One of the most unforgettable players of Survivor: David vs. Goliath, fans remember Angelina Keeley for her meme-ability which stemmed from a determination uniquely her own. The first player to actively bring her own negotiation options to the table when asking host Jeff Probst for more rice for the tribe, she’s actually probably the most successful negotiator in Survivor history—which is extremely impressive when you look back at some of the other negotiations throughout the years.
And of course, we’ll never forget her—failed—plan to escape the cold by securing jackets upon her tribe mates' eliminations. But will her quirky combination of good and bad strategy be what she needs to make it to the end once more?
Angelina’s Quick Stats
Survivor Career: Survivor: David vs. Goliath (3rd Place)
Total Days Played: 39 days
Total Votes Against: 6 votes
Individual Immunity Challenges Won: 0
Individual Reward Challenges Won: 0
Immunity Idols Played: 0
- Angelina possessed an idol at the end of the game, but never played it.
- Additionally, Angelina had someone else play an idol on her.
Advantages Played: 0
Survivor: David vs. Goliath
As a successful financial consultant, Angelina was placed on the Goliath tribe where she immediately felt she had something to prove. After sharing that only 15% of idols in Survivor history had been found by women, she was determined to find the first idol of the season, but she ultimately came up short. She did, however, manage to bring together an all-female alliance with Kara Kay and Natalia Azoqa.
To ensure the numbers, they added Alec Merlino, John Henningan, and Dan Rengering—who had found the idol before Angelina—to their group, though they didn’t attend the first two Tribal Councils after winning immunity. When they finally lost, Angelina threw out the name she wanted gone due to fearing a potential threat at the tribe switch, and though the rest of the tribe was looking to get rid of the divisive Natalie Cole, they unanimously went with Angelina’s plan.
When the tribes swapped, Angelina joined the Jabeni tribe alongside a majority of Goliaths, winning the first immunity, but losing the second, sending them to Tribal Council. Former Davids Lyrsa Torres and Nick Wilson pushed for Natalie to go, but Angelina wanted to stay Goliath strong by voting out Lyrsa.
Wanting to better get through the cold weather, Angelina recruited Natalie to help her procure Nick and Lyrsa’s jackets when they’re eliminated. But Natalie’s tactics came off as threatening and led to Goliath Mike White switching sides to blindside her in a 3-2 vote. As Natalie was going to get her torch snuffed, Angelina famously asked if she could have her jacket, which received no response other than snickers from her tribemates.
Back at camp, they all felt that in asking for Natalie’s jacket, Angelina displayed her manipulative tendencies, which exiled her from the group. When they lost the next immunity challenge, however, Angelina convinced Mike that Lyrsa had to go next, and the two got Nick on their side to blindside his David tribemate.
The castaways all officially merged on day 18 with the original Goliaths in the majority by one. While she was aiming for Christian Hubicki—who she saw as a huge social threat—to go home next, the rest of her alliance was pushing for Elizabeth Olson. Frustrated that her allies changed the plan without any input from her, Angelina told Elizabeth she was set to be the next voted out. At Tribal Council that night, Elizabeth revealed that Angelina spilled the beans on her elimination in an attempt to move the target off herself, but she still went home.
After Angelina’s clear display of disloyalty, the Goliath alliance started to turn against her, but kept her as a number nonetheless, in order to eliminate Christian at the next Tribal Council. But when a David ally played an idol on Christian, Angelina feared she was the backup vote and begged her Goliath ally Dan to play his idol on her. She received two votes that were negated, but a Goliath still ended up going home.
Dan was then blindsided at the next Tribal Council, which worried Angelina that her alliance was falling apart. This was solidified when she discovered Alec and Kara had voted against her that night as a “contingency plan.” She officially decided she was done with the Goliaths and joined the David alliance.
At Final Nine, Angelina famously negotiated with host Jeff Probst for more rice at the immunity challenge. She was successful in the trade, but had to give up her shot at immunity that night. But the following reward was for time with Loved Ones, which she found herself teamed up with Nick Wilson for. The two won and took Mike and Davie Rickenbacker with them where they agreed to a Final Four alliance—though Davie wasn’t 100% in.
That night at Tribal Council, Gabby Pascuzzi planned to blindside Christian and convinced the tribe to unanimously vote for him. Angelina and Mike chose to create a contingency plan and write down Gabby’s name in case Christian played an idol, which he did, effectively blindsiding Gabby. But Angelina’s continued attempts to get Christian out finally came to fruition at the next Tribal Council.
Angelina decided to go looking for an idol after one returned to play from Christian’s use and found a clue as well as a ladder to reach it. But she lost the clue. However, when she and Mike were chosen by Nick on the next reward challenge, solidifying their alliance, she recruited them to help her find the idol, which she kept for herself.
At Final Five, Angelina put together a plan to pander to the jury that the tribe saw right through. She also attempted to humiliate her long-time rival, Alison Raybould, by planting a fake idol, but Alison went home in a 4-1 vote regardless. Nick won the Final Four immunity challenge and chose to take Angelina to the end, not forcing her to compete in fire-making.
At Final Tribal Council, Angelina recounted the times she made sure the tribe was provided for, like when she gave up her shot at immunity in exchange for rice. The jury wasn’t a fan of this tactic—though she was praised for being a strong female contender throughout the season—and ultimately received no jury votes due to her “malicious” gameplay style.
Survivor 50 Predictions: How far will Angelina go?
The last time Angelina played, she was not well received, which actually could work to her advantage. If she keeps her strategic prowess under wraps and maintains the manipulative outward appearance she was perceived to have in David vs. Goliath, there’s a chance others will want to keep her around as a non-threatening number who works as a solid target down the line when a scapegoat is needed. Of course, Angelina’s smart and would never let anyone walk all over her. She will definitely be able to take control of this game if given the opportunity to advance far enough and build a few solid relationships.
Angelina Keeley Survivor 50 Player Score
Angelina’s going to really have to check her in-game PR if she plans to make it to the end—which I think she’s fully capable of doing again—and have the resume to win. Her social game was previously less than stellar and she needs to learn that it’s better to not publicly be the leader all the time. If she’s adapted these two crucial gameplay elements by the time the game starts, she has a chance to make a mark beyond a few memes this time around.
Outwit (Social Game): 3/15
Outplay (Physical Game): 4/15
Outlast (Strategic Game): 8/15
Wildcard Factor: 4/5
Total Player Score: 19/50
David vs. Goliath was a very entertaining season and a lot of that was due to Angelina, so I’m excited to see what sort of character-driven chaos she might provide this time around. Survivor 50 premieres Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount +!