Survivor has been on the air for two decades and during that time, there have been some insane blindsides. Let’s take a look at the best from each season.
The blindside has become a major part of Survivor. It wasn’t as prominent in earlier seasons due to the lack of twists and advantages, but it was still a part of the show and in nearly every season, at least ONE person has been blindsided.
While there are a few pre-merge/pre-jury entries on this list, I tried to mostly stick with blindsides that occurred post-merge since the magnitude of those are much bigger than the early season ones.
Surely there are going to be some snubs on this list and your favorite blindside might not have made the cut. If that ends up being the case, let me know which blindside you would have included instead!
One last thing, I tried to include as many video clips as possible, but some were easier to find than others. Some slides might have a photo from Winners at War, as our photo gallery doesn’t go back too far.
So, let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit the best blindside from all 40 seasons! We’ll start with season one and finish up with the most recent season.
Best Blindside from Survivor: Borneo – Gretchen
This had to be the pick, right? It was the vote that paved the way for how Survivor would be run for the next 20 years. The four Tagis who had aligned early on in the game put four votes on Gretchen while the other six members of the newly formed Rattana tribe scattered their votes everywhere.
As more votes for Gretchen were revealed, all she could do was utter “It’s me” in pure shock. It’s crazy watching this transpire in the present day and thinking how the other six people couldn’t vote together, but remember – No one knew how to play the game yet. Gretchen was booted for being a threat and this vote is one of the more iconic ones in series history.
Best Blindside from Survivor: Australian Outback – Jerri
Old school seasons didn’t have as many blindsides and were usually more “Pagongings” due to no idols or advantages, but the Australian Outback had one post-merge and that was Jerri. She was mainly taken out because she was disliked by the majority of her Ogakor alliance.
Jerri was definitely surprised, as she said “Checkmate, you guys got me” as she picked up her torch and took it to Jeff to be snuffed. It was one of the only true blindsides in season two.