There have been so many records set and broken throughout Survivor's 25 years. Challenge records, voting records, reward records, advantage records, we've seen them all, but there are definitely more that are celebrated than others.
Well, as your friendly neighborhood Survivor spreadsheet keeper—yes, there's actually a spreadsheet, yes it has multiple tabs, and yes, I update it weekly which is why we always have the latest stats for you!—I am here to talk about one record that is rarely mentioned, especially in the new era.
Only 3 players in new era history have made it to Final Tribal Council without their name ever being written down
Over the last eight seasons, 12.5% of new era finalists haven't received any votes prior to Final Tribal Council. That's actually a pretty big number considering that the first 40 seasons of the show saw 16% of finalists enter Final Tribal Council without any votes.
The fact that we've only had 24 finalists so far in the new era and three of them never received any votes against them is impressive, especially since only one of these people won the game compared to the 22% of original era winners who never heard Jeff Probst read their name off until it was for $1 million.
Heading into episode 10, we have eight players left in Survivor 49, and only three of our remaining castaways have yet to see their name written down at a Tribal Council: Savannah Louie, Sage Ahrens-Nichols, and Kristina Mills. The way all three women are currently shaking up the game with their strategic gameplay and desire to make moves has me guessing that if any of them make it to the end, we will likely see their name written down at least once before then.
But with Savannah's immunity winning-spree and Sage and Kristina's strong social game, who's to say if they'll join any of our previous new era finalists below?
Survivor 43: Mike Gabler
In one of the most surprising finales of the new era, Gabler secured the title of Sole Survivor because of the fact that he never received any votes in the game, calling it his "hiding in plain sight" strategy. But ultimately, the jury voted for him because they simply nit-picked too hard with his fellow finalists—Cassidy Clark and Owen Knight—gameplay. The jury felt Owen was on the wrong side of the vote too many times, and they didn't like that Cassidy didn't give up immunity to compete in the final fire-making challenge.
Gabler is the only new era finalist who didn't receive any prior votes that went on to win the whole thing. Before him, only nine others were able to accomplish that—Tina Wesson (Survivor: The Australian Outback), Ethan Zohn (Survivor: Africa), Brian Heidik (Survivor: Thailand), Sandra Diaz-Twine (Survivor: Pearl Islands), Tom Westman (Survivor: Palau), J.T. Thomas (Survivor: Tocantins), John Cochran (Survivor: Caramoan), Natalie Anderson (Survivor: San Juan del Sur), Nick Wilson (Survivor: David vs. Goliath). Including Gabler, that means 20% of all winners never received votes before Final Tribal Council.
Survivor 45: Austin Li Coon
Top ally to winner Dee Valladares, Austin did not receive any votes in the 10 Tribal Councils he attended, only having individual immunity for 2 of them. He received a total of three votes the entire season—from Drew Basile, Bruce Perreault, and Kendra McQuarrie—which came in at Final Tribal Council and secured him a spot as runner-up.
It's super exciting that Austin made it to the end considering he was originally an alternate for the season. His social game as well as a good strategy at the beginning with the Reba Four earned him the respect for the jury, but it wasn't enough in the end to beat out his strongest ally.
Survivor 48: Eva Erickson
The season 48 runner-up and fan favorite only received 2 votes during her time in the game—when Mary Zheng and Star Toomey voted for her as their Sole Survivor. Prior to that, she attended nine Tribal Councils, eight of which she didn't receive any votes and the last being where she won the final fire making challenge against Kamilla Karthigesu.
Her strong social game and day one alliance with Joe Hunter proved to be a finale-making strategy for the challenge powerhouse who secured one individual immunity win during her season, but always gave her fellow castaways a fight in the challenge arena despite being the youngest player of the season. She's also the first woman to make it to the finale without a single vote against her since Natalie Anderson—another challenge superstar—in season 29 Survivor: San Juan del Sur.