Survivor 45

Survivor 45
Season 45
Presented by	Jeff Probst
No. of days	26
No. of castaways	18
Location	Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
No. of episodes	7
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	September 27, 2023 (2023-09-27) – present
Additional information
Filming dates	April 17 (2023-04-17) – May 12, 2023 (2023-05-12)
Season chronology

Survivor 45 is the forty-fifth season of the American competitive reality television series Survivor. It is the thirteenth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji, and premiered on September 27, 2023, on CBS in the United States.

Production

On February 21, 2023, CBS renewed Survivor for its forty-fifth season. The season, which will be the fifth aired since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, continued to observe the strict safety protocols introduced in season 41, thus it will continue to feature the reduced 26 days of gameplay, with 18 contestants starting in three tribes, as with every season since then. A sneak peek for the season was aired at the finale of the previous season, where it was revealed that Bruce Perreault, a contestant who was medically evacuated in the previous season, would return for the forty-fifth season. Previously, host Jeff Probst offered an open invitation to Perreault to return for a future installment of the show, citing that he "didn't think that Bruce got his fair share of Survivor".

As a result of the ongoing 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, this season, along with The Amazing Race 35 will air 90-minute long episodes to fill the timeslots left vacant by scripted shows. This will mark the first time in which the show will have regular episodes that exceed the regular 60-minutes allotted for the show.

Contestants

The cast of 18 contestants was announced on September 6, 2023. Notable cast members include singer-songwriter J. Maya (a.k.a. Janani Krishnan-Jha) and Bruce Perreault; the latter had briefly competed on the previous season but was medically evacuated after sustaining an injury in the first episode.

List of Survivor 45 contestants

Contestant	Age	From	Tribe				Finish
			Original	Switched	None	Merged	Placement	Day
Hannah Rose	33	Baltimore, Maryland	Lulu				1st voted out	Day 3
Brandon Donlon	26	Sicklerville, New Jersey					2nd voted out	Day 5
Sabiyah Broderick	28	Jacksonville, North Carolina					3rd voted out	Day 7
Sean Edwards	35	Provo, Utah		Reba			4th voted out	Day 9
Brandon "Brando" Meyer	23	Seattle, Washington	Belo	Belo			5th voted out	Day 11
Janani "J. Maya" Krishnan-Jha	24	Los Angeles, California	Reba	Reba	None		6th voted out	Day 13
Nicholas "Sifu" Alsup	30	O'Fallon, Illinois				Dakuwaqa	7th voted out	Day 14
Kaleb Gebrewold	29	Vancouver, British Columbia	Lulu	Lulu			8th voted out 1st jury member
Austin Li Coon	26	Chicago, Illinois	Reba	Belo
Bruce Perreault Survivor 44	47	Warwick, Rhode Island	Belo	Lulu
Dee Valladares	26	Miami, Florida	Reba	Reba
Drew Basile	23	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Reba	Belo
Emily Flippen	28	Laurel, Maryland	Lulu	Belo
Jake O'Kane	26	Boston, Massachusetts	Belo	Lulu
Julie Alley	49	Brentwood, Tennessee	Reba	Reba
Katurah Topps	35	Brooklyn, New York	Belo	Lulu
Kellie Nalbandian	29	New York City, New York	Belo	Lulu
Kendra McQuarrie	30	Steamboat Springs, Colorado	Belo	Belo

Season summary

Survivor 45 season summary

Episode			Challenge winner(s)		Eliminated
No.	Title	Air date	Reward	Immunity	Tribe	Player
1	"We Can Do Hard Things"	September 27, 2023	Reba	Belo	Lulu	Hannah
				Reba
2	"Brought a Bazooka to a Tea Party"	October 4, 2023	Reba		Lulu	Brandon
			Belo
3	"No Man Left Behind"	October 11, 2023	Lulu	Reba	Lulu	Sabiyah
			Reba	Belo
4	"Music to my Ears"	October 18, 2023	None	Lulu	Reba	Sean
				Belo
5	"I Don't Want to be the Worm"	October 25, 2023	Reba		Belo	Brando
			Lulu
6	"I'm Not Batman, I'm the Canadian"	November 1, 2023	Austin, Bruce, Drew, Julie, Kendra, Sifu, [Katurah]		None	J. Maya
7	"The Thorn in My Thumb"	November 8, 2023	Dee (Austin, Jake, Julie, Kaleb, Katurah)	Kellie	Dakuwaqa	Sifu
				Dee		Kaleb
8	"Following a Dead Horse to Water"	November 15, 2023	Survivor Auction
9	"Sword of Damocles"	November 22, 2023

Episodes

See also: List of Survivor (American TV series) episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Rating/share (18–49)	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
649	1	"We Can Do Hard Things"	0.8/9	September 27, 2023 (2023-09-27)	5.24
The 18 new castaways began their adventure. Reward Challenge: Two tribe members moved sandbags and rope out of a crate then retrieved a key. The next pair rowed out to another key. The final pair used those keys to unlock two poles, which were used to retrieve a flint. The first tribe to free their flint won it, plus a pot and machete. Reba won the challenge, with Brandon being tended to by medical afterwards. Brando & Jake for Belo and Kaleb & Sabiyah for Lulu volunteered for Savvy and Sweat challenge, where both pairs were tasked to do two challenges within a time limit: transport logs down the beach, and then free a flint from a puzzle structure. The first pair to do both tasks won their supplies for the tribe while the losing pair got nothing. While both pairs were able to complete the Sweat portion of the challenge, both failed to complete the Savvy puzzle. At Lulu, Emily believed Kaleb and Sabiyah were hiding an advantage after the pair told their tribemates that they didn't win the camp supplies. When Brandon rejoined his tribe, Hannah told him that she wanted to quit. At Belo, Katurah, Kellie, and Kendra aligned together while Bruce struggled to rein in his leadership tendencies, despite saying that he didn't want to be seen as a leader. At Reba, Sifu was caught looking for an advantage and eavesdropping on his tribemates' conversations. Austin found a Beware Advantage and was tasked with deciphering a secret phrase on his tribe's flag in the middle of camp; until he completes all of the tasks, he would be unable to vote at Tribal Council. Immunity Challenge: Tribe members completed an obstacle course which involved a mud pit and dropping a crate by throwing coconuts in a net before completing a Survivor logo jigsaw puzzle. The first two tribes to finish won immunity while the losing tribe had to forfeit their flint. Belo and Reba easily won immunity. At Lulu, Emily campaigned against Kaleb due to his tight alliance with Sabiyah, but the rest of the tribe wanted Emily out first due to her abrasiveness. However, at Tribal Council, Hannah decided to quit regardless of the outcome; with her tribemates' blessings and a verbal vote from the rest of the tribe, she became the first person to leave the game.
650	2	"Brought a Bazooka to a Tea Party"	0.8/9	October 4, 2023 (2023-10-04)	4.88
Emily was on the outs and began searching for an idol the morning after Hannah's quit; the others stayed close by while searching themselves. Brandon found Lulu's Beware Advantage but gave it to Sabiyah, not wanting to lose his vote. Emily tried to make amends and bond with her tribemates, succeeding with Kaleb, while Sabiyah and Brandon deciphered their clue to a tree but could not retrieve the idol. At Belo, Bruce's "fun uncle" persona endeared himself to Jake but earned Katurah's ire, while Brando and Kellie found themselves in the middle after they saw the value to both remaining pairs. At Reba, a majority alliance formed between Drew, Julie, Austin, and Dee. Austin deciphered the phrase on his Beware Advantage but did not yet find the idol. The tribes were tasked with sending one player each on a journey. Bruce for Belo, Brandon for Lulu, and Drew for Reba went; Brandon divulged Lulu's tribe dynamics while Bruce remained silent. The three were then given a challenge that would give them an advantage if they won, but took their vote if they lost. Bruce elected to protect his vote and not play; Brandon lost, while Drew won a Safety Without Power advantage that he immediately told his tribemates about, proposing it to be used to benefit all of Reba. This led Austin to disclose his advantage to Drew, solidifying their alliance. Reward/Immunity Challenge: One at a time, three tribe members smashed a target to release a key, then crossed a balance beam. Once all three keys were retrieved, the remaining two tribe members would use the keys to open puzzle pieces to solve a coral-shaped jigsaw puzzle. The first two tribes to finish won immunity plus a large fishing kit for the winning tribe and a smaller fishing kit for second place. The losing tribe would have to forfeit their flint. Reba and Belo placed first and second respectively in a close finish after Brandon faltered in the puzzle. The majority alliance of Sabiyah, Kaleb, and Sean got the idol out of the tree, but had to burn wax surrounding it; without flint to start a fire, Sabiyah was without a vote that night, as was Brandon due to losing the journey challenge. Sabiyah hoped for Emily to go, but Kaleb and Sean lobbied for tribe strength by ousting Brandon. Emily gave Sabiyah her Shot in the Dark to build trust. At Tribal Council, Brandon was sent home unanimously.
651	3	"No Man Left Behind"	0.8/9	October 11, 2023 (2023-10-11)	5.09
Emily deduced that Sabiyah did not vote, leading to more distrust between the two. At Belo, Jake had a brief medical episode but felt fine afterward. Kendra then tried to align with Jake. At Reba, Austin and Drew's search for the idol raised red flags with Dee. Reward Challenge: Tribe members ran ashore and, one-at-a-time, tossed a ball onto an overhead track, maneuvering across ropes to catch the ball before it fell off the end. Once they all accomplished this, they tossed the balls to try and land one in a target, dropping three hooks that they would toss rings onto. The first tribe to land all three rings won a large fruit platter and the right to raid one of the other two camps, while the second tribe to finish won a smaller fruit platter. Lulu and Reba won the challenge. Lulu chose to have Kaleb raid Reba, where he took some of their fishing gear and obtained information on Reba's dynamics. Kaleb was to give a Goodwill advantage to a member of Reba that would restore one lost vote; he chose Drew, who gave it to Austin and disclosed it to Dee and Julie. Meanwhile at Lulu, Sabiyah tried to convince Sean and Emily to blindside Kaleb due to his social prowess. At Belo, Brando and Kellie grew wary of Katurah's vendetta against Bruce. At Reba, Dee and Julie found the idol which they gave to Austin since he had the note. Austin discovered it was only good for one Tribal Council, though he could sacrifice a vote to extend it to the individual stage of the game, or sacrifice two votes to extend the idol to the final five. Immunity Challenge: Tribes raced out with a cart, and one member retrieved keys from high up using a pole. The keys unlocked heavy puzzle pieces that went on the cart. They disassembled the cart to get the pieces through a barricade then reassembled the cart. They then used the pieces to assemble a large cube puzzle with the help of an appointed caller. The first two tribes to finish won immunity while the losing tribe had to forfeit its flint. Lulu lost yet another challenge. Sabiyah came clean to Emily about her lack of a vote, causing Emily to tell Kaleb to vote Sabiyah to save himself. At Tribal Council, Sabiyah burned the wax surrounding her idol in the arena's fire, but when she went up to the voting booth, she discovered that her idol had the same restrictions and powers as Austin's. She chose to sacrifice her vote to extend the life of the idol, but she did not play the idol. This backfired against Sabiyah as Emily and Kaleb joined forces to blindside her out of the game.
652	4	"Music to My Ears"	0.8/8	October 18, 2023 (2023-10-18)	4.92
Sean tried to do damage control after being in the minority of the last vote, but Emily did not buy it. The next morning, the first tribe swap of the new era took place: Belo consisted of Austin, Brando, Drew, Emily, and Kendra; Lulu consisted of Bruce, Jake, Kaleb, Katurah, and Kellie; Reba consisted of Dee, J. Maya, Julie, Sean, and Sifu. At Lulu, Bruce recognized the campsite as being Tika's from last season, making him emotional. Jake and Kaleb discussed aligning, while Katurah tried to sway Kaleb into voting out Bruce. At Belo, Austin and Drew tried to bring Emily into their alliance. At Reba, the four in the majority searched Sean's bag for an advantage and discovered he didn't have one. J. Maya bonded with Sean and targeted Sifu. Immunity Challenge: Tribes carried a heavy cage from the ocean to the beach. Once the cage was placed at a designated spot, one tribe member dug themselves under the cage to be the rebounder while the rest of the tribe shot balls to score into three baskets. The first two tribes to score all three balls won immunity while the losing tribe had to forfeit their flint. Lulu and Belo won the challenge. J. Maya tried to convince Dee and Julie to blindside Sifu, who hoped to stay Reba strong and vote out Sean. Dee and Julie were torn on who to vote out. At Tribal Council, Sean changed course and stated he wanted to quit; despite Dee making a last-ditch effort to turn against Sifu, Sean was sent home after his throwaway vote on Dee, though Sifu wondered who had voted for him.
653	5	"I Don't Want to be the Worm"	0.7/7	October 25, 2023 (2023-10-25)	5.03
Sifu asked where the vote for him came from, and Dee stated she didn't vote for him, even though she did. Eventually, J. Maya confessed to it just to put it behind the tribe. Dee and Julie debated siding with Sifu or J. Maya for the future. At Lulu, Bruce's bossiness wore on tribemates' nerves. At Belo, Drew was unreceptive to an attempt to align by Brando. Reward/Immunity Challenge: One at a time, three members from each tribe raced through an obstacle course to find three keys. Another tribe member used one of the keys to unlock a long hook with which they released sandbags. Finally, each tribe had to use their sandbags and a slingshot to knock down three targets. The first two tribes to finish won immunity and spreads of fresh fish, while the losing tribe had to forfeit their flint. The first winning tribe also got to select three people, one from each tribe, to go on a journey. Reba and Lulu won the challenge. J. Maya, Kellie, and Austin were selected for the journey, where they had to come to a majority decision on sandwiches or an amulet advantage that would increase in power the fewer of them holding it remained in the game. Austin unsuccessfully tried to sway the women into the sandwiches, and the advantage gave the group one extra vote. Brando offered his Shot in the Dark to Drew so that they could vote out Kendra, but Drew refused. The resulting he said-he said made Emily unsure of which side to trust. At Tribal Council, Austin used the Goodwill advantage to sacrifice one vote to extend his idol's power then gain his vote back; Emily ultimately stuck with Austin and Drew to send Brando home, much to Kendra's surprise.
654	6	"I'm not Batman, I'm the Canadian"	0.7/7	November 1, 2023 (2023-11-01)	4.86
Kendra sought revenge on Emily after her ally Brando's blindside. The following morning, Bruce found an idol under Lulu's shelter. Treemail instructed the three tribes to convene on Reba's beach to start the individual phase of the game. The former members of Reba affirmed their intent to target J. Maya, since voting her out would burn the fewest bridges among the tribe, but Bruce's paranoia over not being approached for strategy unnerved several tribemates. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Divided into two teams of six by random draw (with one castaway drawing the odd rock and not participating), one player at a time crawled through the mud under a heavy net and moved to a heavy cart. When all team members made it to the cart, they pushed it across the field and over obstacles to a tower, collecting sandbags as they went. Using the sandbags, they built a pile on the cart in order to get up the tower to retrieve a key. They then slid down a net and ran to a large rock. Using teamwork, they climbed the rock to reach a platform. Using the key, one player unlocked puzzle pieces. Two players then solved the puzzle, revealing clues to a word puzzle. Two other players then used the clues to solve the word puzzle. The winners received their merge tribe buffs, immunity, and a food reward at the Survivor Sanctuary. Katurah chose to back the blue team of Austin, Bruce, Drew, Julie, Kendra, and Sifu; they won the challenge, giving Katurah immunity. J. Maya became the consensus target of that group, but Kendra and Bruce tried to shift the target onto Kaleb due to his social prowess. Emily warned Kaleb that his name came up, and at Tribal Council, he openly called J. Maya the biggest threat. This led the entire tribe (sans Austin, who sacrificed his vote to extend his idol for the final five) to vote Kaleb, but his successful Shot in the Dark negated all votes against him. The ensuing scramble saw J. Maya targeting Emily, but the rest of the tribe voted J. Maya out. The remaining castaways merged, with Austin and Kellie's amulets upgraded to one steal-a-vote.
655	7	"The Thorn in My Thumb"	0.7/7	November 8, 2023 (2023-11-08)	4.53
Back at camp, Kaleb celebrated his luck at the last Tribal Council, while Bruce publicly called Katurah out for her hesitation in voting Kaleb out. Kendra and Katurah expressed their interest in targeting Bruce next, while Kellie disagreed, viewing him as a shield that could protect her and her allies in the future. Reward/Immunity Challenge: In their first individual immunity challenge, survivors were divided into two groups by random draw. Survivors had to hang on to a tall pole for as long as possible, with whoever lasting the longest from each group winning immunity. The last person remaining of everyone also won a visit to the Survivor Sanctuary for a food reward for their group. Additionally, that winning group would go to Tribal Council second, with each group voting someone out separately; the winning group's voted out member would join the jury, while the losing group's voted out member would not. The first group was made up of Bruce, Drew, Emily, Kellie, Kendra, and Sifu, with the second group consisting of Austin, Dee, Jake, Julie, Kaleb, and Katurah. Dee won immunity as well as the reward for her group, while Kellie won immunity for her group. Kellie's group settled on the prime targets of Bruce and Sifu due to Bruce's bossiness and Sifu's wildcard reputation; however, with the threat of Bruce's idol and his potential as a shield, they chose Sifu, voting him out unanimously. With the other group, Dee used her newfound immunity power to establish Kaleb as the clear next target. On the other hand, Kaleb and Jake planned on roping Katurah into voting Julie, forcing a split vote and relying on Austin to flip on the revote. However, Katurah sided with Dee after learning that Bruce's idol was kept from her, and Kaleb was sent home, becoming the first jury member.
656	8	"Following a Dead Horse to Water"	TBA	November 15, 2023 (2023-11-15)	N/A
Survivor Auction: TBA Immunity Challenge: TBA
657	9	"Sword of Damocles"	TBA	November 22, 2023 (2023-11-22)	N/A
Reward Challenge: TBA Immunity Challenge: TBA

Voting history

Survivor 45 voting history

	Original tribes			Switched tribes		No tribes		Merged tribe
Episode	1	2	3	4	5	6		7		8
Day	3	5	7	9	11	13		14
Tribe	Lulu	Lulu	Lulu	Reba	Belo	None		Dakuwaqa	Dakuwaqa	Dakuwaqa
Eliminated	Hannah	Brandon	Sabiyah	Sean	Brando	None	J. Maya	Sifu	Kaleb
Votes	5–0	3–0	2–1	3–1–1	3–2	0–0	10–1	5–1	4–2
Voter	Vote
Austin					Brando	None			Kaleb
Bruce						Kaleb	J. Maya	Sifu
Dee				Sifu		Kaleb	J. Maya		Kaleb
Drew					Brando	Kaleb	J. Maya	Sifu
Emily	Hannah	Brandon	Sabiyah		Brando	Kaleb	J. Maya	Sifu
Jake						Kaleb	J. Maya		Julie
Julie				Sean		Kaleb	J. Maya		Kaleb
Katurah						Kaleb	J. Maya		Kaleb
Kellie						Kaleb	J. Maya	Sifu
Kendra					Drew	Kaleb	J. Maya	Sifu
Kaleb	Hannah	Brandon	Sabiyah			None			Julie
Sifu				Sean		Kaleb	J. Maya	Bruce
J. Maya				Sean		Kaleb	Emily
Brando					Drew
Sean	Hannah	Brandon	Kaleb	Dee
Sabiyah	Hannah	None	None
Brandon	Hannah	None
Hannah	None

Jury vote
Episode
Day	26
Finalist
Votes
Juror
Juror #8
Juror #7
Juror #6
Juror #5
Juror #4
Juror #3
Juror #2
Kaleb

Notes

External links

• Official website