Survivor: Island of Secrets

Location
 No. of Castaways
 Tribes
Sa'ula
Ta'alo
 Winner

*Survivor: Island of Secrets* is the forty-fourth season of Huyopa 2001's Survivor. This season contained twenty new castaways and four veterans competing for the title of Sole Survivor.

This season was known for the fluidity and rivalry between three of the four original tribes; Laumei, Sa'ula and Ta'alo. Through the Island of Secrets, each group gained advantages to play against each other. Despite these advantages, relationships were ultimately the most important aspect of the game. Lone Laumei member and returning player Anthony ultimately won because of his unexpected path to the end and relationships with the jury. He won in a 6-3-1 vote against strong social player Danni and constant target Imani.

## Production

Planning for Seasons 44 and 45 were undertaken simultaneously. Potential themes floated around for this cycle included All Women, Champions vs. Contenders and the final product of *Island of Secrets*. Additionally, location based seasons including Africa (later being used for Season 45) and Pearl Islands were under also consideration. An All Women season was originally in the works before being shelved until *Survivor: The Congo*, though a number of women from this original cast would be selected to compete in future seasons. This includes Leyla (*Island of Secrets*), Shannon (*Island of Secrets*), Jeana (*The Congo*) and Rio (*The Congo*).

Auditions for this cycle began during the airing of Survivor: Mamanuca Islands, where 100 finalists were quickly chosen. When the Island of Secrets theme was decided, twenty of the Top 100 were selected for the final cast before it was agreed that each original tribe should also include a returning player. Anthony, J'Tia and Julia were immediately contacted and agreed to return, though there were some doubts as to whether Christian would be available. In case he backed out at the last minute, Survivor: China finalist Chord was his alternate. However, he was ultimately not required for the final twenty-four castaways.

## Twists/ Changes

**Geographical Divide**: The 24 castaways were originally divided into four tribes based on their geographical location within the United States; East, South, Midwest and West.

**Returning Players**: In addition to the Geographical Divide twist at the beginning of the game, each original tribe included a returning player.

**Island of Secrets**: Another variation to Exile Island and the Island of the Idols, selected castaways were be banished to the Island of Secrets. Unlike Island of the Idols, the exiled castaways were not greeted by a former player but would be offered twists and advantages from previous seasons that were unsuccessful or poorly executed. A list of the advantages obtained can be found in the table below.

Hidden Immunity Idol: The idol was once again in play this season. The same rules apply to the Hidden Immunity Idol as in previous times, including its eligibility until the Final Five and the fact that the holder could remove votes against them or a castaway of their choice. Similar to the Island of the Idols, castaways this season could only obtain an idol through the Island of Secrets.

Double Elimination: The Sa'ula and Ta'alo tribes were told on Day 20 that the tribe to lose the immunity challenge would send home two castaways at tribal council.

## Island of Secrets History

During the pre-merge, each winning tribe would elect one player to visit the island and the exiled castaways would compete in a challenge to win the advantage. During the post-merge, challenge performance would determine which castaways would visit the Island of Secrets.

## Trivia

* With *Island of Secrets*, Samoa extends its record for the location which has appeared the most number of times, with seven.
* This is the first season since Survivor: All Stars to have a 24 person cast.
	+ It is the first season since *Fiji* to have 24 castaways originally divided into 4 starting tribes.
		- In a rather interesting coincidence, all four original tribes were represented in the final four, with Anthony, Danni, Heather, and Imani representing Laumei, Ta'alo, Sa'ula, and the original iteration of Manumalo respectively.
	+ It is also the first since Survivor: Cagayan to only have one returning player on each starting tribe.
		- However, the entire cast was comprised of returning players the last time the Captains twist was used as opposed to a combination of new and returning castaways.
* *Island of Secrets* also continues the record for the most number of consecutive seasons to contain a purple tribe, with four.
* J'Tia and Heather holds the record for the most Island of Secrets visits, with four.
	+ Heather holds the record for obtaining the most advantages on the island, with three.
	+ J'Tia was also the only returning player to obtain an advantage on the island.
* Although there has always been a rule that idols are transferrable as long as the holder of the idol is still in the game, this is the first season in which a player has actively transferred its power to another.
* This is the first season in *Survivor* history with a triple idol play, and the second overall with a null vote at tribal council following Survivor: David vs. Goliath.
* *Island of Secrets*, *Survivor: Indonesia* and *Survivor: Ghost Island* currently hold the record for the most successful split votes in a season with 3. The former two seasons also hold the record for the most overall attempted split votes, with 4.
* Anthony and J'Tia were the only returning players to improve on their original placement.
* This is the first season since Survivor: Australia II to not have a male finalist from the LGBT community.