Survivor U.K. (2023)

Survivor U.K. (2023) is the first season of the BBC incarnation of the British reality show, Survivor, and the third season overall.

The season's early gameplay was largely driven by physical strength, with weaker players being largely targeted. Following a mock vote and a tribe switch, the strategic game went into full force, with Ren Elvidge and Shai Ravindra being caught for their deception. At the merge, Ashleigh Bishop and Christopher Haul flipped on Lee Reeves, who outed them as a 'power couple'. Ashleigh was voted out shortly after, leaving Christopher as a clear target. However, the former Caletón members capitalised on the opportunity to form a majority and blindsided Doug Swinbanks. However, in a shock reversal of fortune, the former La Nena members then convinced Matthew Haywood to flip on his alliance, and strategic and physical force Tinuke Oyediran was blindsided. After her ally Nathan Dyke found a Hidden Immunity Idol and Christopher won immunity, Laurence Cardwell then became collateral damage, before Nathan, Pegleg Bennett and Hannah Baptiste were all voted out in quick succession for being jury threats before the Final Tribal Council.

After 34 days in the Dominican Republic, Matthew Haywood defeated Leilani Sen and Christopher Haul in a 6-1-1 jury vote to become the Sole Survivor.

Production[]

This season is the second iteration of Survivor to air in the United Kingdom. Survivor (U.K.) first aired on ITV in 2001 as Survivor (U.K.): Pulau Tiga but received poor ratings and comparatively less media attention than the Channel 4 reality TV show Big Brother, which first aired in July 2000. A second season, Survivor (U.K.): Panama, was commissioned, and multiple changes were implemented to increase viewership, including audience voting and a reduced cast, but ratings didn't increase and the show was cancelled following the airing of Panama.

Since 2017, there were rumours that the BBC was planning a new iteration of Survivor (U.K.), with a source telling The Sun in April 2022 that the BBC would revive the series. On September 5, 2022, the BBC confirmed that a new season would be produced for them, featuring 18 castaways divided into two tribes competing throughout 16 hour-long episodes to win £100,000—equivalent to roughly US$120,000. The season was filmed in Playa Caletón, in the Dominican Republic, and was hosted by comedian Joel Dommett.

Twists/Changes[]

Tribe Divisions: The 18 castaways are divided into 2 tribes of 9. No unifying theme was used in dividing the tribes.
Hidden Immunity Idol: A Hidden Immunity Idol is hidden at each of the tribes' camps.
The Outpost: On Day 6, each tribe had to choose one person to visit the Outpost. There, the person had to choose one of three options to take back to their camp—a large fish; a small fish with a clue to the location of the Hidden Immunity Idol, which they had to reveal to another tribemate of their choice; or a baked potato with a Hidden Immunity Idol clue, which they could keep for themselves.
Tribe Switch
- Mock Vote: At the Day 10 Tribal Council, instead of voting someone out of the game, the tribe was instructed to vote for a member to join the rival tribe.
- Summit: On Day 14, each tribe had to choose three people to attend a summit. There, each group of three had 5 minutes to pick two of themselves to switch to the other tribe.
Caged Idol: On Day 27, a locked lobster cage containing a Hidden Immunity Idol was placed in camp. The castaways had to find a key to unlock the cage, with a clue to its location atop the cage.
Extra Vote: A castaway would get the right to vote twice at the same Tribal Council. This item, then referred to as an unknown advantage, was awarded to the highest bidder at the Survivor Auction.
Final Three: For the first time in Survivor (U.K.), the Final Tribal Council featured three finalists.
Increased Jury: For the first time, the jury comprised eight members, one more than in previous seasons.

Castaways[]

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation				Finish	Votes Against
Contestant		Original Tribe	First Switched Tribe	Second Switched Tribe	Merged Tribe	Finish	Votes Against
	Richard Kinnear McKell 36, Dalkeith, Midlothian Pensions Manager/RAF Reservist	Caletón				1st Voted Out Day 2	7
	Sabrina Pace-Humphreys 45, Stroud, Gloucestershire Charity Founder	La Nena				2nd Voted Out Day 5	5
	Rach Carstairs 23, Glasgow, Scotland Personal Trainer	La Nena				3rd Voted Out Day 7	7
	Rachel Golding 40, Whitstable, Kent Insurance Claims Handler	Caletón	Caletón			4th Voted Out Day 13	5
	Ren Elvidge 28, London, England Network Data Scientist	La Nena	La Nena	La Nena		5th Voted Out Day 15	5
	Jess Woburn 38, London, England Fitting Model	Caletón	Caletón	Caletón		6th Voted Out Day 17	4
	Shai Ravindra 33, London, England Finance Risk Manager	Caletón	Caletón	Caletón		7th Voted Out Day 18	4
	Lee Reeves 28, Belfast, Northern Ireland Professional Boxer	La Nena	La Nena	La Nena	Calena	8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 20	7
	Ashleigh Bishop 34, London, England Brand Strategist	La Nena	La Nena	La Nena		9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 21	15
	Doug Swinbanks 32, Isle of Mull, Argyll and Bute Flood Risk Consultant	La Nena	La Nena	Caletón		10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 24	7
	Tinuke Oyediran 30, London, England Professional Roller Skater	Caletón	Caletón	La Nena		11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 26	4
	Laurence Cardwell 29, London, England Entrepreneur	Caletón	Caletón	Caletón		12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 28	7
	Nathan Dyke 35, Manchester, England Fitness Instructor/Operations Manager	Caletón	Caletón	Caletón		13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 30	8
	Pegleg Bennett 54, St Agnes, Cornwall Surf School Owner	La Nena	La Nena	Caletón		14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 32	6
	Hannah Baptiste 30, London, England Semi-Professional Footballer	La Nena	La Nena	La Nena		15th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 33	4
	Christopher Haul 36, Bridgend, Wales Singer/Songwriter	La Nena	La Nena	La Nena		Runners-Up	12
	Leilani Sen 45, Hertford, Hertfordshire Barista/Cleaner	Caletón	La Nena	La Nena		Runners-Up	5
	Matthew Haywood 21, Cumbria, England Hospitality Worker	Caletón	Caletón	La Nena		Sole Survivor	1

Season Summary[]

In the beginning, 18 contestants were divided into two tribes: Caletón and La Nena. Though La Nena fared slightly stronger in challenges, both tribes kept an even number of members during the early phase of the game. Both tribes decisions on voting tended to boil down challenge strength in the early stages of the game. On Day 10, Leilani was voted out of Caletón but instead of being eliminated, she was sent to La Nena – the series' first tribe switch.

Shortly after, there was a second tribe switch in which two members from each tribe changed. As a result of this switch, Caletón started to lose frequently. However, Doug and Pegleg, who were new to the tribe, managed to survive the votes by forming strong relationships with the original Caletón members.

On Day 19, the two tribes merged into Calena. Despite planning an alliance, the original La Nena members proved to be too dysfunctional to work together, causing multiple schemes that resulted in the elimination of original La Nena member Lee. Consensus targets Ashleigh and Doug were then targeted and voted out – both of whom originated from La Nena, giving original Caletón the lead in numbers. Sensing trouble, outsider Christopher planned with ex-Caletón member Matthew to flip on his alliance by telling him he was at the bottom of it and that Tinuke was running it. The plan worked and the flip initiated a streak of Caletón members being eliminated.

The final 6 of the series was divided into three tight duos: Christopher and Matthew, Nathan and Leilani, and Hannah and Pegleg. Each duo was fighting for the votes of another to gain a majority, resulting in Hannah and Pegleg being the swing vote. Ultimately, they chose to vote out Nathan alongside Christopher and Matthew. Christopher and Matthew then used this as leverage to recruit Leilani into their alliance and voting out Pegleg and Hannah as revenge at the final 4 and 5 respectively, making them the final 3 contestants. During the Final Tribal Council, the jury mostly discarded Leilani's gameplay, considering it incompetent. Christopher received mixed reactions from them for his frantic gameplay and shaky relationships but was praised for his challenge ability. On the other hand, Matthew's well-timed gameplay decisions and strategic use of his young age to be underestimated was applauded by the jury, which led them to award him the win in a 6–1–1 jury vote.

Episode	Air Date	Challenges		Eliminated (vote)	Finish
Episode	Air Date	Reward	Immunity	Eliminated (vote)	Finish
1	October 28, 2023	La Nena	La Nena	Richard (7-1-1)	1st Voted Out Day 2
2	October 29, 2023	La Nena	Caletón	Sabrina (5-2-2)	2nd Voted Out Day 5
3	November 4, 2023	None	Caletón	Rach (5-3)	3rd Voted Out Day 7
4	November 5, 2023	Caletón	La Nena	Leilani (7-1)¹	Sent to La Nena Day 10
5	November 11, 2023	Caletón²	La Nena	Rachel (5-2)	4th Voted Out Day 13
5	November 11, 2023	La Nena²	La Nena	Rachel (5-2)	4th Voted Out Day 13
6	November 12, 2023	None	Caletón	Ren (5-2-1)	5th Voted Out Day 15
7	November 18, 2023	La Nena	La Nena	Jess (4-2)	6th Voted Out Day 17
8	November 19, 2023	None	La Nena	Shai (3-2)	7th Voted Out Day 18
9	November 25, 2023	Survivor Auction	Doug	Lee (7-4)	8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 20
10	November 26, 2023	None	Pegleg	Ashleigh (4-2-0)³	9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 21
11	December 2, 2023	Christopher, Doug, Matthew, Tinuke [Pegleg]	Tinuke	Doug (5-3-2)	10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 24
12	December 3, 2023	Christopher, Matthew [Laurence]	Laurence	Tinuke (4-3-1)	11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 26
13	December 9, 2023	None	Christopher	Laurence (5-1-1)⁴	12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 28
14	December 10, 2023	Christopher, [Hannah, Pegleg]	Pegleg	Nathan (4-2)	13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 30
15	December 16, 2023	None	Christopher	Pegleg (4-1)	14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 32
16	December 17, 2023	None	Christopher	Hannah (3-1)	15th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 33
		Jury Vote		Leilani Christopher (6-1-1)	Runners-Up
		Jury Vote		Matthew (6-1-1)	Sole Survivor
Notes: ^1 In a surprise twist, Caletón was subjected to a mock vote, where the player voted out was switched to the other tribe. ^2 Because of injuries suffered during the final round of the challenge, the challenge was called off. Since both tribes finished in a 3-3 tie, both tribes received the reward. ^3 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user.

Voting History[]

		Original Tribes				First Switched Tribes	Second Switched Tribes			Merged Tribe
Episode		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Voted Out		Richard	Sabrina	Rach	Mock Vote	Rachel	Ren	Jess	Shai	Lee	Ashleigh	Doug	Tinuke	Laurence	Nathan	Pegleg	Hannah	Leilani	Christopher	Matthew
Vote		7-1-1	5-2-2	5-3	7-1¹	5-2	5-2-1	4-2	3-2	7-4	4-2-0²	5-3-2	4-3-1	5-1-1⁴	4-2	4-1	3-1	6-1-1
►►►	Matthew	Richard	—	—	Leilani	Rachel	Ren	—	—	Lee	~~Christopher~~	Doug	Tinuke	Laurence	Nathan	Pegleg	Hannah	Jury Vote
►►►	Christopher	—	Sabrina	Rach	—	—	Ren	—	—	Lee	Nathan	Leilani	Tinuke	Laurence	Nathan	Pegleg	Hannah
►►►	Christopher	—	Sabrina	Rach	—	—	Ren	—	—	Lee	Nathan	Leilani³	Tinuke	Laurence	Nathan	Pegleg	Hannah
►►►	Leilani	Richard	—	—	Rachel	—	Ren	—	—	Lee	Ashleigh	Doug	Christopher	Pegleg	Christopher	Pegleg	Hannah
►►►	Hannah	—	Ashleigh	Rach	—	—	Ashleigh	—	—	Ashleigh	Ashleigh	Christopher	Tinuke	Laurence	Nathan	Pegleg	Leilani			Matthew
►►►	Pegleg	—	Rach	Ashleigh	—	—	—	Jess	Shai	Ashleigh	~~Christopher~~	Christopher	Tinuke	Laurence	Nathan	Matthew				Matthew
►►►	Nathan	Richard	—	—	Leilani	Rachel	—	Doug	Shai	Lee	Ashleigh	Doug	Christopher	Laurence	Christopher					Matthew
►►►	Laurence	Richard	—	—	Leilani	Rachel	—	Jess	Nathan	Lee	~~Christopher~~	Doug	Pegleg	Hannah						Matthew
►►►	Tinuke	Richard	—	—	Leilani	Rachel	Ren	—	—	Lee	~~Christopher~~	Doug	Christopher					Leilani
►►►	Doug	—	Sabrina	Rach	—	—	—	Jess	Shai	Ashleigh	Ashleigh	Christopher								Matthew
►►►	Ashleigh	—	Sabrina	Rach	—	—	Ren	—	—	Lee	Nathan								Christopher
►►►	Lee	—	Rach	Ashleigh	—	—	Leilani	—	—	Ashleigh										Matthew
►►	Shai	Richard	—	—	Leilani	Rachel	—	Jess	Nathan
►►	Jess	Shai	—	—	Leilani	Laurence	—	Doug
►►	Ren	—	Sabrina	Rach	—	—	Ashleigh
►	Rachel	Richard	—	—	Leilani	Laurence
	Rach	—	Sabrina	Ashleigh
	Sabrina	—	Ashleigh
	Richard	Leilani
Notes: ^1 The castaway voted out (Leilani) would be switched to the opposite tribe. ^2 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^3 This castaway played an Extra Vote advantage, allowing them to vote twice at Tribal Council. ^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user.