Irene Chen

**Irene Chen** is a contestant from *Survivor: South Africa*.

Irene was seen as a strategic threat throughout most of the game. After convincing a majority of people to vote out Leon Petchers on Day 27, she was voted out in a 5-0 vote after Leon played his idol, leaving with her own idol still in her pocket.

## Profile

As a very young Chemical Engineer, Irene is coming into this game with a very big brain and knowledge of many different things. She believes she will do well strategically and plans on keeping her occupation a secret from others. She believes she will be a big threat if people know her whole educational background.

**If You Could Bring 3 Things With You To The Island What Would They Be:** Tea, scones, and a radio.

**What Past Player Will You Be Most Like:** My gameplay will be most inspired by how Grace Kim played the game. I believe she should have won and I want to help avenge her.

**Why Will You Be Sole Survivor:** I am smart and very calculated. I will play a confident game while being cocky in the inside.

## Survivor

Irene started on the Tsonga tribe. Early on, she was seen as very likable. She downplayed her personal background to hide her smart educational career. Leon Petchers and Kaitlyn Sanktley became suspicious of Irene, believing she was smarter than she was letting off. Irene decided to form close bonds with the other girls of the tribe: Kaitlyn, Lindsay Richards, Donna Taintella, and Didi Conley. On Day 3, Tsonga lost immunity. Back at camp, Irene heard that Aaron Jackson was being targeted due to his cocky personality, and for being a huge part in why the tribe lost the immunity challenge. At tribal, Irene went along with everyone else on the tribe and voted for Aaron. He was sent home unanimously that night. At the next immunity challenge on Day 6, Tsonga lost once again. At camp, a majority alliance formed and Irene was part of it. The alliance consisted of Irene, Leon, Didi, Lindsay, Mason Jefferson, and Marco Singh. This left Donna, Kaitlyn, and Manuel Gutierrez on the bottom of the tribe. Irene decided to throw out Kaitlyn's name because she knew Kaitlyn didn't fully trust her. Irene felt safe because she knew the minority was looking to target Marco since he formed the majority alliance. At tribal, Irene got her way and Kaitlyn was sent home in a 6-3 vote. On Day 9, Tsonga won their first immunity challenge. Irene was hopeful that Tsonga was going to start an immunity win streak. This didn't seem to happen as Tsonga lost immunity for the third time on Day 12. At camp after the immunity challenge, Irene felt like the vote was going to be simple and that either Donna or Manuel would be going home. The majority alliance began to notice that Manuel and Mason were starting to grow closer together. The alliance felt like Mason was good for challenges and would come back to them if Manuel was voted out. Irene threw out the idea that the alliance should let Donna know the plan so she could vote alongside them. At tribal, Manuel mentioned that he wasn't a smart person to get out and threw Irene under the bus. Irene became irritated but kept her composure. At the vote, Manuel was voted out in a 6-2 vote, with Irene receiving 2 votes from both Manuel and Mason. Back at camp, Irene asked Mason what he was thinking voting for her and told everyone that he couldn't be trusted.

The next day, a tribe swap occurred. Irene felt like this would overall help her game. She remained on Tsonga along with Lindsay and Donna. They were joined by Zulu members Natalie Steinbeck and Gigi Ramirez. Irene was happy that Tsonga had the majority but wasn't sure if she wanted to stick with Lindsay and Donna. She quickly started to bond with Natalie and Gigi. On Day 14, Tsonga lost immunity. At camp, Lindsay and Donna let Irene know that they were sticking with her and wanted to target Natalie. Irene felt like she was the swing vote and felt like both sides had their pros and cons. At tribal, Irene felt like Lindsay and Donna were being sketchy and had each other over herself. She felt the urge to shake up the game and that is exactly what she did. At the vote, Irene voted with Natalie and Gigi and sent Donna home in a close 3-2 vote. Back at camp, Lindsay pulled Irene aside and told her that voting Donna out was a very bad move. Lindsay told Irene that she didn't trust her anymore and felt extremely betrayed. The next day after everyone winded down, the 4 girls decided to ignore the past and began to form a close bond. They decided that they needed to win the next few immunity challenges to keep all 4 of them in the game. Their worst fear came true on Day 17 when Tsonga lost immunity once again. Back at camp, Lindsay let Irene know that she was willing to vote with her so they could send Natalie home. They both felt like Natalie was a social threat and more wishy washy than Gigi. They decided to mention the plan to Gigi and tried to warn her about a tie occurring. At tribal, Irene and Lindsay managed to convince Gigi to vote for Natalie. Natalie was blindsided in a 3-1 vote, leaving the tribe with only 3 people left. On Day 19, Tsonga lost immunity for the 3rd straight time as a swapped tribe. Irene, Lindsay, and Gigi couldn't believe they had to vote another person out and fall down to only 2 members. Irene threw out the idea for everyone to vote for each other so the vote would tie 1-1-1 and someone would be sent home by random. The plan originally was seen positively by Lindsay and Gigi, but Irene then began worried that 1 person would flip on her. Irene then proceeded to rebuild her relationship with Lindsay. She apologized to Lindsay for backstabbing her at the Donna vote, and asked if she would keep her in the game and vote for Gigi. Lindsay let Irene know that she was going to consider it and wouldn't have her mind made up until right before the vote. At tribal, Gigi let Irene know that she was voting for her and Irene let Gigi know that she was voting for her. This left Lindsay as the deciding vote. Lindsay weighed her options and decided to stay Tsonga strong. At the vote, Gigi was voted out in a small 2-1 vote. Gigi wished both Irene and Lindsay luck. Back at camp, Irene thanked Lindsay and told her that she owed her.

The next day, the tribes merged. Irene immediately became overwhelmed at the fact that she was going from a tribe of 2 to a tribe of 13. Irene decided that it was best for her to bond with people she never met from the OG Zulu tribe. On Day 21, Antonio Hernandez won immunity. Irene felt worried, believing she needed the immunity that day. At camp, a majority of the new merged tribe started to notice a bromance forming between Marco and Julio Rodriguez. This made everyone start to target Julio due to his bossy personality and because of the bromance. At tribal, Julio ended up playing his idol for Marco, but everyone else (aside from Marco) voted for Julio. Julio was sent to the jury in a large 11-2 vote. Irene received the 2 votes from Julio and Marco. Back at camp, Irene and Marco admitted to each other that they liked each other as people, but were no longer working together in the game. On Day 22, Irene won a food and trip reward along with Cody Singalay, Didi, Josh Sinclair, Leon, and Marco. They all discussed their options moving forward in the game. On Day 24, Irene almost won individual immunity but barely lost to Didi. Back at camp, Irene heard Antonio's name thrown out due to being a physical threat. Antonio then approached Irene and let her know that he was targeting Daniel Jimenez for being very close with Cody in the game. Irene felt like it was better for Antonio to stay in the game over Daniel. She let other people on the tribe know that Daniel needed to go, but no one else budged. At tribal, Irene voted alongside Antonio, Lisa Mathieson, and Josh. Sadly for Irene, Antonio was sent to the jury in an 8-4 vote that night. On Day 25, Irene won reward once again along with Celeste Go, Daniel, Marco, and Mason. She decided to keep quiet but was hoping that one of them would throw out the idea of forming a 5 person alliance. On Day 27, Mason won immunity which kept Irene vulnerable. Back at camp unbeknownst to Irene, Marco threw out Irene's name to the rest of the OG Tsonga members. Lisa and Celeste overheard this plan and let Irene know that she was being targeted. In a moment of rage, Irene approached Lindsay and began yelling at her, stating that targeting her was an extremely dumb move when OG Tsonga had a 6-5 majority over OG Zulu. This caused Lindsay and Irene to get into a huge verbal altercation. Lindsay stated that Irene proved to be a "snake" in the past. Irene decided to approach the OG Zulu members (Lisa, Cody, Daniel, Celeste, and Josh) and let them know that they needed to target Leon for being the mastermind for the other side. Irene proceeded to look for the Madagascar idol and ended up finding it. At tribal, Irene made it clear that she was flipping over to the OG Zulu side. Right before the votes were read, Leon ended up playing an idol on himself. Irene realized that her overconfidence ruined her game, as she left her idol back at camp because she had no idea that Leon had an idol. At the vote, Irene was voted out in a 5-0 vote, becoming the 3rd member of the jury and placing 11th.

At Final Tribal Council, Irene let Marco know that she was not voting for him. She told him that she felt like he played a very messy game and never really thought about what he was doing. She let Josh and Lindsay know that her vote was still undecided between the two of them and asked them one simple question: Why should they lose to the person sitting next to them? (not including Marco). Josh stated that Lindsay was always 10 steps ahead of everyone else. Lindsay said that Josh had a stronger physical and social game. Lindsay then proceeded to apologize to Irene about their fight in the game, which Irene accepted and did the same. In the end, Irene decided that she felt like Lindsay played the best game and felt like her special bond that she had with Lindsay earlier in the game was something important. Irene finally payed Lindsay back for keeping her in the game over Gigi before the merge, and voted for Lindsay to win the game. Lindsay ended up becoming the Sole Survivor in a 5-3-2 vote over Josh and Marco.