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Survivor 45 is the forty-fifth season of the CBS competitive reality television series Survivor.

Running 90-minute episodes for the entire season, Survivor 45 documented an eclectic cast, including Emily Flippen, who pivoted from tribe outcast to social nexus, and returning player Bruce Perreault, whose abrasive personality made him the center of many tribal conflicts, notably against Katurah Topps. The season also saw the return of classic Survivor elements like the tribe switch and auction. Strategically, the season came to be dominated by the Reba Four alliance, which marched unimpeded to the end as its rivals proved futile in aligning against them. Spearheading the alliance was Dee Valladares, who was ultimately crowned the season's Sole Survivor over Austin Li Coon and Jake O'Kane.

Production[]

The 45th season was filmed in the same production cycle as Survivor 46 and, despite the lifting of COVID-19 safety protocols, retained the 26-day format established in Survivor 41.

On May 10, 2023, CBS announced Survivor 45 as part of its fall programming schedule; in a first for both series, it was confirmed that Survivor 45 and The Amazing Race 35 will air 90-minute episodes instead of the standard 60-minute episodes, making for a 180-minute primetime block.[4] The prolonged runtime was heavily attributed to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike which halted the production of several scripted shows, leaving timeslots to be filled.[5]

Bruce Perreault, who was evacuated on the first day of Survivor 44 due to a serious head injury, was formally invited by Jeff Probst to return to Survivor 45 on the first episode of On Fire with Jeff Probst,[6] which he accepted.

In response to the trend of players replicating and practicing Survivor puzzles before competing, the challenge department committed to retiring many recurring puzzles used in past challenges.[7]

Twists/Changes[]

  • 26-Day Game
  • Returning Player: Bruce Perreault was invited to compete on the season following his Day 1 evacuation in Survivor 44.[8][9]
  • Tribe Division: The 18 castaways were divided into 3 tribes of 6. No unifying theme was used in dividing the tribes.
  • Amended Sit-Out Rules: Starting from this season, tribe members will no longer be allowed to sit out in back-to-back challenges, including after an elimination.
  • Penalties for Losing Immunity Challenges
    • Pre-Merge: The tribe that lost an Immunity Challenge was forced to surrender their flint to Jeff and could only win it back if they won the next Immunity Challenge.
    • Post-Merge: The members of the team that placed last in the Immunity Challenge at the final nine lost their right to vote at the upcoming Tribal Council.
  • Shot in the Dark
  • Beware Advantage/Hidden Immunity Idol: Each tribe had one Beware Advantage which directed its owner to a series of clues to the idol's hiding place. The idols were concealed in a container which the player must break. The idol was originally usable for one Tribal Council, but its lifespan may be extended if its owner sacrificed their vote at their next two Tribal Councils.
  • Observing: The tribe that finished first in the first Immunity Challenge nominated one member to go to the losing tribe's camp, where they had the opportunity to talk to the losing tribe members ahead of Tribal Council. The observer was also given the ability to secretly cast a vote against one of those tribe members via Tree Mail.
  • Journeys
    • Safety Without Power: On Day 5, castaways from different tribes were taken to another island. Separately and in private, each castaway could decide whether to wager their vote and undertake an individual challenge for the advantage. If they completed the challenge in time, they would receive the advantage; otherwise, they would be unable to vote at their next Tribal Council.
    • Advantage Amulet: The castaways who attended the Day 11 journey were given the option of taking a sandwich or the Advantage Amulets.
    • Regain Vote: At the final nine, the losers of the Immunity Challenge were given the chance to regain their lost votes by completing an individual challenge.
    • Individual Immunity: At the final seven, the castaway who went on the journey was given the option to compete in an individual Immunity Challenge; success would grant them immunity at the next Tribal Council, while failure would cost them their vote.
  • Goodwill Advantage: The person that participated in the raid on Day 6 could give this advantage to one member of the raided tribe. This advantage allowed its holder to restore one vote at any Tribal Council where they would have otherwise been unable to vote.
  • Tribe Switch: A tribe switch occurred on Day 8, shuffling the remaining fifteen castaways into three tribes of five.
  • Earn the Merge: The final 13 players were divided into 2 teams of 6 by random draw. The teams competed in an Immunity Challenge where the members of the winning team won individual immunity, a spot on the merge tribe, and the merge feast. Before the challenge, the odd player out predicted which team would win the challenge; if they were correct, they would also receive immunity and the merge feast.
  • Split Tribal Council: On Day 14, the Dakuwaqa tribe was subjected to a Split Tribal Council, where the tribe was divided into two groups of six and two castaways were eliminated through two separate Tribal Councils, the first of whom would not join the jury. Following the Immunity Challenge, one group remained at the Dakuwaqa camp, while the other was sequestered at the old Lulu camp for the afternoon.
  • Simplified Final Four Tribal Council
  • Expanded Jury and Final Three: The Final Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing an eight-person jury.
  • Reformatted Final Tribal Council: Instead of having each jury member speak individually, an open forum was held to ensure a more insightful rapport between the jury and finalists. The discussion was divided into three portions—"social", "physical", and "strategic".

Castaways[]

Contestant Tribe Affiliation Finish Votes
Against
Original Tribe Switched Tribe Merged Tribe
S45 hannah t Hannah Rose
32, Baltimore City, MD
Therapist
Lulu Quit
Day 3
0
S45 brandon t Brandon Donlon
25, Sicklerville, NJ
Content Producer
Lulu 1st Voted Out
Day 5
4
S45 sabiyah t Sabiyah Broderick
27, Jacksonville, NC
Truck Driver
Lulu 2nd Voted Out
Day 7
2
S45 sean t Sean Edwards
34, Provo-Orem, UT
School Principal
Lulu Reba 3rd Voted Out
Day 9
3
S45 brando t Brando Meyer
22, Seattle, WA
Software Developer
Belo Belo 4th Voted Out
Day 11
3
S45 jmaya t J. Maya
24, Los Angeles, CA
Singer
Reba Reba 5th Voted Out
Day 13
10
S45 sifu t Sifu Alsup
30, O'Fallon, IL
Gym Owner
Reba Reba Dakuwaqa 6th Voted Out
Day 14
6
S45 kaleb t Kaleb Gebrewold
28, Vancouver, BC
Software Salesman
Lulu Lulu 7th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 14
16
S45 kellie t Kellie Nalbandian
29, New York, NY
Critical Care Nurse
Belo Lulu 8th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 16
5
S45 kendra t Kendra McQuarrie
30, Steamboat Springs, CO
Bartender
Belo Belo 9th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 17
6
S45 bruce t Bruce Perreault
46, Warwick, RI
Survivor 44
Belo Lulu 10th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 19
5
S45 emily t Emily Flippen
28, Laurel, MD
Investment Analyst
Lulu Belo 11th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 21
2
S45 drew t Drew Basile
22, Philadelphia, PA
Graduate Student
Reba Belo 12th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 23
6
S45 julie t Julie Alley
49, Brentwood, TN
Estate Attorney
Reba Reba 13th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 24
13
S45 katurah t Katurah Topps
34, Brooklyn, NY
Civil Rights Attorney
Belo Lulu Eliminated
8th Jury Member
Day 25
1
S45 jake t Jake O'Kane
26, Boston, MA
Attorney
Belo Lulu Second
Runner-Up
8
S45 austin t Austin Li Coon
26, Chicago, IL
Graduate Student
Reba Belo Runner-Up 0
S45 dee t Dee Valladares
26, Miami, FL
Entrepreneur
Reba Reba Sole Survivor 2

Season Summary[]

The 18 castaways were divided into three tribes of six: Reba, Lulu and Belo. Lulu struggled the most, losing four of the first five challenges, being quickly reduced to its last three members. While Emily initially found herself targeted for coming off as abrasive, but slowly secured the trust of her remaining tribemates. On Belo, the undefeated tribe came to be defined by tribal dysfunction centered around the rivalry between Katurah and returning player Bruce. On the dominant Reba, a core alliance of four formed between Dee, Julie, Austin, and Drew. The tribes merged into the Dakuwaqa tribe on Day 13.

With Belo and Reba entering the merge with five members each and Lulu down to only Emily and Kaleb, Reba capitalized on Belo's tribal fractures, reducing them to just Jake and Katurah while wiping out the remaining Lulu in separate power plays. Prior to Lulu's extinction, however, Austin and Drew decided to turn on Julie. When Austin notified Dee (whom he had developed romantic feelings for) of his and Drew's plan, the latter went behind his back and divulged their agenda to Julie, who played Austin's Hidden Immunity Idol to save herself. The former Reba turned on each other in the next round, with Dee using her social connections to blindside Drew.

In a last-ditch effort to turn the game in his favor, Jake attempted to make amends with Katurah and orchestrate a seemingly foolproof plan to out Dee involving an idol, but Katurah reneged on the deal and helped eliminate Julie instead. After narrowly escaping elimination the next day thanks to Jake and Katurah's failure to work together, Dee won the Final Immunity Challenge and elected to bring Austin to the Final Three. This forced Jake and Katurah to compete in the fire-making showdown, which the former won.

At the Final Tribal Council, both Dee and Austin argued over who had more control over the game, while Jake argued that he persevered despite insurmountable odds. Ultimately, Dee's revelation that she told Julie to play the idol without telling Austin earned her the jury's respect, and she was awarded the title of Sole Survivor in a 5-3-0 vote over Austin and Jake.

Episode Air Date Challenges Journey Eliminated
(vote)
Finish Viewers
(in millions)
Ratings/Share
(18-49)
Reward Immunity
1 "We Can Do Hard Things" September 27, 2023 Reba Belo None Hannah
(no vote)
Quit
Day 3
Reba
2 "Brought a Bazooka to a Tea Party" October 4, 2023 Reba1 Bruce Brandon
(3-0)
1st Voted Out
Day 5
Brandon2
Belo1
Drew2
3 "No Man Left Behind" October 11, 2023 Lulu Reba None Sabiyah
(2-1)
2nd Voted Out
Day 7
Reba Belo
4 "Music to My Ears" October 18, 2023 None Lulu None Sean
(3-1-1)
3rd Voted Out
Day 9
Belo
5 "I Don't Want to Be the Worm" October 25, 2023 Reba1 Austin3 Brando
(3-2)
4th Voted Out
Day 11
Kellie3
Lulu1
J. Maya3
6 "I'm Not Batman, I'm the Canadian" November 1, 2023 Austin, Bruce, Drew,
Julie, Kendra, Sifu
[Katurah]1,4
None J. Maya
(0-0;
10-1)5,6
5th Voted Out
Day 13
7 "The Thorn in My Thumb" November 8, 2023 Kellie None Sifu
(5-1)
6th Voted Out
Day 14
Dee1,7 Kaleb
(4-2)
7th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 14
(Austin,
Jake,
Julie,
Kaleb,
Katurah)
8 "Following a Dead Horse to Water" November 15, 2023 Survivor
Auction
Bruce None Kellie
(5-3)
8th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 16
9 "Sword of Damocles" November 22, 2023 Bruce,
Julie,
Kendra
Bruce Austin,
Emily,
Katurah8
Kendra
(6-1)
9th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 17
10 "How Am I the Mobster?" November 29, 2023 Emily
[Dee,
Julie,
Katurah]
Austin None Bruce
(4-3-1)
10th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 19
11 "This Game Rips Your Heart Out" December 6, 2023 Drew1 Emily Emily
(1-0)9
11th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 21
[Austin,
Jake]
12 "The Ex-Girlfriend at the Wedding" December 13, 2023 Austin
[Dee,
Katurah]
Dee None Drew
(4-2)10
12th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 23
13 "Living the Survivor Dream" December 20, 2023 Austin1 None Julie
(2-1-1-0)9
13th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 24
[Jake]
None Dee Katurah
(no vote)11
Eliminated
8th Jury Member
Day 25
Jury Vote Jake
(5-3-0)
Second
Runner-Up
Austin
(5-3-0)
Runner-Up
Dee
(5-3-0)
Sole Survivor
14 "Aftershow"
Notes:
^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.
^2 During the journey on Day 4, Drew won a Safety Without Power advantage, while Brandon lost his vote at his next Tribal Council.
^3 During the journey on Day 11, Austin, J. Maya, and Kellie each received an Advantage Amulet.
^4 After drawing the grey rock, Katurah was chosen to sit out in the challenge, but if she guessed the winning team correctly, she would win reward and immunity as well. Katurah guessed the winning team correctly.
^5 A Shot in the Dark was successfully played, negating all votes against its user.
^6 All votes cast were negated, causing a null vote. Per the rules of Survivor, a vote restart occurred.
^7 At the Immunity Challenge, the twelve remaining players were divided into two teams of six, with one person from each team winning immunity. The last player standing overall (Dee) won reward for their team.
^8 During the journey on Day 17, Austin successfully regained his vote at the next Tribal Council, while Emily and Katurah were unsuccessful in regaining their votes.
^9 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user.
^10 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user.
^11 Instead of a traditional vote, the winner of the Immunity Challenge, Dee, would choose someone to take with them to the Final Three. She chose Austin. The remaining two castaways, Jake and Katurah, would compete in a fire-making challenge to determine the last finalist.

Voting History[]

Original Tribes Switched Tribes Merged Tribe
Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Voted Out S45 hannah t
Hannah
S45 brandon t
Brandon
S45 sabiyah t
Sabiyah
S45 sean t
Sean
S45 brando t
Brando
Null S45 jmaya t
J. Maya
S45 sifu t
Sifu
S45 kaleb t
Kaleb
S45 kellie t
Kellie
S45 kendra t
Kendra
S45 bruce t
Bruce
S45 emily t
Emily
S45 drew t
Drew
S45 julie t
Julie
S45 katurah t
Katurah
S45 jake t
Jake
S45 austin t
Austin
S45 dee t
Dee
Vote No vote1 3-0 2-1 3-1-1 3-2 0-06 10-1 5-1 4-2 5-3 6-1 4-3-1 1-010 4-211 2-1-1-010 No vote12 5-3-0
Dee Sifu Kaleb J. Maya Kaleb Kellie Kendra Jake Julie Drew Katurah Jury Vote
Austin Brando None5 Kaleb Kellie Kendra Jake Julie Julie Julie
Jake Kaleb J. Maya Julie None9 Kendra Bruce Julie Drew Dee
Katurah Kaleb J. Maya Kaleb Jake None4 Bruce Julie Drew Julie Eliminated Dee
Julie Sean Kaleb J. Maya Kaleb Kellie Kendra Bruce Emily Drew Jake Dee
Drew Brando Kaleb J. Maya Sifu Kellie Kendra Jake Julie Julie Austin
Emily Brandon Sabiyah Brando Kaleb J. Maya Sifu Kellie None4 Bruce Julie Dee
Bruce Kaleb J. Maya Sifu None8 Kendra Julie Austin
Kendra Brandon2 Drew Kaleb J. Maya Sifu Jake Jake Austin
Kellie Kaleb J. Maya Sifu Jake Dee
Kaleb Brandon Sabiyah None7 Julie Dee
Sifu Sean Kaleb J. Maya Bruce
J. Maya Sean Kaleb Emily
Brando Drew
Sean Brandon Kaleb Dee
Sabiyah None3 None5
Brandon None4
Hannah Quit
Notes:
^1 Hannah quit the game at Tribal Council. No official vote occurred for her removal.
^2 In an unaired twist, as part of Belo's first-place victory at the first Immunity Challenge, they sent one of their members—Kendra—to observe the losing tribe—Lulu—for the afternoon. As part of the twist Kendra was also given the ability to anonymously cast a vote at Lulu's Tribal Council. However, the vote was negated due to Hannah's quit canceling the formal vote.
^3 This castaway found the Beware Advantage containing a clue for the Hidden Immunity Idol, and until the idol was found, they were barred from voting.
^4 This castaway lost the challenge at the summit, thus they were unable to cast a vote.
^5 This castaway abstained from the vote in order to extend the duration for which their Hidden Immunity Idol could be used.
^6 All votes cast were negated, causing a null vote. Per the rules of Survivor, a vote restart occurred.
^7 This castaway played their Shot in the Dark, making them ineligible to vote at Tribal Council. The scroll they selected read "Safe", negating all votes cast against them.
^8 Bruce lost his vote as a result of having the most money left over at the end of the Survivor Auction.
^9 This castaway played their Shot in the Dark, making them ineligible to vote at Tribal Council. The scroll they selected, however, read "Not Safe", thus all votes against them remained valid.
^10 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user.
^11 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user.
^12 Instead of a traditional vote, the winner of the Immunity Challenge, Dee, would choose someone to take with them to the Final Three. She chose Austin. The remaining two castaways would compete in a fire-making challenge to determine the last finalist.

Trivia[]

References[]

Survivor (U.S.) Seasons
BorneoThe Australian OutbackAfricaMarquesasThailandThe AmazonPearl IslandsAll-StarsVanuatuPalauGuatemalaPanamaCook IslandsFijiChinaMicronesiaGabonTocantinsSamoaHeroes vs. VillainsNicaraguaRedemption IslandSouth PacificOne WorldPhilippinesCaramoanBlood vs. WaterCagayanSan Juan del SurWorlds ApartCambodiaKaôh RōngMillennials vs. Gen XGame ChangersHeroes vs. Healers vs. HustlersGhost IslandDavid vs. GoliathEdge of ExtinctionIsland of the IdolsWinners at WarSurvivor 41Survivor 42Survivor 43Survivor 44Survivor 45Survivor 46Survivor 47
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