Fall TV Blog

After 39 days in the lush savanna of Gabon, high school physics teacher Bob Crowley, 58, outlasted his 17 other competitors to become the winner of the 17th season of CBS’ Survivor. But along the way, the Portland, Maine, resident got a mighty boost from under-the-radar Jessica “Sugar” Kiper, 29, the pin-up model from Brooklyn, who saw him as a father figure since her own dad passed away before the show began taping. Snagging three votes to Bob’s four was Susie Smith, 48, an assistant teacher and hairdresser from Charles City, Iowa. PEOPLE talked to the three finalists about the results and what the game meant to each of them.

Bob Crowley:
How did you feel sitting with the final two, waiting for the results?
I was real nervous! I knew I had the original Kota votes, I was pretty sure I did, but when I realized that Randy was going to be the swing vote, and I was just very nervous. Then, I sort of went blank there. My whole family was sitting in the front row and it was just so fun to see them so excited. (more…)

After 39 days, five consecutive challenge wins, two fake immunity idols, and one fire-building tiebreaker, Bob Crowley, the 57-year-old physics teacher from Portland, Maine, was crowned winner of Survivor: Gabon.

“I am [overwhelmed]. This is really going to bother Randy that I can’t think of a long story,” Crowley, who is the oldest winner in the history of the game, said when Jeff Probst inquired about his strategy at the live reunion show held in Los Angeles. “I just tried to play the game. My plan was to fly under the radar as long as I could, be necessary and be a nice guy so that people liked me.”

He also acknowledged that his penchant for making realistic faux immunity idols didn’t hurt his chances either.  His four votes beat the three votes received by hairdresser Susie Smith, 47. Jessica “Sugar” Kiper, a 29-year-old pin-up model, was given zero votes.  The deciding vote was cast by Randy Bailey, who made his pro-Bob decision based on the infamous chocolate chip cookie clash he had with Susie.
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The reign of CrystalKen has come to an end courtesy of secret strategizing between Sugar, Matty and Bob with just three days left in the Survivor: Gabon series. While Olympic gold medalist Crystal Cox, 29, actually went fairly quietly from tribal council, the North Carolina resident was never at a loss for words during the game or during the following phone interview from Los Angeles. — Carrie Bell

When did you realize things were going south for you at tribal council? 
I had no idea going in. I thought we were sticking with the alliance of five that we had since the merger. When Sugar played the idol and gave it to Matty, I was like, ‘Ok. I’m in trouble.’ It was either going to be either Kenny or myself gone. Day 39 was so close. I could literally see it. I was like, ‘I can hang out here for three more days. I can make it.’

Did you think it should have be Kenny before you?
It should have been Ken because he was the one calling all the shots and I was just helping him execute it. But Sugar felt that I was a bigger threat and a bully. But she never said how I protected her the whole game and let her know what was going on around camp. Her reasoning behind voting me out and getting everyone to agree with it didn’t fly with me. But I can’t do anything about it.
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And then there were five. The second to last episode of Survivor: Gabon was chock full of blindsides, sweat and tears. Bob continued his winning streak, Kenny continued being a cocksure weasel, Susie continued to watch, Crystal continued to be the worst player and Matty continued to prey that he’d be there when the dust settled. But it was Sugar’s change of heart that sent kept him in the game, sending Crystal home disappointed.

Post-Tribal Tussle
Matty was fired up over Kenny’s flip-flop didn’t hide his disappointment with him. But the self-proclaimed mastermind took it in stride — “[Voting against Matty was] strategically a move to gain me jury votes,” he said — and focused instead on guilt-tripping Bob (for lying about the fake idol) to convince him to switch teams. Shockingly, Bob offered to give him the immunity necklace if he won it again to make amends for putting him “in a horrible position.”

Reward Challenge
Contestants raced into a swamp through a series of obstacles (A net, a tire and a shaky plank bridge at this stage of the game? Seriously?) to retrieve a locked-up ball, run back and toss the ball into a net. The first person to land three balls in their basket won a trip to a gorilla sanctuary, a nice meal, a shower and a night in a bed. Matty got the first basket but Bob, even though he was never first to reach the shooting line, was more controlled in his attempts and his technique paid off. The women failed to score any points and Crystal further embarrassed her gender by missing a dunk on the four-foot basket that she towered over. Quick question: How is Crystal in the final six? (more…)

Corinne Kaplan, a 29–year-old unemployed pharmaceutical sales rep from Los Angeles and the newest member of the jury on Survivor: Gabon, is bitter about how her season went down. And she was not afraid to talk about it when she called from New York to rant about her nemesis Sugar and all the other undeserving “nerds,” her wild last-ditch effort to stay in the game, the Jerri Manthey comparisons and why she’d love to follow in the footsteps of Elisabeth Hasselbeck. – Carrie Bell

You knew you and Bob were doomed from the start of the merge, but you never gave up. Did you actually think a second fake idol would work?
I had a real slim chance. But I thought the flaw would be with the idol itself. How is anyone going to buy, coming off a fake idol made by Bob the week before, that there’s another idol from Bob? I thought there was no way that Kenny and Crystal were going to buy that it was real. If they did buy it, I was golden. I didn’t think they would try to flush it because it is useless after day 36. That was only one more round. They let Sugar walk around with an idol for like 25 days. They clearly bought it hook line and sinker that it was real.

Did you know at the time that Sugar had an idol?

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The family episode is a heartwarming staple of any Survivor season. But thanks to a marriage proposal and a makeshift funeral, the ante has been raised for future contests. Unfortunately, amidst all the mush, someone still had to go home. That someone, not surprisingly, was Corinne Kaplan, a 29–year-old pharmaceutical sales rep from Los Angeles. What was surprising (and most entertaining) was the Hail Mary play she concocted with Bob. – Carrie Bell

Night 30
Sugar came back from tribal council gloating about the ousting of Randy (“The best tribal so far for sure,” she said), which irritated Bob despite the fact that he played a large role in the humiliation by creating the fake idol. “To belittle him as he was going out, to stick it in his face, just pisses me off,” Bob grumbled. Sugar then picked a fight with Corinne about the etiquette of talking behind people’s backs. Corinne was very aware that her days were numbered and amped up her negative spewing, saying, “I am now in a camp of mutants, none of whom I like, and it is difficult to pretend to be nice to them.”

The next day Bob and Kenny caught a giant fish and Kenny seemed to take all of the credit as his head continues to grow. “Bob has taught me a lot out here,” he said. “But as far as playing the game, he’s not very good at it. I don’t mind getting rid of Bob.” (more…)

As one of Survivor’s grumpiest contenders ever, Randy Bailey, a 49-year-old videographer from Eagle Rock, Minn., was always willing to pick a fight and was never at a loss for words. And after months of reflection on his time on Gabon, his costars and his trick ousting, he hasn’t changed. Randy had some particularly choice things to say about his nemesis Sugar when he spoke with PEOPLE from New York for his official exit interview. – Carrie Bell

Did you go into tribal council believing that was an idol and that your plan would be successful?
Bob was a friend and an ally and the idol was a good facsimile so I thought it was real. I said something on the episode about it looking real enough so I obviously had some doubt. But when Jeff asked for it and I started to pull it out of my pocket, Crystal and Sugar started laughing. Then there was no doubt in my mind that I had been duped. But I had no to play it. Nothing to lose. So the answer is yes I thought it was real going in — and yes I knew it was fake when I played it.

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As Sugar told Crystal on the eve of tribal council, “Tonight is going to be the funkiest night of your life! Wait for it. Wait for it.” And it certainly was, as deliberately abrasive Randy Bailey, 49, a wedding videographer from Eagle Rock, Minn., confidently played Bob’s fake hidden immunity idol in a ploy to oust Susie, only to find himself bounced from the game. Here’s how the delicious turnabout took place:

Idle Idols
On Day 29 at the merged Nobag camp, Bob has a private chat with Sugar and shows her the fake idol he made during his trip to Exile. Sugar is secretly happy that Bob, Randy and Corinne still don’t think that she actually found the real thing. In another private conversation, Randy and Corinne both revel in their hatred of everyone else, with the possible exception of Matty, who Randy hopes can flip to their alliance “because the credibility of the others is, like, crap.”

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Crystal and Ken strike again! This time New York lawyer Charlie Herschel, 29, was their target on Survivor: Gabon. In a phone interview from his hometown, juror No. 2 dished about being blindsided, why he was willing to starve, the Marcus bromance and his Clay Aiken connection. – Carrie Bell

The players fans expected to make it to the end are falling like flies.
It’s depressing, right? I thought I had a good chance. I’m a pretty likable, nice guy who got along with everyone and had a tight alliance and a super strong team for almost all of the game. I thought I was going to get farther.

You looked shocked at tribal council when Jeff started reading your name on the ballots. Did you think you were safe? Was this a true blindside?
It was a 100 percent blindside. I thought I was in a position that, should we be given a twist like last week and I was in an alliance that was down in numbers, I would still be okay. I thought I would be the last person that would get voted off given that I was aligned with such polarizing characters who were despised by the other alliance. I wasn’t blindsided as far as my alliance losing a member but I was blindsided that it was me. (more…)

The tide turned once again on Survivor: Gabon as the long-awaited merger finally happened, buying some folks peace of mind for another week and sending others to the jungle in search of new strategies and old alliances. And it appears that the professional game player has turned power player as Ken orchestrated yet another blindside. This time the target was Charlie Herschel, 29, a lawyer from New York. – Carrie Bell

Slingshot at Reward
Kota, especially Ken, was flying high after kicking Marcus out, although it left Bob friendless and assuming, “I’m toast if we lose another. If we’re not merged, I’m history even though I teach science.” Speaking of bad jokes, life at Fang was miserable without rice or fire and Matty felt the most endangered as no merger news came with the first tree mail.

As the teams lined up for the reward challenge — a game of slingshot golf in which the best par on two of three holes would win a field trip to a nearby village — Charlie and Corinne’s expressions alternated between devastation and anger as they realized Marcus was gone. Charlie couldn’t contain his disappointment. “I know it’s a game but a lot of people have been playing a lot and Marcus never did that. He was enjoying everyday out here.” Corinne added: “He earned his right to be here longer.” (more…)