Samir

Tribe(s): Naviti, Yanuya, Lavita
Finish: 4/20
Days Lasted: 38

Samir is a contestant from *Survivor: Ghost Island*.

## Survivor: Ghost Island

Samir began *Survivor: Ghost Island* originally on the purple Naviti tribe, where he quickly felt like a fish out of water as the oldest man on the cast. After Naviti won the first challenge of the season, Samir was sent to Ghost Island. He defeated Tariq from the rival Malolo tribe in order to obtain a clue to the Secret Hidden Immunity Idol, which was hidden at tribal council. The men realised it was the first time two Middle Eastern men appeared on the same *Survivor* season and agreed to work together if they were ever on the same tribe. After Abigail returned from Ghost Island on Day 6, the pair formed a tight alliance with Frank and Tito in order to keep their knowledge about the island from the rest of Naviti. Samir collected the secret idol when Naviti lost the challenge on Day 9 and, with his new alliance, voted for Narinder because she was perceived as an easy vote that would prevent targets forming on their backs.

A Tribe Expansion occurred on Day 10, where Samir was the only member of Naviti to join the green Yanuya tribe. He was joined by Malolo players Luna, Reed, Tariq and Trisha. Whilst Yanuya won every challenge they played in their first nine days, Tariq and Samir spent time building their relationship to the point they created a Final Two deal. After both losing the challenge on Day 19, Yanuya and Malolo were told they were attending a Joint Tribal Council together to eliminate a single player. When strategising at the Yanuya camp, Samir and Tariq wanted the tribe to vote together against Angela. Although Trisha blocked Malika’s vote, the rest of the Malolo tribe had the numbers when Yanuya split their votes and Malika was voted out.

The tribes merged on Day 20, where Samir was reunited with his Naviti Alliance. Samir, wanting to honour his Final Two deal with Tariq, underplayed their bond to the alliance and suggested they temporarily use Tariq as a number. Abigail and Tito also shared they had Big T from Malolo on their side, and the four original Naviti Alliance members decided they should vote for Luna at the first merged tribal council but Big T was voted out when she played an idol. The Final Twelve castaways were then split into two teams as part of a Double Elimination twist. Samir was on the purple team with Frank, Isaac, Reed, Tariq and Tito. The team planned on unanimously voting for Reed, but he saved himself with a Tribal Council Pass. Samir told Tariq to vote for Tito and anonymously saved him with a Secret Hidden Immunity Idol. Tito then saved himself with an idol, meaning that Isaac was voted out with the only vote that counted from Tito. Samir returned to camp and told Tariq that he used the secret idol on him but wanted the rest of the tribe to think that Tariq used the idol on himself.

Samir readily agreed when the Naviti Alliance wanted to vote for Trisha at the Final Ten, but Tariq used his Extra Vote and worked with the original Malolo players to eliminate Joyce. Samir, concerned that Tariq did not tell him about the vote against Joyce, tested Tariq by saying he wanted to vote for Reed as an original Malolo. Although they convinced Jacob to vote with them, Reed voted with the Naviti Alliance to eliminate Jacob. The pair then felt it was time to cut ties with the Naviti Alliance and decided to target Frank, who was viewed as a physical and social threat. However, Tariq was blindsided because Angela and Trisha worked with the Naviti Alliance. Despite losing his closest ally, Samir pleaded with the original Malolo players to vote for Frank. They had the numbers at tribal council, but their plans were once again foiled when Frank saved himself with an idol and Angela was voted out. For the third tribal council in a row, Samir targeted Frank with the original Malolo players. When Reed and Trisha switched their vote to Samir, the Naviti Alliance held the majority and voted Reed out.

With only five players remaining, Samir felt he had a path to the end but it was an uphill battle because he lost a lot of respect from Abigail, Frank and Tito. He decided to swallow his pride, grovel to his former allies and tell them that Trisha was a much bigger social threat and underdog as the last Malolo player left in the game. At tribal council, the four founders of the Naviti Alliance worked together to unanimously eliminate Trisha. Samir knew that, despite making amends with his allies, he needed to win the final individual immunity challenge to ensure he would reach Day 39. He lost the challenge to Abigail, was ultimately voted out and became the final member of the jury. At the Final Tribal Council, Samir voted for Tito to win the title of Sole Survivor.

## Trivia

* Samir is the oldest member of the original Naviti tribe and the oldest man to compete on *Ghost Island*.
* He is the first player to visit Ghost Island as a member of the winning tribe to also win the duel.
* Samir was the only member of the original Naviti tribe to move to Yanuya during the Tribe Expansion.