Another batch of strangers tried to outwit, outplay and outlast each other, as Survivor season 43 concluded on CBS. While the remote conditions, challenges and conflicts have made the competition series a hit, we can't discount the people who bring all those elements to life: the cast.
Eighteen contestants competed for $1 million on the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji. Jeff Probst, the only host Survivor has ever known, is back again, and said on Instagram this season they're going to look at "how that society that they form directly impacts the game they're playing." Remember, the Sole Survivor isn't just an exceptional player; they also have to convince the jury to give them the prize money.
Parade interviewed the players to get more details on who they are outside of the Survivor setting, but fans are also getting to know the players watching the show. We'll keep this page updated as the season go along with eliminations and other fun tidbits.
So without further adieu, let's meet the Survivor season 43 cast. Who got voted out and who ultimately won the top prize?
Mike Gabler
Mike Gabler, a 52-year-old heart valve specialist from Meridian, Idaho, is the Survivor season 43 winner. And it wasn't particularly close. In the final tribal council against Cassidy and Owen, Gabler earned seven of the eight votes from the jury.
Survivor season 43 eliminated contestants
Here are the contestants that have been eliminated so far in Survivor season 43:
Morriah Young
Morriah Young, the teacher from Philadelphia, was the first castaway voted out by her tribe (Baka). She didn't take it too hard though, telling her fellow tribemates, "I love you guys. It's okay." Guessing other contestants may not handle the moment with as much grace this season.
Justine Brennan
Justine Brennan was the first member of the Vesi tribe voted off the island. She basically predicted at the start of tribal council as she described the tribe as broken up into factions and dealing with trust issues. Whether or not Justine spoke it into existence, she was the one who's torch was extinguished when the votes were revealed.
Nneka Ejere
Nneka makes it two in a row castaways from the Vesi tribe to be eliminated. But she didn't seem to be grudging of her exit, calling her time on the show, "a dream come true."
Lindsay Carmine
Coco tribe had to send its first tribe member home after the Vesi and Baka tribe helped each other out in winning immunity to try and level the playing field. It seemed that everyone was going to be targeting Geo in this first tribal council, but Lindsay's paranoia about exiting proved too much for the tribe and ultimately manifested itself true as Lindsay was voted off the island.
Geo Bustamante
With Coco tribe forced to go to tribal council for the second week in a row, this time the votes went against Geo. With that decision, the Knowledge Is Power advantage was also removed from the game as Geo had picked that up earlier in the episode.
Elisabeth "Elie" Scott
Elie reached the point in Survivor where the three tribes merged, but no further, as she was the first person voted out of the now single (still unnamed) tribe. This came after earlier in the episode claiming that she was really feeling comfortable in the game. Perhaps too comfortable.
Dwight Moore
Dwight was voted out at the week 7 tribal council, however that wasn't the most interesting thing about tribal council, though Dwight was still involved. Though Dwight had picked up a secret idol that he could have played to help him avoid elimination, he didn't. But as the votes were being read, Jeanine kept appearing to try and have him give his idol to her as she saw the writing on the wall. Dwight never did (and probably couldn't anyway).
Jeanine Zheng
Jeanine Zheng was voted off the island in nearly unanimous vote on the November 9 episode of Survivor. And so the trend of Survivor season 43's female castaways making exiting continues, as we're now down to the final 10 contestants.
James Jones
James was the first castaway sent packing on a double elimination episode, this despite having the Knowledge is Power advantage, though he never used it. Entertainment Weekly explains that though it's labeled as an advantage, it actually hasn't done anyone too much good in this or past seasons.
Ryan Medrano
Ryan was the second person voted off in episode 9. This despite him walking into tribal and saying that he had about 30 pounds of clams that he fully intended to take with him if he were to be eliminated. That apparently did not sway his fellow castaways.
Noelle Lambert
The former US paralympian's time is up on Survivor. While she ultimately fell short of her goal to become the first amputee to win the reality series, getting to the final eight is no small accomplishment.
Sami Layadi
Sami was nearly able to get the votes to fall his way and remain in the game another week, but a late change from Jesse put him on the outs and when his Shot in the Dark failed, it was all she wrote for Sami.
Cody Assenmacher
Cody Assenmacher, the 35-year-old salesman from Hawai'i, just missed out on making it to the final five. Though he seemed confident that he was going to win the immunity challenge and lock his spot up, he ultimately fell flat and was voted out by his fellow castaways. He'll now join the jury to help determine the eventual winner.
Karla Cruz Godoy
Karla Cruz Godoy made the final five and seemed to be involved in many of the season's most crucial moments. However, she was not able to secure a spot in the final tribal council and instead joined the jury in determining who was going to be this season's winner.
Jesse Lopez
A lot of fans of Survivor saw Jesse as the favorite to win the season from the final five, but in the finale he was surprisingly eliminated before reaching the final tribal council.
Owen Knight
Owen made the final three and got to make his case for being the Survivor season 43 winner to the jury, but it clearly was not a convincing one. He earned no votes to win from the jury.
Cassidy Clark
Cassidy Clark performed better in the final tribal council, but not by much. She earned only a single vote to win the season from the jury.
Watch Survivor season 43 live on Wednesdays at 8 pm ET/PT. Episodes will be available to stream on Paramount Plus after on Thursdays.
