Survivor: Fiji

***Survivor: Fiji - Battle of the Sexes*** is the sixth season of the reality show *Survivor: The Sims*. This season was filmed in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji, and premiered on July 9, 2021.

The beginning of *Survivor: Fiji* was different from all previous seasons, because the tribes were separated by sex. The Kadomo tribe consisted of ten castaways identifying as female, and the Namotu tribe consisted of ten castaways identifying as male. On Day 11, the tribes were switched by random draw of buffs between three tribes: Kadomo, Namotu, and the new Vomo tribe, which wore pink buffs. These three new tribes remained unchanged up until the merge on Day 17, where the merged tribe named themselves Wasa, meaning ocean or sea in Fijian.

Michael Vega became the Sole Survivor, winning the $1,000,000 prize. Michael beat out Runner-Up Logan Trush, and Second Runner-up Greg Barrett in a 5-3-2 jury vote. *Fiji* marks the first time that there were all-male finalists in a Final Tribal Council. In addition, Michael is the first LGBT+ in the history of *Survivor: The Sims* to win the game.

To date, *Fiji* has produced two returning players across one season (Irene Wong, and Oscar Peralta).

## Production

At the finale of *Survivor: South Africa* on July 4, 2021, it was announced that the sixth season would be *Survivor: Fiji*, and that there would be a twist "no one has seen before on this show". Applications officially opened for casting on July 4, 2021, with the chosen contestants being flown out to the Mamanuca Islands. Some of the contestants were recruited from previous castings, including Michael Vega, Spencer Wasson, and Yasmin Elkader.

On July 6, 2021, the production team revealed that the twist for *Survivor: Fiji* would be battle of the sexes, with the tribes being split up by gender. The production revealed they wanted to have a theme for this season, as none of the prior seasons had tribes split up by the characteristics of people.

## Twists/Changes

* **Battle of the Sexes:** For the first time, the tribes were divided up into ten tribes of men and ten tribes of women.
* **Hidden Immunity Idol:** Hidden Immunity Idols were hidden at every pre-merge tribe camp, and were eligible for use up until Day 36's Tribal Council, at the Final Six.
* **Tribe Expansion:** On Day 11, a new tribe, Vomo, wearing pink buffs was introduced into the game. The sixteen remaining castaways were split up into tribes by random draw of buffs; the new Vomo tribe consisted of an extra member due to them having to start from scratch and live on an entirely new beach.
* **Legacy Advantage:** On Day 1, when the tribes were gathering supplies for the game, an envelope with the Legacy Advantage was hidden among the supplies, and was up for grabs. The castaway who finds the Legacy Advantage can use it at the Final Six, and if they do not make it to that point, they must will the advantage to another player.
* **Early Merge:** The tribes merged with thirteen contestants remaining.
* **10-Person Jury & Final Three:** Each person that was eliminated after the merge was a part of the jury. The jury was composed of ten eliminated players, each having the responsibility to vote for one of the Final Three to become the Sole Survivor.

## Castaways

### **Future appearances**

Irene Wong and Oscar Peralta returned to compete on *Survivor: All-Stars*.

## Trivia

* *Fiji* is the third season to be filmed in Oceania, after *Samoa*, and *Cook Islands*.
* *Fiji* is the first season to have tribes divided by gender.
	+ *Fiji* is also the first season to have tribes determined by a person's characteristics, rather than randomly.
* *Fiji* is the second season to feature the Legacy Advantage.
* *Fiji* is the first season to have all-male finalists at the Final Tribal Council.
* With Michael Vega identifying as gay, *Fiji* is the first season with an LGBTQ+ winner.
* *Fiji* is the second season with 20 castaways, a 13-person merge, a 10-person jury, and a jury vote of 5-3-2, after *Survivor: Panama*.
	+ In addition, *Panama*'s Final Three consisted of only one gender, with an all-female Final Three. *Fiji* differed slightly in having an all-male Final Three, and no returning players.
* *Fiji* is the first season to feature three medical evacuations. This is the most evacuations of any season.
* *Fiji* is the second season to feature a rock draw after *Survivor: Thailand*.
* *Fiji* is the highest-rated season so far of *Survivor: The Sims*.

## References

1. ↑ *Survivor 6: Everything You Need To Know.*
2. ↑ Tweet from Survivor: The Sims on 7/4/21.
3. ↑ *Survivor: Reunion Recap*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tweet from Survivor Production Team.
5. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=1
6. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=2
7. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=3
8. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=4
9. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=5
10. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=6
11. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=7
12. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=8
13. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=9
14. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=10
15. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=11
16. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=12
17. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=13
18. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=15
19. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/episode.php?e=16
20. ↑ https://brantsteele.com/survivor/33/reunion.php
21. ↑ Sarita was evacuated on Day 8 following the immunity challenge after an injury. Due to Sarita's evacuation, Tribal Council was cancelled and no further elimination took place.
22. ↑ Anthony passed out due to heat exhaustion after Day 15's reward challenge. He was evacuated from the game after the medical team deemed him unable to continue on in the game.
23. ↑ TBA