Tom Buchanan

Thomas Raymond "Tom" Buchanan (more commonly referred to as Big Tom) is a contestant from and .
A goofy and comedic presence, Tom was well-liked by his fellow tribemates in Africa. He was a part of the dominant Boran Alliance along with close allies Ethan Zohn and Lex van den Berghe, but was ultimately blindsided at the final four after the member on the outs, Kim Johnson, won immunity.
In All-Stars, he was known for his dislike towards Susan Hawk. After making it to the final five as a member of the Chapera Alliance, Tom believed that he was in a swing vote position, but this caused his close ally Rob Mariano to distrust him and orchestrate his blindside at the subsequent Tribal Council.
==Profile==
Retrieved from CBS.com
<tabber>Africa=
Born and raised in Rich Valley, Virginia, Tom Buchanan currently works as a self-employed goat and cattle farmer on the ranch that has been in his family for three generations.
Buchanan attended Rich Valley High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball. He also served as student body president. He then attended East Tennessee State University as a football walk-on and later earned a full football scholarship, serving as team captain his senior year. After college, he returned home to work on the family farm. Known to his friends as "Big Tom," his hobbies include softball, fishing, bird hunting and riding his motorcycle. He is a member of the Virginia Cattleman's Association, Rich Valley Farmer's Club and Rich Valley Presbyterian Church.
Tom Buchanan has been married to Sandy for 23 years. They have one son, Bucky Bo, who is currently attending Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky. His birth date is October 30.http://web.archive.org/web/20230529122457/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/20813/
==Survivor==
===Africa===
Tom was initially placed on the Boran tribe where he was well-liked for his wacky personality and distinct, albeit unintelligible, accent. Despite this, he immediately revealed his bad side after losing the first Immunity Challenge—when Clarence Black made a percieved mistake in judgment by eating a whole can of beans together with Diane Ogden without the tribe's consensus, Tom, alongside the rest of his tribe, fumed about Clarence's mishap, even saying he would shoot Clarence if he had a gun, the situation led him to vote for Clarence at Boran's first two visits to Tribal Council. Nonetheless, Tom's comedic demeanor returned in time for the third Immunity Challenge—an SOS signal challenge—where he decided to strip down with a feather between his butt cheeks. This oddly helped grant Boran their first immunity win. Tom and the rest of Boran would also be safe for another three days after winning another Immunity Challenge on Day 12.
On Day 13, things were shaken when Tom, together with Kelly Goldsmith and Lex van den Berghe, were asked to "go on a quest", which ended up transferring them to the opposing Samburu tribe, while being replaced by Frank Garrison, Silas Gaither, and Teresa Cooper much to Tom's chagrin, as he wanted to go back to Boran. Upon reaching the Samburu camp, he and Lex became disappointed of how murky their new tribe's water hole was. As the former cleaners of Boran's waterhole, Tom and Lex found themselves doing their old jobs. After winning the fifth Immunity Challenge, Kelly discovered that Lindsey Richter had past Tribal Council votes. While being targeted by remnants of the Younger Samburu Alliance, Tom, Kelly, and Lex targeted Lindsey, despite Brandon Quinton's efforts to get them to vote against him instead, because if there were a deadlock tie vote between the ex-Borans and the original Samburus, Lindsey's previous votes would be taken into account, thus eliminating her. This materialized after Samburu lost the sixth Immunity Challenge, giving the original Boran tribe a 6-4 voting advantage over Samburu going into the merge.
Despite Teresa's strong strategic gameplay, the former Samburus still failed to come together as a unified alliance, with the Boran Alliance successfully eliminating them one by one. Teresa was the last of the Samburus to be voted out, but not before turning Tom on Lex by telling Tom that Lex was persistent in keeping Brandon in the game beforehand. With only Borans left, Lex, Ethan Zohn, and Kim Johnson felt that Tom's goofiness was just a front to conceal his ulterior strategic motives, and he was eliminated at the final four in a 3-1 vote after Kim J. won immunity. 
At the Final Tribal Council, Tom felt that Ethan's more congenial personality made him more deserving than Kim J. to win and voted for him to win the title of Sole Survivor.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out? 	Result
1 	rowspan=7 	Trail Blazer 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	
2 	Stairway to the Stars	Reward 	No 	 	
2 	Safari Supper 	Immunity 	No 	 	
3 	Rock n' Roll 	Reward 	No 	 	
3 	Distress Signal 	Immunity 	No 	 	
4 	Caught in the Web 	Reward 	No 	 	
4 	Movin' On Up 	Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan=6 	 	 	 	 	
5 	rowspan=4 	Get Your Goat 	Reward 	No 	
5 	Puzzle of Shields 	Immunity 	No 	 	
6 	Africa 102 	Reward 	Yes 	 	
6 	Spear-it Hunt 	Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan="6"	 	 	 	 	
7 	rowspan=12 	When It Rains, It Pours	Immunity 	 	
9 	Stomp-ede 	Reward 	 	 	
9 	Box Your Mind 	Immunity 	 	 	
10 	Obstacle Course 	Reward 	 	 	
10 	Light It Up 	Immunity 	 	 	
11 	Survivor Auction 	Survivor Auction 	Survivor Auction	Survivor Auction	
11 	African Folklore 	Immunity 	 	 	
12 	Know Your Loved One 	Reward 	 	 	
12 	Pot Shots 	Immunity 	 	 	
13 	Swahili Scramble 	Reward 	 	 	
13 	Second Chance 	Immunity 	 	 	
14 	Fallen Comrades 	Immunity 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Tom'sVotes 	Voted AgainstTom
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	 	
4 	 	
5 	 	
6 	 	
7 	 	
9 	 	
10 	 	
11 	 	
12 	 	
13 	 	
14 	 	
 	 	
Voted ForSole Survivor	colspan="2"	
 In , the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Tom and Lindsey, forcing a revote. Nobody changed their vote on the revote, eliminating Lindsey due to previous votes against her.</tabber>
===All-Stars===
Tom returned to compete in Survivor: All-Stars where he was initially placed on the Chapera tribe and aligned early on with the existing alliance of Amber Brkich and Rob Mariano. With Rob M. leading the Chapera Alliance, Tom was able to play a quiet game and avoid making enemies, save for Susan Hawk. However, after Susan quit the game on Day 17, Tom celebrated by dancing and singing "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead".
On Day 13, a tribe dissolve occurred, bringing original Saboga members Jenna Lewis and Rupert Boneham into the tribe, with Amber and Rob M. also forming an alliance with them. After the Chapera Alliance had successfully voted out all of the other competitors and made it to the final five, Rob M. worried that Tom would side with Jenna L. and Rupert, which caused him to instigate a fight between Tom and Rupert. Tom then sided with Amber and Rob M. and targeted Jenna L. at the next Tribal Council. However, Amber and Rob M. voted to take Jenna L. and Rupert to the final four and voted out Tom on Day 36.
At the Final Tribal Council, Tom, angry over Rob M.'s betrayal, pretended to hold out his hand and when Rob M. was about to shake it, Tom pulled his hand back and snapped "Don't be stupid, stupid." To get even with Rob, Tom voted for Amber to win, which she did in a 4-3 vote. However, Tom eventually forgave Rob M. at the Reunion Show.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out? 	Result
1 	rowspan=12 	Quest for Fire 	Immunity 	No 	
2 	Stairway to the Stars 	Reward 	Yes 	 	
2 	Float Your Boat 	Immunity 	No 	 	
3 	Better Homes and Island Living 	Reward 	No 	 	
4 	Match Maker 	Reward 	Yes 	 	
4 	Blind Cube Crisis 	Immunity 	No 	 	
5 	Shipwrecked Raft Rescue 	Reward 	Yes 	 	
5 	Pilfering Pirates 	Immunity 	No 	 	
6 	Stomp-ede 	Reward 	No 	 	
7 	Floating Puzzle 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
8 	Log Jam 	Reward 	Yes 	 	
8 	Choose Your Weapon 	Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan=6 	 	 	 	 	
10 	rowspan=2 	 	Immunity 	No 	
11 	Rock Bottom 	Reward 	 	 	
colspan="6" 	 	 	 	 	
11 	rowspan=8 	Waiting to Exhale 	Immunity 	 	
12 	Big Bad-O Course 	Reward/Immunity 	 	 	
13 	Face Off 	Reward 	 	 	
13 	When It Rains, It Pours 	Immunity 	 	 	
14 	Survivor Smorgasbord 	Reward 	 	 	
14 	Fire And Rain 	Immunity 	 	 	
15 	Learn from Past Mistakes 	Reward 	 	 	
15 	Survivor Scramble 	Immunity 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
Notes: The castaways competed as individuals. The castaways first competed as two teams for reward. Only the members of the winning team would have the right to compete for individual immunity.	Notes: The castaways competed as individuals. The castaways first competed as two teams for reward. Only the members of the winning team would have the right to compete for individual immunity.	Notes: The castaways competed as individuals. The castaways first competed as two teams for reward. Only the members of the winning team would have the right to compete for individual immunity.	Notes: The castaways competed as individuals. The castaways first competed as two teams for reward. Only the members of the winning team would have the right to compete for individual immunity.	Notes: The castaways competed as individuals. The castaways first competed as two teams for reward. Only the members of the winning team would have the right to compete for individual immunity.	Notes: The castaways competed as individuals. The castaways first competed as two teams for reward. Only the members of the winning team would have the right to compete for individual immunity.
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Tom'sVotes 	Voted AgainstTom
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	colspan="2"	
4 	 	
5 	 	
6 	colspan="2"	
7 	 	
8 	 	
10 	 	
11 	 	
12 	 	
13 	 	
14 	 	
15 	 	
 	 	
Voted forSole Survivor	colspan="2"	
</tabber>
==Post-Survivor==
* In early 2002, Tom, along with all of his castmates appeared on where they would present the top 10.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7XHRRQXyyU
* Tom attended the Survivor: Thailand Reunion Show.
* In the summer of 2013, Tom starred on a short-lived TV show with his family called Family Beef which aired on the .
* Tom attended Ethan Zohn's wedding in July 2016.https://www.instagram.com/p/BITyL3PB70y/
==Trivia==
* Tom is the oldest man of the original Boran tribe.
* In the Day 37 Immunity Challenge Fallen Comrades, the final question was "which female did not have piercings?" Kim J., who answered Kelly, was declared the winner. Lex's answer, Lindsey, which was supposed to be correct, was not accepted. Production was quickly made aware of the error, with Lex, who also answered correctly, and Tom, who was directly affected by being voted out that night, both received $100,000, the same amount received by Kim, the eventual runner-up of the season.https://www.cleveland19.com/story/672757/piercing-error-leads-to-more-prize-money-for-2-survivor-contestants/ 
* Tom is the first man to finish in fourth place.
* As revealed on the reunion show, Tom lost 80 lbs. during his time on Africa.
** This is currently the most weight to be lost by a contestant on a single season of Survivor.
* Tom is the lowest ranking contestant from to return.
* Tom is the oldest member of the Chapera tribe.
* Tom is the first man to win individual immunity in two separate seasons.
* Tom was the highest ranking castaway on All-Stars to not improve on their previous finish.
* Tom initially set the record for most days played in a Survivor career with 73, until the record was broken in by Amanda Kimmel.
* Tom declined the offer to appear on due to the production of Family Beef.
==References==
Category:Contestants
Category:Male Contestants
Category:Contestants Appearing in Multiple Seasons
Category:Africa Contestants
Category:All-Stars Contestants
Category:Africa Jury Members
Category:All-Stars Jury Members
Category:Boran Tribe
Category:Moto Maji Tribe
Category:Chapera Tribe
Category:Chaboga Mogo Tribe
Category:4th Place
Category:5th Place
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Contestants
Category:Survivor: Africa
Category:Survivor: All-Stars
Category:1955 births
Category:Living people