Nate Gonzalez

Nathan "Nate" Gonzalez is a contestant from .
Although initially in the minority on Manihiki, Nate's work ethic allowed him to join the majority alliance in the new Rarotonga tribe. Despite his new found friendship with Ozzy Lusth, Nate was blindsided by the Aitu Four at the merge after they successfully got Jonathan Penner to flip.
==Profile==
Retrieved from CBS.com
Nathan "Nate" Gonzalez was born in Staten Island, New York, to parents Manny and Jessy. He began playing the violin when he was eight years old. He graduated in 1998 from La Costa Canyon High School in San Diego and went on to attend Santa Barbara City College as a theater major. In 2001, he won the Lancaster Speech Tournament and he produced his first CD with his hip-hop group EZTHeI. He continues to play with numerous acoustic and rock bands while incorporating his hip-hop flavor.
Gonzalez is currently employed as a shoe salesman for a major department store and is a sales representative for a start-up urban clothing line based in New York. He previously worked as a waiter, club promoter and hip-hop artist. He hopes to pursue a career as a musician.
He enjoys playing basketball, and loves sushi and Chinese food.
Gonzalez currently resides in Playa del Rey, California. His birth date is July 26, 1980.http://web.archive.org/web/20230407205922/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/20397/
==Survivor==
Nate joined the rest of his season's African-American contestants on the yellow Manihiki tribe, where he formed a strong bond with Sekou Bunch. The two took over the tribe, becoming unofficial leaders. Manihiki lost the first Immunity Challenge, sending them to Tribal Council. Sekou and Nate targeted Sundra Oakley because she was the weakest link. However, Sundra and Rebecca Borman targeted Sekou, for helping around the least at camp. Stephannie Favor became the swing vote between the two factions. At Tribal Council, Stephannie sided with the women, and Sekou was sent home.
Nate realized he was on the bottom of his tribe, so he decided to lay low and work hard at camp. Nate celebrated when Rebecca finally managed to make fire, meaning the tribe could boil water and cook food. Manihiki was trailing at the Immunity Challenge on Day 6, but managed to win when Aitutaki threw the challenge. During the tribe switch in Flirting and Frustration, Nate was chosen by J.P. Calderon to be on the Rarotonga tribe. Nate was joined by original Manihiki tribe mates Stephannie and Rebecca. Rarotonga won the first Immunity Challenge as new tribes.
In , Nate made an alliance with the men of his tribe, with his closest ally being J.P.. Rarotonga lost the Reward Challenge and, later, the Immunity Challenge. After the challenge, Stephanie told the tribe that she was the weakest link and would not be offended if she was voted off. Nate was set on voting off Stephannie. Rebecca, however, came up with a plan to blindside J.P., because he was becoming bossy. She rallied the whole tribe except Nate and J.P. to vote him off. At Tribal Council, Nate voted for Stephannie, but J.P. was blindsided by a 7-2 vote.
Nate was instrumental in winning the Reward Challenge in . Nate became annoyed at Cristina Coria because she was annoying the tribe by bossing them around. Nate was further annoyed when Aitutaki members Cao Boi Bui, Jessica Smith, and Ozzy Lusth stumbled upon the Rarotonga camp. Things were made worse when they asked to take Rarotonga's spices which they had won at the Reward Challenge. Rarotonga lost the next Immunity Challenge, so the tribe collectively decided to vote out Cristina. Things changed when Stephannie and Nate went to collect water from the well. Along the way, Stephannie told Nate that she "wanted some mashed potatoes and gravy". This made Nate think Stephannie wanted to quit, so he swung the vote against Stephannie. At Tribal Council, she was voted off by a 7-1 vote.
On Day 14, Jeff Probst revealed to the tribes that both tribes would be visiting Tribal Council. Rarotonga lost the challenge for a feast while watching the other tribe's Tribal Council. Nate was set on voting for Cristina, despite Cristina begging him to give her another chance. At Tribal Council, Nate was visibly distraught by having to watch Aitutaki eat lamb shanks in front of him. Before the vote, Aitutaki was given the power to kidnap a member of Rarotonga. Aitutaki kidnapped Nate, which lead him to getting a plate of lamb shanks. Nate skipped the Tribal Council where Cristina was voted out. While at Aitutaki, Nate stirred up trouble. He returned to Rarotonga after the next Reward Challenge, which Rarotonga lost, though they managed to win the next Immunity Challenge. 
On Day 20, Jeff gave the contestants the chance to . Nate refused the offer to switch tribes. Rarotonga was joined by Aitutaki members Candice Woodcock and Jonathan Penner. Nate felt that the tribe should eliminate the newcomers saying that, if they could flip on their tribe once, they could do it again. Jonathan and Candice, however, formed a secret alliance with Adam Gentry and Parvati Shallow, because they were the original Rarotonga members. After losing the Immunity Challenge, The Raro Alliance wanted to vote out Brad Virata, saying that Jonathan and Candice couldn't flip back to Aitutaki come the merge because they wouldn't accept them, while Brad could. At Tribal Council, Nate voted for Brad, eliminating him.
In Day 21, Rarotonga lost both the Reward and Immunity Challenge. Jenny Guzon-Bae wanted to vote out Rebecca Borman because she was a liability in challenges. Nate was on board with the plan, as was the rest of Rarotonga. At Tribal Council Rebecca was voted out. Parvati was then asked to open the bottle received after losing the Immunity Challenge. The note revealed that the tribe must vote off another member straight away. Nate thought the tribe would eliminate Jonathan; he was surprised when Jenny was blindsided.
The tribes merged on Day 25, with the Rarotonga tribe at a 5-4 numbers advantage. Nate was the third to drop out of the Immunity Challenge, which was eventually won by Ozzy Lusth. Nate and Ozzy quickly became good friends, both being hard workers and having similar personalities. At camp the ex-Rarotonga members targeted Yul Kwon for being the biggest strategic threat. The ex-Aitutaki members tried to convince Jonathan to flip back to their side, which he strongly considered. At Tribal Council, Jonathan sided with Aitutaki and Nate was blindsided, becoming the fourth member of the jury.
At Final Tribal Council, Nate stated by congratulating the finalists. Nate likened Yul as a mob boss. He also referred to Ozzy as a warrior but asked him how he played the game strategically. Ozzy said because he spearheaded the Billy Garcia boot and played up his Surfer Dude persona. Nate then asked Becky Lee why should he vote for her if Yul and Ozzy are options. Becky said because she was just as involved as Yul was in making strategic decisions. Nate was not satisfied with her answer, interpreting it as her claiming she was the mastermind. Becky attempted defend herself by saying there was no mastermind and she rejected the idol to avoid sliding into the Final Three. Nate cast his vote for Ozzy to win because of their friendship. Ozzy lost to Yul in a 5-4-0 vote.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out? 	Result
1 	rowspan=2 	Lock, Load and Light 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	
2 	Tow the Line 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan=6 	 	 	 	 	
3 	rowspan=6 	Steeple Chase 	Immunity 	No 	
4 	Sacrificial Lamb 	Reward 	No 	 	
4 	Mayday 	Immunity 	No 	 	
5 	Never Tear Us Apart 	Reward 	No 	 	
5 	United We Stand 	Immunity 	No 	 	
6 	Kicking and Screaming 	Reward 	No 	 	
8 	 	Smash and Grab 	Reward 	Yes 	
8 	rowspan=5 	Stairway to Heaven 	Immunity 	No 	
9 	Barrel of Monkeys 	Reward 	No 	 	
9 	Depth Charge 	Immunity 	Yes 	 	
10 	Make Your Point 	Reward 	Yes 	 	
10 	South Pacific 	Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan="6" 	 	 	 	 	
11 	 	Get a Grip 	Immunity 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
Notes: As part of Aitutaki's win at the Reward Challenge, they kidnapped one member of Rarotonga at Tribal Council who would share their reward and live with them overnight, thus allowing them to abstain from the vote. Aitutaki kidnapped Nate.	Notes: As part of Aitutaki's win at the Reward Challenge, they kidnapped one member of Rarotonga at Tribal Council who would share their reward and live with them overnight, thus allowing them to abstain from the vote. Aitutaki kidnapped Nate.	Notes: As part of Aitutaki's win at the Reward Challenge, they kidnapped one member of Rarotonga at Tribal Council who would share their reward and live with them overnight, thus allowing them to abstain from the vote. Aitutaki kidnapped Nate.	Notes: As part of Aitutaki's win at the Reward Challenge, they kidnapped one member of Rarotonga at Tribal Council who would share their reward and live with them overnight, thus allowing them to abstain from the vote. Aitutaki kidnapped Nate.	Notes: As part of Aitutaki's win at the Reward Challenge, they kidnapped one member of Rarotonga at Tribal Council who would share their reward and live with them overnight, thus allowing them to abstain from the vote. Aitutaki kidnapped Nate.	Notes: As part of Aitutaki's win at the Reward Challenge, they kidnapped one member of Rarotonga at Tribal Council who would share their reward and live with them overnight, thus allowing them to abstain from the vote. Aitutaki kidnapped Nate.
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Nate'sVotes	Voted AgainstNate
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	 	
4 	 	
5 	 	
6 	colspan="2"	
8 	 	
9 	 	
10 	 	
10 	 	
11 	 	
 	 	
Voted forSole Survivor	colspan="2"	
 In , Nate was kidnapped by the Aitutaki tribe, granting him immunity from Rarotonga's Tribal Council.</tabber>
==Post-Survivor==
* In 2008, Nate appeared on the Canadian show .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJoMUfCWGJQ
* On January 9, 2010, Nate attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party.
==Trivia==
* Nate is the half-brother of . Masekela was the presenter for , an entertainment program that formerly aired on the cable channel E!
* Nate is the youngest member of the Manihiki tribe.
* Despite also being of Hispanic background, Nate was placed on the all African-American Manihiki tribe.
* Nate holds the record for becoming the highest-ranking member of a certain gender of a tribe in the quickest time, doing so in three days. This was due to being one of two men on his tribe and the other one being voted out.
* Nate is the first player to finish in 9th place and not be the first member of the jury. Accordingly, he is the first person to be the 4th member of the jury and not finish in 6th place.
* Nate revealed that he was nearly medically evacuated from the game after a fire ant got into his eye.https://ew.com/tv/survivor-cook-islands-nate-gonzalez-quarantine-questionnaire/
* According to Parvati Shallow, she and Nate met each other during the casting process and began dating before the show. Their relationship continued until shortly after the show.https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/interview-catching-up-with-parvati-shallow/id1579904169?i=1000607892434
==References==
Category:Contestants
Category:Male Contestants
Category:African-American Contestants
Category:Latin American Contestants
Category:Cook Islands Contestants
Category:Cook Islands Jury Members
Category:Manihiki Tribe
Category:Aitutonga Tribe
Category:9th Place
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Contestants
Category:Survivor: Cook Islands
Category:1980 births
Category:Living people