Deshawn Radden

Deshawn Radden is a contestant from .
Deshawn began the game in a power position on the dominant Luvu tribe, where he paired with Danny McCray. Following the merge, Deshawn consolidated his power by joining the All-Black Alliance, but he was undone by his reactionary game blunders, including blindsiding his ally, which precipitated his alliance's decimation, and dropping a misguided "truth bomb" while he was on the bottom, burning bridges with Erika Casupanan at the final five. Against all odds, Deshawn made it to Day 26 by pulling through in the firemaking challenge, but his scrappy gameplay was interpreted by the jury as temperamental and impulsive. Failing to earn the jury's respect, Deshawn finished in second place to Erika.
==Profile==
Retrieved from cbs.com
Age: 26 
Hometown: San Bernardino, Calif.
Current Residence: Miami, Fla.
Occupation: Medical student
Hobbies: Cooking, making music, playing tennis
Three Words to Describe You: Charming, devious, resilient
Pet Peeves: My biggest pet peeve is being told what to do. And it's not something that makes me mildly irritated, I deeply loathe being told what to do. Listen, I'm not saying I know it all, but I'd much rather try and fail at something than go along with what someone else tells me is "acceptable."
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Every time I set a new goal and accomplish it, I become most proud of that goal. Most recently, I'm most proud to be in medical school, with a master's and bachelor's degree under my belt. I sense that within this next year I'll be most proud of winning Survivor.
What is something we would never know from looking at you? You'd probably never know that I am very introspective and empathetic. Around people, I am always so outgoing, but I'm also someone who thinks a lot, sometimes overthinks and over feels, for other people and sometimes my own situations. I consider myself an empath, and although I may not always appear to, I do feel other people's emotions, and I do feel strong emotions myself. I think I just do an above average job at concealing these emotions to not look vulnerable.
Who is your hero and why? My heroes are my parents because they truly took parenting personally. They both come from challenging backgrounds and made it their duty to create a better life for my siblings and me. But above all, I find it most heroic that they are and somehow raised five genuinely good human beings, with good hearts and strong moral compasses. That can be hard to come by these days.
Which past Survivor will you play the game most like? Well, I mean let's be real here, my game will be unprecedented! But I see my game being most like Cirie Fields socially and mentally, with a sprinkle of Wendell for pulling out competition wins in the clutch and jury management. I'll be like Cirie and Wendell's love child!
Why do you believe you can win Survivor? I believe I could be the final Survivor because of a combination of social, mental and physical skills. I studied the game of Survivor like I would study for a medical school test, and what I have found is that in order to outwit, outplay and outlast, you must have all three skills and these skills must work harmoniously together and shine at different points in the game. I feel like I am self-aware, which is something a lot of people lack. I am analytical enough to pick up on social cues and smart enough to critically think through obstacles that may present themselves, without becoming flustered. I know that I'm physically enough to help my team do well in challenges in the beginning and win challenges past the merge, but also, cunning enough to get any physical threats voted out before the game becomes individual. I am persuasive, but non-threatening. I have street smarts and book smarts, and am empathetic enough to be read as trustworthy. I truly feel like I have the recipe to win!http://web.archive.org/web/20230326025941/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/216547/
==Survivor==
Starting the game on the Luvu tribe, Deshawn and Danny McCray were picked to perform the Sweat task to earn the tribe's flint. While they completed the challenge, Naseer Muttalif found them searching for a Hidden Immunity Idol. He promptly told the rest of the tribe about this, but Sydney Segal told Deshawn and Danny about Naseer's targeting.
After the Luvu tribe won the first two Immunity Challenges, Deshawn volunteered to go to the 2nd Summit with Evvie Jagoda of the Yase tribe. They told Deshawn how the idols this season were Beware Advantages and how Xander Hastings had the Yase idol. The duo was offered a choice between risking their vote and possibly gaining an Extra Vote or protecting their vote, gaining nothing. Evvie told Deshawn about how their vote was needed at the Yase Tribal Council and offered to let Deshawn have it, hoping for a possible alliance later in the game. Deshawn risked his vote and would get the extra vote later in the game.
On Day 9, Deshawn and Danny attempted to throw the Immunity Challenge to eliminate Erika Casupanan. However, they failed to lose the challenge. The Luvu tribe never went to Tribal Council throughout the pre-merge.
On Day 12, the tribes were divided into two teams, where the winning team would win individual immunity and a spot in the merged Viakana tribe. Deshawn's blue team won the challenge. After the reward, Deshawn, Danny, Shan Smith, and Liana Wallace formed the All-Black Alliance, an alliance that hoped to represent the African-American race into the final four. After Erika smashed an hourglass, Deshawn's team lost immunity and a spot in the merge. While they originally hoped to target Xander using Liana's Knowledge is Power advantage, the idol had been given away and the idol wasted. With Deshawn being the target of the Yase Alliance, the All-Black Alliance and their allies scrambled. They split their vote between Sydney and Evvie, with Deshawn finally receiving his Extra Vote, only to use it on the person who gave it to him. The split vote worked and Sydney was sent home in a 5-4-3 vote.
Over time, Deshawn had felt at odds with the All-Black Alliance leader Shan over her perceived stubbornness and shooting down of most of Deshawn's plans. While there were times he contemplated flipping on Shan, he stuck to his alliance and voted out two of the Yase Alliance members in Tiffany Seely and Evvie. However, Deshawn and Danny had noticed Shan becoming close with former Ua tribemate Ricard Foyé and planned to vote him out. These plans were halted by Ricard winning immunity. However, after Ricard offered to boot Shan, the days of anger had finally built up and Deshawn and Danny blindsided Shan, leaving them and Liana on the bottom and divided. As she left, Shan congratulated Ricard on the blindside while calling Deshawn a snake and saying she wouldn't give her jury vote to him.
The final seven Immunity Challenge had a twist that the first person to drop from the challenge would have to play a game of Do or Die, where winning means gaining immunity and losing means being sent to the jury. Deshawn dropped out first and dreaded participating all day. In a Monty Hall problem, Deshawn chose to stay with his original choice, managing to stay despite having only a 33% chance of succeeding. This combined with Danny's immunity win is what sent Liana home over Ricard.
With neither Deshawn nor Danny having any idols nor advantages, the consensus target Ricard winning immunity and the Final Four Alliance seeming unbreakable, the duo seemed resigned to their fates and accepted that they would have to turn on each other for safety. Deshawn made one last ditch effort of survival by attempting to drive apart the duo of Erika and Heather Aldret, in what he called a "Truth Bomb" and Xander called a "Truth Kamikaze". Despite this, his bonds with the alliance and Danny's perceived threat status caused Danny to go home, leaving Deshawn as the sole member of the ill-fated All-Black alliance.
Deshawn was finally given a break when Erika beat Ricard in the final five Immunity Challenge, allowing everyone else to spare Deshawn and send home Ricard for his threat status. After Xander won the Final Immunity Challenge, despite Deshawn's pleas to try to eliminate the perceived threat in Erika, Xander chose to save her, resulting in Deshawn and Heather competing in a fire-making competition. In one of the closest duels in Survivor history, Deshawn narrowly beat Heather, earning a spot in the Final Three.
Facing Erika and Xander at Final Tribal Council, Deshawn was lambasted by the jury for making his decisions based on emotion, with the flip on the All-Black alliance being the main concern. While he managed to get his ally and friend Danny's vote, every other jury vote went to Erika, making her the Sole Survivor and Deshawn placing 2nd.
<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 	No 	 	
4 	Running Down a Dream 	Reward 	No 	 	
4 	Kenny Log-Ins 	Immunity 	No 	 	
5 	Ramplified 	Reward/Immunity 	Yes 	 	
colspan="7" 	 	 	 	 	
6 	None 	Keep Digging 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	
7 	None 	The Game is Afoot 	Immunity 	No 	
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 Deshawn lost his immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Deshawn did not win immunity, but was on the team that won the reward. By winning the "Do or Die" game, Deshawn was granted immunity at Tribal Council.	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 Deshawn lost his immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Deshawn did not win immunity, but was on the team that won the reward. By winning the "Do or Die" game, Deshawn was granted immunity at Tribal Council.	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 Deshawn lost his immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Deshawn did not win immunity, but was on the team that won the reward. By winning the "Do or Die" game, Deshawn was granted immunity at Tribal Council.	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 Deshawn lost his immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Deshawn did not win immunity, but was on the team that won the reward. By winning the "Do or Die" game, Deshawn was granted immunity at Tribal Council.	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 Deshawn lost his immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Deshawn did not win immunity, but was on the team that won the reward. By winning the "Do or Die" game, Deshawn was granted immunity at Tribal Council.	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 Deshawn lost his immunity. The challenge was played for team reward and individual immunity, with the last person standing winning reward for their team. Deshawn did not win immunity, but was on the team that won the reward. By winning the "Do or Die" game, Deshawn was granted immunity at Tribal Council.
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Deshawn'sVotes	Voted AgainstDeshawn
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	 	
4 	 	
5 	 	
7 	 	
8 	 	
9 	 	
10 	 	
11 	 	
12 	 	
13 	 	
Jury Votesfor Deshawn	colspan="2" 	
 	 	
 In , Deshawn used an Extra Vote advantage, allowing him to vote twice at Tribal Council. In , the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Liana and Shan, forcing a revote. Deshawn did not change his vote on the revote. In , the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Deshawn and Danny, forcing a revote. On the revote, Deshawn did not receive any votes to be eliminated.</tabber>
==Post-Survivor==
==Trivia==
* Deshawn is the youngest member of the Luvu tribe.
* Deshawn is the highest-placing man on .
==References==
Category:Contestants
Category:Male Contestants
Category:African-American Contestants
Category:Survivor 41 Contestants
Category:Finalists
Category:Luvu Tribe
Category:Viakana Tribe
Category:2nd Place
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Contestants
Category:Survivor 41