Nabila Bilel

**Nabila Bilel** was a castaway on *Survivor: Laos - Anarchy* and *Survivor: Venezuela - All Stars*.

## Bio

### *Survivor: Laos - Anarchy*

**Name (Age):** Nabila Bilel (29)

**Current Residence:** Henderson, UT

**Occupation:** Secretary

**Tribe Designation:** None **(**Anarchy**)**

**3 Words to Describe You:** Persevering, Independent, Intelligent

**3 Interesting Facts About You:** Well, I am the first Muslim castaway to compete on Survivor, which is quite the honor. Also, I was married right when I was 18, but I got divorced a couple of years ago against my family's wishes because it was an abusive relationship, and sadly I've lost most of my contact with them. I am also an aspiring novelist and I love to write sci fi!

**Strategy, Social, or Physical?:** Social play is the best form of playing in my opinion. While it is a common strategy to just lay low and make friends, it is a smart strategy and is popular for a reason. The only thing is that most people aren't able to execute it going out onto the island. I'm going to try my hardest to play an under the radar social game, but we'll see how that works out!

**Why are you the next Sole Survivor?:** I've been through a lot of hardships in my life, losing most of my family and being a survivor of domestic abuse. I had to learn how to stand on my own two feet and trust myself, and how to work ahead in a whole new world. I'm going to use all the skills I learned in those experiences to propel me to the end, along with a formidable social game.

### *Survivor: Venezuela - All Stars*

**Name (Age):** Nabila Bilel (30)

**Previous Season/Finish:** Laos, 7th

**Tribe Designation:** Yaruro

**Favorite Past Moment:** Oh, I just love rewatching my idol play at the Double Tribal Council before the merge. All the guys were just acting so pretentious, like I had no chance in the world. They're not bad people but being able to wipe Jeffrey's smug smile off of his face was amazing.

**Biggest Regret:** Not working harder to organize a large alliance in opposition to the men's alliance during the Anarchy phase. We got unlucky oftentimes with how the teams were divided but I think we were too scared to play hard right away, but we needed to if we wanted to have a shot against the others.

**Previous Player You Respect the Most:** I absolutely love Taya South, she is a fantastic woman and I admire how she's been able to grow her dancing career after our season and also how she's stood up proudly against the backlash she received from being a strong woman of color on TV.

**Previous Player You Respect the Least:** Matt Kovach was quite the bitter betty after the season ended, and I don't really appreciate all the things he's said about women from our season and all of the jokes in poor taste he makes.

**Why You're Back:** Laos was quite the ride. I was on the bottom the entire game, yet I kept on fighting and fighting. I got my self confidence back; I proved to myself that I could take care of myself and stand up for myself, even to strong men like the ones in the majority. And everyone loved my story! It was a great experience, I'd be foolish to turn down this offer to become an All Star.

## Voting History

### *Survivor: Laos - Anarchy*

Nabila was a strong presence from the start on *Laos.* She was a driving force behind the creation of the large woman's alliance during the Anarchy phase along with players like Taya South, Nancy Klingbeil, and Bethel Cherith. However, this alliance got unlucky early on in the games, and many key members were eliminated, putting the alliance in the minority come the addition of tribes into the game. Nabila also got into rivalries with some of the men in the game. Post-expansion, Nabila was stuck on a tribe with four strong members of the men's alliance that was running the game as well as with her ally Bethel; however, she managed to outlast Bethel and then saved herself with a well timed idol play, idoling out Jeffrey Schuyler who was a key member of the men's alliance. At the merge, Nabila's only remaining ally was Nancy, and she lost Nancy at the merge vote after Nabila won the Immunity Challenge that round. The next vote, Nabila barely escaped elimination by ratting out Ben Singh after he tried to flip the game with her. However, the round after Ben's blindside, the other castaways saw Nabila as too much of an underdog and eliminated her in 7th place. At the Final Tribal Council, Nabila admonished Donald Stanfield for his rudeness and unwillingness to talk to many of the members of the minority alliace, and gave her vote to Emerson Wilmot for his better social game. Her underdog storyline was a favorite of many viewers, and Nabila became the Hero of the Season at the Reunion Show.

### *Survivor: Venezuela - All Stars*

Nabila returned as an All Star due to being a memorable hero back in *Laos.* She started out on the Yaruro tribe, where she immediately began to play the game hard, wanting to eliminate legends and winners so the biggest threats wouldn't be around long enough to do much damage. Augusta Hilliard had a similar line of thinking, but the rest of the tribe teamed up against the two and they became outsiders. Augusta was booted at the tribe's first Tribal Council for her weakness and scheming, while Nabila received votes in case Augusta had the idol. At the next Tribal Council, Nabila worked her butt off and managed to convince several members of the tribe to flip against past winner Kismet Skor, who she saw as weaker in challenges and as a strategic threat. She managed to get the vote to tie, but on the revote Dev Squires flipped and Nabila was voted out in 19th palce.

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