonathan, and Hai Giang discussed who to recruit into their supermajority Advantage Alliance, Jonathan quickly suggested the addition of Omar. With Hai and Mike Turner, Omar also ensured the exclusion of Chanelle, who didn't warn him he lost his vote. Primary target Tori Meehan then won immunity, leaving Maryanne as the easy vote. Everyone seemed set to vote her out, but Omar wanted as many Taku members as possible to remain in the game, and he wanted to keep secondary possession of her idol. After Lydia Meredith considered eliminating Jonathan instead, Omar quickly shut it down, again defending the Taku Four when no one else would. He then reported this to the big alliance through individual conversations, to hide his threat level, that Lydia could not be trusted. He even got her allies Hai and Mike to participate in her blindside.

After Tribal Council, nobody on the tribe knew who set up Lydia's elimination, and since Omar lost his vote, he was able to pretend he was clueless in order to maintain conversations with the minority. Tori then won her second individual Immunity Challenge, and everyone was set on voting out Romeo Escobar. Omar was able to establish trust with Romeo to make him feel comfortable. Mike was adamant on voting out Chanelle, so she became the target. Omar volunteered to be the one to vote for Romeo to guarantee a successful split vote. This would allow him to seem as if he saved Romeo to him, and preserve relationships with Chanelle and Maryanne by appearing to be in the minority. Rocksroy then suggested an all-male alliance, which seemed to be gaining traction. Alarmed by the thought of being in the end with stronger contestants in challenges, Omar set his sights on eliminating Rocksroy. Despite the elimination not seeming likely, he was aided by a Split Tribal Council. Knowing Hai was against an all-male alliance too, he formed a majority with him to secretly blindside Rocksroy and again save Romeo. At Tribal Council, Hai convinced Mike to vote with them to ensure Rocksroy's elimination, and he was voted out in a 4-1 vote.

Omar later forged a critical bond with Lindsay Dolashewich. She would then take him and Mike on a beneficial reward, where they could convince Mike that Hai was using him and didn't believe Mike had strategic capability. The duo then decided to target challenge threat Jonathan after Lindsay won immunity, but knew Mike would convince the tribe to vote out Hai, so they would have a split vote against their two biggest threats. After Hai's departure, it was clear that Drea was the biggest threat left in the game. Omar, Lindsay, and Mike worked together to make Drea feel comfortable, but she knew she was the target. She then shared with Omar that she could steal Mike's idol with her Knowledge is Power advantage. Omar told Lindsay about this, and the two conspired to take Mike's idol and vote out Drea.

Omar then got Mike to give him his idol and their plan worked. Before Drea left, she obliterated Omar's game with her comment that she trusted him the most. This made everyone, who all thought Omar was their closest ally, question his loyalty. This put a huge target on his back, and Maryanne felt urgency to eliminate him. Despite Jonathan and Mike voting for Romeo to ensure Jonathan wouldn't go home, Maryanne used an Extra Vote to seal his fate. Because Lindsay chose not to play her Advantage Amulet for him, Omar was voted out in a close 3-2-2 vote.

At the Final Tribal Council, Omar contributed to Maryanne's 7-1-0 win over Mike and Romeo respectively.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Taku	Marooning	Reward	No	Lost
1		Forty Two	Immunity	No	1st
2		Can't Find My Way Home	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
3		Spiral Architect	Reward/Immunity	No	1st
4		Tangled Up Sled Slide	Reward	No	Won
4		Beyond the Tuna	Immunity	No	1st
5		Ramplified	Reward/Immunity	No	2nd
Tribes Disbanded, Day 12
6	None	Rolling Stones	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost¹
7	None	A Bit Tipsy	Immunity	Safe
Tribes Merged, Night 14
8	Kula Kula	Basket Case	Reward	No	Lost
8		Can't Buoy Me Love	Immunity	Yes²	Lost
9		Bermuda Triangles Case	Reward/Immunity		Lost
10		Walk This Way	Reward		Invited
10		Bow Diddley	Immunity		Lost
11		Uncomfortably Numb	Immunity	Yes	Lost
12		Dizzy Miss Lizzy	Reward		Won
12		Stair Down the Walls	Immunity		Lost
Voted Out, Day 23
Notes: ^1 The unchosen sit-out from the challenge (Rocksroy) was exiled. There, he was given an hourglass which he may choose to break to strip the winning team of their immunity, transferring it to the losing team and himself. Rocksroy broke the hourglass and Omar was given immunity. ^2 Omar elected to sit out of the challenge to help his tribe win a supply of rice.

Episode	Omar's Votes	Voted Against Omar
1	Taku Tribe Immune
2	Marya	-
3	Taku Tribe Immune
4	Taku Tribe Immune
5	Taku Tribe Immune
7	Ineligible¹	Individual Immunity
8	Romeo	-
9	Rocksroy	-
10	Hai	-
11	Drea	-
12	Jonathan	Maryanne (x2), Romeo
Voted Out, Day 23
Voted for Sole Survivor	Maryanne

^1 In "Go for the Gusto", Omar wagered his vote at the summit for an advantage. Because Chanelle also chose to risk her vote, Omar became ineligible to vote at the next Tribal Council he attended.

Post-Survivor[]

Omar and castmate Maryanne Oketch appeared in the audience of Big Brother 25 during the live eviction on November 2, which happened to be the same episode that Survivor legend Cirie Fields was evicted in.^[3]
On April 8, 2024, Omar attended Maryanne's wedding.

Trivia[]

Omar is the first man on Survivor to reside in Canada at the time of filming.
An exotic animal veterinarian by profession, Omar coined the tribe name "Kula Kula" based on his love for birds.^[4]
Omar is the first person to have individual immunity at a Tribal Council where he was ineligible to vote.
- Jeremy Collins also had individual immunity when he was ineligible to vote at one Tribal Council in Winners at War, but it was through the use of a Safety Without Power advantage.
Omar found an Idol Nullifier on Day 9 which went unaired during the season but contributed to his elimination at the final six.^[5]^[6]
Omar is the only male member of Taku to be voted out; Jackson Fox was evacuated while Jonathan Young was eliminated by the fire-making challenge.
Omar is the fourth castaway of Muslim faith to compete on Survivor, following Ibrehem Rahman, Natalia Azoqa, and Naseer Muttalif.
- As a devout Muslim, Omar prayed in front of his tribemates to avoid rousing suspicion that he was finding idols and delayed his daily prayers after Tribal Council to accommodate the production cycles.^[7]