Sophie Georgina Clarke[1] is the Sole Survivor of Survivor: South Pacific. She later competed on Survivor: Winners at War.
Known for her blunt, witty disposition, and sharp-tongued confessionals, Sophie played an under-the-radar game and relied on her challenge prowess in South Pacific, as well as a tight, dominating five-person alliance formed on Night 1 to advance in the game. She is also remembered for swaying ally Coach Wade into backstabbing Brandon Hantz in a well-crafted "Ozzy's Pleasure Dome" argument. After winning the critical Final Immunity Challenge against Ozzy Lusth, Sophie won over Coach and Albert Destrade in a 6-3-0 vote.
Sophie played a more actively strategic and social game when she returned in Winners at War, forging several relationships, notably turning the tables on Rob Mariano after being relegated to the minority with Sarah Lacina following a Tribe Switch, and finding a Hidden Immunity Idol. She spent most of her game in a comfortable position and became a key member of the majority alliance following the merge, where she used her influence to orchestrate the elimination of Wendell Holland. However, Tony Vlachos grew wary of her relationship with Sarah and spearheaded her blindside at the final nine. She eventually lost the second Edge of Extinction re-entry duel and was eliminated in 10th place.
Contents
Profile
Retrieved from CBS.com
Name (Age): Sophie Clarke (22)
Hometown: Willsboro, New York |
Survivor
South Pacific
Sophie, like several members of the Upolu tribe, was skeptical about the addition of Coach Wade to their tribe. This skepticism was furthered when Coach lost the first Reward Challenge over fellow returning player Ozzy Lusth. Upon reaching camp, Sophie introduced herself as a Russian and Economics major who "graduated four days ago." Knowing his "Dragon Slayer" baggage would be hard to release, Coach opened a conversation while stargazing at their first night, with the conversation concluding with the recruitment of Sophie to his five-person alliance, which also consisted of Rick Nelson, Albert Destrade, and Brandon Hantz. Coach fortified his alliance of five by adding a sixth member, Edna Ma. While Brandon kept his secret of being a relative of the infamous Russell Hantz from his tribemates, Sophie was observant enough to suspect he might be hiding something. Sophie was also seen as a strong competitor, being called "insane" by Jeff Probst during the first Immunity Challenge, in which Upolu narrowly won.
After the Immunity Challenge loss on Day 5, Sophie received a vote coming from Stacey Powell, but Sophie's majority alliance eliminated Coach's biggest threat, Christine Shields Markoski. Days later, alliance partner Albert found the hidden clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol, but could not find the Idol itself. With Sophie and Coach's help, the three found the Idol, which was secretly kept by Coach, even from Rick and Brandon. The Upolu majority alliance successfully eliminated Stacey and Mikayla Wingle at their next Tribal Councils, entering the merge with the entire alliance intact.
When the tribes merged on Day 19 into the Te Tuna tribe, Sophie stuck with the Upolu alliance, and, along with Savaii member John Cochran, eliminated the five other Savaii members: Keith Tollefson, Ozzy, Jim Rice, Dawn Meehan, and Whitney Duncan. During the process of this "Pagonging," Sophie was able to win two consecutive Immunity Challenges, the second win which was especially key since she narrowly beat out Whitney.
After the ex-Savaii members were voted out, the original Upolu alliance of five decided to stick together and eliminated Cochran and Edna. The next round of the game saw the alliance turn against each other. Sophie was able to make Coach and Rick turn against fellow alliance member Brandon because of his antics and his unpredictability. However, when Brandon won immunity, they had to switch their target to Albert. Their plans changed again at Tribal Council when Brandon gave the Immunity Necklace to Albert. In the end, Coach sided with Rick and Sophie voting out Brandon and she narrowly escaped being sent to Redemption Island in a 3-2 vote.
At the final Redemption Island duel on Day 36, Ozzy defeated Brandon and came back in the game with an apparent target on his back. At the following Immunity Challenge, which required balancing wooden blocks, Sophie made an unattractive gesture—outright asking Albert to help her get her blocks, which was intercepted by Jeff. Her move failed, however, when Ozzy won Immunity. With Ozzy immune and Coach having his Hidden Immunity Idol, Sophie was on the hot seat at Tribal Council, being told by Ozzy that she was a "pretentious, spoiled brat" after her gesture at the Immunity Challenge, reducing the medical student to tears and anxiety, stating that her bluntness was natural to her. Despite this, Sophie dodged elimination once again after Rick was voted out for his quieter gameplay in a 3-2 vote.
At the Final Immunity Challenge on Day 38, a closely-contested battle between Ozzy and Sophie commenced. But at the puzzle-building part, Ozzy struggled, giving leeway to Sophie, who eventually won the challenge. As the last remaining Savaii member, Ozzy was voted out, leaving Sophie (declaring herself "the new Dragon Slayer"), Albert, and Coach as the Final Three.
At the Final Tribal Council, while castigated by the jury for coming off as acerbic to others, Sophie used her frankness to her advantage by calling Coach "a little girl" and exposed all the lies he created. She also stated that she would change her perceived rudeness after Ozzy brought the topic up days ago. In the end, Sophie was rewarded the title of 23rd Sole Survivor and the million dollar prize, beating Coach and Albert in a 6-3-0 vote. Sophie received votes from Jim, Keith, Dawn, Whitney, Brandon, and Ozzy.
After the game, at the Reunion Show, she stated that it was hard for her to "act dumb", but she had to in order to advance herself in the game.
Voting History
| Sophie's Voting History | ||
|---|---|---|
| Episode | Sophie's Votes |
Voted Against Sophie |
| 1 | Upolu Tribe Immune | |
| 2 | Stacey | Stacey |
| 3 | Upolu Tribe Immune | |
| 4 | Stacey | - |
| 5 | Upolu Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Edna | - |
| 7 | Upolu Tribe Immune | |
| 8 | Keith; Keith1 |
- |
| 9 | Ozzy | - |
| Jim | - | |
| 10 | Dawn | Individual Immunity |
| Whitney | Individual Immunity | |
| 12 | Cochran | - |
| 13 | Edna | - |
| 14 | Brandon | Albert, Brandon |
| 15 | Rick | Ozzy, Rick |
| Ozzy | Individual Immunity | |
| Jury Votes for Sophie |
Brandon, Dawn, Jim, Keith, Ozzy, Whitney | |
| Sole Survivor, Day 39 | ||
^1 In "Double Agent", the vote ended with a 6-6 tie between Keith and Rick, forcing a revote. Sophie did not change her vote on the revote.
Winners at War
Placed on the Dakal tribe, Sophie quickly found herself in a power position as she aligned with other one-time players who were perceived to be relatively disconnected from the Survivor social scene. She quickly formed a bond with Yul Kwon, who she wanted to prop up as a "nerd-shield" - someone who would protect her from being perceived as the most intelligent player on the island. Sophie and the other 'disconnected' one-time players found themselves with all the leverage on the tribe, and when Dakal eventually lost a challenge they narrowed their targets down to Tyson Apostol, Kim Spradlin-Wolfe, and Amber Mariano. Eventually the tribe decided on Amber as the best option to go, given her marriage to Rob Mariano. Sophie threw a vote on Kim as part of a vote split by the larger majority. When Kim found a Hidden Immunity Idol that required two people to activate, she included Sophie into her find because she felt that she and Sophie could work well together. Sophie was visibly happy when Kim found the idol, but remained apprehensive about Kim due to her threatening reputation. At the next vote, she joined the tribe in voting out Tyson, who had been throwing many names out and was perceived as a big threat due to his four times playing the game and that he's great friends with Rob outside the show.
Sophie found herself at a numerical disadvantage on Yara with the tribe switch leaving her 3-2 down together with Sarah Lacina, a person who she did not have a particularly strong relationship with on Dakal. Despite this, the clearly fractured nature of the three Sele men who joined the tribe (Ben Driebergen, Adam Klein, and Rob) left Sarah and Sophie with options moving forward. While Sarah and Sophie were apprehensive to divulge information, the Sele men revealed the tribe dynamics and therefore the tensions between them. When the whole tribe began searching for a potential new idol on Yara, Sophie was quick to find it and hide it from the rest of her tribe members. Needing co-operation from a tribemate to activate it, Sophie brought in Sarah leaving the two closely bonded. After the Yara tribe lost the first post-switch challenge, Rob became the target for the girls due to his dictatorial attitude, reputation, and the fact that the two women were closer generally to Ben and Adam. Despite Rob implementing the buddy system, leaving the girls unable to confirm their plans through conversation with Adam and Ben, Sophie felt confident that Rob would be voted out, with Sophie choosing to sit on her idol correctly. After this Sarah and Sophie became closer to Ben, with Adam being the next clear target. When Adam raised suspicions to Sophie about Sarah or Ben having the idol, Sophie decided to tell Sarah and Ben about Adam's positions in an attempt to solidify her alliance with the two.
Tied to Sarah and Ben come the merge, Sophie found herself in the larger majority comprised of the Yara tribe and the post-switch Dakal tribe. When the targets were narrowed to Wendell Holland and Nick Wilson, Sophie attempted to drive the vote towards Wendell, fearing his friendship with Jeremy Collins who she perceived to be the most influential player as well as the notion of the "big guys" coming together. It worked and Wendell became the merge boot, having been voted out 9-3. Sophie then joined the tribe in voting out Adam, who was perceived as a skittish player and untrustworthy generally. At the final ten, a broader split in the tribe emerged with the remaining Yara members, Tony Vlachos, and Nick being on Sophie's side. At a chaotic and memorable Tribal Council, Sophie gathered this alliance to make a decision when the initial target Jeremy left Tribal Council using an advantage. The majority of the votes were put on Tyson, sending the final old-schooler to the Edge of Extinction for the second time.
At the final nine, Sophie's position seemed as solid as it always had been and her alliance decided to target Jeremy once again, with Michele Fitzgerald as the backup vote of a split vote. However Tony, fearing Sophie's relationship with Sarah and also her general influence on the tribe, decided to take advantage of the majority splitting the vote and take out Sophie, using Michele, Jeremy, and Nick. Sophie was blindsided with an idol in her pocket.
On the Edge of Extinction, Sophie earned Fire Tokens by coming second in a coconut-carry marathon challenge. She failed to win the re-entry challenge.
Voting History
| Sophie's Voting History | ||
|---|---|---|
| Episode | Sophie's Votes |
Voted Against Sophie |
| 1 | Dakal Tribe Immune | |
| Kim | - | |
| 2 | Dakal Tribe Immune | |
| 3 | Dakal Tribe Immune | |
| 4 | Tyson | - |
| 5 | Rob | - |
| 6 | Yara Tribe Immune | |
| 7 | Yara Tribe Immune | |
| 8 | Wendell | - |
| 9 | Adam | - |
| 10 | Kim, Tyson | |
| 11 | Jeremy | Jeremy, Michele, Nick, Tony |
| Voted Out, Day 28 | ||
| 12 | On Edge of Extinction | |
| 13 | ||
| 14 | ||
| Eliminated, Day 35 | ||
| Voted for Sole Survivor |
Tony | |
^1 In "The Full Circle", Kim used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Denise, negating Sophie's vote against her.
Post-Survivor
- After her win, Sophie used her winnings to pay off her student loans.[4]
- Sophie returned to her hometown of Willsboro, where she discussed her Survivor experience at the Willsboro Central School. She continues to pursue her medical career, studying to become an OB-GYN.[5]
- On March 9, 2017, Sophie, along with Courtney Yates, appeared on an episode of Pen Fan Forum hosted by Andrea Boehlke to discuss the first two episodes of Survivor: Game Changers.[6]
- On May 12, 2017, Sophie graduated and became a medical doctor.[7]
- Sophie attended Stephen Fishbach's wedding on June 9, 2018.[8]
- Sophie married Robert Shady at her parents' house in Willsboro on August 24, 2019.[9]
- In March 2020, she and her husband had COVID-19.[10]
- On April 2, 2021, Sophie announced that she and her husband were expecting their first child.[11]
Trivia
- Her father is journalist Thurston Clarke.
- Sophie is the youngest woman on South Pacific.
- Sophie revealed in "I Need Redemption" that she knows Russian and is also an Economics major.
- On Day 27 of South Pacific, Sophie became the first and so far only contestant to win two Immunity Challenges in one day.
- Sophie is the only contestant on South Pacific to win consecutive challenges, excluding duels.
- Sophie won the most individual Immunity Challenges in South Pacific, with three wins.
- Sophie is the second of three first-time players to defeat a returning player at the Final Tribal Council, following Danni Boatwright in Guatemala, and later followed by Denise Stapley in Philippines.
- Sophie is one of three winners, and the most recent one, to receive a vote against them at the first Tribal Council they attended, following Jenna Morasca and Chris Daugherty.
- Sophie is the youngest woman on the original Dakal tribe.
- Sophie is the only contestant in Winners at War to have never participated in a Tribe Switch in any of their prior appearances.
- Sophie is the first Survivor castaway voted out with an Hidden Immunity Idol during a failed split vote.
- Sophie is the second juror who was unable to attend a Tribal Council due to medical reasons, following Paschal English in Marquesas. Coincidentally, they both missed the Day 38 Tribal Council.
- Sophie lost 10 lbs. during her time on Winners at War.[12]
References
- ↑ https://twitter.com/sophieGclarke/status/863134321191911426
- ↑ https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/62893/
- ↑ https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/216315/
- ↑ http://www.americanownews.com/story/16354906/survivor-south-pacific-winner-sophie-clarke-im-trying-to-be-a-little-sunnier
- ↑ http://www.wcax.com/story/16408821/sophie-returns-to-willsboro
- ↑ https://twitter.com/andreaboehlke/status/839843233362554880
- ↑ https://twitter.com/sophieGclarke/status/863134321191911426
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/survivor/comments/8q177k/survivor_alum_at_fishbachs_wedding/
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/25/fashion/weddings/sophie-clarke-robert-shady.html?rref=collection%2Fspotlightcollection%2Fwedding-announcements
- ↑ https://youtu.be/gekBoT9t7y8?t=7720
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CNLLm2Isote/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij6WXsag3h0
| Preceded by Redemption Island  Rob Mariano |
Sole Survivor Titleholder South Pacific  Sophie Clarke |
Succeeded by One World  Kim Spradlin |
| Survivor: South Pacific Castaways | |||||||||||||||||
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