Chris Underwood

Christopher "Chris" Underwood is the Sole Survivor of .
Chris' supposed disloyalty led to him being the third person voted out on Day 8, but after lasting 26 full days on the and winning the second re-entry duel on Day 35, Chris made the most of his second chance by catching up to speed strategically and socially, as well as winning the Final Immunity Challenge. Believing his last-minute return would still not suffice for a win, he gave up his immunity and instead faced Rick Devens in the final four fire-making challenge to earn himself a spot in the Final Tribal Council. His strong relationships with the jury during his stay on the Edge of Extinction and resilience during the game's last days won him the title of Sole Survivor in a 9-4-0 vote.
==Profile==
Retrieved from CBS.com
Age: 25
Hometown: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Current residence: Greenville, South Carolina
Occupation: District Sales Manager
Hobbies: Surfing, sailing, camping, anything outdoors!
Pet peeves: Laziness, political Facebook posts, people who are all talk and no walk.
Three words to describe you: Personable, hustler, and intuitive.
What is your personal claim to fame? My professional career. I went from being a barista to managing the #1 sales team in my solar company within a year.
Who or what is your inspiration in life? The people who have taught me to get back up when I'm knocked down, to fight for the things that matter in life, and to never let my goals get away from me, no matter how big or small.
If you could have three things on the island, what would they be and why?
A surfboard because Fiji has amazing waves!
A skillet because literally everything tastes better on a skillet.
Scuba gear equipped with a spear gun because I love diving and spearfishing.
Which Survivor contestant are you the most like? Malcolm because of his charm, Rob because he is a leader but also manipulative, Spencer because of how well he understands strategy, and Ozzy because of his skills in the water.
What's your reason for being on Survivor? My primary motivation is to say that I accomplished the goal that I was set out to do—win! Even if the grand prize was $1,000, if I say I am going to do something, then I am everything in my control to achieve it.
Why do you think you'll "survive" Survivor? I can make fire, fish, build shelter, and I will most likely be cooking a lot of meals (I'm big into cooking). Also, I'd work hard and won't lay around camp. I'm a team player in terms of getting a group to work together, I am extremely competitive, and I will do whatever it takes to help my team win!http://web.archive.org/web/20230412172939/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/216069/
==Survivor==
Chris was the standout performer in challenges on a struggling Manu tribe that attended every Tribal Council before the tribe switch. Chris started the game in a strong majority of six as outsiders Wendy, Keith, and Reem isolated themselves. After the first Tribal Council where Reem was voted out, things got a bit more complicated as Chris developed a friendship with Keith. On Day 6, Chris was happy to let Keith participate in the ring toss portion of the challenge in an attempt for the latter to redeem himself following a poor swimming performance. This decision proved costly, resulting in Manu's second immunity loss. Chris entertained the possibility of voting with David, Rick, and Wendy in voting out Kelley, who was perceived as the bigger threat of the tribe's two returning players and had close allies in Lauren and Wardog. However, the tribe chose to keep the stronger Kelley and voted out Keith. Following a third loss in a row, Chris would once again consider voting out Kelley. David and Rick instructed Chris not to tell Wardog due to his closeness with Kelley. However, wanting to preserve his relationship with Wardog, Chris disobeyed David and Rick's advice and told Wardog that there were other plans floating around. However his decision proved futile, as Wardog turned the vote on him for being seen as untrustworthy, with David and Rick turning on Chris as they lost trust in him as well. At Tribal Council on Night 8, Chris was blindsided in a 5-2 vote. After Tribal Council he opted to go to the to join an unhappy Reem and Keith.
While on the Edge of Extinction, Chris found an advantage that allowed him to practice the future re-entry challenge. In an attempt to find another advantage, Reem and Keith were searching in the water where Keith found it after Reem pointed it out. Chris was annoyed that Reem apparently "let" Keith have the advantage, which offended Reem and caused an argument. That advantage allowed Keith to give another player a disadvantage in the re-entry challenge.
On Day 17, Reem, Keith, Chris, Rick, Aubry, and Wendy competed in the re-entry challenge and Keith selected Chris to receive the disadvantage in the form of 30 knots to untie before moving on to the final stage. That disadvantage slowed Chris down, but he managed to complete it and reach the final stage. He came close to winning but his ball fell off, allowing Rick to win and get back in the game. Jeff Probst asked Chris about his lowest point of his Survivor experience, to which Chris lamented his mistakes in the game but accepted that playing a perfect game was an unrealistic goal and ultimately owned them. Chris accepted the offer to continue on the Edge of Extinction, where he remained and participated as a jury member until the second re-entry challenge on Day 35.
On Day 35, in a field of ten voted out castaways consisting of Reem, Aubry, Joe, Eric, Julia, David, Kelley, Wardog, Ron, Aurora, and himself, Chris narrowly beat the competition to finally re-enter the game after 28 days on the Edge of Extinction. Similar to Rick when he re-entered on Day 17, Chris came in with two halves of a Hidden Immunity Idol. Needing to give one half of the idol to another player for a round of voting before it could have any power, Chris gave his half to Rick, whom he had the best relationship with out of the remaining players. Chris approached Lauren about her idol, having been told about it by Kelley on the Edge of Extinction. He told her that the jury felt that Lauren needed to play that idol on herself or another player to add a big move to her "Survivor resume". When Julie won the combined Immunity and Reward Challenge on Day 36, she took Chris and Lauren with her, with Chris targeting Victoria as the biggest jury threat. Chris also asked Lauren to play her idol on him that night to fulfill that big move he told her she would need to make to win. Lauren obliged, and Rick's idol was played as well negating four of the six votes that night at Tribal Council cast either for Rick or Chris, sending Victoria to the jury with two votes.
On Day 37, Rick won immunity and gave Chris his half of the idol, saving Chris so that they could work together to get to the Final Three. That night, Chris played the idol, negating 3 votes against him and allowing Rick and Chris to blindside Lauren. On Day 38, Chris won the Final Immunity Challenge. Rick pled for Chris to fulfill their deal, but Chris felt that Rick was his biggest threat in a jury vote, so he told him to brace for a fire-making challenge. Chris then told Gavin and Julie to both practice fire-making, and whoever did the best at camp would face Rick that night. However, it later dawned on Chris that he might need one more big move in his resume to convince the jury that he played well enough in his 11 days in the main game to merit jury votes. That night at Tribal Council, Chris gave up immunity to face Rick in the fire-making challenge for the final spot at Final Tribal Council. This risky move paid off as Chris defeated Rick, making him the 13th and final member of the jury.
At the Final Tribal Council, Chris emphasized the moves he made in the last 3 days of the game, claiming that they were bigger than any moves Julie or Gavin made and that he should not be penalized for being on Edge of Extinction for most of the game. Gavin argued the opposite, that his game was better than Chris's because he managed to stay in the main game and without ever having a vote cast against him. Julie's pleas were mostly ineffective, as the jury was mostly torn between Chris and Gavin's contrasting but effective enough gameplay. Ultimately, 9 out of 13 jurors believed Chris made the most of the time he had in the game, particularly commending his bravery to face Rick in the fire-making challenge. Those 9 votes were enough to make Chris the first ever Sole Survivor to come back into the game after being voted out.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out? 	Result
1 	rowspan=4 	Social Network 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	
2 	Serpent Turf 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
3 	Losing Face 	Reward 	No 	 	
3 	Beyond the Wheel 	Immunity 	No 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
6 	rowspan=2 	Back in the Saddle 	Re-entry 	 	
13 	Don't Call It a Comeback 	 	Re-entry 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
13 	rowspan=3 	Odyssey 6 	Reward/Immunity 	 	
13 	Giant Tick 	Immunity 	 	 	
13 	Let There Be Rock 	Immunity 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
Notes: Julie shared her reward with Chris. At the final four, Chris gave up his immunity to Julie and competed against Rick in the fire-making challenge.	Notes: Julie shared her reward with Chris. At the final four, Chris gave up his immunity to Julie and competed against Rick in the fire-making challenge.	Notes: Julie shared her reward with Chris. At the final four, Chris gave up his immunity to Julie and competed against Rick in the fire-making challenge.	Notes: Julie shared her reward with Chris. At the final four, Chris gave up his immunity to Julie and competed against Rick in the fire-making challenge.	Notes: Julie shared her reward with Chris. At the final four, Chris gave up his immunity to Julie and competed against Rick in the fire-making challenge.	Notes: Julie shared her reward with Chris. At the final four, Chris gave up his immunity to Julie and competed against Rick in the fire-making challenge.
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Chris'Votes 	Voted AgainstChris
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	 	
 	 	
4 	colspan="2" rowspan="10"	
5 	 	
6 	 	
7 	 	
8 	 	
9 	 	
10 	 	
11 	 	
12 	 	
13 	 	
 	 	
13 	 	
13 	 	
Jury Votesfor Chris	colspan="2" 	
 	 	
 In , Lauren used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Chris, negating 1 vote against him. Also in "I See the Million Dollars", Chris used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating 3 votes against him.</tabber>
==Post-Survivor==
* Chris married his college sweetheart, Katelyn Jermstad on April 26, 2019, 20 days before the finale.https://ew.com/tv/2019/05/16/survivor-edge-of-extinction-chris-underwood-winner-season-finale/ They have one daughter, Margot Lyn Underwood, born in 2022.https://www.instagram.com/p/CkBQCUArm4y/
* In November 2019, Chris attended the wedding of Joe Anglim and Sierra Dawn Thomas.https://people.com/tv/survivor-joe-anglim-sierra-dawn-thomas-marry/
* In May 2022, Chris competed as a celebrity tribe captain in the first season of the NMB Celebrity Survivor Challenge. He was the 7th person voted out and became the 3rd member of the jury.
* In the spring of 2023, Chris competed on CBS's The Challenge: USA 2.https://variety.com/gallery/the-challenge-usa-season-2-cast-cbs/the-challenge-usa-40/ He was placed on the Blue Team. He became the winner of the season, alongside fellow Survivor contestant, Desi Williams.
==Trivia==
* Chris is the fifth castaway to give away individual immunity at Tribal Council, following Jenna Morasca, Burton Roberts, Erik Reichenbach, and Brandon Hantz.
** Chris is the first to do so after winning the Final Immunity Challenge.
** Chris is the third to do so and survive that Tribal Council, following Jenna and Burton.
** Chris is the second to do so and subsequently win the game, following Jenna.
** Chris is the first castaway to participate in the final four fire-making challenge after winning the Final Immunity Challenge. He would be followed by Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt.
*** Chris' strategy of giving up immunity to place himself in the fire-making challenge against his target was first suggested by runner-up Domenick Abbate. Ghost Island was the last season the Edge of Extinction cast saw before their season started filming.
* Chris is the second person to reach Final Tribal Council after being voted out and returning, following Lillian Morris. They would be followed by Natalie Anderson in .
** Chris is the only person to win under such circumstances.
* Spending 26 full days on the , Chris has survived the fewest in-game days out of any winner with 13.
* Aided by his stay on the Edge of Extinction, Chris became the second finalist and second winner who was never eligible to be voted out post-merge, following Yul Kwon. Unlike Yul, who received five counted votes, Chris could never have elimination votes counted against him after coming back in the game due to two Hidden Immunity Idols and the final four fire-making challenge twist.
* By being sent to the Edge of Extinction, Chris became the second person to be removed from the jury, following Neal Gottlieb in . They would be followed by Natalie Anderson in Winners at War. Unlike Neal however, Chris and Natalie would have been eligible to rejoin the jury had they been eliminated after returning to the game.
* Chris is tied with Natalie White for having the fewest challenge wins by a winner, with three.
* Chris only attended seven Tribal Councils including the Final Tribal Council, which ties with Michele Fitzgerald in Kaôh Rōng for the fewest Tribal Councils attended by a winner.
* Chris is the second winner to not win a tribal Immunity Challenge in a season, following Denise Stapley in .
* Chris is the first Latin-American man to win the title of Sole Survivor and the second Latin-American winner overall, following Sandra Diaz-Twine, who won and .
* Chris was invited to be in Winners at War 12 hours after his wedding, but declined as he was preparing for his honeymoon.https://ew.com/tv/survivor-edge-of-extinction-chris-underwood-quarantine-questionnaire/
==References==
Category:Contestants
Category:Male Contestants
Category:Latin American Contestants
Category:Edge of Extinction Contestants
Category:Finalists
Category:Manu Tribe
Category:Vata Tribe
Category:Winners
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Contestants
Category:Survivor: Edge of Extinction
Category:1992 births
Category:Living people