Survivor

SPOILER ALERT: This story reveals details from the Survivor finale. Talk about a Christmas gift: Mike “Gabler” Gabler, a 51-year-old heart valve specialist ...

Cassidy then chose Owen to sit with her in the final three, leaving Jesse and Gabler to duke it out in the traditional fire building challenge. The episode began with Probst sending the final five — Gabler, Owen, Cassidy, Karla and Jesse — to a new beach to start fresh. The second hour began with the final immunity challenge, which ended up screwing two of the players. After Jesse pulled a surprise hidden immunity idol out of his pocket, the final five broke up into smaller groups (or as Karla said, “let’s dance”) to discuss who goes home. “Tonight was special because I got to tell all of the story …. Gabler vowed to give the $1 million in his father’s name, a Green Beret, to a charity honoring veterans struggling with mental health issues.

'Survivor' host Jeff Probst shares intel on season 44 of the show, along with a first-look teaser video and the new logo.

The gameplay is really fun and very active, and the danger of living in the jungle is real." "The physical part of Survivor is never easy," explains Probst. "I'm so pumped to get it on the air, I wish we could start airing it next week!" Survivor 44 is one of those seasons." Is the "Monster" from season 41 back? Probst's narration describes it as "one of the most intense, unpredictable, inspirational, and most entertaining seasons of Survivor." Wait, what does he mean about "the danger of living in the jungle is real?" However, we've got more than just a video for you: We've got the actual Survivor 44 logo as well. After revealing the winner of Survivor 43 and then presiding over an on-location after-show, host [Jeff Probst](https://ew.com/person/jeff-probst/) introduced a teaser video about what is to come next. We meet several of the contestants, who talk about playing in the NFL and prepping for the game by reading FBI interrogation techniques, and then see a glimpse of a scary medical moment with a player being instructed to "keep breathing." even if a completely reasonable person would say that a video and logo are more than enough, thank you very much. You've got a moon reflecting over the water.

After 26 days of swollen ankles, last gasps and shocking betrayals, the winner was crowned during the December 14 season finale.

[last gasps](https://www.goldderby.com/article/2022/jeff-probst-nostalgic-old-school-survivor/) and shocking betrayals, the winner of “ [Survivor](https://www.goldderby.com/t/survivor/) 43” was crowned during the December 14 season finale on [CBS](https://www.goldderby.com/t/cbs/). Once again, the show will strand 18 brand new castaways on a deserted island in Fiji, where they will vote each other out until only one remains as the ultimate winner. One by one, they voted each other out until just five people remained in the December 14, 2022 season finale. ( [Read our minute-by-minute live blog to see how it all went down](https://www.goldderby.com/article/2022/survivor-43-finale-recap-who-won/).). But only one of them had what it took to outwit, outplay and outlast the others and join the [“Survivor” winners list](https://www.goldderby.com/gallery/survivor-winners-list/). Vote in our poll below and then defend your choice down in the comments section.

John Powell - GlobalTV.com Survivor 43 comes to its epic conclusion tonight with either Jesse, Owen, Mike, Karla or Cassidy being crowned the S0le.

My heart wants Jesse to win as he was undoubtedly the best player this season. Owen will be one of two goats who get dragged to the final tribal this season. If the Survivor juries over the last five years or so are any indication the best player won’t win this season because other factors will come into play as far as the jury is concerned.

Subscribe to our Survivor Newsletter: [Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Survivor Season 43 Episode 13 finale.] Going ...

In the end, Cassidy got one vote, and Gabler got the rest. He’s now the second-oldest winner of the series at 51, setting two records in one episode, and he declared in the Reunion Show that he’d make good on the promise to donate his winnings to struggling veterans. Cassidy painted the picture of how her strategy, social, and challenge play kept her in the lead and as a perceived threat. Jesse had to restart, and the jury was cheering for Jesse the whole time, proving he was one snapped string away from winning $1 million. Her only concern was for her own game, and her game was best served by taking Owen into the Final Three. If brought to the Final Three, would calling it quits in the final Immunity Challenge be seen as a bad move by the jury? The caveat: the structure was on top of a spring, destabilizing the whole thing. Despite feeling hurt by Owen, Gabler still wanted to be sitting beside Cassidy and Owen in the Final Three, so an alliance with Jesse and Karla wasn’t intriguing. Jeanine, the first member of the jury, keeled over in disappointment when realizing her [idol was still in play](https://www.tvinsider.com/1069153/survivor-season-43-episode-8-recap-jeanine-eliminated-jury/) when she was sent home. But as long as he made it into the Final Three in the two-part finale, the game was his. While Jesse and Karla both started out the episode strong, Cassidy and Owen proved they weren’t to be counted out. He voted out his best friend, Cody, last week in a stunning blindside by using his own idol against him, convinced the entire cast he flushed out an idol when it was in his possession the whole time, and was the sole reason everyone on his original tribe was voted out.

'Survivor 43' finale: Who became the series' latest Sole Survivor and how did it all go down? Find out in our recap.

Gabler plays up his relationship-building and how he had multiple ways to get to the end at every stage of the game. The poor guy is in tears as he talks about his kids, his lack of safety net at home and how one wrong move led to it all crashing down on him. It’s the stacking bowls on a spring-loaded contraption challenge, and the winner of this, of course, gets a fast-pass straight to the Final 3. But I’m going to have to get over that really fast because after a bountiful breakfast, Cassidy, Gabler and Owen face the jury and plead their case. In one of the most difficult Survivor scenes to watch of late, Gabler takes family man Jesse. Gabler and Owen are both looking to make one big splashy move, so they’re both happy to go in and make fire. Karla asks Jesse if he’d entertain a bigger move than her, and the two agree to step aside and “dance” in the corner. (He’s no dummy.) The votes come in and “Khaos Karla” becomes the next member of the jury. Karla gets to start with 10 of her letter blocks already at her finish table, saving her a few trips through the challenge. But Karla is the first to take off and she’s able to secure the package, with Owen just inches away from her! But before the jury could take a crack at the finalists, one last advantage sought to shake up the game, giving one castaway the chance to get a leg up on the competition at the Final 5 immunity challenge. Cass is hoping to beat Karla to the punch because she’s still jonesing to get her former No.

The 44th season of CBS's reality TV show began filming in Fiji immediately after the 43rd cycle wrapped production last summer.

Villains” or “Survivor: Fans vs. Yep, “Survivor’s” dimpled torch-snuffer Jeff Probst has returned as the host/showrunner of Season 44. That said, the “Survivor 43” finale/reunion will air on CBS on Wednesday, December 14, so that is when viewers should bear witness to the “Survivor 44” video trailer for the first time. It’s a “Survivor” tradition that the next season of the show is always teased in the final episode of the previous season. The show globe-trotted and explored for its first 16 years on the air, before officially moving to this locale in the South Pacific Ocean in Season 33 (“Millennials vs. Gone are titles like “Survivor: Heoes vs. Similarly, Seasons 43 and 44 took place back-to-back in spring/summer of 2022, which means the contestants who partook in the 44th cycle had not yet watched the 43rd installment play out on TV. [Survivor](https://www.goldderby.com/t/survivor/),” which is simply titled “Survivor 44,” was officially given the green light by [CBS](https://www.goldderby.com/t/cbs/) in March 2022 and began filming in Fiji immediately after the 43rd cycle wrapped production last summer. More details to come when we get closer, but ‘Survivor’ continues on.” “We have a premiere date for ‘Survivor 44’ — March 1st. All we know at this time is that they are brand new (meaning no returning favorites or all-stars) and come from diverse backgrounds and walks of life, in adherence to the network’s Read on for everything to know about the upcoming season of “Survivor 44,” including cast and air date information.

Jesse Lopez, Duke University PhD student from Durham, NC on season 43 finale of CBS Survivor. Did Owen, Cassidy or Gabler win?

She is considered one of the greatest “Survivor” players of all time. Sowell was voted out on Day 17 and Byman, a Boston native, was voted out on Day 6. Lopez decided he needed a signature “big move” to stand out if he made it to the final vote. Tears abounded as Lopez talked about wanting to win to make his kids proud and to provide a monetary “safety net” for his family back home. Other contestants consoled Lopez and talked about what a great game he had played all season. But Gabler jumped out to a big lead, and Lopez could never catch up. Some of the vitriol seemed confusing to Lopez and fans. Lopez said he had practiced his fire making skills all day and was prepared. Which most would not have predicted a week ago. In the first hour of Wednesday’s finale, finalist Karla Cruz Godoy, 28, a project manager from Newark, Delaware, was eliminated. Here’s what to know about Lopez and how he fared. All season, Lopez was a likable contestant who was BFFs with fellow tribe member Cody Assenmacher.

The 52-year-old heart valve specialist then pitched his case at the final Tribal Council, highlighting the fact that he had never had a single vote cast against ...

So I had to figure out how to strike closer to the kindling and the tinder. Did you ponder a lot on whether to bring that up before the voting and why did you ultimately not do that? Jeanine went and found some other stuff to make the fire with, and we had ourselves a feast, a prom dinner, and then we all danced on the beach under the stars. Even the grip challenge where I was struggling, the first five minutes of the grip challenge were the most painful. But I hid that card up my sleeve until the final four and I blazed into final three. And there was only one vote the whole season that had me nervous, and that was the Cody vote. I felt pretty safe except for that one because there was so much going on and everything had to go just right — otherwise, it was me, Owen, and Jesse on the chopping block. And being in the jungle, it did take me a little bit of time to figure it out because it's a lot of moisture, it's damp, it's wet. I shook his hand, I looked him in the eye and I said, "I'll give it to you, James." I was trying to make new friends, trying to make new relationships and alliances. And the edit showed a lot of it, but also left out a lot of it. I had a strong story to tell because I had been playing the entire time.

Mike Gabler is the Ultimate Survivor. Gabler, the 52-year-old heart valve specialist, was declared the winner of Survivor 43 by a jury vote of seven to.

Rumours are that social media personality Jaime Lynne Ruiz is also part of the cast. While we are speaking of the fire-making challenge I still think it is awful that you can play a tremendous game but are booted, cannot make your case to the jury because of one fire-making challenge. Gabler ran away with the challenge ending it faster than anyone else has before. Cassidy did what was best for her game and picked Jesse and Gabler to make fire. I have an amazing family. And the winner is…

The 52-year-old heart valve specialist from Meridian, Idaho played an under-the-radar game at the merge, but ultimately persevered.

[our recent poll](https://www.goldderby.com/article/2022/survivor-43-finale-spotlight-cassidy-clark/), we asked viewers to name who “deserved” to earn the title and Jesse came out on top with a whopping 44% of the vote. Gabler set a “Survivor” record by making fire in just over four minutes, and so Jesse was eliminated from the game. Gabler announced during the reunion show that he was going to “make history” on “Survivor” by donating his prize money to charity. By claiming victory on Wednesday night, Gabler (age 52) also becomes the second-oldest person to ever be named the Sole Survivor. “There are people that need that money more,” he explained to host Jeff Probst. The 52-year-old heart valve specialist from Meridian, Idaho played an under-the-radar game at the merge, particularly after Elisabeth “Elie” Scott called him out at tribal council as someone that should be targeted.

Survivor 43 winner Mike Gabler made history on Wednesday night after he revealed he'd be donating his entire $1 million prize to veterans.

"But in terms of the conversations, there is no comparison," he added. I fully appreciate that there is something very exciting about a live audience and seeing the players clean and all dressed up." "I know some fans miss the pomp and circumstance of bringing the players back months after the show ended. "We all have the chance of a lifetime out here, the adventure of a lifetime," he said. We made history guys," he added in the tender moment. "And I'm going to donate the entire prize — the entire million dollar prize, in my father's name, Robert Gabler, who was a Green Beret — to veterans in need who are recovering from psychiatric problems, PTSD, and curb the suicide epidemic."

Owen Knight, a 30-year-old college admissions director from New Orleans, LA, talks with Parade.com about his third-place finish in Survivor 43.

I have never wanted to say I was dealt a bad hand because a lot of it was my own doing and the choices I made, But people appreciating that I did give it my best shot. So from Day One, I was kind of a little thrown off my rhythm and just kind of surprised by the "social contract" of it all. I mean, I'm really grateful to have gotten to live the dream and make it onto the show. And I wish it had been shown more how much I was trying at the Jaenine vote to work with Jeanine and try to get Karla and Cassidy together to try to turn the tables. I was trying to strategize on Day One at Baka, and everyone was just so just hesitant to do anything. Eventually does it just get to a point where you're like, "Am I the problem?" But that, to me, was kind of the breaking point for me of just everything going wrong, feeling like I was getting kicked while I was down. And so it was nice to know that that was also kind of part of his vision and that she was someone that he wanted to work with. But when he was getting the jury cracking up so much, and he was kind of revealing more and more, I realized that the tides were turning for sure. But the thing is, I thought I was going to lose to Cassidy in a landslide. And I know people probably think I should have gotten Cass and Gabler to do a 3-1-1-1 against him at the Cody vote. But my perception was that he was just kind of vibing and just being Gabler.

'Survivor 43' star Cassidy Clark reacts to that shocking finale vote and Karla's threat to poison the jury against her.

I am sad that they didn't show a lot of the relationships and the alliances that I had made. And I've been watching it since I was a kid, so to be that close to being the winner… I wish that we had had that time to be able to come back and come together and discuss it. And so to be that close, you want to be proud of yourself. And so whenever it was right there in front of me and I really felt like I had played the best game considering who I was sitting next to, having to lose that and then go through this whole like, "Oh, we're happy! So I just felt like that was unfair to hold that against me and to expect that of me, because if I had done that, how many people would be like, "This idiot!" I think that was one of the hardest things to have to go through because truly I really felt very confident like I could win this. And just trying to undermine my win and the fact that I got to make the decision to put Gabler in. I think that I felt like people were really open to Gabler's answers and really supportive of what he was saying and just smiling. And I was so proud of myself, and I didn't feel like it was fair to basically say, "You have to give this up or you're not getting my vote. And I feel like the conversation just got really heated, and I did regret that it ended that way because looking back, we had worked together on so many votes and we had had such a close relationship and I really was sad. And I just felt like it was really dirty to try to do.

Jesse Lopez shares one last 'Survivor' shocker, and reveals a key part of his early game was completely made up.

But then to have it confirmed and to watch it back and be like, "Oh wow, I was really playing a really good game." And so what I wanted to do at that Tribal was pull out that idol just to make sure that there was nobody who was going to do that and there was no funny business that was going to happen. So I wanted to make sure that that was out there, that the cat was out of the bag, that I wasn't going home that night. But I will say that even though we were at odds in the end and I was constantly trying to trip Karla up, I had very honest and real conversations with Karla about our background and growing up and ending up at UC Berkeley. I love that you brought up the challenges and you didn't make me do it. And so I was very nervous, but I also wanted to stand up and give him the respect that I thought he deserved. She was injured, so I was like, "Challenge-wise, she's probably my best bet to go against because I'm not that great at challenges." I just start thinking about my wife and my hope is that I didn't want to let them down. I think by the end of the night I was very happy with how it turned out. I was coming up with these strategies, I was 100 percent in, and I was giving it my all. And so when his rope snaps, all of that goes up in the air and I just start thinking about my kids. All I told Gabler was that "I think we need to take a shot at Cody.

Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers and analysis for the final episode of Survivor 43. It also contains links to some articles about other seasons ...

And some blame should probably go to the jury, who, I think, were a little too willing to forgive some of Gabler’s obvious mistakes and a little too judgmental of Cassidy coasting at times. But the more I think about it, the more I think there’s a little blame in a lot of directions to go around for that shock. Based on how vigorously many in the jury were nodding their heads at his comments, it was also obvious that he was pretty well-liked, and once again, that was not shown. There was that time he was so loud and aggressive about wanting Elie out that he had to immediately start blending into the background. There was that time he told everyone to vote for him and he’d use his shot in the dark. The show sorta made it seem like people were just humoring him and telling him how to vote, but some of the comments from the jury made it seem like he was a much more proactive part of Jesse and Cody’s strategizing than we got to see. The other players clearly viewed her as a supporting piece in alliances, not the driving force of alliances, and her resume is a lot worse than the majority of Survivor winners. I assumed, like many people watching at home (and probably Cassidy herself) that she was the obvious winner, but from the moment the jury opened their mouths and started asking questions, it was pretty clear they had no respect for the game Cassidy played. How is it possible that the collective read from so many was that Gabler was bad and yet, he cruised to victory so easily? He was just too out of the loop for too long. At one point in the season, he pleaded with James to just tell him who to vote for so he wasn’t wrong again. Mike Gabler, clowned by many on Twitter for most of the season and seemingly considered an ideal goat to drag to the finals by the remaining players, not only won the big prize, he did it in convincing fashion.

In the Dec. 15 finale of Survivor season 43, newly-crowned winner Mike Gabler made history twice—first by becoming the second-oldest winner ever, ...

The fact that he's giving that all to them is something that he's allowing me to be a part of, and it just touches me in a way." "The fact that he's giving it all to the veterans that served our country—there's so much that we don't know that they go through. The self-nicknamed "AlliGabler" will be donating his winnings to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric problems in honor of his father, Robert Gabler, a Green Beret.

Owen made it all the way to the final three, where he faced the jury alongside Mike Gabler and Cassidy Clark. And while he said earlier in the finale that "I ...

I was grateful to get out of the water. You've seen in secret scenes, I've been trying to do detective work on the clues, and when I saw the one that day, I knew for sure it was going to be Last Gasp. I felt so hyped up and then not only to win it, but also to triple the duration of the previous longest Last Gasp was pretty incredible. I just lost it and I tried walking away. It just really felt like he was kind of kicking me while I was down. That really was what kind of set me over was the combination of just the imbalanced power dynamic plus then him telling me to go on a wild goose chase for the idol. The Godfather analogy really came to my head when he told me I was protected at the ball-on-the-pole challenge. And that's where I was just like, "Come on. I felt much more confident about my abilities to beat Jesse in the final four challenge and to beat him in fire. I knew I was a long shot. Yeah, and I look at you and Cassie. And I was shocked as the votes were coming out.

In a 'Survivor' first, the Season 43 winner has pledged to donate the entire prize to charity — plus, what was his game-defining move?

I think it showed a lot of people the type of competitor that I could be. I like to do a lot of extreme stuff like that in the outdoors. I have two, and one was at the merge feast. As I looked up at the jury, I was like, “I was in an alliance with you, with you, with you.” At some point, I was with everybody, so I felt that by calling on that history, it would ring true for me. Was that something you practiced before the show? I’m glad I did go that route because I was able to get seven out of the eight votes, and then drop that in Tribal. I wanted to win on my own merit and then make the decision, and it was the right decision. It was really cool and I’m glad that it worked out that way. I did get to the end.” I did tell my wife. You change as a person, and you have this incredible adventure and you have to keep it under wraps, which was really hard. I said, “You know, if I do get to the end, are you okay with me trying to do something big with this money?” She was on board 100 percent. He announced his plans to donate all of his winnings to the Veterans in Need Foundation in the name of his father, Robert.

Going into the finale, Jesse had just used Cody's own idol to expel him from the game. After such an audacious move, Gabler, Karla, Cassidy, and Owen were all ...

As frustrated as I was to watch the jury smile and laugh every time Gabler opened his mouth, only to scowl and shake their heads at Cassidy’s responses, I cannot even imagine how she was feeling. Expecting them to have the clarity to even see what went wrong is a lot to ask. Cassidy was able to convince them she was the better person to keep in the game, despite her strong social and physical game. The final three haven’t even had a chance to take a shower yet! Cassidy did not get to the final three by accident, as much as Jesse and Cody may want to think. Jesse knew it was coming, and he failed, sending Gabler to the final three along with Cassidy and Owen. She’s attempting to argue that this move set the stage for her endgame, that saving herself here and getting Ryan out was important to her game. According to the men, Ryan was always the vote, especially if James was voted out first. He is the only person in the final four never to win individual immunity, and after Cassidy cinches her third immunity win, it seals his fiery fate. Of course, Jesse had Jeanine’s idol hidden in his buff and his spot in the final four secured, but no one — not even anyone on the jury — had any idea. With Jesse’s guaranteed spot in the final four, he is just as guaranteed to make fire. If the goal is to push them further toward the brink of exhaustion, show us how hard it was for them to build shelter again.