Ren Elvidge is a contestant from Survivor U.K. (2023).
A superfan of the game, Ren played under-the-radar on La Nena until Day 6, when they were sent by their tribe to go to an outpost where they took a clue to a Hidden Immunity Idol. After sharing the clue with their closest ally, Doug Swinbanks, Ren's game fell apart on Day 14, after a tribe switch separated them from Doug. Things deteriorated further when Christopher Haul learned about Ren's deceit and they were ultimately blindsided on Day 15.
Profile[]
Retrieved from bbc.co.uk
Age: 28
From: London
Occupation: Network Data Scientist
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor? Survivor has been my all-time favourite show since I found it when I was 14, 'obsessed' is an understatement. It combines so many things I love into this intense and awesome package where you get to do stuff you don't get to regularly as an adult. I also just love the mental and social aspects of the game – it's not about playing the game you want to play, it's about playing the game the jury wants to see you play.
What qualities did you think you'd bring to the game? I love the outdoors, so wanted to help people feel at ease while living with next-to-nothing so they'd keep me around. I enjoy getting to know new people and forming real connections, so I hoped tribemates would see I developed genuine relationships that weren't centred around game-play. But most importantly, if it came down to it, I was willing to separate those relationships from the game – I'd blindside anyone in a heartbeat!
How did you prepare yourself mentally and physically for taking part? I had a serious programme! I have spreadsheets about which elements are most often featured in Survivor challenges in the US and Australia and tried to train for those. I 3D printed the more popular puzzles to practice, worked on knot untying techniques, and even tried to improve my swimming (this went less well...).
Did you have a strategy of how you were going to play the game? My goal was to lie low until the merge, and then show off my game in the later stages. I wanted to keep enough players that were more threatening than me around as shields in the early game. The most important thing to me was working out what other players wanted to see in a winner, and tailoring my game to fit that so I could get the votes at the end.
How competitive are you? Very.
What kind of challenges were you most looking forward to? I was really excited for the Survivor classic – an epic obstacle course where you have to use each other to get through different elements, ending in a solid equalizer puzzle (which I'd reluctantly volunteered to do, and then dominate, duh).
How did you cope with living on a beach with no home comforts? Controversial, but I loved camp life! To wake up every day in such a remote and beautiful location and to not have to deal with the repetitive home pressures of washing up and laundry was a huge luxury to me.
How did you cope with the hunger? Poorly. Turns out I really hate rice and beans, and even though I was literally starving it always took me a full hour to eat a single scoop of food...
What did you learn from being on the show or what is the biggest takeaway? Good company and connections are worth so much more then home comforts. Also that it's not possible for me to avoid talking about Survivor at even the most impractical moments...[1]
Survivor[]
Ren began on the La Nena tribe, where they played a quiet game in the early days, with their adequate challenge performances keeping them in a solid position on the tribe. After La Nena lost the immunity challenge on Day 5, Ren's alliance with Ashleigh Bishop, Christopher Haul and Rach Carstairs planned on eliminating Sabrina Pace-Humphreys in attempt to save Ashleigh and Rach, which they succeeded in when they successfully got Doug Swinbanks to flip to their side.
On Day 6, Ren was selected as La Nena's "quickest thinker", meaning they had to be sent to an outpost where they would have the choice between a big fish for the tribe, a medium-sized fish and a clue to the hidden immunity idol and a potato with a guarenteed idol. Ren chose the middle option, which immediately garnered skepticism upon their return to camp. Fearing their security in the game, Ren shared the idol clue they got with their closest ally, Doug. Later during the immunity challenge, Ren's former ally Christopher was seen asking Laurence Cardwell about what he had got from the outpost when he had been sent from Caletón.
Ren remained secure for the following vote-out, safely in the majority against Rach. The following day, Ren's ally Doug found the hidden immunity idol and showed it to them, the idol expiring within three Tribal Councils. When Leilani Sen joined the La Nena tribe on Day 10, Christopher asked them about the reward that her former tribe gained from the outpost, now being positive that Ren had lied when they were sent on Day 6.
A tribe switch occured later which seperated Ren from their closest ally, Doug and the immunity idol. Upon Matthew Haywood and Tinuke Oyediran joining the La Nena tribe and reuniting with Leilani, they were told about Ren lying to the La Nena tribe potentially being their way of navigating through the votes in the short-term. When the two were questioned by Christopher later on, they continued to reinforce that Ren had lied. Ren's game finally unravelled after La Nena lost the Day 15 immunity challenge, while they and Hannah Baptiste targeted Ashleigh due to mistrusting her, Ashleigh and Christopher successfully allied with the old Caletón members against Ren, blindsiding Ren in a 5-2-1 vote.
| Episode | Tribe Affiliation |
Challenge | Challenge Type | Sit-Out? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Nena | The Marooning | Reward | No | Won |
| Dead Weight | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 2 | By Any Means | Reward | No | Won | |
| The Raft and the Furious | Immunity | No | Lost | ||
| 3 | Hot Pursuit | Immunity | No | Lost | |
| 4 | Trench Run | Reward | No | Lost | |
| Discy Business | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 5 | Sumo at Sea | Reward | No | N/A | |
| High and Mighty | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 6 | Shoulder the Load | Immunity | No | Lost | |
| Voted Out, Day 15 | |||||
Post-Survivor[]
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Trivia[]
- Ren is the first non-binary contestant on Survivor (U.K.).
- They are the second openly non-binary contestant on all franchises after Phil Ferguson from Australian Survivor: Brains v Brawn (2021), and the third after Evvie Jagoda from Survivor 41, who came out after filming concluded.
References[]
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