Erika Casupanan

Erika Tinio Casupananhttps://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=210723024590752 is the Sole Survivor of .
Initially on the outs of the Luvu tribe with her ally Heather Aldret, Erika found her footing following a critical point where she decided who would have immunity at the first post-merge Tribal Council, exposing a secret Luvu pact against her, and later rallying the fellow outsiders against the majority alliance. For much of the post-merge, she was able to control the vote behind the scenes while the more pronounced threats went after each other, enabling her to make it to the Final Tribal Council. Erika's strategic gameplay, social acumen, strength in challenges, and ability to avoid being targeted earned her the respect of the jury and the title of Sole Survivor in a 7-1-0 vote, making her the first non-U.S. American to win the U.S. version of the series.
==Profile==
Retrieved from cbs.com
Age: 32 
Hometown: Niagara Falls, Ontario
Current Residence: Toronto, Ontario
Occupation: Communications Manager
Hobbies: Traveling, boxing and fitness, following pop culture
Three Words to Describe You: Fun, fearless, empathetic
Pet Peeves: Ignorance and men in ill-fitting jeans
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? It's hard to pick one because I love my whole life. My goal was to pay off my student loans by 30, and I did it at 27. Doing so allowed me to travel to so many places on my bucket list, get into combat sports and create financial stability for myself. One of my biggest accomplishments is actually leaving my job before coming to Fiji for the game. I'm proud of the career I built for nearly a decade. I'm even more proud that I was brave and walked away when I wasn't passionate about it anymore.
What is something we would never know from looking at you? People are always surprised by how smart and articulate I am. I'm quite smart and figure things out quickly. I'm also quick-witted and those who get it are pleasantly surprised. Those who don't, have no clue what they're missing. People also don't believe I'm 5-feet tall because my vibes make me seem 5'3".
Who is your hero and why? My grandma. She lived with my family growing up and I have a tattoo inspired by her. She [was] strong willed, so chic, sweet, yet opinionated and caring. She had my back 100 percent of the time. During her final days in the hospital she was still so high-maintenance and always made the nurses put on her pearls and diamonds.
Which past Survivor will you play the game most like? Brenda on the outside, Todd underneath. Brenda is physically strong, socially aware and not afraid to show her teeth. Todd is my all-time favorite player. I can channel his ability to influence others and always be strategically in control of the game and prepare to pitch myself in an amazing jury performance.
Why do you believe you can win Survivor? I've been manipulative since before I knew what manipulation was. I relentlessly pursue my dreams. The great thing is no one would expect it because of my youthful face and small stature. I can make it to the end and am confident in my ability to advocate for myself at final tribal.http://web.archive.org/web/20230622213003/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/216549/
==Survivor==
Assigned in the Luvu tribe, Erika kept a low-key approach for much of the pre-merge portion of the game, steadily forging relationships with her tribemates, particularly Heather Aldret. Erika contributed to Luvu's extensive winning streak, being the tribe's main puzzle solver. However, Erika's game quickly changed when Danny McCray and Deshawn Radden took great lengths to eliminate her by attempting to throw the Immunity Challenge on Day 9, only to be unwittingly thwarted by Naseer Muttalif. Luvu eventually entered the individual portion of the game with all of its members intact. 
In an unusual merge on Day 12, a draw of rocks divided the 12 remaining castaways into two teams of five, with Erika and Naseer randomly sitting out of that day's challenge. The winning team, mostly composed of her Luvu tribemates, invited Naseer to join them, sending Erika to . Dejected, Erika's miserable stay on Exile Island had a respite in the form of the Hourglass advantage which gave her the power to overturn the events of the challenge and instead give herself and the members of the losing team immunity. At her first Tribal Council, Erika observed the chaos unfold from safety, before joining her Luvu affiliates to vote with the All-Black Alliance and eliminate Sydney Segal.
Erika continued to work with the newly-formed Viakana majority by taking out Tiffany Seely at the next Tribal Council before her quiet game once again became a topic of conversation, with Shan Smith became increasingly wary of her and decided to target her next. Erika's situation was made even more dicey by the announcement of a Double Elimination on Day 17, where she and Heather were grouped with the seemingly tight group of Naseer, Shan, and Ricard Foyé. Though Erika won the Immunity Challenge, this left Heather vulnerable. The two women were given a reprieve when Ricard proposed that they blindside Naseer to flush his Hidden Immunity Idol; this plan came to fruition that night, giving Erika and Heather new life in the game. 
On Day 19, Erika and Ricard began cementing their alliance by pulling Heather and Xander Hastings into a to rival the All-Black Alliance by blindsiding Shan. Knowing that Shan had an idol and was targeting her, Erika orchestrated a split vote between Shan and Liana Wallace to grant herself additional protection. Her new alliance got their way, sending Shan home. Erika and Heather then became swing votes at the next Tribal Council, where Liana and Ricard, now branded as the biggest threat, were up for elimination. Ultimately, they sided with their allies and took Liana out in order to continue steamrolling their rivals.
During the Reward Challenge on Day 22, Erika was part of the winning team alongside Deshawn and Xander. They took the opportunity to forge a Final Three pact and agreed that Ricard would be next to go. Their plan was foiled, however, when Ricard won immunity, after which the core alliance was met with a decision between eliminating Danny or Deshawn. Desperate, Deshawn used their pact against her at Tribal Council by dropping a "truth bomb", telling Heather that Erika had no plans to take her to the finals. However, Erika's alliance held strong and kept Deshawn over Danny. After being informed they would move to a new beach to start over, Erika found herself in hot water as Heather was visibly troubled over Deshawn's statements. 
The next day, Erika found a Challenge Advantage, which she used to emerge victorious in that day's Immunity Challenge, choosing Heather to join her on the reward to make amends. They weighed their options on who between Deshawn or Ricard they should vote out. At Tribal Council, Erika found that Ricard would be a bigger threat going to the Final Tribal Council and turned the tables on him, voting him out.
Despite losing the Final Immunity Challenge on Day 25, Erika received verbal confirmation from Xander that he would bring her to the Final Tribal Council. She chose to practice making fire out of respect anyway, which alarmed Xander when he saw that she had difficulty making fire, contrary to his previous beliefs. Heather attempted to convince Xander to take Erika out because she was the biggest threat, but eventually, he kept to his promise with Erika and took her to the Final Three, a move that notably earned a confused response from the jury. Deshawn then narrowly defeated Heather in the fire-making challenge, joining Erika and Xander in the Final Three.
At the Final Tribal Council, Erika was interrogated for her social strategy. Tapping on her experience in communications, Erika explained how she let herself be underestimated, a trait that she translated from her career, while pulling the strings behind the scenes. Her eloquence and believable story earned her the respect of the jury, winning the title of Sole Survivor in a 7-1-0 vote against Deshawn and Xander respectively.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out? 	Result
1 	rowspan=7 	Marooning 	Reward 	No 	
1 	Bonus Track 	Immunity 	No 	 	
2 	Water Sports 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
3 	Victory in the Bag 	Reward/Immunity 	Yes 	 	
4 	Running Down a Dream 	Reward 	Yes 	 	
4 	Kenny Log-Ins 	Immunity 	No 	 	
5 	Ramplified 	Reward/Immunity 	Yes 	 	
colspan="7" 	 	 	 	 	
6 	None 	Keep Digging 	Reward/Immunity 	Yes 	
7 	None 	The Game is Afoot 	Immunity 	Safe 	Safe
colspan="7" 	 	 	 	 	
8 	rowspan=10 	Puzzle Pieces 	Reward 	No 	
8 	Keep on Your Toes 	Immunity 	No 	 	
9 	Uncomfortably Numb 	Reward/Immunity 	 	 	
10 	Starfish 	Reward 	 	 	
10 	Hard to Handle 	Immunity 	 	 	
11 	Balance On The Line 	Immunity 	No 	 	
12 	Beach Front Bay Bash 	Reward 	 	 	
12 	Dizzy Miss Lizzy 	Immunity 	 	 	
13 	Born to Rung 	Reward/Immunity 	 	 	
13 	Let There Be Rock 	Immunity 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
Notes: The unchosen sit-out from the challenge (Erika) was exiled. There, she was given an hourglass which she may choose to break to strip the winning team of their immunity, transferring it to the losing team and herself. Erika broke the hourglass and she was given immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Erika won individual immunity but not the reward.	Notes: The unchosen sit-out from the challenge (Erika) was exiled. There, she was given an hourglass which she may choose to break to strip the winning team of their immunity, transferring it to the losing team and herself. Erika broke the hourglass and she was given immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Erika won individual immunity but not the reward.	Notes: The unchosen sit-out from the challenge (Erika) was exiled. There, she was given an hourglass which she may choose to break to strip the winning team of their immunity, transferring it to the losing team and herself. Erika broke the hourglass and she was given immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Erika won individual immunity but not the reward.	Notes: The unchosen sit-out from the challenge (Erika) was exiled. There, she was given an hourglass which she may choose to break to strip the winning team of their immunity, transferring it to the losing team and herself. Erika broke the hourglass and she was given immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Erika won individual immunity but not the reward.	Notes: The unchosen sit-out from the challenge (Erika) was exiled. There, she was given an hourglass which she may choose to break to strip the winning team of their immunity, transferring it to the losing team and herself. Erika broke the hourglass and she was given immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Erika won individual immunity but not the reward.	Notes: The unchosen sit-out from the challenge (Erika) was exiled. There, she was given an hourglass which she may choose to break to strip the winning team of their immunity, transferring it to the losing team and herself. Erika broke the hourglass and she was given immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Erika won individual immunity but not the reward.
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Erika'sVotes	Voted AgainstErika
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	 	
4 	 	
5 	 	
7 	 	
8 	 	
9 	 	
10 	 	
11 	 	
12 	 	
13 	 	
Jury Votesfor Erika	colspan="2" 	
 	 	
 In , the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Heather and Naseer, forcing a revote. Erika did not change her vote on the revote. In , the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Liana and Shan, forcing a revote. Erika changed her vote to Shan on the revote. In , the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Danny and Deshawn, forcing a revote. Erika did not change her vote on the revote.</tabber>
==Post-Survivor==
* Erika released her own limited line of merchandise to commemorate her Survivor experience. The design includes a crown, a puzzle piece, the hourglass and hammer, her headband and purple hair, a lamb turning into a lion, a well as the Philippine flag sun and Canadian maple leaf, nods to her Filipino and Canadian heritage, and the Survivor Game Within the Game.https://www.instagram.com/p/CXuIp2vLcsJ/
* On February 25, 2022, Erika was given a key to the city in her hometown, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.https://globalnews.ca/news/8646778/canada-survivor-winner-niagara-falls-key/
* Erika was a special correspondent for Entertainment Tonight Canada during the original run of .
* In January 2023, Erika started a podcast called, Happy to See Me.
* Erika competed along with other Canadian reality TV personalities on the first season of The Traitors Canada.https://twitter.com/traitorscanada/status/1703835607619817555 She was not one of the three Traitors, and became the first contestant eliminated in the second episode.
* Erika came out as lesbian on December 30, 2023.https://www.instagram.com/p/C1fKTCgxS5k/
==Trivia ==
* Erika is the first contestant on , and by extension the first winner, to reside in Canada at the time of filming.
* Prior to moving to Canada during her youth, Erika's family hailed from in the Philippines. 
** Erika is the second castaway with Filipino ancestry to win in an English-language franchise, following Jericho Malabonga in .
** Erika is the first Filipino, Southeast Asian, and Asian-Canadian to win Survivor (U.S).
* Erika is the first woman to be crowned Sole Survivor on location and the second overall, following Richard Hatch in .
* Erika is the fourth LGBT contestant to become the Sole Survivor, following Richard Hatch, Todd Herzog, and Parvati Shallow. She was followed by Yam Yam Arocho. 
** By extension, this makes Erika the first LGBT contestant of color and the second LGBT woman to become the Sole Survivor.
* Erika is the first person to win a 26-day season.
* Erika is the first woman to become the Sole Survivor since Sarah Lacina, who won .
* Erika is the second winner to avoid Tribal Council during the pre-merge portion of the game, following Michele Fitzgerald in .
** Erika is tied with Michele as the least vulnerable female winner and tied for second overall behind Tom Westman, having been eligible to be voted out only four times.
* Erika is the first woman and second castaway overall after the introduction of the final four forced fire-making challenge to be taken by the winner of the Final Immunity Challenge to the Final Tribal Council and become the Sole Survivor, following Tommy Sheehan. She would be followed by Maryanne Oketch.
* Erika is tied with Natalie White, Kim Spradlin-Wolfe, Sarah Lacina, and Maryanne Oketch for the most jury votes received by a woman, with seven.
** Erika and Maryanne achieved this with the smallest juries of the group, as Survivor 41 and 42 only had eight jurors.
** Erika and Maryanne also have the highest percent of jury votes received among female contestants with 7 of 8 or 87.5%.
==References==
Category:Contestants
Category:Female Contestants
Category:Asian-Canadian Contestants
Category:LGBT Contestants
Category:Survivor 41 Contestants
Category:Finalists
Category:Luvu Tribe
Category:Viakana Tribe
Category:Winners
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Contestants
Category:Survivor 41