Survivor South Africa: Philippines

Survivor South Africa: Philippines
Season Information
Version	South Africa
Season No.	6
Filming Location	El Nido, Palawan, Philippines
Filming Dates	January 15, 2018 - February 22, 2018
Season Run	May 3, 2018 - August 16, 2018
No. of Days	39
No. of Castaways	18
Winner	Tom Swartz
Runner(s)-Up	Jeanne Michel
Tribes	Luzon Mindanao Visayas Araw
Prize for Winner	R1,000,000
Cast
Opening Sequence
Season Chronology
Previous	Champions
Next	Island of Secrets

Survivor South Africa: Philippines is the sixth season of Survivor South Africa.

Following a four-year hiatus, Survivor South Africa returned with Philippines, whose game format was modified to align more closely with the flagship American series. From the start of the season, the castaways played aggressively, leading to numerous blindsides and the earliest rock draw to occur in franchise history. Upon the merge, the game took a lull as Werner Joubert's Luzon Alliance marched to the end with little effective resistance. After Werner was voted out, Jeanne Michel and Tom Swartz emerged as the season's Final Two. Though both were chastised for riding on Werner's coattails, Tom was able to sway an apparently unfavorable jury to his side as he defeated Jeanne in a 6-1 jury vote to become the Sole Survivor.

To date, Philippines has produced five returning players (Palesa Tau, PK Phetoe, Seamus Holmes, Tevin Naidu, and Toni Tebbutt) for a future season.

Production

Philippines was filmed between January and February 2018 in El Nido, located in Palawan, a province of the Philippines. This was the first season to be produced by Afrokaans Film & Television, taking over from Endemol.

Twists/Changes

• Longer Game: The game lasted 39 days, twelve days longer than the previous four seasons.
• Hidden Immunity Idol: Hidden Immunity Idols were hidden at camp, at challenge sites, and at Tribal Council. Each Hidden Immunity Idol this season was distinct in appearance, making it more difficult for the players to know if the idols are real or fake.
  • Idol Transfer Rules: In a change from the previous season, idols could no longer be stolen from other castaways.
• Tribe Expansion: On Day 9, a third tribe, Visayas, was introduced, spreading the fifteen remaining castaways across three tribes of five.
• Double Tribal Council: On Day 16, only one tribe won immunity at the Immunity Challenge, with both losing tribes jointly attending Tribal Council, and each tribe voting out one member.
  • Mock Vote: In a surprise twist, the castaways who were voted out were instead switched to the opposite tribe, and had to choose one tribemate to switch along with them.
• Exile Island: On Day 30, the winner of the combined Reward/Immunity Challenge had to choose two people to be exiled.
• Extra Vote: An Extra Vote advantage was offered to the players that were sent to Exile Island on Day 30. The advantage was good until the final five.
• Juror Removal: The winner of the Final Immunity Challenge also earned the right to eliminate a juror of their choice, blocking them from voting at the Final Tribal Council.
• Reformatted Final Tribal Council: Instead of having each jury member speak one by one, an open forum was held to ensure a more insightful rapport between the jury and finalists.

Castaways

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation				Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Expanded Tribe	Switched Tribe	Merged Tribe
	Seamus Holmes 25, Durban, KZN Property Broker	Luzon				1st Voted Out Day 3	5
	Neil Voller 55, Johannesburg, GP HR Executive	Luzon				Eliminated Day 6	0
	Stacey-Lee Valentyn 27, Cape Town, WC Business Analyst	Mindanao				2nd Voted Out Day 8	6
	Ace Chetty 28, Johannesburg, GP Graphic Designer	Luzon	Luzon			3rd Voted Out Day 10	3
	Murishca Martheze 34, Cape Town, WC Marketing Manager	Mindanao	Visayas			4th Voted Out Day 13	3
	Marthunis Oosthuizen 29, Durban, KZN Investment Adviser	Mindanao	Mindanao			Quit Day 16	0
	Tevin Naidu 24, Durban, KZN Medical Doctor	Mindanao	Mindanao	Mindanao		5th Voted Out Day 18	3
	Josie Eveleigh 28, Cape Town, WC Travel Writer	Luzon	Luzon	Mindanao		6th Voted Out Day 21	10
	Vusi Mafulela 35, Johannesburg, GP Logistics Manager	Luzon	Visayas	Visayas	Araw	7th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 25	5
	Chané Mynhardt 28, Bloemfontein, FS Admin Clerk	Luzon	Visayas	Visayas		8th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27	7
	Palesa Tau 28, Johannesburg, GP Radio Presenter	Luzon	Visayas	Visayas		9th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 29	8
	Toni Tebbutt 38, Johannesburg, GP Content Developer	Mindanao	Luzon	Mindanao		10th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 30	5
	PK Phetoe 28, Pretoria, GP Mining Technician	Mindanao	Mindanao	Mindanao		11th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 33	13
	Katinka Oosthuizen 19, Mossel Bay, WC Social Media Influencer	Mindanao	Mindanao	Luzon		12th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 35	7
	Werner Joubert 34, Secunda, MP Pastor/Biokineticist	Mindanao	Luzon	Luzon		13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 37	9
	Annalize Sainsbury 44, Cape Town, WC Caterer	Luzon	Mindanao	Luzon		14th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 38	11
	Jeanne Michel 34, Cape Town, WC Radio Producer	Mindanao	Luzon	Luzon		Runner-Up	4
	Tom Swartz 41, Port Elizabeth, EC Adventure Camp Manager	Luzon	Visayas	Visayas		Sole Survivor	8

Season Summary

The game began with two tribes of nine, Luzon and Mindanao. Mindanao enjoyed early success by winning the first four challenges, with Luzon quickly becoming fractured which was exacerbated by Ace flipping back and forth, leading to a rock draw on Day 6 which eliminated their leader Neil. Two Tribe Switches saw the numbers even out at 5-5 at the merge.

Once the tribes merged, the post-swap Luzon Alliance headed by Werner began to systematically eliminate the former Visayas members along with outsiders on the tribe. At the final five, Katinka attempted a coup to take down the alliance only to be foiled by Tom, who leaked the plot to Werner, with Katinka swiftly paying the price. Werner's control of the game wouldn't last much longer however, as Jeanne persuaded Tom to turn against his most loyal ally. A surprise Final Two necessitated the need for a Juror Removal, with Jeanne winning the Final Immunity Challenge and choosing to remove Werner from the jury. She also decided to take Tom with her to the Final Two.

At the Final Tribal Council, both finalists were accused by the jury of being coattail riders and Tom in particular was criticised for his abrasive personality. However, a combination of Tom owning up to his faults and the jury's perception of Jeanne having got to the end purely by luck resulted in him being awarded the title of Sole Survivor in a 6-1 vote.

Episode	Air Date	Challenges		Eliminated (vote)	Finish
		Reward	Immunity
1	May 3, 2018	Mindanao	Mindanao	Seamus (5-4)	1st Voted Out Day 3
2	May 10, 2018	Mindanao	Mindanao	Neil (4-4; 3-3; tiebreaker)1, 2	Eliminated Day 6
3	May 17, 2018	Luzon	Luzon	Stacey-Lee (6-2-1)	2nd Voted Out Day 8
4	May 24, 2018	Luzon	Mindanao	Ace (3-2)	3rd Voted Out Day 10
		Mindanao	Visayas
5	May 31, 2018	Mindanao3		Murishca (3-1-0)4	4th Voted Out Day 13
		Luzon3
6	June 7, 2018	Visayas3		Marthunis (no vote)	Quit Day 16
				Josie (3-1)5	Sent to Mindanao Day 16
				Annalize (3-1)5	Sent to Luzon Day 16
7	June 14, 2018	Mindanao	Luzon	Tevin (3-1)	5th Voted Out Day 18
		Luzon	Visayas
8	June 21, 2018	Visayas	Visayas	Josie (2-1)	6th Voted Out Day 21
		Luzon	Luzon
9	June 28, 2018	None	Toni	Vusi (5-3-2)	7th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 25
10	July 5, 2018	Chané, Palesa, Toni, Werner	Katinka	Chané (1-1-0-0; 5-2)4, 1	8th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27
11	July 12, 2018	Palesa [Tom]	Werner	Palesa (6-2)	9th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 29
12	July 19, 2018	Tom3		Toni (5-2)	10th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 30
		[Jeanne, Werner]
13	July 26, 2018	Survivor Auction	Werner	PK (5-1)	11th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 33
14	August 2, 2018	Werner [Katinka, Tom]	Tom	Katinka (2-1-0)3	12th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 35
15	August 9, 2018	Tom [Jeanne]	Jeanne	Werner (3-1)	13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member6 Day 37
16	August 16, 2018	Jeanne3		Annalize (1-0)	14th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 38
				Werner (1-0)6	Removed from Jury Day 38
		Jury Vote		Jeanne (6-1)	Runner-Up
				Tom (6-1)	Sole Survivor
Notes: ^1 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor South Africa rules, a revote would commence. ^2 Per Survivor South Africa rules, in case of a deadlock tie, the non-immmune players would be forced to draw rocks. ^3 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge. ^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^5 In a surprise twist, Luzon and Mindanao were subjected to a mock vote, where the players voted out were switched to the other tribe. Those voted off, Annalize and Josie, were given the privilege to take an original tribemate to join them on their new tribe. They chose Katinka and Toni respectively. ^6 For winning the Final Immunity Challenge, Jeanne also earned the right to eliminate one of the jurors.

Voting History

		Original Tribes					Expanded Tribes					Switched Tribes		Merged Tribe
Episode		1	2			3	4	5	6			7	8	9	10		11	12	13	14	15	16
Voted Out		Seamus	Tie	Deadlock	Neil	Stacey-Lee	Ace	Murishca	Marthunis	Mock Vote	Mock Vote	Tevin	Josie	Vusi	Tie	Chané	Palesa	Toni	PK	Katinka	Werner	Annalize	Jeanne	Tom
Vote		5-4	4-41	3-32	Lottery3	6-2-1	3-2	3-1-04	No vote5	3-16	3-16	3-1	2-1	5-3-2	1-1-0-01,4,7	5-2	6-2	5-2	5-1	2-1-04	3-1	1-09	6-1
►►►	Tom	Seamus	Josie	Josie	—	—	—	Murishca	—			—	—	Vusi	PK	None	Palesa	PK	PK	Katinka	Werner	None	Jury Vote
►►►	Jeanne	—	—			Stacey-Lee	Ace	—	—	Josie	—	—	—	Vusi	PK	Chané	Palesa	Toni	PK	Annalize	Werner	Annalize
►►►	Annalize	Seamus	Josie	None	—	—	—	—	—	—	Katinka	—	—	Vusi	PK	Chané	Palesa	Toni	PK	Jeanne	Werner	None		Tom
																				Jeanne8
►►►	Werner	—	—			Stacey-Lee	Ace	—	—	Josie	—	—	—	Vusi	PK	Chané	Palesa	Toni	PK	Katinka	Annalize		None10
►►►	Katinka	—	—			Stacey-Lee	—	—	—	—	Annalize	—	—	Vusi	PK	Chané	Palesa	Toni	PK	Jeanne				Tom
►►►	PK	—	—			Jeanne	—	—	—	—	Annalize	Tevin	Josie	Palesa	Werner	Tom	Katinka	Toni	Annalize					Tom
►►►	Toni	—	—			Stacey-Lee	Ace	—	—	Josie	—	Tevin	Josie	Palesa	Chané	Chané	Palesa	PK						Tom
►►►	Palesa	Tom	Annalize	Annalize	—	—	—	Murishca	—			—	—	Katinka	Werner	Tom	Katinka							Tom
►►►	Chané	Seamus	Josie	Josie	—	—	—	Murishca	—			—	—	Katinka	Tom	None								Tom
►►►	Vusi	Tom	Annalize	Annalize	—	—	—	Chané	—			—	—	Katinka									Jeanne
►►	Josie	Tom	Annalize	None	—	—	Werner	—	—	Jeanne	—	Tevin	PK
►►	Tevin	—	—			Stacey-Lee	—	—	—	—	Annalize	Josie
►	Marthunis	—	—			Werner	—	—	Quit
►	Murishca	—	—			Stacey-Lee	—	Tom
►	Ace	Seamus	Annalize	Annalize	—	—	Werner
	Stacey-Lee	—	—			Werner
	Neil	Seamus	Josie	Josie	Eliminated
	Seamus	Tom
Notes: ^1 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor South Africa 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. ^2 Per Survivor South Africa rules, in case of a deadlock tie, the non-tied castaways would be forced to draw rocks, where the player who got the odd-colored rock was eliminated instead. ^3 Neil drew the odd-colored rock and was eliminated. ^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^4 Marthunis elected to quit the game. No vote occurred for his removal. ^6 Instead of being voted out, the castaways with the most votes would switch to the opposite tribe that attended Tribal Council with them. ^7 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user. ^8 This castaway played an Extra Vote advantage, allowing them to vote twice at Tribal Council. ^9 Annalize and Tom did not vote as they could only vote for each other. By virtue of winning the Final Immunity Challenge, only Jeanne voted. ^10 By winning the Final Immunity challenge, Jeanne earned the right to eliminate one of the jurors. She chose Werner.

Trivia

• Philippines is the first in the South African franchise to feature:
  • A rock draw.
  • Three pre-merge tribes.
  • A tribe expansion.
  • A Juror Removal.
• Philippines is the second South African season, after Panama, where the tribes were pre-determined by production instead of being formed by a random draw or Schoolyard Pick.