Romeo Escobar

Romeo Escobar is a contestant from Survivor 42.

As a pageant coach accustomed to working with strong women, Romeo aligned himself with Drea Wheeler while on Ika, where they were in control of tribal dynamics. However, after being cast aside by Drea following the merge, Romeo's increasing paranoia cemented him as an outsider with no influence on the numbers. His lack of work ethic also irritated his tribemates and he became the perpetual decoy boot. Romeo was finally empowered again when Maryanne Oketch brought him into the fold to blindside Omar Zaheer and he later won the Final Immunity Challenge. However, the jury could not look past Romeo's laziness and lack of agency throughout the second half of the game and he finished as the second runner-up with no votes to win.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Age: 37
Hometown: Los Angeles
Current Residence: Norwalk, CA
Occupation: Pageant Coach
Favorite Hobbies: Traveling, beauty pageants and watching Survivor
3 Words to Describe You: Competitive, intuitive and smart
Pet Peeves: I am a bit impatient, so I would say slow people, laziness and people who don't know how to read a room.
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Several. I always dreamed of working in the industry so I am. I dreamed of owning my own pageant, so I do. I dreamed of traveling the world, so I have. I always accomplish my goals.
What is something we would never know from looking at you? How competitive I am. Because I am a small man, and gay and Latino, people always underestimate me. I love proving them wrong. I hate losing or being wrong. I always want to have the right answer and win everything I do.
Who is your hero and why? My mother and father. They are immigrants who came to this country with nothing. They wanted a better life for their family. Despite not knowing the language, they were able to build a home and offer me a better life than the one they had growing up.
Which past Survivor will you play the game most like? I don't think anyone has played a game like the one I will play. But I do want to achieve great Survivor historical moments like Sandra, Cirie, Parvati, Rupert, Rob. I want to be remembered.
Why do you believe you can be the Sole Survivor? I know I can be the final Survivor because I am likable enough and persuasive enough to convince people to vote for me. I always find a way to get what I want.^[1]

Survivor[]

Starting on the Ika tribe which won the opening Reward Challenge, Romeo immediately got to work forming relationships. He quickly bonded with the elder members of the tribe Drea Wheeler and Rocksroy Bailey, and also connected with Zach Wurtenberger to form a "Skinny Guys Alliance" to protect each other. After Ika lost the first Immunity Challenge, Romeo had to convince Drea not to target the cantankerous Rocksroy. Romeo had to face the difficult decision of cutting Zach in order to stay within the Ika majority, but he followed through despite considering Zach an important ally. After the vote, Romeo continued to be well-integrated with his tribe, biting his tongue around Rocksroy and solidifying his partnership with Drea.

On Day 8, Romeo learned that Tori Meehan had been throwing his ally Drea under the bus. After losing the Immunity Challenge on Day 9, Tori reached out to Drea and Romeo and clarified that it was Swati Goel that was responsible for campaigning against Drea. Realizing that Swati had promised all three of them her allegiance, Romeo agreed to get rid of her for her duplicity. The next morning, Drea and Romeo decided to go on an idol hunt. Drea emerged successful in finding the Beware Advantage and offered to let Romeo hold her Extra Vote if she could not recover her right to vote. However, Drea activated her idol at the Immunity Challenge and Ika went on to win the last tribal challenge.

The tribes merged on Day 12, with Romeo being on the losing team at the first Reward/Immunity Challenge. At this point, Drea had begun distancing herself from him, excluding him from the supermajority that was formed that afternoon. Knowing that he was vulnerable at Tribal Council, Romeo kept his head down until the Hourglass twist took effect and empowered him. Running on a power trip, Romeo began campaigning against Jonathan Young to get rid of a physical threat. Alas, his plan failed to gain traction when Lydia Meredith was blindsided instead. Romeo returned to camp that night finding himself as an outsider, which caused his paranoia to spike. His inability to control his paranoia earned him the wrath of Hai Giang, who began pushing to get him out. However, Romeo was saved by Mike Turner's insistence to get Chanelle Howell out instead. Romeo cast a "hinky vote" against Hai out of spite and, when Kula Kula returned to camp, bore the brunt of Hai's accusations that he was being deceitful. This proved inconvenient when Romeo was grouped with Hai during the Double Elimination. However, Omar Zaheer convinced Hai to target Rocksroy instead, thus saving Romeo yet again.

Romeo then flew under the radar, but his tribe took notice of his poor work ethic and habit of eating the last scraps of rice from the pot. However, he was able to witness the implosion of the supermajority as its members began to turn on each other. Knowing that he was the perpetual decoy boot, Romeo employed the strategy of casting stray votes to protect himself from Shot in the Dark plays. Finally, Romeo was brought into the loop on a plan when Maryanne Oketch informed him about her Extra Vote, which she wanted to use to get rid of Omar at the final six. Maryanne and Romeo helped to execute a successful split vote with the help of Jonathan and Mike, turning the tables on the dominant Taku Four and blindsiding Lindsay Dolashewich in the process.

Romeo then lied about having a fake idol to ensure he was not targeted at the final five. He and Maryanne initially planned to side with Lindsay and take her to the Final Three, but ultimately sided with the majority to unanimously vote Lindsay out. Before her elimination, Romeo revealed his fake idol and tossed it into the fire, to the jury's apparent disappointment. Romeo then went on to win the Final Immunity Challenge in an upset victory against Jonathan, surprising the jury at Tribal Council. He decided to put Jonathan up against the biggest jury threat Mike in the fire-making challenge, hoping that Jonathan's fire-making skills would win out. Ultimately, Mike emerged victorious and joined Romeo and Maryanne in the Final Three.

At the Final Tribal Council, the jury explained that they saw Romeo as paranoid and lacking in agency. Hai accused Romeo of "gaslighting" him about the stray vote, while several jurors dismissed him for his poor work ethic. Regardless, Romeo explained that he had matured through his Survivor journey, which, among other things, encouraged him to become more open about his sexuality and also taught him that he was stronger than he thought. Unfortunately, Romeo could not overcome the jury's perceptions and finished Survivor 42 as the second runner-up with no votes to win.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Ika	Marooning	Reward	No	Won
1		Forty Two	Immunity	Yes	Lost
2		Can't Find My Way Home	Reward/Immunity	No	2nd
3		Spiral Architect	Reward/Immunity	Yes	2nd
4		Tangled Up Sled Slide	Reward	No	Lost
4		Beyond the Tuna	Immunity	Yes	Lost
5		Ramplified	Reward/Immunity	No	1st
Tribes Disbanded, Day 12
6	None	Rolling Stones	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost¹
7	None	A Bit Tipsy	Immunity	Yes	Lost
Tribes Merged, Night 14
8	Kula Kula	Basket Case	Reward	No	Lost
8		Can't Buoy Me Love	Immunity	No	Lost
9		Bermuda Triangles Case	Reward/Immunity		Lost
10		Walk This Way	Reward		Lost
10		Bow Diddley	Immunity		Lost
11		Uncomfortably Numb	Immunity	Yes	Lost
12		Dizzy Miss Lizzy	Reward		Invited
12		Stair Down the Walls	Immunity		Lost
13		Giant Tick	Reward/Immunity		Lost
13		Simmotion	Immunity		Won
Second Runner-Up, Day 26
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 Romeo was given immunity.

Episode	Romeo's Votes	Voted Against Romeo
1	Zach	-
2	Ika Tribe Immune
3	Ika Tribe Immune
4	Swati	-
5	Ika Tribe Immune
7	Maryanne	Individual Immunity
8	Hai	Chanelle, Maryanne, Omar
9	Rocksroy	Rocksroy
10	Jonathan	-
11	Mike	-
12	Omar	Jonathan, Mike
13	Lindsay	-
Jury Votes for Romeo	-
Second Runner-Up, Day 26

Post-Survivor[]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.

Trivia[]

Romeo is the highest-placing member of the Ika tribe.
Romeo is the fifth person to win the Final Immunity Challenge and finish as the second runner-up, following Amanda Kimmel in China, Russell Hantz in Heroes vs. Villains, Noura Salman in Island of the Idols, and Xander Hastings in Survivor 41. They would be followed by Ben Katzman in Survivor 46.
During the season, Romeo claimed he was 30; only Mike Turner was aware that he was 37.^[2]