Rachel LaMont just won Survivor 47 by playing as dominant of a post-merge game as we've seen in the new era of Survivor. She was easily the top player this season in a group of 18 great players.
Following her victory, Rachel joined the On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast to talk about the win and when she knew she had a realistic chance to win Survivor 47.
On the final episode of the On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast this season, Charlie Davis asked Rachel when she felt like she could actually win Survivor 47. After sharing she always wanted to play with a tight alliance or group, she shared when she had that revelation that she could make a deep run in the game.
“That's a good question. I really felt like after the Sierra vote," Rachel said. "I looked around and every single person left in the game had burned me.”
It's actually wild how much whiplash Rachel probably felt. She went from being blindsided by Andy Rueda, Sam Phalen, and Sierra Wright to getting a second life in the game after Sol Yi sent her the Safety Without Power advantage. Then, she was immediately blindsided by the people she thought she could trust when she was left out of the vote entirely in the split vote between Sierra and Sam. Sierra eventually was voted out on the re-vote.
At that point, Rachel was truly at the bottom with no allies in the game. We've seen so many players quit in Survivor when this happens. Other times, players get bitter and seek revenge or even self-sabotage their own game. Rachel did the opposite. She went for the win!
"I'm completely alone," Rachel continued. "And, while that was very scary, it also gave me license to play as hard as I wanted. I had just found the idol, and so I knew I had power that no one else could see. And, I felt like I am at the bottom of 10 people right now. If I can get myself further and reintegrate myself with this group, I think I will have a good story at the end."
"And while it didn't have the steps lined up at that point. And this is no dig on Sierra, but I think Sierra getting voted out was the best thing that could have happened to my game because I was still clinging to the idea of wanting to be so loyal to somebody. I think it would have blinded me a little bit if they had taken out Sam instead of Sierra. And, so I started the path to getting in with Tuku, specifically with Caroline and Sue, and really getting myself ingratiated with new people.”
And, that's why Rachel became the Sole Survivor. She thought about the game differently than every other person on the beach. Instead of being at the bottom and wallowing or accepting defeat, Rachel searched for the path that would take her to the end. She found it in a few strong relationships, but most importantly, she found it within herself to win every big immunity challenge. She didn't wait to find out the plan at the Final Six. She snuck down the beach and found out for herself who was going to be next after Caroline Vidmar was blindsided. She knew she had to win immunity or use her idol to survive, and she did for four straight Tribal Councils in a row. She never gave anyone a chance to beat her. It was brilliant.
Every single time her back was against the wall, Rachel found a way to not only overcome but to completely take the situation into her own hands. That's why she won Survivor.
And, to see that in episode 8 after your only ally in the game to that point got voted out, that's an incredible story, as Rachel mentioned. It's also why Sam's persuasive argument didn't work on the jury at Final Tribal. Sam and Rachel were basically in the same position after Sierra was voted out. Sam, too, did not have any main allies left in the game. Yes, he picked himself up and stayed in the game, but he didn't do it with the same level of domination that Rachel did. Every time Sam gained a foothold, Rachel was there to one up in the challenge or at the next Tribal Council. And, again, that's why his argument didn't work.
It was a truly amazing game that Rachel played. And, again, she should be celebrated for her response to adversity throughout the game. At her lowest moment in the game, Rachel picked herself up, dusted herself off, and finished the game stronger than most players in Survivor history.