Raph

Tribe(s): Levu, Solewa
Finish: Runner-Up/18
Days Lasted: 39

Raph is a contestant from *Survivor: Mamanuca Islands*.

## Survivor: Mamanuca Islands

Raph began *Survivor: Mamanuca Islands* originally on the blue Levu Tribe. He formed a tight alliance of four with Andrew and sisters Deborah and Hannah. The boys agreed to a smaller alliance within this group of four because they wanted to protect themselves against the Nigerian sisters. When Levu lost the first immunity challenge, the alliance voted for physical threat Luis over quiet achiever Bill. A huge argument ensued between Andrew and Hannah as the days continued, leaving Raph conflicted as to who to trust. When Levu lost their second immunity challenge, Raph voted with the sisters to keep Andrew quiet.

At the tribe switch, Raph remained on Levu with Deborah and Hannah who were joined by Chanelle from Yawa and Isabelle from Soko. Wanting to have another Andrew Final Two type alliance, Raph gravitated towards Chanelle. The pair spent hours laughing, talking and having in depth strategic conversations. They agreed that Isabelle was a key swing vote, and either Deborah or Hannah should be targeted if the tribe was to lose. Despite this plan, Levu won all three immunity challenges they had together.

At this point, Raph made the merge and all Levu tribe members agreed to become an alliance. The Levu Five voted for Will at the first merged tribal council, but the post-switch Yawa group united as well and voted for Deborah. At the revote, Raph's alliance was protected when Neda, Kieran and Tom flipped their votes to eliminate Will. Now in the majority alliance, Raph's five systematically eliminated Karlos, Kieran and Tom. At the Final Nine, Neda and Ika tried to campaign against each other to the Levu Five. Raph, Isabelle and Chanelle as their own trio agreed with Ika and Jose to eliminate Neda because they believed she was a wishy washy decision maker.

Despite his alliance splitting, Raph continued to work with the Levu Five to vote for Ika at the next tribal council. However, she played her idol and Chanelle was voted out with only two votes that counted. Raph was concerned about having no ally he could take to the Final Two and thus solidified his bond with Isabelle. Both spoke to Ika and agreed that Deborah and Hannah needed to be split apart before they controlled the tribe to the end, leading to Hannah's elimination. Without Hannah, Raph and Isabelle agreed to take Deborah to the end which meant that Jose and Ika were sent to the jury when they couldn't win individual immunity.

At the Final Tribal Council, Raph was able to confidently articulate his Final Two deals with Andrew, Chanelle and Isabelle. The jury appreciated this subtle social play, but many couldn't distinguish his game to Isabelle's majority of the time. When questioned on his biggest move otherwise, Raph couldn't mention one and this lost some respect by the jury. In the end, Raph was awarded Runner-Up after earning two jury votes from Chanelle and Karlos.

## Trivia

* Raph is the highest ranking member of the Levu tribe.
* He is the one of four LGBT castaways to make it to the Final Tribal Council, along with Hughie, Ross and Sasha.