Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Doubles Showdown

Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Doubles Showdown is the fourth season of Survivor Philippines edition. Ten pairs of famous Filipino personalities with pre-existing relationships competed for the title of Sole Survivor.

This season is infamous for its high number of quits, as one individual player and two pairs left the game voluntarily during the first six days of the game, mostly for moral reasons.

Betong Sumaya Jr. defeated Mara Yokohama and Stef Prescott in a 4-2-1 jury vote to become the Sole Survivor.

Production[]

This season was filmed in San Vicente, Palawan, Philippines, marking the first time that the Filipino version had filmed in a domestic location.

Unlike the previous season, and any other celebrity and non-celebrity seasons in any Survivor franchise, this installment would feature celebrities paired as couples with preexisting relationships, similar to the Blood vs. Water twist that would later be employed in the American version's Survivor: Blood vs. Water and Survivor: San Juan del Sur. However, the doubles format resulted in a gender imbalance, with nine male and eleven female castaways. Each vote cast at Tribal Council was counted for both members of a pair (similar to Tied Destinies in Koh-Lanta), thus both would be voted out if one received the most votes. The doubles format was abolished on Day 11.

Teasers of castaways' identities were partially revealed in the third week of October 2011. A week after the teasers were revealed, the identities of the celebrity castaways were released.

Despite being an overall successful franchise, ratings were not on par with the concurrently airing Pinoy Big Brother, produced by rival network ABS-CBN. This, combined with the expensive production costs, forced GMA Network to cancel the series.

Twists/Changes[]

Shorter Season: The season was filmed for 36 days, three days shorter than the standard 39.
Couples Format and Paired Elimination: Ten local celebrity pairs were divided into two tribes with five pairs each. Prior to the Tribe Switch, every vote cast counted against the entire pair, thus eliminating an entire pair from the game at each Tribal Council.
Schoolyard Pick: The two winning pairs in the Day 1 challenge began the tribe selection process, sorting the eight remaining pairs into tribes.
Temptation Reward: The winning tribe in a Reward Challenge would choose one or two of their own to partake in the Temptation Reward. If the temptation was taken, they would receive an additional reward or an advantage in the game. Prior to the Tribe Switch, one pair from the tribe that won the Reward Challenge was selected to partake in the temptation, but after the tribe switch, only a single individual player was tempted.
Immunity Bracelet: This season's Immunity Bracelets were used akin to the American version's Hidden Immunity Idol. Various mechanisms in which the castaways could obtain Immunity Bracelets were used, including as part of a Temptation Reward. However, unlike the idol from the American version, it is only valid for one round of voting, therefore a castaway involved in a tied vote situation would have to play another idol for the revote.
Tribe Switch: On Day 11, a tribe switch occurred, splitting the pairs from each other. At this point, the paired elimination format was retired and the castaways began playing as individuals.
Second Reward Challenge in a Cycle: On Day 31, a surprise second Reward Challenge occurred in the same cycle, with the castaways competing for a car.

Castaways[]

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation				Finish	Votes Against
Contestant		Original Tribe	Post-Temptation Tribe	Switched Tribe	Merged Tribe	Finish	Votes Against
	Geneva Cruz KC's Ex-Wife	Bulan				Quit Day 2	0
	Alyssa Alano Aifha's Best Friend	Bulan				1st/2nd Voted Out Day 4	7
	Aifha Medina Alyssa's Best Friend	Bulan				1st/2nd Voted Out Day 4	7
	Jackie Forster Angelika's Friend	Tala	Tala			Quit Day 6	0
	Angelika Schmeing Jackie's Friend	Tala	Tala			Quit Day 6	0
	Filo Cucueco Ellen's Boyfriend	Tala	Tala			Quit Day 6	0
	Ellen Adarna Filo's Boyfriend	Tala	Tala			Quit Day 6	0
	Maribel Lopez Mara's Mother	Bulan	Tala			3rd Voted Out Day 8	11
	Isabel Granada Chuckie's Former On-Screen Partner	Tala	Tala	Bulan		4th Voted Out Day 12	9
	Carlo Gonzales Arthur's Cousin	Tala	Tala	Tala		5th Voted Out Day 15	4
	Chuckie Dreyfus Isabel's Teenage Love Team Partner	Tala	Tala	Tala	Apolaki	6th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 18	13
	Arthur Solinap Carlo's Cousin	Tala	Tala	Bulan		7th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 21	7
	John Odulio Arnold's Rugby Teammate	Bulan	Bulan	Bulan		8th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 23	5
	Gino Dela Peña Stef's Boyfriend	Bulan	Bulan	Bulan		9th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 26	9
	Arnold Aninion John's Rugby Teammate	Bulan	Bulan	Tala		10th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 28	5
	Maey Bautista Betong's Friend	Tala	Tala	Tala		11th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 32	3
	KC Montero Geneva's Ex-Husband	Bulan	Bulan	Bulan		12th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 34	5
	Stef Prescott Gino's Girlfriend	Bulan	Bulan	Tala		2nd Runner-Up	8
	Mara Yokohama Maribel's Daughter	Bulan	Bulan	Tala		Runner-Up	8
	Betong Sumaya Jr. Maey's Friend	Tala	Tala	Bulan		Sole Survivor	1

Season Summary[]

Ten pairs of Filipino celebrities were divided into two tribes named after local deities in Philippine mythology: the purple Bulan, named after the goddess of the moon, and the yellow Tala, named after the goddess of the stars. Throughout the pre-merge, a "Temptation Reward" was given to selected players from the tribe that won the Reward Challenge, giving the players an opportunity to earn an additional reward or advantages in the game. A paired elimination mechanic was introduced during which an entire pair was eliminated from the game. Several castaways however, one individual, Geneva Cruz, and pairs Angelika and Jackie, and Ellen and Filo quit the game, believing their morals to be too conflicting with the game's cutthroat nature, thus enforcing the paired elimination in only one Tribal Council. Geneva's partner however, KC, was allowed to compete as an individual castaway. When Bulan won a Reward Challenge, mother and daughter Maribel and Mara took the Temptation Reward, winning themselves an Immunity Bracelet for each of them, but Maribel had to switch to the other tribe where she was swiftly voted out; and because her mother's elimination occurred during the paired elimination phase, Mara had to give up her bracelet or she would be automatically eliminated as Tied Destinies was still in play.

The Day 11 Tribe Switch split the pairs, thus removing the paired elimination mechanic. However, tribal lines remained strong, with both tribes tying votes at their respective Tribal Councils, with the new Bulan settling their deadlock tie with a fire-making challenge, and the new Tala culminating theirs with a blindside through the use of an Immunity Bracelet. The tribes merged into the new Apolaki tribe with ten players, with the original Bulan having a 6-4 majority of the original Tala. At this point, only three full pairs remained: Betong and Maey, Gino and Stef, and Arnold and John.

At the merge, Chuckie was unanimously voted out due to his worsening health problems, while Arthur was voted out along tribal lines, decimating the original Tala members to just Betong and Maey. A dispute within the Bulan alliance however led to Gino and Stef siding with Betong and Maey, blindsiding John. Betong and Maey found inroads within Bulan majority and survived until the final five where they became the last full pair left, though the remaining Bulans regrouped and voted Maey out at the final five. On Day 34, a controversial whisper occurred between Maey and Gino, now jury members, and Betong, Mara, and Stef regarding voting out KC, believed to be a frontrunner to win. Despite the intervention of host Richard, KC was still voted out, making him the final member of the jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, all three finalists faced a generally hostile jury: Mara was accused of riding coattails and misusing the Immunity Bracelets she owned throughout the game, Stef of being a follower and being socially aloof, and Betong for soliciting pity from the jury and lacking conviction while answering their questions. In the end, Betong's strong relationships and fortitude won him the title of Sole Survivor in a 4-2-1 vote.

Cycle No.	Air dates	Challenges		Temptation		Eliminated (Vote)	Finish
Cycle No.	Air dates	Reward	Immunity	Player(s) Tempted	Took Temptation?	Eliminated (Vote)	Finish
1	November 14-18, 2011; November 21-22, 2011	Arnold/John		Angelika/Jackie		Geneva (no vote)	Quit Day 2
		Chuckie/Isabel				Geneva (no vote)	Quit Day 2
		Tala				Aifha/Alyssa (7-2)	1st/2nd Voted Out Day 4
2	November 23-25, 2011; November 28-29, 2011	Bulan	Bulan	Mara/Maribel		Angelika/Jackie (no vote)	Quit Day 6
3	November 29-December 2, 2011	Bulan	Bulan	Arnold/John		Ellen/Filo (no vote)	Quit Day 6
3	November 29-December 2, 2011	Bulan	Bulan	Arnold/John		Maribel (0-0; 6-1)	3rd Voted Out Day 8
4	December 5-9, 2011	Tala	Tala	Carlo		Isabel (3-3; 2-2 tiebreaker)	4th Voted Out Day 12
5	December 9, 2011; December 12 to 15, 2011	Tala	Bulan	Arnold		Carlo (3-0)	5th Voted Out Day 15
6	December 16, 2021; December 19 to 23, 2011	None	KC			Chuckie (9-1)	6th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 18
7	December 23, 2011; December 26-30, 2011; January 2, 2012	KC	Betong, KC, Stef			Arthur (6-3)	7th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 21
7	December 23, 2011; December 26-30, 2011; January 2, 2012	KC	Arnold			Arthur (6-3)	7th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 21
8	January 3-6, 2012; January 9, 2012	John [Arnold, Betong]	Arnold			John (4-2-1-1)	8th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 23
9	January 10-13, 2012; January 16-17, 2012	KC [Betong, Gino]	Stef			Gino (4-2-1)	9th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 26
10	January 18-20, 2012; January 23-24, 2012	Arnold	~~Maey~~ (Betong)			Arnold (4-2)	10th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 28
11	January 25-27, 2012; January 30-February 2, 2012	KC [Stef]	KC			Maey (3-2)	11th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 32
11	January 25-27, 2012; January 30-February 2, 2012	KC [Betong]	KC			Maey (3-2)	11th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 32
12	February 3, 2012; February 6, 2012	None	Mara			KC (3-1)	12th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 34
13	February 7-10, 2012	Jury Vote				Stef (4-2-1)	2nd Runner-Up
						Mara (4-2-1)	1st Runner-Up
						Betong (4-2-1)	Sole Survivor
Notes:

Voting History[]

		Original Tribes		Post-Temptation Tribes⁴				Switched Tribes⁶				Merged Tribes
Cycle No.		1		2	3			4			5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Finale
Voted Out		Geneva	Aifha Alyssa	Angelika Jackie	Ellen Filo	Null	Maribel	Tie	Deadlock	Isabel	Carlo	Chuckie	Arthur	John	Gino	Arnold	Maey	KC	Stef	Mara	Betong
Vote		No vote¹	7-2	No vote²	No vote³	0-0⁵	6-1	3-3⁷	2-2⁸	Tiebreaker	3-0⁹	9-1	6-3	4-2-1-1	4-2-1	4-2	3-2	3-1	4-2-1
►►►	Betong	—	—	—	—	~~Maribel~~	Maribel	Gino	Gino	—	—	Chuckie	Mara	John	Gino	Arnold	Stef	KC	Jury Vote
►►►	Mara	—	Aifha & Alyssa	—	—	—		—			Carlo	Chuckie	Arthur	KC	Gino	Stef	Maey	KC
►►►	Stef	—	Aifha & Alyssa	—	—	—		—			Carlo	Chuckie	Arthur	John	Arnold	Arnold	Maey	KC
►►►	KC	—	Aifha & Alyssa	—	—	—		Isabel	Isabel	—	—	Chuckie	Arthur	Mara	Mara	Arnold	Maey	Betong			Betong
►►►	Maey	—	—	—	—	~~Chuckie & Isabel~~	Maribel	—			~~Stef~~	Chuckie	Mara	John	Gino	Arnold	Stef				Betong
►►►	Arnold	—	Aifha & Alyssa	—	—	—		—			Carlo	Chuckie	Arthur	KC	Gino	Stef				Mara
►►►	Gino	—	Aifha & Alyssa	—	—	—		Isabel	None	—	—	Chuckie	Arthur	John	Mara				Stef
►►►	John	—	Aifha & Alyssa	—	—	—		Isabel	Isabel	—	—	Chuckie	Arthur	Stef						Mara
►►►	Arthur	—	—	—	—	~~Chuckie & Isabel~~	Maribel	Gino	Gino	—	—	Chuckie	Mara								Betong
►►►	Chuckie	—	—	—	—	~~Maribel~~	Maribel	—			~~Stef~~	John									Betong
►►	Carlo	—	—	—	—	~~Chuckie & Isabel~~	Maribel	—			~~Stef~~
►►	Isabel	—	—	—	—	~~Maribel~~	Maribel	Gino	None	Voted out
►	Maribel	—	Aifha & Alyssa	—	—	~~Chuckie & Isabel~~	Arthur & Carlo
►	Ellen	—	—	—	Quit
►	Filo	—	—	—	Quit
►	Angelika	—	—	Quit
►	Jackie	—	—	Quit
	Aifha	—	Mara & Maribel
	Alyssa	—	Mara & Maribel
	Geneva	Quit
Notes: ^1 Geneva quit the game due to emotional distress. Her partner KC however, was allowed to compete as an individual contestant. ^2 Angelika and Jackie quit the game, believing their morals conflicted with the nature of the game. No vote occurred during their removal. ^3 Shortly after Angelika and Jackie's exit, Ellen and Filo also expressed their desire to quit the game, citing the harsh realities of the game were too much to bear. ^4 By taking the twin Immunity Bracelets during the Temptation Reward, Maribel and Mara were separated, with Maribel going to Tala. ^5 All votes cast were negated, causing a null vote. Survivor Philippines rules stated that playing an Immunity Bracelet was only effective for one voting round; thus the castaways who played were eligible to be voted for in voting rounds following tie and null votes. Further, because Maribel was eliminated and her Immunity Bracelet used, Mara was forced to discard her own bracelet, lest she will be eliminated as well as the paired elimination mechanic was still in play. ^6 Following the Tribe Switch, the paired elimination format is abolished; thus the castaways began competing as individual contestants. ^7 Tribal Council 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. ^8 The tie vote turned into a deadlock. Per Survivor Philippines rules, a fire-making challenge would be held between the tied players . ^9 An Immunity Bracelet was played, negating all votes against its user.

Trivia[]

Red Buffs were given to the castaways' loved ones during the Family Visit.
This is the only season in the Survivor franchise to incorporate the Blood vs. Water twist to not feature anyone from the Survivor (U.S.) franchise, Survivor: Blood vs. Water and Survivor: San Juan del Sur are part of the U.S. franchise and Australian Survivor: Blood v Water features Sandra Diaz-Twine, a castaway from the American series.

References[]

Survivor Philippines Seasons
Thailand · Palau · Celebrity Showdown · Celebrity Doubles Showdown