Catherine Thomas

Tribe(s): Lunda, Bemba, Nguvu
Finish: Second Runner-Up/20
Days Lasted: 39

Catherine is a contestant from *Survivor: The Congo*.

## Survivor: The Congo

Catherine began *Survivor: The Congo* originally on the pink Lunda tribe. From the early stages of the game, Catherine formed a close bond with Alisha, Annaliese, Ashley and Sophie because of their shared histories as models from the United Kingdom. Whilst Lunda won the first two immunity challenges of the season, Catherine's group created the aptly named The British Invasion alliance. The girls also bonded with Helena and brought her into their alliance in order to form the majority on the tribe. When Lunda lost for the first time on Day 9, The British Invasion voted out Alex because they were a social threat and physical liability. This angered their ally Sukhvinder, who started to isolate herself from the rest of the tribe.

The two tribes then met together for a surprise announcement on Day 12, where Sukhvinder elected to quit the game. A tribe switch occurred following her departure, where Catherine was switched to the green Bemba tribe along with Alisha and Erica. Despite never working together in the past, the Lunda women united on this new tribe after realising the original Bemba women (Estelle, Kari, Priyanka and Rio) wanted to turn on each other. The trio soon held a majority position after Erica formed a close bond with Estelle. After losing their first immunity challenge, Kari and Rio campaigned against Priyanka but Alisha, Catherine, Erica and Estelle worked together to eliminate Rio. Catherine made the merge on Day 23, where she and Alisha were reunited with Annaliese and Sophie from The British Invasion. However, they were clearly down in numbers after many of their former allies had turned against them. The alliance voted for Estelle at the first merged tribal council, but a faction was formed against them and The Maple Leaves in order to eliminate Ilona.

With only eleven players remaining, The British Invasion retaliated against this attack by forming a majority of six with Lemon and Priyanka from The Maple Leaves. This alliance worked together at the following two tribal councils, where they eliminated Estelle and Erica. On Day 30, the majority planned to split their votes between Aliza and Helena in case either played found an idol. However, Catherine and the rest of The British Invasion worried about Lemon and Priyanka potentially flipping on them to create a new majority with The Faction. At tribal council, Helena played her idol but the girls switched their vote to Priyanka and she was voted out.

When Nguvu returned to camp, Lemon expressed that she was upset over losing her closest ally whilst assuring The British Invasion she was a loyal ally. The girls decided to continue working with Lemon by splitting the votes between Aliza and Kari. Aliza stole Sophie's vote and played her idol at tribal council, which caused a 2-2 tie between Kari and Sophie. Catherine voted for Kari at the revote in order to protect Sophie, but she was eliminated after Alisha and Lemon switched their vote. The British Invasion had lost a member, but were the most cohesive alliance left in the game. They voted out Aliza on Day 35 for masterminding Sophie's elimination, following shortly by Kari. The three remaining members of The British Invasion held the majority at the Final Five, where they eliminated their allies Helena and Lemon in order to reach the Final Three together.

At the Final Tribal Council, Catherine tried to highlight that she was a loyal member of The British Invasion who also protected herself by winning a number of individual immunity challenges. However, the jury felt that Catherine floated her way through the game and only made it to Day 39 because she merely followed plans that were made by other members of The British Invasion. It also paled in comparison to Alisha's uphill battle as an emotional player and Annaliese's strong social and strategic game. In the end, Catherine was named the Second Runner-Up after receiving zero of nine jury votes.

## Trivia

* Catherine and Annaliese hold the record for the most individual immunity wins during *The Congo*, with three.