Sunday Burquest

Sunday Marie Burquesthttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012752731769 was a contestant from .
Sunday was well-liked by most of her tribemates, in particular forging strong relationships with Gen X allies Bret LaBelle and Chris Hammons. After the merge, however, the internal turmoil within the original Takali tribe finally came to a head, leading to Sunday and Bret losing Chris. They were forced to regroup, joining a new alliance with Jay Starrett, Will Wahl, and Zeke Smith, which was able to take control of the Vinaka tribe after a rock drawing tiebreaker went in their favor. When Will turned on their alliance, however, Sunday and her allies were taken out one by one, with Sunday voted out on Day 35.
==Profile==
Retrieved from CBS.com
Name: Sunday Burquest
Age: 45
Current residence: Otsego, MN
Occupation: Youth pastor
Tribe designation: (Gen-X)
Three words to describe you: Bossy, compassionate, and tenacious.
Hobbies: Repurposing and painting furniture, interior design, and thrift shopping because I love the thrill of the hunt for a good deal.
Pet peeves: Arrogant people and those who think they're God's gift to the human race. Catty women who make the snide comments, back-handed compliments, and make other girls in the room feel like they don't measure up. Plus, people who are late drive me nuts.
What does it mean to be a Gen-Xer? For myself, being a Gen-Xer means being driven and hard working. We don't expect things to be handed to us; we set goals and work hard for what we want in life. We also don't think we deserve to win in every situation and actually look at failure as an opportunity to learn. On the other hand, Gen-Xers can be stuck in our ways and leery of new ideas. It would help a lot if we would learn to listen to the younger generation and run with some of their new ideas.
Personal claim to fame: Besides my four amazing kids, I'm most proud of being a breast cancer survivor. After five surgeries, eight rounds of chemotherapy, and 28 days of radiation—not to mention the horrible meds they put you on—I'm still here! It was important to me that my kids saw me as a "warrior," rather than as a whiner. Of course, it was hard, but I wouldn't let cancer take over my life. Because of my faith, I was able to kick cancer's butt!
Inspiration in life: My inspiration comes from my relationship with the Lord. My faith has shaped my attitude in life and has given me the ability to be genuinely happy. Aside from my faith, my mom is my hero. She is the toughest lady. I get my tenacity and "never quit" attitude from her. I've watched her succeed despite her difficult upbringing, dealing with me and my brothers as teenagers, and enduring a bone-marrow transplant. No matter what happens, she keeps getting back up and going again!
If you could have three things on the island, what would they be and why? A deck of cards because I love playing games and it helps break down walls with people you don't know; lip gloss because I always feel a little better about myself with a little color on my lips; and '80s music because I love singing with friends and, no matter how off-key you all are, it's always fun.
Survivor contestant you're most like: I'd play the game most like Lisa Whelchel (). I see a lot of myself in her. Not only has she been through difficult times, but her faith stayed intact. We're both moms and I see myself "mothering" some of the younger players, as she did. I see myself trying my best to play the game according to my faith, yet making sure I actually play the game. I know there will come a point I will have to deceive to get ahead; I plan to do it in the context of the game.
Reason for being on Survivor: My primary motivation is of course a $1 million! Second, I want to prove to myself that I can do it. As a fan of the show from the very first season, I've spent hours dreaming about being on the island, making alliances, finding Hidden Immunity Idols, and, most of all, walking away with the title of Sole Survivor!
Why do you think you'll "survive" Survivor? I believe my strong personality will keep me going on the island. I know I'm good with people, especially young people because I work with them for a living, and this will help me gain allies on my tribe. My leadership skills will be useful in getting work done around camp.http://web.archive.org/web/20230321045639/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/215477/
==Survivor==
As a Gen-X'er, Sunday was initially placed on the Takali tribe consisting of the older, Generation X castaways. When Takali lost the first Immunity Challenge on Day 4, she joined the majority Takali Alliance with Bret LaBelle, Chris Hammons, Jessica Lewis, Lucy Huang, and Paul Wachter, and aided in voting out Rachel Ako at the first Tribal Council.
When Takali lost for a second time on Day 10, the alliance set their sights on targeting another outsider, CeCe Taylor. However, Paul made an offhand comment to Jessica that he would align with the men in his alliance over the women, leading to Jessica getting Sunday and Lucy to work with the minority alliance of CeCe, David Wright, and Ken McNickle in blindsiding Paul instead. The next day, Sunday and Lucy regrouped with Bret and Chris, informing them that Jessica was behind Paul's ouster, with the alliance agreeing to target Jessica next. After Takali lost for the third time on Day 12, the alliance all voted against Jessica at Tribal Council. However, David played a Hidden Immunity Idol on his ally, nullifying the alliance's votes against Jessica, and sending Lucy home.
The following day a tribe switch occurred, with a third tribe added. Sunday and Bret became part of the new Ikabula tribe, where they found themselves in the minority against original Vanua members Hannah Shapiro, Jay Starrett, Michaela Bradshaw, and Will Wahl. The two struggled to integrate with the Millennial majority, but were given a reprieve when Ikabula won the next two Immunity Challenges. When Ikabula finally lost immunity on Day 20, Michaela wanted the Millennials to split their votes between Sunday and Bret. However, Jay and Will became increasingly concerned with Michaela's threat status and approached Sunday and Bret to blindside Michaela instead. At Tribal Council, the four got together to blindside a shocked and enraged Michaela out of the game.
When the tribes merged into the Vinaka tribe on Day 21, Sunday and Bret reunited with their ally, Chris. The tribe was split into four factions—Sunday's Takali Alliance, the original Takali outsiders David, Jessica, and Ken, the Triforce alliance of Jay, Will, Michelle Schubert, and Taylor Stocker from the original Vanua tribe, and original Vanua outsiders Hannah, Adam Klein, and Zeke Smith. After Will won the first individual Immunity Challenge, Chris, David, and Zeke brought their factions together to take out a member of the Triforce. The coalition identified Michelle as the least likely to have an idol, voting her out and making her the first member of the jury.
However, the two original Takali factions still did not trust each other. The Takali Alliance still wanted to target Jessica, so Sunday pulled in the remaining Triforce members to work with them. However, after the coalition that had worked together at the previous Tribal Council wanted to split their votes between Jay and Taylor, Sunday realized that they did not have the numbers to blindside Jessica and would have to work with the large group for the time being, sending Taylor out of the game. The following day, the animosities among the Gen-X'ers finally reached a boiling point, leading both sides to target each other, with Sunday's alliance still set on targeting Jessica. After David won immunity, the two sides vied for the Millennials' votes. Although Jay joined the Takali Alliance in voting against Jessica, the rest of the Millennials chose to side with the Takali outsiders, eliminating Chris instead.
Sunday, Bret, and Zeke won the Reward Challenge the next day, winning a helicopter tour over Fiji and a picnic, and were joined by David, who automatically went on the reward after a random draw. While David was away during the picnic, Sunday, Bret, and Zeke bonded, resolving to target David, who was emerging as a strategic threat. Zeke tried recruiting Hannah into his new alliance, though she was reluctant to target David, forcing the new alliance to recruit Jay and Will instead. However, the other five members of the tribe formed their own alliance in retaliation, targeting Zeke. After a heated Tribal Council, the vote was tied between Hannah and Zeke, with no one changing their vote on the revote, leading to a deadlock and necessitating a rock drawing tiebreaker. Sunday was one of the non-immune castaways who was not involved in a tie, and so had to draw a rock out of a bag, along with Adam, Bret, David, Jessica, and Will, to determine who would be eliminated; Jessica drew the black rock and was sent to the jury.
With Sunday's new alliance now in control, they resolved to pick off the outsiders one by one. On Day 31, Sunday was able to meet with her husband Jeff at the Loved Ones Challenge and was chosen by Jay to join him, Adam, Will, and their loved ones on a private barbecue reward. After Adam won immunity, Sunday's alliance targeted Ken. At Tribal Council, however, Will turned on the alliance and joined the outsiders in voting out Zeke. With their alliance in shambles, Sunday and Bret approached Adam about targeting David, Jay, and Will. When Jay won immunity, Sunday and Bret joined Adam, David, Hannah, and Ken in voting out Will.
The next day, Adam, David, Hannah, and Ken began targeting Sunday, seeing her as an easily-beatable opponent at the end, thus wanting to take her out to prevent Bret and Jay from taking her to the Final Three. After Ken won immunity, Adam instead tried to get the tribe to split their votes between David and Jay. At Tribal Council, although Sunday and Bret stuck to the split vote plan, Jay played his Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Sunday's vote. Meanwhile, Adam, David, Hannah, and Ken chose to stay together, voting Sunday out and making her the seventh member of the jury.
At the Final Tribal Council, Sunday joined the rest of the jury in voting for Adam after he revealed his mother's battle with cancer, crowning him the Sole Survivor in a unanimous 10-0-0 vote over Hannah and Ken.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out?	Result
1 	rowspan=5 	Got to Choose 	Reward/Immunity	No 	
2 	The Ocean 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
3 	Going Coconuts 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
4 	Water Slaughter 	Reward 	No 	 	
4 	Angry Chair 	Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan=6 	 	 	 	 	
5 	rowspan=5 	Holy Diver 	Immunity 	No 	
6 	Blind Faith 	Reward 	No 	 	
6 	It's in the Bag 	Immunity 	Yes 	 	
7 	Matt Finish 	Reward 	Yes 	 	
7 	Bail Out 	Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan="6"	 	 	 	 	
8 	rowspan=11 	Fools in the Rain	Immunity 	 	
9 	All Mixed Up 	Reward 	 	 	
9 	Bo Diddley 	Immunity 	No 	 	
10 	Ferryman 	Reward 	No 	 	
10 	With a 10-ft. Pole	Immunity 	 	 	
10 	Slither Me Timbers	Reward 	No 	 	
10 	Rusty Gates 	Immunity 	 	 	
11 	Rope A Dope 	Reward 	 	 	
11 	Push Me, Pull You 	Immunity 	 	 	
12 	Wizard's Staff 	Immunity 	 	 	
12 	Pinball Wizard 	Immunity 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Sunday'sVotes	Voted AgainstSunday
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	 	
4 	 	
5 	 	
6 	 	
7 	 	
8 	 	
9 	 	
10 	 	
10 	 	
11 	 	
12 	 	
12 	 	
 	 	
Voted forSole Survivor	colspan="2" 	
 In , David used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Jessica, negating Sunday's vote against her. In , the vote ended with a 5-5 tie between Hannah and Zeke, forcing a revote. Sunday did not change her vote on the revote. In , Adam used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Hannah, negating Sunday's vote against her. In , Jay used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Sunday's vote against him.</tabber>
==Post-Survivor==
* Sunday, along with nineteen other former contestants, competed in the first Survivor-themed mini-competition of Sequester on May 23, 2020. She was eliminated in the ninth round, finishing in 12th place.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMzXEA5_0W8
===Death===
Sunday was diagnosed with esophageal and ovarian cancer in 2020https://www.facebook.com/100012752731769/posts/961349517633464/?d=n, and passed away at age 50 on April 18, 2021.https://www.instagram.com/p/CN0O-cdjR-1/
==Trivia==
* Bret, Chris, Hannah, and Zeke designed and sold custom Buffs, the proceeds of which supported Sunday's cancer battle.https://www.zekerchief.com/sunday-buffs/tribe-sunday-buffhttps://www.reddit.com/r/survivor/comments/impqgb/help_sunday_burquest_fight_cancer_by_buying_a_buff/
* Sunday is the oldest woman to compete on .
* Sunday is the highest-placing female member of the original Takali tribe.
* Sunday lost 25 lbs. during her time on Millennials vs. Gen X.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8TzKIJUPhk
==References==
Category:Contestants
Category:Female Contestants
Category:Deceased Contestants
Category:Millennials vs. Gen X Contestants
Category:Millennials vs. Gen X Jury Members
Category:Takali Tribe
Category:Ikabula Tribe
Category:Vinaka Tribe
Category:7th Place
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Contestants
Category:Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X
Category:1971 births