Survivor: Defending the less touted winners in Survivor history

Ben Driebergen – Winner of Survivor: Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers

Ben is yet another controversial winner and it makes sense as to why. He found idol after idol after idol and it seemed sketchy, but also, when Ben lost the final immunity challenge, that should have been it for him. He should have been booted on Day 38 and became the final member of the jury.

Instead, the fire making challenge was implemented and it’s remained ever since unfortunately. In the first 34 seasons, Ben wouldn’t have been crowned the winner. People feel the idols and fire making challenge might have been set up for Ben to make it to the end and it’s not a crazy thought honestly.

With that said, however, Ben worked with what he had. He initially aligned with three other people in the early stage of the game and was fortunate to not have to go to tribal council much in the pre-merge portion. When the tribes merged, Ben and company voted out three Healers and he eventually joined a sub alliance that had plans to take out the majority.

Despite Ben knowing about J.P.’s blindside, he played dumb and was in the middle. Things changed shortly after and Ben became a target. He managed to play an idol at the final seven, which negated six votes cast against him and his one vote for Lauren was enough to send her packing.

Ben knew from then on that he had to either win immunity or find idols because otherwise he was going home. He successfully played two more idols, sending Ashley and Mike to the jury and with idols no longer being a part of the game, Ben HAD to win the final immunity challenge.

As mentioned above, he didn’t, but season 35 brought change and Ben caught a break. Fans don’t like the fire making twist for this exact reason, but sadly it appears it’s here to stay. This is why Ben doesn’t get much respect for his win, but it’s not his fault these rules were put into place. He can only play by the rules and this was indeed a rule in Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers.

Ben might not be people’s favorite winner, but his “Ben Bombs” were pretty entertaining and at the end of the day, he won over Chrissy and Ryan in a 5-2-1 vote.