When Survivor debuted in May of 2000, no one could have predicted the show would become a cultural phenomenon. Almost twenty years later, it is not only still one of TV’s most popular shows, but it continues to evolve. While still a game about social constructs, the show has become synonymous with backstabs and blindsides.
Players are more aggressive now and favor voting out threats earlier, even if they have to vote out an alliance member. Throughout thirty-nine seasons, Survivor has seen its fair share of betrayals. Here are the 10 most vicious betrayals in Survivor history.
Black Widows Convincing Eric Into Giving Up Individual Immunity (Survivor: Micronesia)
Survivor: Micronesia is well known for the countless blindsides at the hands of the Black Widow alliance. As the game reached the final five, their last remaining target, Erik, foiled their plan to vote him out by winning his third straight immunity necklace. Cirie devised a plan to convince Erik into giving up immunity to redeem himself in front of the jury, and they would side with Erik to vote out Parvarti.
In the most infamous move in Survivor history, Erik gave up immunity and was subsequently voted out, likely costing himself the title of Sole Survivor.
Varner outing Zeke (Survivor: Game Changers)
The real world and gameplay can become blurred in a game like Survivor, a lesson Jeff Varner learned the hard way in Survivor: Game Changers. Feeling like his back was against the wall, Varner attacked the honesty and integrity of Zeke at tribal council. In doing so, Varner revealed to the rest of the tribe that Zeke was hiding the fact that he is transgendered.
To the credit of Zeke, he handled the moment with extreme grace but he couldn’t hide the feeling of betrayal in his shocked reaction. The tribe immediately jumped to Zeke’s defense, only cementing Varner’s fate.
J.T Getting Voted Out With His Idol (Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains)
In Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, the Heroes tribe struggled early on in the game but picked up momentum leading into the merge. With all the men on the Villains tribe being voted out, the Heroes incorrectly assumed that there was an all women’s alliance dominating the game. Trying to pull in Russell, the last remaining man on the Villains tribe, J.T. slipped Russell the Heroes’ hidden immunity idol along with a heartfelt note pleading with Russell to join them.
Russell ended up passing on the idol to Parvarti who used the idol at the first tribal after the merge to successfully vote J.T. out. This paved the way for Russell and Parvarti to dominate the rest of the game, effectively ending the Heroes’ chances of winning.
Dreamz Not Honoring His Deal With Yau-Man (Survivor: Fiji)
While no longer a staple, Survivor used to award one castaway a brand new car as part of a reward challenge every year. At the conclusion of the Survivor: Fiji car challenge, fan-favorite Yau-Man emerged the winner of a brand new truck. With his eyes set on the end game, Yau-Man made a deal with Dreamz to give him the truck in exchange for individual immunity should Dreamz win it at the final four.
Sure enough, Dreamz outlasted the rest of his tribe to win the final four immunity. Correctly sensing he would be voted out if he gave up the immunity necklace, Dreamz went back on his word with Yau-Man who subsequently was voted out, sending him home one day short of the final tribal council.
Ciera Voting Out Her Mother (Survivor: Blood vs. Water)
Survivor: Blood vs. Water was filled with many shocking moments, but none felt more personal than Ciera voting out her mother, Laura. By day 26, Laura and Ciera were the only family pair left in the game.
Tyson quickly mobilized his alliance to vote out Laura, including Ciera in the plan. Ciera initially agreed but worked hard after the immunity challenge to flip the vote onto Katie once Ciera discovered she didn’t have an idol. Tyson was concerned this move would give Ciera more power, so they move forward with voting out Laura. With everyone voting out Laura, Ciera couldn’t risk her own game by voting against the alliance and wrote her own mother’s name down at tribal council.
Rob Voting Out Lex After Asking Him To Protect Amber (Survivor: All-Stars)
Survivor: All-Stars was a coming-out party for Rob Mariano. After a poor showing in Survivor Marquesas, Boston Rob emerged to take control of the game along with his tribemate and romantic partner Amber; however, an untimely tribe swap put their game into jeopardy as Rob and Amber were split up.
Rob approached Lex with a deal: if Lex takes care of Amber, Rob will take care of Lex. Seeing an opportunity to form a strong alliance, Lex held up his end of the deal and chose not to vote Amber out at the next tribal. Once the tribes merged, Rob saw Lex as too big a threat and decided, along with Amber, to vote Lex out the first chance he had.
Dawn Voting Out Brenda (Survivor: Caramoan)
On Survivor: Caramoan, Brenda formed a close relationship with Dawn. At one point, Brenda helped Dawn locate her lost fake teeth and consoled Dawn as she broke down. Friendly bonds were put to the test, however, when Cochran came to Dawn and Sherri with a plan to vote out Brenda.
Dawn struggled with the idea since Brenda was her friend but she knew Brenda would beat her in the end. Dawn ultimately sided with Cochran and Sherri to vote out Brenda. Shocked, Brenda broke down in tears as she walked up to have her torch snuffed. Dawn reached the final three but received no votes.
James Being Voted Out With Two Idols (Survivor: China)
During Survivor: China, hidden immunity idols were not as prevalent as they are today. When James entered the merge with two idols and a strong alliance, he seemed sure to make it to the end.
With only seven people left in the game, James’s closest allies recognized they would lose all opportunity to vote James out if he made it to the next two tribal councils so they moved to blindside him. James didn’t see his ouster coming and chose not to play either idol. James would be the first castaway ever voted out with two idols in his pocket.
Tai Turning On Scot (Survivor: Kaoh Rong)
One of the twists introduced in Survivor: Koah Rong was the super idol, an idol that could be combined with another and used after the votes were read. Jason, Scot, and Tai were all on the outside of the majority but possessed two idols. On Day 27, they all agreed to use their idols together that night at tribal council.
Jason, who won immunity, gave his idol to Scot to use. Originally targeting Tai, Aubry saw him as a valuable ally and proposed voting out Scot to save himself. Tai eventually sided with Aubry and voted for Scot. When Scot turned to Tai for his idol, he simply told Scot he couldn’t and sent Scot home packing with Jason’s idol in his pocket.
Rob Voting Out Matt twice (Survivor: Redemption Island)
When Matt was blindsided by Rob and his alliance, he never saw it coming. After returning to the game from Redemption Island, he had the opportunity to reposition himself with the remaining Zapatera tribe. Despite his initial betrayal and the offer of a final four deal, Matt decided to follow his heart and remain loyal to the original Ometepe tribe that blindsided him.
Matt disclosed to Rob that he and Andrea had an opportunity to flip to the Zapateras but wanted to work with him. Andrea, upset she was implicated by Matt, agreed with Rob that Matt wasn’t trustworthy and they voted him out at the very next tribal council.
