Wendell F. Holland II is the Sole Survivor of Survivor: Ghost Island. He later competed on Survivor: Winners at War.
A strong social player in Ghost Island, Wendell formed a long-term alliance with Domenick Abbate on the original Naviti tribe. After the tribe switch, they linked up with Malolo members Donathan Hurley and Laurel Johnson, and the four would gain control of the game shortly after the merge. After Domenick chose to bring Laurel to the Final Three, Wendell defeated Angela Perkins at the final four fire-making challenge to secure himself a spot at the Final Tribal Council, where both he and Domenick ended up tied with five jury votes each, marking the first time in Survivor history that the jury vote ended in a tie. The second runner-up, Laurel, then cast the winning vote for Wendell, to become the Sole Survivor.
Wendell started Winners at War in a powerful coalition that controlled the Dakal tribe with Nick Wilson, Sophie Clarke, and Yul Kwon. After a tribe switch, however, Wendell found himself on the same tribe as his ex-girlfriend Michele Fitzgerald, bringing out a more abrasive attitude that caused him to be targeted, though he would be kept safe due to his strong relationships with Michele and Nick. After the merge, Wendell looked to work with Jeremy Collins, causing Sophie to fear their budding relationship and prompting her to lead the charge to blindside him. Despite nearly winning the second Edge of Extinction re-entry challenge, he narrowly lost to Natalie Anderson and finished the season in 13th place.
Profile[]
Retrieved from CBS.com
Age: 33
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Survivor[]
Ghost Island[]
Wendell was initially placed on the Naviti tribe where he proved to be an asset to the tribe early on with his background as a furniture designer, as he used his building skills to help construct the shelter. He also built a strong bond with Domenick Abbate. At camp, when Sebastian Noel told Wendell that he wanted Domenick out, Wendell notified Domenick about it, leading to him stating that Chris Noble was the ringleader of the tribe mainly because of a rivalry between them that started after the opening Reward Challenge. Naviti however won the first two Immunity Challenges.
When a tribe switch occurred on Day 7, Wendell stayed on Naviti along with Chris, Domenick, Angela Perkins, and Morgan Ricke. Domenick, Morgan, and Wendell still targeted Chris and were also wary of Angela since she never worked with them until the switch. However, after losing the Day 9 Immunity Challenge, their plan was foiled when Chris was sent to Ghost Island via rock draw, causing a 4-4 split between the former Naviti and Malolo members. Domenick tried to build trust with the Malolos to vote out Angela by showing them a fake Hidden Immunity Idol, but this caused James Lim to distrust him and targeted one of the trio of Wendell, Domenick, and Morgan. At Tribal Council, Wendell, Morgan, and Domenick targeted Angela for being Chris's right-hand man, but Morgan was blindsided by the former Malolos. Back at camp following Morgan's blindside, Domenick and Wendell were left in the minority, but they had hope when Domenick told Wendell that he found a real idol and also when Donathan Hurley and Laurel Johnson talked to them about forming a Final Four Alliance. However, any strategy was put on hold as Naviti won the next two Immunity Challenges.
A second tribe switch occurred on Day 15. Wendell, along with Chris and Laurel, were switched to the new Yanuya tribe. Yanuya won the next Immunity Challenge after Wendell led them from behind. After Yanuya won the Day 18 Reward Challenge, Wendell found an idol that was revealed to be the Immunity Necklace that Erik Reichenbach gave to Natalie Bolton in Survivor: Micronesia. Yanuya won the last challenge before the merge.
When the tribes merged into the Lavita tribe on Day 20, the Naviti Alliance initially planned to use their 8-5 numbers advantage to pick off the former Malolos. However, Chris and Domenick's rivalry reached a boiling point. Domenick and Wendell approached Chris about the three of them working together, but were unsuccessful. At Tribal Council, Wendell joined almost the entire tribe in blindsiding Chris. The following morning, Wendell and Domenick reaffirmed their alliance with Donathan and Laurel. After the Day 25 Immunity Challenge, Michael Yerger wanted to target Wendell for his social game and tried to rally the former Malolos to vote against him. When the Naviti Alliance planned to split the vote between Michael and Libby Vincek, Libby was worried, but Wendell assured her that she was safe. At Tribal Council, Wendell joined the rest of the tribe in the split vote plan, with Libby being voted out after Michael played a Hidden Immunity Idol. The foursome of Wendell, Domenick, Donathan, and Laurel then took control of the game by voting out Desiree Afuye for trying to flip on the Naviti Alliance, then took out Michael during the Double Elimination twist.
At the Family Visit, Sebastian won the challenge and chose Wendell, Domenick, and Donathan to go with him. However, Wendell decided to decline the reward to volunteer to go to Ghost Island for an advantage. This move however, left the women bitter and had Kellyn Bechtold try to orchestrate his blindside. When Wendell got to Ghost Island, he received Malcolm Freberg's Final Immunity Challenge advantage from Survivor: Philippines. At the next Immunity Challenge, Wendell got to use his advantage, but he still lost the challenge. Despite being targeted by Kellyn, the Final Four Alliance stuck together in blindsiding Chelsea Townsend for being a physical threat after she won back-to-back Immunity Challenges. At the final seven however, Donathan turned on Wendell and Domenick, as he knew he was on the bottom and that he could not beat either of them in the end. Despite this, they spared him at Tribal Council when the vote resulted in a tie and voted Kellyn out in the revote.
Wendell and Domenick then went after Donathan for trying to betray their alliance. When Wendell won the final six Reward/Immunity Challenge, he chose Angela and Sebastian to go with him. Although Wendell and Domenick wanted to blindside Sebastian next for his likability, Wendell stated he chose Sebastian to make him still feel good about him in order to win his jury vote. At Tribal Council, Donathan was spared again as Sebastian was blindsided when he did not play his Extra Vote after Domenick made a bluff with his idol. When Wendell won the next Immunity Challenge, he wanted to make a move against Domenick and to play his idol on someone to try to gain the jury's respect. At Tribal Council, Wendell played his idol for Laurel to solidify their bond, but it only negated one vote and Donathan was finally voted out. When Domenick won the Final Immunity Challenge on Day 38, Domenick finally decided to target Wendell, but had to consider who had to go against him in the fire-making challenge. Domenick privately considered giving his Immunity Necklace to Angela and taking on Wendell himself in the fire-making challenge. At Tribal Council, however, Domenick chose to keep immunity and brought Laurel to the end, forcing Wendell to go against Angela in the fire-making challenge. Wendell ultimately won the fire-making challenge, making Angela the 10th member of the jury.
At the Final Tribal Council, Wendell explained how he used his building to help build his social game and that he also flew under-the-radar to let Domenick do most of the dirty work despite receiving votes against him a few times. While the jury praised him for his social game and laid-back strategy, they questioned his strategic moves compared to Domenick's. Following the jury voting, host Jeff Probst immediately read the votes, revealing a tie for the first time in Survivor history 5-5 between Wendell and Domenick. As the third place finalist, Laurel became the 11th and final juror and had to cast the winning vote. At the finale, it was revealed that Laurel voted for Wendell due to their bond throughout the game, making Wendell the Sole Survivor of Survivor: Ghost Island.
| Episode | Tribe Affiliation |
Challenge | Challenge Type | Sit-Out? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naviti | Open | Reward | Yes | Lost |
| Sled Zeppelin | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| Coming Up for Air | Reward/Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 2 | Along the Watch Tower | Reward/Immunity | No | Lost | |
| 3 | Water Slaughter | Reward | No | Won | |
| Cell Block Sea | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 4 | Rod Screw-It | Reward | No | Won | |
| Hitch A Ride | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| Switched Tribes, Day 15 | |||||
| 5 | Yanuya | Sir Duke | Immunity | No | 1st |
| 6 | Discy Business | Reward | No | 2nd | |
| Cruel Sea | Immunity | No | 1st | ||
| Tribes Merged, Day 20 | |||||
| 7 | Lavita | Audio Slave | Immunity | Lost | |
| 8 | Gone Shootin' | Reward | Won | ||
| Fijian Feast | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 9 | Caged Tigers | Reward | Lost | ||
| Take the Reins | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 10 | Crocodile Rock | Immunity | Lost | ||
| 11 | A Quick Affair | Reward | Invited1 | ||
| The Ball Drop | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 12 | Always on the Run | Reward | No | Won | |
| Seven Bridges Road | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 13 | Vin Skully | Reward/Immunity | Won | ||
| Pyramid Scheme | Immunity | Won | |||
| Stacked Up | Immunity | Lost | |||
| Sole Survivor, Day 39 | |||||
| Notes: ^1 Sebastian initially invited Wendell to share his reward. However, Wendell then forfeited the reward to send himself to Ghost Island.
| |||||
| Episode | Wendell's Votes |
Voted Against Wendell |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naviti Tribe Immune | |
| Naviti Tribe Immune | ||
| 2 | Angela | - |
| 3 | Naviti Tribe Immune | |
| 4 | Naviti Tribe Immune | |
| 5 | Yanuya Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Yanuya Tribe Immune | |
| 7 | Chris | - |
| 8 | Michael | |
| 9 | Desiree | - |
| 10 | Michael; Michael2 |
Michael; - |
| 11 | Chelsea | Angela, Chelsea, Kellyn |
| 12 | Kellyn; Kellyn3 |
- |
| 13 | Sebastian | Individual Immunity |
| Donathan | Individual Immunity | |
| Jury Votes for Wendell |
Angela, Chelsea, Donathan, Kellyn, Laurel,4 Sebastian | |
| Sole Survivor, Day 39 | ||
^1 In "The Sea Slug Slugger", Michael used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Wendell's vote against him.
^2 In "The Finish Line Is in Sight", the vote ended with a 2-2 tie between Laurel and Michael, forcing a revote. Wendell did not change his vote on the revote.
^3 In "Always Be Moving", the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Donathan and Kellyn, forcing a revote. Wendell did not change his vote on the revote.
^4 In "It Is Game Time Kids", the jury vote ended with a 5-5-0 tie between Wendell and Domenick. Per the rules, the second runner-up, Laurel, joined the jury and cast the deciding vote.
Winners at War[]
Wendell's initial strategy was to ease up on the shelter building and simply fade into the background. He was recruited by Sophie Clarke and Yul Kwon into an alliance with Nick Wilson in order for the less connected players to protect each other. Wendell pushed for allies of Rob Mariano to be voted out from Dakal, contributing to Amber Mariano and Tyson Apostol's vote outs prior to the tribe switch. The switch complicated Wendell's game as he was reunited with Michele Fitzgerald, the two having a prior relationship from outside the game. Fortunately, he had the majority with allies Yul and Nick on Sele with him. Though Michele tried to be friendly, Wendell appeared to be cold toward her, perhaps in an effort to prevent them from being seen as an obvious pair. Michele wasn't happy though, and she and Parvati Shallow began to plan his vote out.
Following an Immunity Challenge loss on Day 16, Wendell led the charge to vote out Parvati. Michele told Wendell that she would write his name down knowing there was nothing she could do to save Parvati, so that she could obtain Parvati's Fire Tokens. He was immediately hesitant because that meant if either Nick or Yul flipped, he would be voted out. Wendell also had a conversation with Parvati regarding her Fire Tokens, saying he would flip to her side if she gave them two of hers prior to Tribal Council. Not believing he was sincere, Parvati declined and instead tried to flip Nick against Wendell. That Tribal Council saw Wendell put all his cards on the table, admitting to being willing to backstab and bringing up his offer to Parvati. Parvati still declined, sealing her 3-2 vote out. Wendell's Tribal Council performance unnerved Yul, who tried to look out for Wendell. Wendell saw this feedback as a sign of Yul's fading trust in him. Wendell's talking during the Day 18 Immunity Challenge was cited as a possible reason for Sele's loss, frustrating Nick. Nick and Michele were choosing between Wendell and Yul to vote out, and ultimately felt Yul was a bigger threat, sparing Wendell in a 3-1 vote.
Following the merge, Wendell reconnected with his friend Jeremy Collins and revealed that Nick was his closest ally. Jeremy agreed to work with Wendell but secretly wanted to vote out Nick so that Wendell didn't have another option. Sophie recognized that Jeremy was trying hard to keep Wendell out of danger, so she shifted the target to Wendell. Wendell thought that the tribe would agree to vote out Adam Klein based on what he heard about his shifty gameplay so far this season. Unfortunately for him, Wendell was voted out 9-3 on Day 21. He bequeathed one Fire Token to Michele (having received one from her following the Parvati vote) and another to Nick.
Initially excluded from the core group of old-school players on the Edge of Extinction, Wendell was the sixth and final player to complete the coconut effort task and receive two Fire Tokens. Wendell proved to give Natalie Anderson some stiff competition when it came to searching for advantages, but Natalie's lengthy stay on the Edge gave her the experience needed to beat Wendell to them. Wendell came close to returning to the game on Day 35 but just came up short, ending his time as a player and officially making him a juror.
At the Final Tribal Council, Wendell felt he had a good grasp on how Tony Vlachos and Natalie fulfilled the "Outwit" criteria and asked Michele to explain how she fared in that category. He also asked Natalie to list everything she found and accomplished while on the Edge of Extinction. Wendell ultimately gave Tony his jury vote, contributing to his victory in a 12-4-0 vote.
| Episode | Tribe Affiliation |
Challenge | Challenge Type | Sit-Out? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dakal | Marooning | Reward/Immunity | No | Won |
| Blue Lagoon Bustle | Immunity | No | Lost | ||
| 2 | Draggin' the Dragon | Reward/Immunity | No | Won | |
| 3 | Along the Watch Tower | Reward/Immunity | No | Won | |
| 4 | Beyond the Wheel | Reward/Immunity | No | Lost | |
| Switched Tribes, Day 12 | |||||
| 5 | Sele | Block in a Hard Place | Immunity | No | 1st |
| 6 | Rice Race | Reward/Immunity | No | Lost | |
| 7 | Ball-istic Missiles | Reward1 | No | 2nd | |
| Dishwalla | Immunity | No | Lost | ||
| Tribes Merged, Day 19 | |||||
| 8 | Koru | Get a Grip | Immunity | Lost | |
| Voted Out, Day 21 | |||||
| 14 | Koru | Don't Call It a Comeback | Re-entry | Lost | |
| Eliminated, Day 35 | |||||
| Notes: ^1 An unaired Reward Challenge was held on Day 17.
| |||||
| Episode | Wendell's Votes |
Voted Against Wendell |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dakal Tribe Immune | |
| Amber | - | |
| 2 | Dakal Tribe Immune | |
| 3 | Dakal Tribe Immune | |
| 4 | Tyson | - |
| 5 | Sele Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Parvati | Michele, Parvati |
| 7 | Yul | Yul |
| 8 | Adam | Adam, Ben, Denise, Jeremy, Kim, Sarah, Sophie, Tony, Tyson |
| Voted Out, Day 21 | ||
| 9 | On Edge of Extinction | |
| 10 | ||
| 11 | ||
| 12 | ||
| 13 | ||
| 14 | ||
| Eliminated, Day 35 | ||
| Voted for Sole Survivor |
Tony | |
Post-Survivor[]
Wendell's promotional photo for The GOAT.
- Wendell used his prize money to further expand his furniture business and pay off his student loans.[4]
- Wendell was nominated for the 44th People's Choice Awards for The Competition Contestant of 2018.
- Wendell was previously in a relationship with Kaôh Rōng winner Michele Fitzgerald, though the two had ended their relationship prior to appearing on Winners at War.
- In 2020, Wendell co-hosted a home improvement series called Hot Mess House on HGTV.[5]
- In 2020, Wendell competed on an episode of Discovery+'s Beach Cabana Royale, where he was the first of the episode's three contestants to be eliminated.[6]
- In 2023, Wendell competed on Amazon Prime FreeVee's new reality competition show The GOAT.[7] He was exiled in Episode 7, finishing in 7th place.
- On May 19, 2023, Wendell's then-girlfriend Chelsea Brooks gave birth to their son, Wendell Carter.[8]
- On July 7, 2023, Wendell attended the wedding of Survivor 43 contestant Morriah Young.[9]
Trivia[]
- Wendell was Jeff Probst's pre-season winner pick for Ghost Island.[10]
- Wendell is the first castaway to win after a tied vote at the Final Tribal Council.
- Wendell is the fourth African-American castaway to win Survivor, following Vecepia Towery, Earl Cole, and Jeremy Collins.
- Wendell is the first male African-American Sole Survivor and the first man in a 10-person jury to not win unanimously.
- Wendell is the first man, and second castaway overall, to be on an auxiliary tribe and become the Sole Survivor, following Sarah Lacina.
- Wendell lost 26 lbs. during his time in Ghost Island and 25 lbs. during his time in Winners at War.[11]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=wendell%20holland%20ii%20birthday
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20230326021937/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/215830/
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20230422074409/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/216318/
- ↑ https://parade.com/673178/mikebloom/survivor-ghost-island-wendell-holland-builds-a-winning-game/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13179304/
- ↑ https://press.discoveryplus.com/home/hgtvs-beach-escape-lands-this-february-on-discovery-featuring-the-exclusive-special-beach-cabana-royale-hosted-by-nicole-snooki-polizzi/
- ↑ https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/the-goat-series-greenlit-amazon-freevee-1235599670/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cst0yp3xnO_/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CufuZ4DLtxa/
- ↑ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-ghost-island-wendell-holland-preseason-interview-1079634
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij6WXsag3h0
| Preceded by Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers  Ben Driebergen |
Sole Survivor Titleholder Ghost Island  Wendell Holland |
Succeeded by David vs. Goliath  Nick Wilson |
| Survivor: Ghost Island Castaways | |||||||||||||||||||
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