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Survivor 46 is the forty-sixth season of the CBS competitive reality television series Survivor.

In a marked contrast to the previous installments of Survivor's "new era", Survivor 46 saw greater levels of interpersonal tension between its cast, which frequently conflicted to explosive results. Dramatic highlights included Bhanu Gopal's desperate pleas for survival on the failing Yanu tribe; Venus Vafa's social ostracism from her castmates; Q Burdette's spiel at the final ten goading his tribemates to vote him out; Liz Wilcox's hunger-driven meltdown at the final eight; and a string of blindsides leading to a record number of "flushed" Hidden Immunity Idols. After an unpredictable season, salon owner Kenzie Petty beat out law student Charlie Davis and musician Ben Katzman to become the 46th Sole Survivor.

Production[]

Continuing from the previous season, Survivor 46 and The Amazing Race 36 retained their 90-minute runtimes, with the first two episodes of Survivor 46 running for 2 hours. Notably, unlike its predecessor, Survivor 46 was not produced with a 90-minute runtime in mind, and the show had to be edited around the extended runtime.[4]

The season's motif is predominantly inspired by Japanese culture. This is also reflected in the Nami tribe's name which, as opposed to the Fijian root words for Siga and Yanu, originates from the Japanese language.

Twists/Changes[]

  • 26-Day Game
  • Tribe Division: The 18 castaways were divided into 3 tribes of 6. No unifying theme was used in dividing the tribes.
  • Penalties for Losing Immunity Challenges
  • Shot in the Dark
  • Beware Advantage/Hidden Immunity Idol: Each camp had a Beware Advantage that directed its finder to locate an idol locked in a box hidden at camp. Once the box was found, they would be informed that the key to unlock the box is hidden somewhere on the camp, but the location would be revealed only upon their tribe's next Immunity Challenge lost. Until the box was unlocked, their finders would not be allowed to vote at Tribal Council. Regular Hidden Immunity Idols with no restrictions were also hidden after the merge.
  • Journeys
    • Extra Vote: The castaways attending the journey on Day 2 will play a game. They will first draw one of three cards bearing either a torch, skull, or vote. The person who draws the torch must decide which of the other castaways drew the vote card. If they pick correctly, the torch card and vote card holders will win an extra vote, while the skull card holder becomes ineligible to vote at their next Tribal Council, and vice versa.
    • (Unknown Advantage): Two of the three castaways attending the journey on Day 7 will be randomly selected to compete in an individual challenge to win an advantage. If they fail to complete the challenge in time, they will lose their vote.
    • (Unknown Advantage): The three castaways attending the journey on Day 11 will select one person among themselves to compete in an individual challenge to win an advantage. If they fail to complete the challenge in time, they will lose their vote.
  • 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.
  • Double Elimination: On Day 14, the Nuinui tribe was subjected to a Double Elimination, 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 Nuinui camp, while the other was sequestered at the old Siga 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. Unlike previous seasons, this season's Final Tribal Council was held as a single continuous discussion without being divided into "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast" sections.

Castaways[]

Contestant Tribe Affiliation Finish Votes
Against
Original Tribe Merged Tribe
S46 jelinsky t David Jelinsky
21, Las Vegas, NV
Slot Machine Salesman
Yanu 1st Voted Out
Day 3
5
S46 jess t Jess Chong
37, San Francisco, CA
Software Engineer
Yanu 2nd Voted Out
Day 5
4
S46 randen t Randen Montalvo
40, Orlando, FL
Aerospace Tech
Nami Evacuated
Day 7
0
S46 bhanu t Bhanu Gopal
40, Acton, MA
IT Quality Analyst
Yanu 3rd Voted Out
Day 9
4
S46 jem t Jem Hussain-Adams
31, Chicago, IL
International Brand Mentor
Siga 4th Voted Out
Day 11
4
S46 moriah t Moriah Gaynor
28, San Diego, CA
Program Coordinator
Siga 5th Voted Out
Day 13
10
S46 tim t Tim Spicer
30, Atlanta, GA
College Coach
Siga Nuinui 6th Voted Out
Day 14
4
S46 soda t Soda Thompson
27, Lake Hopatcong, NJ
Special Ed Teacher
Nami 7th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 14
4
S46 tevin t Tevin Davis
24, Richmond, VA
Actor
Nami 8th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 16
8
S46 hunter t Hunter McKnight
27, French Camp, MS
Science Teacher
Nami 9th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 17
12
S46 tiffany t Tiffany Nicole Ervin
32, Elizabeth, NJ
Artist
Yanu 10th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 19
5
S46 venus t Venus Vafa
24, Toronto, ON
Data Analyst
Nami 11th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 21
10
S46 q t Q Burdette
29, Memphis, TN
Real Estate Agent
Yanu 12th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 23
13
S46 maria t Maria Shrime Gonzalez
47, Dallas, TX
Parent Coach
Siga 13th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 24
4
S46 liz t Liz Wilcox
35, Orlando, FL
Marketing Strategist
Nami Eliminated
8th Jury Member
Day 25
0
S46 ben t Ben Katzman
31, Miami, FL
Musician
Siga Second
Runner-Up
4
S46 charlie t Charlie Davis
25, Boston, MA
Law Student
Siga Runner-Up 2
S46 kenzie t Kenzie Petty
28, Charlotte, NC
Salon Owner
Yanu Sole Survivor 1

Season Summary[]

The 18 castaways were divided into three tribes: Nami, Siga, and Yanu. While the Siga tribe was able to work as a harmonious unit and lost only one Immunity Challenge, their rivals were plagued by interpersonal conflict. While Nami went undefeated in Immunity Challenges, tension persisted surrounding Venus, who found herself the tribe pariah. Meanwhile, Yanu took on the majority of pre-merge losses, quickly being reduced to a trio of Kenzie, Q, and Tiffany ahead of the Day 13 merge.

The early merge saw the establishment of the Journey Six alliance, which had formed between Hunter, Q, and Tim during a previous journey. However, this alliance dissolved as quickly as it began, allowing the pair of Charlie and Maria to rise to power within the Nuinui tribe. Under their lead, a string of blindsides were executed, with a record-breaking four players holding Hidden Immunity Idols being consecutively eliminated.

At the final six, Maria identified Charlie as the biggest threat remaining, betraying him to align with Q. In response, Charlie formed a new alliance with Ben, Kenzie, and Liz, eliminating Q and Maria in turn. After Ben won the Final Immunity Challenge on Day 25, he selected Charlie to join him in the Final Tribal Council, sending Kenzie and Liz to the fire-making challenge. Kenzie ultimately defeated Liz, becoming the third finalist.

At Final Tribal Council, the jury intensely grilled the Final Three on their performances, calling each finalist out for an apparent lack of strategic initiative. Ultimately, Kenzie's charismatic delivery in explaining her social game and motivation to win the million-dollar prize won over the jury, who awarded her the title of Sole Survivor over Charlie and Ben in a narrow 5-3-0 vote.

Episode Air Date Challenges Journey Eliminated
(vote)
Finish Viewers
(in millions)
Ratings/Share
(18-49)
Reward Immunity
1 "This Is Where the Legends Are Made" February 28, 2024 Nami Nami Tevin1 Jelinsky
(5-0)
1st Voted Out
Day 3
4.90[5] 0.83/9
Maria1
Siga
Jelinsky1
2 "Scorpio Energy" March 6, 2024 Nami2 None Jess
(4-1)
2nd Voted Out
Day 5
Siga2
3 "Wackadoodles Win" March 13, 2024 Nami2 Liz Randen
(no vote)
Evacuated
Day 7
Ben3
Siga2
Bhanu3
4 "Don't Touch the Oven" March 20, 2024 Yanu Nami None Bhanu
(3-0)
3rd Voted Out
Day 9
Nami Siga
5 "Tiki Man" March 27, 2024 Nami2 Hunter4 Jem
(4-2)
4th Voted Out
Day 11
Tim
Yanu2
Q
6 "Cancel Christmas" April 3, 2024 Ben, Hunter, Kenzie,
Q, Tevin, Tim
[Tiffany]2
Moriah
(10-1)
5th Voted Out
Day 13
7 "Episode Several" April 10, 2024 Kenzie Tim
(4-2)
6th Voted Out
Day 14
Maria4 Soda
(4-2)
7th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 14
(Charlie,
Liz,
Soda,
Tevin,
Venus)
8 "Hide 'n Seek" April 17, 2024 None Hunter Tevin
(8-2)
8th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 16
9 "Spicy Jeff" April 24, 2024 None Charlie Hunter
(4-4-1;
6-1)2
9th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 17
10 "Run the Red Light" May 1, 2024 Q
[Kenzie,
Maria,
Tiffany]
Charlie Tiffany
(5-3)
10th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 19
11 "My Messy, Sweet Little Friend" May 8, 2024 Maria2 Venus
(5-1-1)
11th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 21
[Ben, Q]
12 "Mamma Bear" May 15, 2024 Charlie
[Kenzie,
Liz]
Maria Q
(4-2)
12th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 23
13 "Friends Going to War" May 22, 2024 Kenzie2 Maria
(4-1)
13th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 24
[Ben]
None Ben Liz
(no vote)7
Eliminated
8th Jury Member
Day 25
Jury Vote Ben
(5-3-0)
Second
Runner-Up
Charlie
(5-3-0)
Runner-Up
Kenzie
(5-3-0)
Sole Survivor
14 "Aftershow"
Notes:
^1 During the journey on Day 2, Maria and Tevin each won an extra vote, while Jelinsky lost his vote at his next Tribal Council.
^2 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.
^3 During the journey on Day 7, Ben and Bhanu each lost their vote at their next Tribal Council.
^4 During the journey on Day 11, Hunter lost his vote at his next Tribal Council.
^5 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 (Maria) won reward for their team.
^6 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote would commence.
^7 Instead of a traditional vote, the winner of the Immunity Challenge, Ben, would choose someone to take with them to the Final Three. He chose Charlie. The remaining two castaways, Kenzie and Liz, would compete in a fire-making challenge to determine the last finalist.

Voting History[]

Original Tribes Merged Tribe
Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Voted Out S46 jelinsky t
Jelinsky
S46 jess t
Jess
S46 randen t
Randen
S46 bhanu t
Bhanu
S46 jem t
Jem
S46 moriah t
Moriah
S46 tim t
Tim
S46 soda t
Soda
S46 tevin t
Tevin
Tie S46 hunter t
Hunter
S46 tiffany t
Tiffany
S46 venus t
Venus
S46 q t
Q
S46 maria t
Maria
S46 liz t
Liz
S46 ben t
Ben
S46 charlie t
Charlie
S46 kenzie t
Kenzie
Vote 5-0 4-1 No vote2 3-0 4-2 10-1 4-2 4-2 8-2 4-4-15 6-1 5-3 5-1-1 4-2 4-1 No vote6 5-3-0
Kenzie Jelinsky Jess Bhanu Moriah Tim Tevin Q Hunter Q Venus Q Maria Jury Vote
Charlie Jem Venus Soda Tevin Hunter Hunter Tiffany Venus Q Maria
Ben None1 Moriah Hunter Tevin Hunter Hunter Tiffany Kenzie Q Maria
Liz Moriah Soda Tevin Q Q Tiffany Venus Q Maria Eliminated Charlie
Maria Jem Moriah Soda Tevin Hunter Hunter Tiffany Venus Charlie Ben Kenzie
Jem3
Q Jelinsky Jess Bhanu Moriah Tim Tevin Ben None Tiffany Venus Charlie Kenzie
Venus Moriah Soda Tevin Q Hunter Q Q Kenzie
Tiffany Jelinsky Jess Bhanu Moriah Tim Tevin Hunter Hunter Q Kenzie
Hunter None1 Tim Venus Q None Charlie
Tevin Moriah Venus Venus Kenzie
Soda Moriah Venus Charlie
Tim Jem Moriah Hunter
Moriah Ben None4
Jem Ben
Bhanu Jelinsky Jess None1
Randen Evacuated
Jess Jelinsky Bhanu
Jelinsky None1
Notes:
^1 This castaway lost their vote at the summit, thus they were unable to cast a vote.
^2 Randen was evacuated due to his medical condition. No vote occurred for his removal.
^3 This castaway played an Extra Vote advantage, allowing them to vote twice at Tribal Council.
^4 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.
^5 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote was held where the castaways involved in the tie would not vote and the remaining castaways could only vote for those involved in the tie.
^6 Instead of a traditional vote, the winner of the Immunity Challenge, Ben, would choose someone to take with them to the Final Three. He chose Charlie. The remaining two castaways would compete in a fire-making challenge to determine the last finalist.

Trivia[]

  • Day 11 of Survivor 46 marks the latest point in any season where none of the remaining contestants had received any elimination votes.
  • Survivor 46 is the first season to have five African-American contestants make the merge, breaking the record previously held by Survivor 41.
  • Survivor 46 is the first season with a red merged tribe not to also have a yellow and a blue starting tribe.
  • Survivor 46 holds the record for most people voted out while in possession of a Hidden Immunity Idol, with 5. This breaks the record previously set by Island of the Idols.
    • By extension, Survivor 46 holds the record for most idols "flushed out" by a vote, with 5.
    • Survivor 46 also holds the record for most consecutive people voted out while in possession of an idol, with 4 (Hunter, Tiffany, Venus, and Q).
  • Survivor 46 is the first season since Kaôh Rōng where no Hidden Immunity Idols were played.
  • Survivor 46 is the first season since Philippines where none of the finalists ever had a Hidden Immunity Idol or advantage.
    • It is the first season since Guatemala where none of the final five ever had an idol.
  • Survivor 46 is the fourth season to have two women compete in a fire-making challenge at the final four, after Panama, Cook Islands, and Kaôh Rōng.
    • Kenzie is the first female Sole Survivor to win the fire-making challenge.

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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