Survivor: Palawan

***Survivor: Palawan***, also called ***Survivor: Champions v Contenders*** , is the third season of the reality show *Survivor*.

## Production

This season also features the return of *Survivor: Palawan* fan favorites Rosette Ginez and Jameson Huntington, raising the number of contestants to 18. Other notable contestants include Former Miss USA, Rosanna Fallana and ex-NFL quarterback, Jesus Terasio.

## Twists/Changes

* **Champions v Contenders:** The contestants are divided into two tribes based on their occupations and degree of success in life:
	+ The Tandang/Champions tribe is made up of public figures from fields such as (but not limited to) sports and entertainment.
	+ The Bikal/Contenders​​​ tribe is made up of everyday US contestants.
* **One Returnee per Tribe:** Two former contestants, Rosette Ginez of Australia and Jameson Huntington of Borneo, returned for another chance to win. Each tribe was assigned one of the returning players. Rosette was assigned the champions tribe for making far into her season and Jameson was placed on the contenders tribe for being a prominent player in his season but not being able to make merge.
* **Unexpected Start:** The contestants were made to believe that they will be shooting their cast photos, only to be informed that the game had already begun. With only the clothes on their backs, the tribes were given $100 to buy supplies with.
* **Hidden Immunity Idol:** Located around the merge campsite was a small wooden totem that could be used as a form of individual immunity. Clues are given to winners of challenges.

## Season Summary

The game began with the castaways made to believe that they were shooting their cast photos, but were later informed that the game had already begun. It started with two tribes of eight: Champions and Contenders. But upon arriving at the beach they we were welcomed with two suprises on the Champions beach was Rosette Ginez, 3rd Placer of Australia and on the Contenders beach was Jameson Huntington III, Pre-merger of Borneo. Alliances swiftly took control of the game, as the contenders were driving a old vs young division. A war between the atheletes and non-athletes divided the Champions with the athletes flipping Jade and Rosanna to their side taking control of the tribe.

After the Tribe Switch, and despite Christian and Miles finding themselves in the minority on the Tandang tribe, they managed to find cracks in the Contender majority causing their members to turn on each other. On the Bikal tribe, Austin caused the Champions majority some trouble by hiding fake Hidden Immunity Idols as her and Jesus formed a rivalry.

The tribes merged at 12 with the numbers even between the original Champions and Contenders at 6-6. Despite the original Contenders wanting to stay tribe strong, a combination of them being too fractured to come together, the original Champions being stronger strategically, and Hasam's overall shadiness resulted in Hasam being voted out first.

Around this time, Rosette defected from the Champions, having forged an unbreakable bond with Lauren and Austin during the early stages of merge. The three women also recruited original Contenders to form an alliance. Though this alliance was initially successful in voting out Rosette's former Champions allies, they later suffered from miscommunication and infighting, particularly between Lauren and Thomas. This culminated on Day 24, when Thomas and Phillip joined the rest of the tribe in splitting the vote between the three women, eliminating the Austin with the idol in her pocket.

In the wake of Austin's departure, Phillip formed a new majority alliance with Christian, Miles, and Rosanna, eliminating the remnants of Austin's alliance until only Lauren and Jameson remained. They were spared however, after Rosanna led the charge to oust Christian at the final six, citing him as the biggest jury threat remaining.

Despite Miles being left in the dark, he managed to convince Lauren and Jameson to blindside Rosanna. At the next tribal Lauren decided to vote with Miles and Phillip sending home Jameson, thinking Jameson would take credit for his moves if they were in the Final Two together.

After a hard-fought Final Immunity Challenge, Lauren won sending home. At Final Tribal Council, Miles argued that he played a loyal and honest game, and survived despite being a big target towards the end of the game. Lauren explained her under-the-radar strategy and the use of her social connections to her advantage. Lauren was also able to demonstrate that she made genuine connections with the merged tribe. Ultimately, Lauren was able to defend her strategy more effectively and won the title of Sole Survivor in a close 5-4 vote.